Genoa’s Nick Altenbach is Eastern Conference Finals Drag Racing Champion

9/28/2012

Nick Altenbach, Eastern Conference Finals Drag Racing champion.

“How I Spent My Summer Vacation” back-to-school themes usually include information about trips to the beach, playing baseball, mowing lawns or riding bikes. Twelve year old Nick Altenbach, a seventh grader at Genoa Middle School, can add something unique to his essay. In July, while competing in Bristol, Tennessee, he drove his 2012 Halfscale Extreme Swingarm dragster faster than 75 miles per hour to become the Eastern Conference Finals Drag Racing Champion – the highest honor in his sport. This is the largest national event of its kind in the country, comprised of more than 600 racers from some 20 states and Europe.

Despite his youth, Altenbach is not new to the game. This was his fourth Eastern Conference Finals. In 2010 he came in second, which only fueled his desire to win. His resume is impressive for a driver of any age. He was two-time National Trail Raceway track champion, 2009 National Trail Rookie of the Year, NHRA Jr. Drag Racing League Challenge winner, and a three-time Division 3 Race of Champions participant. Altenbach hopes that in the future he can use his experience of driving a race car in a safe and legal format to help discourage kids from careless and dangerous driving on public roads. In his spare time he enjoys basketball and soccer, and he plays on the Genoa Jaguars golf team.

Altenbach’s parents, Todd and Becky, will likely be spending a lot of time in the future at the race track. Their younger son, Nathan, a fifth grader at Hanby Magnet School, is following in his big brother’s footsteps. Nathan also competed at the Eastern Conference Finals, making it to the Quarterfinals in the 10-year-old division before losing to the young man who ultimately won that class.