Vaughn Young stands in front of his street-stock racing car from the early 1960’s. Vaughn was the first generation of race car driver in the long line of drivers in the Young/Knaul racing family.
(Submitted photo)
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Auto racing for some is a past-time activity to watch on the big screen. For others it is hobby and for a few it is a family tradition. For the Young and Knaul families, that tradition has been going on for more than 50 years.
It all started with Vaughn Young. Vaughn got in to street stock racing in the 1960’s.
Street stock is an entry-level type of race car that has some modifications, according to Vaughn Jr., Young’s grandson.
“My grandpa only raced for a few years and he was never a full-timer,” said Vaughn Jr. “He never went circuit racing, but he has always been in the area as a race-car driver. He raced at Columbus Motor Speedway.”
What Vaughn didn’t know at the time is that he was the catalyst that would launch the start of a racing dynasty in Marysville.
The bug for racing was passed on to Vaughn’s sons, Lance and Dustin Young. With the passing of the torch from one generation to the next came the desire to get more involved in the sport of auto racing.
Lance drove modified race cars. Modified cars, also referred to as e-mods, are where everything is build for the sole purpose of driving on a track. The frame, engine, transmission, tires and safety equipment are all fine-tuned for the purpose of track racing.
The racing torch was passed on once again when Lance introduced the sport to his son Vaughn Jr.
“I got more into it in my late 20’s,” said Vaughn Jr. “My dad would let me take his car and practice on practice nights. Before the race would start, he would say ‘you want to take the car out and go for a couple laps,’ so I started doing it that way and it was fun. I liked it.”
As Vaughn Jr. spent more time behind the wheel. his passion for the sport grew. However, he wanted to take it to the next level. That next level came after an unfortunate accident in Lance’s car.
“I totaled my dad’s e-mod,” said Vaughn Jr. “After I did that, I said that was fun but I need to train and learn the feel of how to drive a modified, which is like trying to learn how to fly a plane in a jet fighter.”
Vaughn Jr. purchased a type of modified car that could give him the experience of driving a modified car with less risk.
“I bought a used late model,” he said. “It has comparable speeds to a modified, but it is just a more stable car. It is little heavier and little less reactionary.”
Lance and Vaughn Jr. followed in Vaughn’s footsteps and kept their racing strictly to the central Ohio area.
“My grandpa raced at Columbus Motor Speedway,” said Vaughn Jr. “My dad raced primarily at Shady Bowl, Columbus Motor Speedway and Mansfield. I have raced at Columbus Motor Speedway just once.”
Vaughn Jr. wanted to race at the same track that his grandfather and father raced on when he decided to compete at Columbus Motor Speedway. It just happened to be the last race that was ever held at Columbus before the track closed in September of last year.
“It ended up that it was the last race they ever had there, but I got go race on the same track that my grandpa did,” Vaughn Jr. smiled. “It wasn’t much of a race because I wasn’t very good at it, but I was there.”
The racing gene was also passed along to Lance’s daughter Jerri.
“When me and my sister were growing up we were driving to the race track every weekend to go watch racing,” said Vaughn Jr. “It was something that came natural to us to enjoy and get into it.”
Jerri passed that same gene along to her children Dawson and Payton Knaul. Dawson and Payton are race car drivers and the fourth generation of drivers in the Young-Knaul family dynasty.
“The most successful one is Dawson, who has been telling people sinse he was three that he is going to drive in NASCAR,” said Vaughn Jr. “He has a room that is just full of trophies.”
Dawson has been racing on the United States Auto Club quarter midgets scene sinse he was five-years-old. He has been driving a quarter midget from the age of three when his father, Jeremy Knaul, and grandfather Lance bought it for him.
“Ever since he was a baby we knew he was going to try it at least, because it was something (racing) that was in the family,” said Jeremy.
Not only has Dawson been racing from an early age, he has been winning from an early age as well.
“I have some Midwest top five (finishes), two Nationals top 10 (finishes) and two Mid-West Thunder wins,” said Dawson. “I just really like going fast and trying to get around them (other drivers).”
The young prodigy has the pedigree to win races, but it takes the support of the whole family to get him to the track.
“It is a great family thing and we spend a lot of time together,” said Jeremy. “It is a full-time job to travel like we do. It is good to have that knowledge of all the generations to help set the cars.
“Sometimes there are those moments, because I have never driven before, where Lance and Dawson will go to the side and discuss what the car is doing and try and help him with a situation that I have never been in. They can talk driver-to-driver.”
No matter the age difference, no matter the era, these families will always have the one thing in common . . . racing.