Joining the fast lane

At 13, he took his first sojourn around Mariana Seaside Circuit track and the rest, as they say, is history. Charlie’s story, that is.

Anthony Hurst or “Charlie,” as he is better known amongst friends, family, and go-karting buddies, stepped onto the track in 1995 as a 13 year old fascinated with speed and anything fast. Since then, he has never looked back.

Now 17 with four karts to his collection, he is the CNMI’s bet in the 2000 go-kart extravaganza, scheduled to take place this weekend. He looks back fondly of the early years and looks forward to a promising future in racing on the international level.

For this up and coming kart racer, fascination with speed and anything fast did not start at the Marpi raceway. Neither will it end there. “I went directly from track and field racing at school into go-karts,” says Charlie who has just returned from his third trip to Japan where he had the opportunity to compete with some of the best in go-kart racing. His trip to Japan was one chance to get better and break out into the next level of competition.

“It is a fun sport to get into but it takes a lot of discipline, not to mention money,” says Charlie. The young racing buff spends most of his free time at the MSC track perfecting and honing his racing skills when not actually working to help pay for some of the expenses that come with his hobby.

In 1996, Charlie became the youngest person in the CNMI to race against some of the finest from Japan, Guam, and the Micronesian region. And he liked it so much that he took a job with the circuit in order to be near his first love. He considers Mariana Seaside Circuit Track his home away from home, where you will find him tinkering and working on one of his four karts when he is not on duty.

Now 17, he is still one of CNMI’s youngest and fastest karters ever and looks forward to proving his mettle once again in this weekend’s races, with preliminary heats on Saturday and the final races on Sunday afternoon.

And with his most recent trip back in October to Japan, where he had the opportunity to once again race and observe racing at a higher level, Charlie is confident of walking away with a ribbon or two in this weekend’s races.

Asked if he has any piece of advice to others who may follow suit, Charlie was quick to point out the many benefits of his hobby, saying “racing has kept me out of trouble because I look forward to racing and the races. If I get into trouble, I could not race.”

So what does the future hold for this young speedster? Breaking into the professional racing scene in Japan. Charlie plans to move to Japan for a year or two after graduation from high school this year to pursue his love of racing.

In the meantime, he is busy preparing for the races and training his six-year old nephew whom he recruited himself for the races this weekend.