Karting

As a third generation racer, Crispin Andrew Beaver started young. His grandfather raced karts, motorcycles and automobiles and his mother raced go-karts from 1985 through 1994. Following in their footsteps, Crispin was already behind the wheel of a go-kart at age five.

Beaver raced at local tracks throughout Oklahoma in 1998 before heading to Jacksonville, Florida to compete in the World Karting Association in December of 1999. He spent the following season following the karting circuit all over the country with the WKA, KART, IKF and Stars of Tomorrow.

By 2004 Crispin had accomplished all that karting had to offer an eleven-year-old, and his family decided that it was time to do something bigger. Rather than spend another year in a transitional form of motorsports they chose to take him directly into road racing. His performance would quickly justify the decision.

The Next Step: GT-3

In June of 2004 Crispin left go karts behind and moved into full sized racecars.

His family selected Hallett Motor Racing Circuit, a 1.7-mile road course west of Tulsa, as the next conquest in his escalating career. They purchased a race-prepared Toyota MR-2 for competition in Hallett's GT-3 class and a Volkswagon street car equipped with a manual transmission to teach Crispin the intricacies of the stick shift.

At eleven years of age Beaver picked up the knack of shifting quickly by working with his grandfather in the driveway of their home. Crispin followed up his transmission training with the Stephen's Brothers Driving School at Hallett, where he logged his first laps on a full-sized road course.

But before Crispin could get the car into competition, his driving abilities had already reached and exceeded the car's limits. Class regulations limited what could be done to increase the Toyota's speed so the only remaining option was to find a faster car.

Crispin would find one and make his mark with it the following season.

Going Faster: GT-2

After wringing out every last tenth that his GT-3 Toyota MR2 racecar could offer, Crispin moved into a newer and faster Mazda RX-7 in September of 2004.

Then just twelve years old and awaiting approval from the sanctioning body for a competition license, Beaver practiced in the car every month for the remainder of the season. He grew steadily quicker in the Mazda and was soon turning out lap times good enough to win GT-3 races and solidly compete in the faster GT-2 class.

Crispin entered competition with his new RX-7 the following March and won easily in GT-3... so easily, in fact, that Competition Motorsports Association officials mandated that he move up to the faster GT-2 class after only a handful of races.

The competition was tough at the GT-2 level, but Crispin met the challenge and was named the Competition Motorsports Association's Rookie of the Year. He closed out the season with a pair of wins to go with two runner-up finishes.

When the season ended there was little doubt that the teenager would return as a favorite in the 2006 title chase.

Read More on Crispin in the latest news section.