Dean Freitas, a Kapolei resident, captured first place at the Pacific Sprint Car A-Main Event at the Silver Dollar Speedway in Chico, Calif., last month.

Freitas owns a Maxim Sprint Car that he stores in San Francisco to use for Mainland races. Freitas has won eight Hawai'i track championships. In 2003, he won the United States Auto Club Southwestern Sprint Car Classic.

"My father introduced racing to me at a very young age and I have been involved in it ever since," said Freitas, a Saint Louis school graduate. "The competition, excitement, speed, and my family are what keeps me going."