Simi's Crow feels like he's on the right track

Photos courtesy of Rick Crow FAMILY IN THE FAST LANE—Rick Crow, center back, a three-time NASCAR champion and owner of more than 100 career wins in six NASCAR divisions, shows off his race car with his family in 2006. Clockwise from Crow are his wife, Cherilyne, his sons, Garrett and Joey, and daughter Lacee. Garrett is a standout on the SVHS track team. It may not be the one his father once envisioned him competing on, but it appears that Simi Valley High senior Garrett Crow is on the fast track to success.

The 17-year-old is the son of Rick Crow, a three-time NASCAR track champion and the owner of more than 100 career wins in six different NASCAR divisions.

Garrett said that ever since he could remember, he wanted to be a race car driver.

"The night I was born, the loudspeaker at the raceway didn't just announce that my father had won a race, it also said he was the father of a new son," Garrett said. "So, yeah, I was introduced to the sport pretty quick.

"Racing has been a big part of my life. It's definitely helped me grow closer to my dad, which I'm real proud of because not every kid can say that."

Garrett Crow Although Garrett dreamed of following in his father's footsteps, Rick and his wife, Cherilyne, refused to let their son make a career driving race cars until he graduated college.

"The most important thing is that Garrett gets his college diploma," Rick said. "Once that happens, then he can do anything he wants. He will have earned it, and I'll be behind him a trillion percent."

Over the years, when Garrett started to beg too much to have his parents change their minds, Rick would just remind his son of Garrett's first experience behind the wheel.

When Garrett was 3, he drove his dad's racing car through his friend's kitchen wall.

"My dad's car had a pushbutton start, and I had watched him start it up so many times," Garrett said. "I climbed into the car that was parked in the garage, and I started wondering, 'What does this button do?' Next thing I knew I went through a wall."

Photo courtesy of Rick Crow MULTITALENTED—In addition to his role running hurdles for Simi Valley High's track team, senior Garrett Crow also served as a reserve on the Pioneer basketball squad during the winter season. Rick rolls his eyes at the memory.

"After that, I made sure to turn off all the switches in the car when I wasn't in it," Rick said.

Not yet able to race, Garrett decided to give track and field a try during the spring of his freshman year at SVHS.

"I came home one day, and my wife tells me that our son wants to run track," Rick said. "I'm like, 'Haven't we been through this already,' and she tells me, 'No, he wants to run high school track and field.' I wasn't sure because it didn't seem like one of the 'cool sports,' but my wife told me to just give him a chance."

Blessed with a tall frame, Garrett was intrigued with running the hurdles and gave the 110meter event a try.

"I had never run track, but I always considered myself pretty fast," Garrett said. "Whether it was racing my friends at home or trying to be the first one to the playground at school, I was usually pretty quick."

Unfortunately, Garrett didn't have the same kind of success in his first high school event.

"Yeah, I did pretty poor in my first race," Garrett said. "I think I came in last place. I was pretty bummed, but I knew I still had the 300 hurdles later that day. I hadn't really practiced that event, but for some reason I did really well in it."

Soon after that day in Moorpark, Garrett realized the 300 was a perfect fit for him.

"I liked the 300 hurdles more because it's not as much of a sprint," Garrett said. "There is a longer distance between the hurdles in the 300, where in the 100 they seem to come immediately after each other."

It didn't take long for Rick to enjoy watching the sport.

"I get the same kind of rush from watching (Garrett) run as I did racing cars," Rick said. "It's an individual sport with the same kind of atmosphere; the only difference obviously is that you don't have a car."

Rick also noticed he wasn't the only one paying attention to his son.

Garrett "was doing pretty good, and I started hearing coaches say, 'Where did this boy come from?' They asked me if he had a personal trainer, and I kind of laughed and said no. The coaches then looked at me seriously and said, 'Well, you better get him one fast. He's for real.'"

The coaches' assumptions proved correct; Garrett has qualified for the Marmonte League championships in each of his first three years at Simi Valley, as well as being named by the school as the Pioneers' top hurdler.

Last season, Garrett finished fifth in the 300-meter hurdles at the Ventura County Championships and was named to the AllVentura County first team.

"I started to realize that I'm pretty good at this and maybe I can get a college education this way," Garrett said. "My goal this year is to improve in every event I compete in but mostly to get a time under 40 seconds in the 300 hurdles."

Garrett is receiving college offers but said he plans to make his decision after his senior year.

Garrett also enjoyed being a bench player for the SVHS basketball team that advanced this year to the CIF-Southern Section Division IIA quarterfinals.

One of his favorite moments on the hardwood came last week when his teammate, Danny Cox, hit a 3-pointer with 1.5 seconds remaining to defeat Compton in the first round.

"We were all pretty nervous on the bench in those final moments, but as soon as the ball left Danny's hands I knew it was good," Garrett said.

As for getting behind the wheel of a race car again, Garrett can't wait.

"You have to understand, my favorite sport I compete in is track and field, but my favorite sport overall is NASCAR," Garrett said. "The first shot I get at it, I'm going to take it."