Tom Perrego spent almost 20 years behind the wheel of his race car, taking turns at Orange County Fair Speedway and competing in the touring series. It was fun while it lasted but he started to grow tired of the grind.
Last year Tom decided it was time to pass the racing baton to his son, Anthony, and the Montgomery teenager is already enjoying success in the open-wheel class.
Accord veteran Jackie Brown Jr. agrees.
“It’s good to see kids like Tom’s son, who is a hell of a driver,’’ Brown said. “He surprised the hell out of me. (Recently) we were here at practice and that kid was the only one with the knowledge to get his car up on top of the berm before everybody else, run the track in himself and make his own race track to run on. He did an outstanding job. The kid is a great driver and has a big future ahead of him.”
Anthony has been racing go-karts, quads and slingshots — a smaller version of the sportsman cars he races now — since 2003, earning 102 feature wins and three points titles as a regular at Oakland Valley Race Park. The experience proved vital.
Perrego made his sportsman debut last season, with eight races at Accord and two at OCFS.
Anthony has aspirations to make something of his racing career, looking toward a run in the USAC sprint series and making a bid for the NASCAR Sprint Cup. For now, he is just a student at Valley Central High School who drives a lot faster than his fellow ninth-graders.
Tom Perrego may be retired from driving, but he’s keeping busier than ever with his son’s two race cars — one for Accord and one for OCFS.
| 
|