GETTYSBURG – Rayson Sheehan may be young, but he is far from inexperienced.

The 14-year-old Gettysburg driver is having a big season at Brown County Speedway this summer and is currently second in points in the Legends division.

While most kids his age have spent little time behind a wheel, Sheehan has been racing longer than one might imagine.

Sheehan got his start when he was just 3-years-old, when he began racing a flat cart before moving to a wing cart, and now, a Legends car.

“Just from going from a compact track down to a little looser of a track like Aberdeen, you have to drive the cars differently,” Sheehan said. “You have to drive the car a little more going into the corners and on the straightaways with the Legends, and then on the flat carts and wing carts they’re theoretically the same to me.”

Sheehan had some help from his dad when he got started in racing. Sheehan’s father used to race A Modifieds, B Modifieds and Street Stock cars and instead of continuing his own career, he helped jumpstart his son’s journey in racing.

“My dad put me in a car at 3,” Sheehan said. “He put me in one at 3, and after that I just fell in love with it.”

The teen likes the thrill of racing, and also the opportunity it affords to spend time with his family.

“I just like going fast,” Sheehan said. “It’s just fun in general. I like traveling around with my dad and family. It gets us close and together.”

As much as Sheehan loves racing, he is also involved in plenty of other sports as he plays baseball, football, golf and basketball.

Each sport is a lot different, but Sheehan carries a similar mindset into each one.

“For me, I just want to be determined for all of them,” Sheehan said. “If I don’t have my mind on it, I’m not going to do well at it.”

In his first season in a Legends car, Sheehan is right near the top in points and credits the people around him for his success.

“It’s really just my dad and Mike Jager,” Sheehan said. “They’ve been helping me get my setup right and we’ve been putting many hours into this.”

With all the work spent working on the car, Sheehan is itching to get his first win.

“Hopefully we get a win this year,” Sheehan said. “And then multiple coming with it throughout the years.”

After a year in the Legends and with all his previous racing experience, Sheehan has gained some valuable insights.

“Really, I just try to be patient,” Sheehan said. “If you’re not patient, you’ll instantly know it and you’ll find yourself doing something wrong and wrecking. I just keep myself composed. … You just want to keep yourself together. If something goes wrong, it’s OK; I’ll figure it out next time and then I’ll watch the race over to see what I did wrong.”

​While Sheehan has learned things on his own, he still gets help and some of it comes from the people he’s competing against.

“It’s awesome; I’ll ask them what I did wrong and what I can improve on after the race,” Sheehan said. “I ask them questions, because they’ve already been through what I’m going through and if they haven’t, then they just give their best answer. It’s great because they’re the best in the nation. It’s awesome.”

While just getting started in his Legends car, Sheehan already has future goals in mind for his racing career.

“I want to race an A modified or B modified in the future,” Sheehan said. “And if I do well in that, hopefully I’ll move up to a late model.”