Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...

By Alfred S. Charity

It has been 16 months since the last update on the go-kart racing experiences of Sherod Charity, and the prodigy from Southampton County who just turned 14 on Dec. 18 has been busy.

Sherod finished off the 2021 karting season racing a six-hour race in West Virginia with his free agent team finishing 10th out of 20 teams and fourth place in the rookie class, one step off the podium. He also completed a two-hour karting event at Virginia International Raceway, solo finishing in seventh place out of 18 teams entered. Sherod continued to work on his skills, racing at LeMans Karting located in Portsmouth, racing in the Pro League.

Seeing the passion for racing that his grandson Sherod has, Herman A. Charity funded the purchase of an Arrows X3 LO206 go-kart. We traveled to Mooresville, North Carolina, for the purchase and transported the kart back to Courtland in late October 2021. 

Now we had to find a place to race it. Enter the Hampton Roads Kart Club, located in Hampton. They hold go-kart races at the Langley Speedway. The races are held by kart class and age; the youngest racers out there start at 5 years old. 

The season was over, but we went to the Turkey Race they hold each year at the end of the season. It’s basically a “run what you have” race for fun. We were welcomed by everyone and fostered a friendship with brothers Jody and Tim Lithicum, Lee Hunnings and his son Xander, Ronnie Shumate, his wife Amy and son Chase Shumate. Father and son race under the banner Shumate Motorsports. 

Sherod became a member of the Hampton Roads Kart Club in March 2022 and started racing at Langley Speedway in April 2022. The Hampton Roads Kart Club series had 13 scheduled race dates. He was recruited to the Quadrant Racing Team, led by Desmond Blount and his teammate Bill Gash, to run the Southern Division of the Endurance Karting Series, which has six races on the schedule. Races were held at Virginia International Raceway (twice), Charlotte Motor Speedway, Atlanta Motorsports Park and Carolina Motorsports Park. 

Tommy Jeter, Phillip Pearson and Endurance Karting owner Chris McCoy have been a big part of Sherod’s development as a racer. Sherod was asked to be part of an established team that ran the northern schedule. 

He competed in the Fall Racing 6-Hour Classic at Lime Rock Park located in Connecticut. He helped the team secure second place for the season and had the fastest lap of any team member. One of his teammates, another 13-year-old, has a Porsche sponsorship and has done testing in various race cars. Sherod hopes to get there one day, but he earned his respect on the track that day and made others take notice of his talent. 

We drove back after the race, and Sherod competed at Langley Speedway Sunday morning after a nine-hour ride and three hours of sleep. He was the No. 1 qualifier in Touch and Go and won his race. Sherod finished the season in fourth place in TAG after entering just more than half of the races. He finished fourth overall in LO206 in a stacked field of competitors.

The last outdoor race was in Jacksonville, Florida, on Dec. 3, 2022. Quadrant Racing finished 12th overall but first in the rookie class. The Quadrant Racing Team is the national champion for the Endurance Karting Championship (rookie class). 

Sherod also started competing in the Teen Cup League in May 2022 at K1 Speed located in Richmond. Races are held once per month. Sherod has won five times, placed second once and fourth once. The last race was Dec. 6, and even though he did not make the podium, he had enough points to be crowned the Teen Cup Champion of K1 Speed in Virginia. That will add to him also being a member of the Southern Division Championship Team and the overall National Championship Team (rookie class). 

It has been a great first full season of racing, and he is looking forward to 2023.

Sherod would like to acknowledge and thank all of those who have supported his racing through contributions. Herman A. Charity, Tamara Charity-Brown, Alfreda Charity, Bev-Freda Jackson, Beverly Jackson, Bud Ham, Judy Ham, Gwen Ham, Lavelle Evans, Kenneth Williams, Franklin Sportsman’s Association, J J S Custom Design, The Bakers Home, and The Youth Group. Your financial support has allowed Sherod to race and bring home three karting championships to the Franklin, Southampton County and Greensville County area. 

In 2023, he hopes to race at Daytona, Pittsburgh, New Jersey, Chicago and compete in a one-off money race at Go Pro Motorplex. 

If you would like to be a sponsor, please contact Alfred S. Charity at alfred.charity@gmail.com. In honor of Herman A. Charity, my father and Sherod’s grandfather, the team name Sherod will race under this year will be Herman Charity Racing. 

The journey continues until next time.