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The 2023 racing season has come to a close for Sherod Charity, aka #slimreaper15, racing for Buddy Tubbs Racing.

Sherod won races in Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia and Florida.  He participated in three leagues on a regular basis: K1Speed Teen League (indoor electric karts), Hampton Roads Kart Club (TAG Senior and lo206 Senior) and Endurance Karting (outdoor six- to eight-hour races).

Sherod also competed at a World Karting Association event in South Carolina and American Kart Racing Association event in North Carolina on two-mile tracks, reaching speeds of over 92 mph and coming in first place in his class both times. With some family sponsorship from Herman Charity, his grandfather, Sherod was able to race at Daytona International Speedway Dec. 27-30.

The season started in January with Sherod having his engine (lo206) built by Howard Stewart. He also added a newer kart (Fourmula K) and IAME X30 engine to that frame. Testing was done at Trackhouse Motorplex located in Mooresville, N.C. At early HRKC events, Sherod had early success in his TAG kart, but not so much in his lo206. As the season progressed, he dialed in his lo206 kart and was in the top 5 of each race, the second half of the season. He won the Hampton Roads Kart Club TAG senior championship this year, and it came down to the last race.   

Sherod missed the first race at K1Speed in January, but over the course of the next 11 months, he worked his way from last place to winning the regular season championship and an invitation to the K1 Circuit located in Winchester, Calif., to represent the state of Virginia in the K1 Speed National/World Championship along with two other teens from Virginia. One sponsor, Tamara Charity-Brown, will be taking care of the lodging for that trip in April.

The last league Sherod participated in is the Endurance Karting Championship. Sherod and two other 14-year-olds formed a team called Da Young Gunz and competed in the Rookie class. They raced at Virginia International Raceway (1st place), Charlotte Motor Speedway (2nd place), Carolina Motorsports Park (1st place), Atlanta Motorsports Park (1st place) and 103 Street Complex, Jacksonville (2nd place). Team Da Young Gunz won the Endurance Karting Rookie Southern Division class championship. Because of their success, the owners of the company are moving the racers to the semi-pro class next season. 

Sherod really enjoyed the speed of the large 2-mile tracks but didn’t enjoy having to run the restricted header because of his age. At all other tracks in his TAG he races in the senior class without the restricted header. He plans to add a few more World Karting Association events to the schedule next season and race on a 2022 Compkart chassis with a KA100 engine. 

One of the goals at the start of the 2023 season was to participate in Daytona Kart Week 2023. Karting is an expensive sport, and at the end of this season, Buddy Tubbs Racing was financially able to fund a trip to Daytona Beach and race. Herman Charity stepped in and made the trip possible. Sherod raced a rented kart with a KA100 engine and a Kart Republic frame from Franz (Mike) Griffith. He finished 50th out of 80 racers and fourth in the KA100 junior class.  The next race later that afternoon, Sherod finished 40th out of 63 racers and sixth in the KA100 junior class. In the final race, he finished 28th out of 80 racers and fifth in the KA100 junior class.  

Sherod and his family would like to thank Coach Mike, Tim Linthicum and Jody Linthicum for all their help and advice on the Daytona road course.   

Sherod and Buddy Tubbs Racing thanked his sponsors, Herman Charity, Franklin Sportsman’s Association, J & J Customs Design, Tamara Charity-Brown, The Bakers Home, Desmond Blount and all who purchased Buddy Tubbs Racing T-shirts. You can follow Sherod’s progress on Instagram at buddytubbsracing15 and on Facebook at Buddy Tubbs Racing  If you want to become a sponsor, have questions about the race team or karting in general, email buddytubbsracing@gmail.com.