15-year-old California boy Truly Adams has F1 dreams
Truly Adams, 15, has been racing since the age of 11 and had always wanted to compete in F1 one day.
- Indeed, Adams has been racing all his life and hopes to one day race in F1.
- He was one of six finalists in this year’s F4 race development program.
Some children try their hand at baseball.
Some people go to soccer.
But Truly Adams knew she wanted to be a race car driver since she was 6 years old, and maybe even before that.
“This sport is the only sport I’ve ever been good at. I’m happy to be able to do pretty well in this sport,” Truly told the Detroit Free Press, part of the USA TODAY Network, in a recent interview.
Truly, who lives in Moreno Valley, Calif., said his ultimate goal is to become an F1 driver, but he’s open to NASCAR, IndyCar or “anything that will help me win.”
True has been racing most of his life, almost 11 years as he remembers.
He turned 15 in September but has already made his mark.
Earlier that month, he was one of six finalists out of 62 participants at the Feed Racing Final held in Magny-Cours, France. According to his biography, he is a two-time world karting champion and was the fastest driver at an F4 test in Mexico, which led to an invitation to France.
Feed is a development program for young drivers interested in F4 racing.
Truly, who reached speeds of 130mph in the race, hopes to return to France next year to compete in the French F4 Championship.
Fundraising is a major hurdle at the moment, with Truly hoping to raise more than $300,000 through donations and sponsorships.
His mother, Kara Adams, said after a recent run on Feed, champion F1 driver Jacques Villeneuve told his family he could see his son drive in F1, but they asked if they had the budget for it, as it would prevent him from reaching F1. Villaneuve is the co-founder of Feed.
True’s confidence and abilities certainly seem to be in order.
“I would say it really drives all of us to exceed our own expectations, because… from the time he was six years old, he always said, ‘I’m going to race in F1.'” We were like, “Oh, that’s cute.” Now I think he might be able to do this,” she said.
Adams said it was already a victory when Truly made it to the finals of the feed contest, but he was even more impressed after learning that no other American had made it that far.
His father, Troy Adams, a driving coach and former NASCAR driver, briefly discouraged the idea of becoming a race car driver after learning of the expense, but quickly reconsidered. Adams noted that when Truly was only 2 or 3 years old, he would sit him on his lap while coaching him.
“When a child shows some aptitude, you have no choice but to support him,” Adams says.
True also grew up surrounded by sports, learning to drive 60 mph go-karts at an early age. His family owns Adams Motorsports Park in Riverside, California, which has been in operation since 1959 and bills itself as “the world’s longest continuously operating kart racing facility.”
He said the transition to F4 was not that difficult.
“It’s funny how people say the F4 (car) is so different from a go-kart, but it’s not. It’s just a car with four wheels and a motor,” he said, admitting that one of them, the F4 car, is a little more comfortable than the other.
Go-karts don’t have suspension and sit much lower to the ground, so it’s more “stressful on the body and the car itself,” Truly said. He also incorporates an aggressive training regimen, including endurance running and weightlifting.
In addition to regular driver training, he also uses a driving simulator. He said he uses the simulator “a very unhealthy amount every day” and is very addicted to the sport.
Eric D. Lawrence is senior auto culture reporter for the Detroit Free Press. If you have any tips or suggestions, please contact us at elawrence@freepress.com. Become a subscriber. Submit a letter to the editor at freep.com/letters.
