At six years old, Kaeden Ballos arrived at a local dirt go-kart track with his father. Kaeden says Denny Hamlin started racing at the same place, but the track gave the young driver something more immediate: his first look at the karts, the prepared tires, and a form of dirt racing that did not depend on hanging the back end out. The experience steered him toward the asphalt ranks.
At 18 years old, Kaeden now drives the number 19 late model in the NASCAR weekly series. Between those points came a barrel roll in a dirt champ kart at Capital City Speedway, a clutchless Bandolero at the Summer Shootout at Charlotte Motor Speedway, the 2022 Summer Shootout championship, and a recent move into the CARS Tour. He has also tested F3 and F4 cars at the Autobahn South course, where he came within a second of the track record.
Once the green flag falls, one driver must make every correction and decision.
Once the green flag falls, one driver must make every correction and decision. Nobody else can hold the high side, judge a crossover, or get to the gas quicker for him. Getting the car, driver, schedule, and sponsorship to the track, however, takes a team. Kaeden's progress comes from a fourth-generation racing family, with knowledge and responsibility passing through street stocks, the Goody Dash series, late models, and now the number 19.
Four generations led Kaeden Ballos to the number 19
Kaeden's great-grandfather raced street stocks at local dirt and asphalt tracks. His late grandfather, Tom Ballos, raced in the Goody Dash series in the 70s and 80s, then worked as a NASCAR race director and a track official at Southside Speedway, Virginia. Kaeden's father raced late models when he was younger. By the time Kaeden entered a dirt go-kart at about six years old, the family understood racing from several positions: behind the wheel, in the officials' stand, and at home preparing for the next event.
Each position reveals something different. A driver knows what the car is doing. An official sees how races are controlled. A parent learns what must happen before the driver reaches the grid. Kaeden describes Tom Ballos' record as a legacy and a duty he feels responsible for carrying forward. His ambition is tied to specific people and places. He knows whose work came before his and where it took them, from the Goody Dash series to Southside Speedway.
A family name can help a young driver reach the track. It cannot drive the laps.
Kaeden still had to earn each move. The local dirt go-kart led him toward asphalt racing. A dirt champ kart at Capital City Speedway brought an early, severe crash. The clutchless Bandolero took him to the Summer Shootout at Charlotte Motor Speedway, where he won the 2022 championship. Late models followed, including the number 19 in the NASCAR weekly series, and then the highly competitive CARS Tour. A family name can help a young driver reach the track. It cannot drive the laps.
The weekly family meeting behind a late model campaign
The Kaeden Ballos team is more than the name painted around one driver. It includes his mother, father, grandmother, and grandfather. Every Tuesday, or sometimes every other week, they meet for about an hour or an hour and a half. They review what has been completed, decide what remains to be done, and identify where they can improve. Sponsorship belongs on the agenda rather than being treated as an afterthought.
That routine explains how the number 19 stays active. A late model campaign does not begin when Kaeden straps into the seat. The family has already assigned and checked the work before the car appears at the track. Their help is neither loose nor occasional. They hold recurring meetings, track completed and pending tasks, and work on sponsorship. Kaeden is direct about it: the operation behind the scenes is not his alone.
The family meeting is part of what got him there.
That organization has accompanied his move into increasingly demanding cars. Since starting at six years old, he has driven dirt go-karts, a dirt champ kart, Bandoleros, late models, and the CARS Tour. He has also tested F3 and F4 machinery at the Autobahn South course. Each step brings another car, another schedule, and more work away from the seat. Coming within a second of the track record in open-wheel testing is the visible result. The family meeting is part of what got him there.
A wreck, a rival, and an education that starts young
Kaeden barrel-rolled a dirt champ kart on the back straightaway at Capital City Speedway. He says the crash removed his fear of racing. After experiencing a major wreck so early, the event he had imagined was no longer unknown. There is no useful lesson in recommending such an experience. A barrel roll is not a teaching exercise, but Kaeden's response to it became part of his development.
The Bandolero required a different adjustment. Kaeden calls it a "brick on wheels," while the competition around the cars has been described as a "war zone." At the Summer Shootout at Charlotte Motor Speedway, the car was clutchless, but the racing was anything but simple. In close junior competition, one poor entry or badly timed move can erase a position. Kaeden's 2022 Summer Shootout championship showed that he could manage both the car and the traffic, rather than merely circulate in an entry-level division.
A recent late model race shows how much more precise the work has become. Kaeden's rival was strong through turns one and two and repeatedly attacked the low side. Kaeden held the high side, used crossovers, got to the gas quicker, and carried the advantage through turns three and four. His rival could not complete the pass, eventually washed up, and wrecked Kaeden.
The driver later sent Kaeden an apology. He was only about 14, and Kaeden appreciated that he took responsibility instead of allowing the incident to pass without a word. Drivers that young are common in this part of racing. The machinery may be advanced, but some of the people operating it are still learning how to respond after the cars stop.
The basic demand remains the same: read what the car and track are giving you, then respond without delay.
Kaeden's education now runs from defending the high side in a late model to adapting to F3 and F4 cars at the Autobahn South course. Coming within a second of the track record showed that the open-wheel tests were more than novelty laps. The basic demand remains the same: read what the car and track are giving you, then respond without delay. Whether a rival attacks the low side into turns one and two or an unfamiliar F3 car approaches the track record, Kaeden alone makes the decision behind the wheel. His family's fourth-generation effort keeps putting him there.
