Brayden Baehr comes from a family of racers.

He has heard many stories about his father, uncle, grandfather and great-grandfather behind the wheel.

He has also seen how hard they work on the track and off the track, and he has felt the wonderment when their win lights come on.

All of that made Brayden want to be part of the next generation of Baehrs to race, and his father, Brian, and mother, Amber, set him up to be safe and successful, and to savor the moments.

While there was some testing to be sure that Brayden was ready, he was raring to go right into competition, just like his father and other family members were when they first started racing, too.

Brayden, a sixth-grader at Edison Middle School in Berlin Heights, Ohio, was already motivated, but he was motivated even more when he won a race early on and when his younger sister, Abigail, began racing a junior dragster, too.

There was a wee bit of sibling rivalry between the two, and when Abigail earned a championship at Summit Motorsports Park a few years ago, Brayden made it his mission to earn one, too.

Even while successfully playing basketball, football and baseball and taking part in his school’s Academic Challenge, racing is never far from Brayden’s thoughts.

That is always readily apparent, and in 2024, the result for Brayden was the Bear Motorsports Intermediate Junior Dragster presented by Wiseco championship.

With him on the day he achieved that championship were his father, Brian, mother, Amber, sisters Abigail and Annalee, brother, Bentlee, who recently joined Brayden and Abigail in the Junior Dragster ranks, and many other family members and friends.

Brayden, who already has his eye on his father’s Malibu for when it is time to move to a big car, also earned a championship at Dragway 42 in 2024.

Summit Motorsports Park was proud to celebrate Brayden, along with his fellow champions, at the 51st Annual Edelbrock Banquet of Champions presented by Lincoln Electric, January 25, 2025 at Sawmill Creek Resort in Huron, Ohio.