Windham High School sophomore revs up fast start in auto racing career

By Ed Pierce

He may only be a sophomore at Windham High School, but Cole Robie of Windham is quickly becoming a force to be reckoned with in professional auto racing.

Cole Robie of Windham, 16, won the Nelcar Tour Race at
Star Speedway in New Hampshire on Sept. 14 and that was
after he won the Legends Feature Race there on Aug. 30.
He comes from a racing family and has won five 
championships in just three years, starting at age 13.
COURTESY PHOTO 

Robie, 16, started racing three years ago at the age of 13 and since then has built a resume of success on the racetrack including winning five different championships so far and counting. Competing in his Legends car, Robie took the checkered flag and the features victory for the Nelcar Tour race at Star Speedway on New Hampshire on Sept. 14, and that came on the heels of his Legends feature win at the same racetrack on Aug. 30.

Racing cars in Legends, Late Model and Super Late Model divisions, despite his youth, Robie continues to rack up wins and experience as he ultimately aims for a career in the racing industry when he finishes school. His chances of doing that are excellent as racing is a family tradition with his grandfather, father and uncles all having raced professionally. Cole’s uncle, Derek Kneeland of Windham, is currently a spotter for NASCAR’s Richard Childress Racing and has been involved in the sport as a driver since he was young.

“I have always wanted to race,” Robie said. “My Dad had a lot of interest in getting me into racing and was the one that made it happen. We started in 2021, and racing is just in my blood.”

His exceptional driving skills and will to win at such a young age show that Windham remains at the forefront in state for developing championship auto racers, a fact not lost on Robie.

“There are a lot of race families born and raised in Windham and I just happen to be part of one,” he said. “Racing has just gone from generation to generation in those families which is pretty cool.”

Almost every weekend Robie can be found at the racetrack, and he travels to warmer states during the winter months when racing is not possible in New England.

According to Robie, he enjoys auto racing for several reasons.

“I like the adrenaline rush, and the speed factor,” he said. “I also like that it's an independent sport.”

And he’s been able to hold his own against older and more experienced drivers as his racing legacy grows.

Last year he captured his first Legend Car national title, winning the 2023 INEX Young Lions Road Course National Championship. In July, he topped an 11-car field during a Group B race at the New Hampshire Motor Speedway and in May Robie led for every single lap while cruising to a NELCAR Legends win at the Lee USA Speedway in New Hampshire.

“I think my family loves it, they have all been in the racing industry for many years and it's exciting for them to see me following my dreams,” he said. “They are all my biggest fans and supporters.”

Up next for Robie will be a Legends race at Dominion Motor Speedway in Woodland, Virginia on Saturday, Oct. 5 and then he will turn around and compete in a Super Late Model race on Sunday, Oct. 6 at Lee Motor Speedway in New Hampshire.

“The most challenging track I’ve ever raced on was at Hallett, Oklahoma in my Legend,” he said. “I didn't have a gear gauge and raced without knowing what gear I was in.”

As far as prestige races go, Robie says the biggest race he’s competed in thus far was in Las Vegas, Nevada for the Oval World Finals in his Legend car.

His racing journey has taken him all over the country this year including events at Anderson Motor Speedway in Williamston, South Carolina; Charlotte Motor Speedway in Concord, North Carolina; New London- Waterford Speedbowl in Waterford, Connecticut; Cordele Speedway in Cordele, Georgia; Claremont Motorsports Park in New Hampshire; Nashville Fairgrounds Speedway in Nashville, Tennessee; Southern National Motorsports Park in Lucama, North Carolina; Lee USA Speedway in Lee, New Hampshire; Star Speedway in Epping, New Hampshire; Caffeine and Octane’s Lanier Raceway in Braselton, Georgia; and the Citrus County Speedway in Inverness, Florida.

In 2024 alone, he’s won four times, finished in the Top Five nine times and in the Top 10 a total of 20 times with several months of racing left this year.

He attributes his success to his family, his race team and his friends.

“Everyone in the town that I know has been very supportive of my racing,” Robie said. “Some of my friends have even come along to some of the races and helped me out as part of my pit crew. My whole family and all of my friends are my biggest fans and supporters. I couldn't do any of this without all of them behind me.” <

Taking checkered flag in first ACT race lands Windham racer in record books

By Ed Pierce

Windham’s Brandon Barker joined some prestigious auto racers when he entered the record book by winning his first race on the American Canadian Tour at Lee USA Speedway in Lee, New Hampshire on May 21. Barker, 26, is only one of three drivers to win in their first ACT start, with the late Dale Earnhardt and DJ Kennington being the only others to accomplish that feat.

Brandon Barker of Windham won his first 
race on the ACT Tour at Lee USA Speedway
in New Hampshire on May 21. He entered
the record books along with the late Dale
Earnhardt and Canadian driver DJ
Kennington as the only drivers to win
an ACT race in their only ACT start.
PHOTO BY ALAN WARD

Barker is currently in the middle of a busy 2023 racing schedule that includes 35 races running from March through November. He’s been racing mostly super late cars but chose to enter the ACT’s New Hampshire Governor’s Cup 150 race driving a late model car at Lee USA Speedway and defeated 24 other drivers to claim the checkered flag there.

He took the wheel of the Sullivan Construction 0NH car to the pole position in the ACT race with current top rookie Andrew Molleur to his outside after both earned prime racing positions in preliminary heats. Barker grabbed the early lead and then regained it late in the race. He traded first place back and forth with driver Jimmy Renfrew until lap 145 when Renfrew spun out. With just five laps remaining, Barker held off a challenge from driver Gabe Brown to earn his first American Canadian Tour victory in just his first and only start on the ACT Tour. In winning, Barker joined an elite list of ACT winners in their only start which includes Earnhardt’s victory at Cayuga Motor Speedway in Ontario in 1983 and longtime NASCAR Pinty’s Canadian Series standout Kennington who won at the Lee USA Speedway in 2004.

“What I love about racing is the competition part of it mostly,” Barker said. “But also having a good group of crew guys going to the races, they make it fun. The challenges I’ve found about racing professionally have got to be the money aspect of it. It’s so dang expensive. I’m extremely grateful I got a good group of sponsors and people backing me.”

His start in racing came when Barker was 5 just turning 6 in 2003 at Beech Ridge Motor Speedway’s go-karting series. His grandfather obtained a couple of go-karts for Barker and his cousin to race there, and it prompted Barker to go on and pursue an auto racing career outside of his day job working for the Maine Turnpike Authority.

“Right now, I’m racing Super Late Models basically every weekend. And late model a few times,” he said. “I race on the Pro All Star series for Sam Snow, the Granite State Pro stock series, and the NASCAR weekly series Pro stocks at Lee USA Speedway for Archie St. Hilare, and a few American Canadian Tour Late Models for Chad Sullivan.”

He’s raced in Maine, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Connecticut, Pennsylvania, and North Carolina and his sponsors include DLM Property Care, NLM Custom Homes, Keen Parts, Corvette Parts, Sam Snow Construction, CBS Lobster, R.N. Craft, DiRenzo Rentals, and Maietta Towing.

“What I hope to accomplish in my racing career before I am finished is I have yet to win a Pro All Star series race. I really want to do that, it’s the only series I have raced in where I haven’t won,” Barker said. “If it happens and not at Oxford, then winning the Oxford 250 would be one because that’s my favorite race and one of the biggest races in the country. The most challenging track I’ve raced on has got to be the Thompson Speedway in Thompson, Connecticut. I have no idea why I’m terrible there, it’s a high bank of 5/8 mile with long straightaways. It’s the second fastest track we go to. Speed doesn’t bother me but I’m just not very good there.”

According to Barker, Maine has many great drivers like Mike Rowe, Ben Rowe, and Joey Doiron because of the abundance of great racetracks in the state.

“Beech Ridge is closed now but I think that flat tracks are the toughest tracks to get a handle on and if you do, you go to places with banking,” he said. “It helps your car’s handling usually, so if your good at the flat tracks you can usually go anywhere and be competitive.”

He credits other auto racers from Windham for giving him confidence and offering sound advice about racing when needed.

“Support from others in Windham comes from friends like Brad Babb and Bobby Timmons,” Barker said. “They’re older than me so they were always a step ahead. I looked up to them and would ask their advice. Whether it was good advice or not, it seems to have worked out.”

Barker’s girlfriend, Sara Wear, has a brother and father who also race, so she is used to the competitive aspect of the sport and tries to attend as many of Barker’s races whenever possible.

His next race is scheduled for Saturday, June 3 at Riverside Speedway in Northumberland, New Hampshire for the Granite State pro stock series and then on Sunday, June 4, he’ll compete at Oxford Plains Speedway in Maine in the Pro All Star series.

But if he doesn’t win any further races this year, Barker will remember 2023 for his history making victory in the ACT New Hampshire Governor’s Cup 150.

“First, you never forget your first win, that is the most satisfying feeling, winning your first one,” he said. “But winning your first touring race feels great because it proves you can do it and you belong to be out there.” <