Jake Fattibene started racing cars just this year and has already made his mark on the track — in a big way.

The Sandy Hook Elementary School second-grader’s passion and determination were rewarded when he earned Rookie of the Year honors at the Silver City Quarter Midget Race Track annual awards banquet earlier in December.

Fattibene ended the season with nine wins, two second-place finishes, and a pair of third-place finishes at the Meriden-based track. He was also awarded the “Fast Time” award by setting the fastest lap time in his division with a time of 6.932 seconds. He finished first in two very prestigious races hosted by Silver City, The Eagle Race of Champions on October 6 and the Glen Reilly Memorial Race on October 13.

The young racer goes an average of 30 to 35 miles per hour, passing other cars and being passed — though he does more of the former.

“My favorite part about racing is that it’s exciting, and you go very fast, so I’m really excited to race every weekend on Saturday,” Fattibene said.

Fattibene competes in circle track racing for drivers ages 5 to 16 at the track, which celebrated its 60th anniversary this year. It is where this year’s NASCAR Monster Energy Series Champion, Joey Logano, began his racing career when he was Fattibene’s age.

Drivers are separated into classes by age, engine, and weight. Fattibene, now 8 years old, started in April when he was 7 and went thru six weeks of Novice School, learning all the ins and outs of racing, until he graduated in mid-May and began the actual racing season in the Junior Novice division.

This is a family sport, and although Fattibene is the driver and makes all of the on-track decisions as far as speed; momentum; passing; and probably most important, collision avoidance, he is supported by all of his family in one way or another. His dad, Dean, is crew chief; mom, Melissa, is in charge of safety; Jack Dunleavy and Richard Fattibene, his grandfathers, serve as pit crew; and little sister, Brooke, is in charge of cheering and is always on smile patrol.

“The cars are a quarter the size of real midget race cars, but not go-karts as they are often confused with,” Dean said.

“The children and families all own and work on their own cars and equipment. They must meet extensive safety requirements, including fire retardant suits and gloves, full roll cages, Hans or similar neck collars, and full five-point safety harnesses,” Dean added.

The Rookie of the Year racer said the hardest part about racing is passing other cars, something he has learned to do only on the inside for safety reasons.

“This is open wheel racing, and even though accidents, spin outs, collisions, and the occasional rollovers do happen, injuries are rare, and the sport is considered safer than most team sports,” according to Dean Fattibene.

“Even at this level, the sport is taken extremely seriously, and drivers are penalized for reckless driving and are held accountable for their on-track actions by a strict national sanctioning body called QMA (Quarter Midgets of America), which governs many tracks just like Silver City across the country. Just like in NASCAR, points are awarded based on racing performance throughout the season, and at the end, a champion is crowned,” Dean Fattibene added.

Off the race track, Jake Fattibene enjoys riding quads and skiing and also plays basketball. Next year, he looks forward to moving up to run in two divisions, which will be more competitive with more engine power.