AUTO RACING: Young Watt impresses as 12-year-old racer
Apr. 16—FORESTVILLE — The boy riding an electric scooter through the Big Diamond Speedway pits last Friday could easily have been mistaken for any driver's child.
But Logan Watt, the 12-year-old son of modified standout Ryan Watt, didn't come to the Forestville oval to ride his two-wheeler through the pits.
He came to race.
After the Boyertown resident placed third in last Friday's season-opening 602 crate sportsman feature, he proved he was capable of competing against drivers many times his age.
The race was Watt's second feature after he placed 20th in a Short Track Super Series crate sportsman feature at Selinsgrove Speedway, but this inaugural season in a Bicknell modified chassis was something the sixth-grader has been awaiting his entire life.
"I learned everything from quarter-midgets, from what happens to the car and what it feels like, and what to do when you feel you're spinning out, what motion you have to do and stuff," said Watt, who began racing quarter-midgets at 5 years old. "When it's tight, let off in certain places. Basically, it's one big quarter-midget or slingshot or whatever."
His father might beg to differ. Ryan Watt, 41, has spent years honing his craft. His successes include status as the defending Jack Rich Inc. Coalcracker 72 358 modified winner at Big Diamond. He also is the two-time champion of Big Diamond's Money in the Mountains open modified feature. It is scheduled again tonight after the 2020 race was canceled because of the coronavirus pandemic.
But he couldn't have been prouder than the times watching his son learn how to do what he does weekly during the summers.
"That's a whole different level of fun," Ryan said. "That day watching him practice (the crate sportsman) at Georgetown (Delaware) and, his second or third time, he was on the rev chip. I'm like, 'Oooh, he's on the gas now,' and it was like a proud dad moment. But he was qualified out at Selinsgrove and held his own. It was great.
"You have a lot of fun driving them, but you also have a lot of fun watching him."
That included Friday night, where Watt's No. 4M, starting from the outside pole, lost just one position in the feature won by 48-year-old Steve Lyle.
"I wasn't sure about coming up here to Diamond," Ryan Watt said. "We were looking more at Delaware stuff and Georgetown because I knew we could race down at (age) 12. But we signed waivers and got permission to come up here, so we said, 'All right, it's closer to home than going to Delaware,' so we decided to bring my son up."
It turned out Logan Watt's car could stay with its rivals, though Ryan was certain of that.
"This is actually my first Bicknell car that I had that I won most of my races with," Ryan said. "We redid it over the winter and put a 602 crate engine in it for (Logan)."
Ryan said he bought the engine from Ryan Korman, who was moving back into the modified ranks, and said, "It only had about a season, a season-and-a-half, on it from new, so it's seemed good so far," he said.
As for the driver, Ryan admitted Logan had to show him he could compete.
"At Georgetown, the first night that he ran, he had a practice the night before we were running and there were 50-some cars practicing," Ryan said, "We were joking with him. 'If you get into the top 15, we'll let you draw.' You can start ... wherever (the track official) tells you. Well, he was ninth quick in the last session. 'Well, I guess you've got enough speed in you and you look good. I guess we're going to let you start where you pick.' "
Logan picked a spot deep in his heat race and then failed to qualify from the consolation. Yet he did well enough that the Watts went to the STSS race at Selinsgrove. Logan qualified for the feature and learned a lesson at the race's start on the big half-mile oval.
"Not to use your energy for the first five laps," Logan said, "I can tell you that because I used all of my energy up trying to get spots at Selinsgrove. I lost them all because I hit the cushion and I couldn't go anywhere because it was really dusty. I'm not used to those types of tracks."
Friday at Big Diamond, Logan appeared more at ease, saying he would treat the 3/8 -mile oval just as a smaller version of Selinsgrove. The plan worked.
While Ryan will try for a third Money in the Mountain crown tonight, his attention this season is also riveted upon his son's development.
Ryan said, "I watched him do things in the quarter-midgets that I didn't tell him. I don't know where he learned them. He just picked it up. He's watched modifieds race for years with me racing them, so I'm sure he knows more than I know half of the time."
Contact the writer: ccurley@republicanherald.com; 570-628-6019; @ChuckCurley on Twitter
