Lucas Cram is a young man with a racing dream. Originally from Loudon, NH, the 18-year-old has relocated to Mooresville, NC to pursue that dream.
Currently, Cram races Late Models and jumps on iRacing when time allows. He was kind enough to share his racing journey with PPN. Cram will be one to watch over the years.
To start, please share your racing story. What drew you to the sport? Where did you get your start? Get us to the here and now, if you would. Racing has always been a pivotal part of my life. I was born into a family of racing fans, so naturally, it fell into place really well for me. For as long as I can remember, every weekend I have always been glued to the TV set watching races from start to finish, dreaming of just getting an opportunity to be out there doing it myself one day.
Unfortunately, racing, as most everyone knows, comes with a pretty high cost, and finically it wasn’t obtainable for me to do growing up. I moved south from New Hampshire to Mooresville, North Carolina like many others, in pursuit of chasing the racing dream. I started working as a valet driver, and after saving some money and building connections through incredible people, I was fortunate enough to begin racing this past summer.
Do you have a pre-race routine? If so, what is it? The main goal I set for myself during a race week is hydration. It’s the number one thing you hear most anybody list simply because of its importance with the physical requirements of being inside a hot race car. Outside of that, being fresh to racing, I’m still learning things myself and what works best for me as far as workouts and nutrition.
What has been the most memorable moment of your racing career? Obviously just starting out, I don’t have too many memorable moments. The one that still would have to remain at the top, for now, would be my first race. It was a really surreal moment in my life realizing that on a small scale, my dream had turned into a reality, and putting that helmet visor down and coming to the green flag was beyond exhilarating.
Which track is your favorite to race at? At the moment the only track I’ve actually competed at thus far has been Caraway Speedway. It’s about a 4/10s-mile oval over in Sophia, North Carolina, and I’ve had a lot of fun racing around there. The place has a lot of really unique characteristics that not only makes it enjoyable, but also a fantastic track to learn on.
We see that you are into iRacing. Were you racing on iRacing before you raced in real life? If so, how did iRacing prepare you for real-life racing? Â iRacing was a tremendous tool for me before I started real life competition. I first started about 5 years ago and I’ve had a lot of fun with it during that time. More importantly, it helped teach me several aspects of racing that outside of the real thing, you can only obtain by experiencing it through something so realistic.
The only piece that can’t be replicated is the actual seat feel of the car. Without being strapped straight into the car and experiencing everything the car feels, it does change it. However, I actually almost feel as though learning to race without that feeling in sim racing, it can be an additional tool to use to your advantage in the real life car, once you get accustomed to it of course. I still love to jump on the sim to turn laps and participate in races during the week.
What hobbies do you have outside of racing? To be perfectly honest, if it’s not related to cars or racing, I probably don’t have much interest. Most of my free time is spent on something involving a steering wheel.
If you could race at any track, which track would it be and why? That’s definitely a tough question. For me personally, it would be surreal to get an opportunity to race at New Hampshire Motor Speedway, just because I have so many memories of being there as a kid and watching racing. Daytona and Bristol are also two tracks that have to be at the top of my list with the amount of prestige that surrounds those places.
Is there a driver you consider an inspiration? Easy, Jimmie Johnson. For as long as I can remember watching racing, I’ve watched Jimmie be one of the legends of the sport. Aside from his humble upbringings and incredible talent, he carried himself in such a way that not many can live up to, all while being an absolute dominant force. He truly lives and breathes racing and easily made a fan out of me at a very young age, and I still continue to look up to him through each new challenge he takes upon.
Do you have any racing plans for 2023? At the moment it will essentially be a continuation of what the rest of this year looks like. Racing to gain experience as much as funding and schedules allow.
Follow Lucas –
Facebook – Lucas Cram Racing
Instagram – lucas_cram_44
Twitter – LucasCram44
