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By Alfred Charity

Fifteen-year-old karting standout Sherod Charity, of Southampton County, performed well and gained the respect of his peers at the K1 Circuit in Winchester, California, where he represented the state of Virginia near the end of June in the K1 Speed National/World Championship along with two other teens from the state.

There were some things that Sherod needed to adjust to, like the time difference, setup of the kart and constant race schedule adjustments, because they had to ensure karts were properly charged. 

Sherod had the second-fastest time in his practice group, and the other two groups had some quick times also. He was trying to stay in the top 25 out of 51 teens to get to qualifying. He managed to be quick enough to get into the first of three qualifying sessions. 

Going into his third lap of qualifying, his throttle stuck, and it caused him to crash into the tire barriers. After a kart swap he finished one more flying lap. His time was quick enough to get him into the A Main final. This meant that he would finish no lower than 25th place in the national competition. 

A K1 Speed representative allowed Sherod to run in the third qualifying session because of the throttle issue. He ran an almost identical time to his fastest lap in the first session. Sherod started the A Main final in 15th place out of 25.  In seven laps he moved his way up to sixth but lost a position on the last lap to finish seventh… or so we thought. 

Sherod did well and was congratulated by his competitors and their parents for a great race. 

On the way back to the hotel after the race, Sherod received a text with the official results, and he was in 21st place. We turned around and went back to the track for an explanation.  

The race director stated that one of his marshals saw Sherod turn around and block racers from passing. When I asked him if he was sure, he stated, ‘Yes, your son had the gray helmet on.’ I stated to him, ‘My son’s helmet is bright white.’ Sherod and another competitor had the same racing suit but different helmets. He said he would look into it. 

I’ve sent four emails with pictures and no response. 

Sherod was disappointed at first; however, he started to look on the bright side of things. He knows he raced fair and square; if he hadn’t I’m pretty sure by the way some of the parents were acting that we would have been confronted about it by them. 

It was a good experience, and Sherod will move on to the next race.