‘I like going fast’: Local 5-year-old BMX racer on track to becoming champion

CHARLOTTE — A young local racer has big dreams of becoming a BMX champion, and based on his background, there’s a good chance he’ll get there.

Chase Reynolds is following in his parent’s footsteps as a second-generation racer.

“He has a lot of drive to win. He’s super competitive,” said BMX racer and coach Zephin Mann.

“Drive” seems fitting for a competitor named Chase, and for someone who’s earned expert status by USA BMX, with ten national wins this year. Yet, he still spends his time at the track constantly honing his skills and gaining speed.

He’s a lot like his mom.

“Yeah so when I was growing up, I was a race car driver,” Alison Reynolds said. “I was actually signed by Ford.”

Alison Reynolds was the winningest female driver in USAC racing history in 2008.

And then there’s Chase’s dad Chris, who, like Chase, has initials that spell “CAR.” Not to mention the years Chris Reynolds spent in the racing industry as a tire-changer.

“So everything since day one has kind of been racing-based,” Alison Reynolds said.

Speaking of day one, Chase Reynolds -- also known as “Hollywood” -- first started down the road toward racing at 16 months old. That wasn’t that long ago.

“I like going fast,” he said.

It wasn’t easy to get to where he is today, considering Chase is every bit of 5 years old.

“See that’s the hard part. Training a 5-year-old I mean,” said Coach Zephin Mann, Chase’s coach. “It has its weaknesses and it has its strengths, obviously you can’t push it too hard. There’s still a kid at the end of the day. He wants to go fast. He wants to race. It’s pretty awesome.”

That’s how Mann describes Chase Reynolds, but there’s also the boy’s Hollywood persona.

“With Hollywood -- he works hard and then at the same time he is a 5-year-old,” Mann said, laughing. “Sometimes he cries, but the good thing is he will always pick himself back up and he’ll keep going.”

“You know it’s funny because, for me, racing is my whole life. So I know how it feels on that end. I didn’t start racing until I was seven,” Alison Reynolds said. “So there’s a lot of things that I see in him or I’m like, ‘wow he’s picked this up.’”

And now, his parents are proudly looking on as Chase turns the corner on the climb to becoming a champion.

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