Funny what can happen as a result of one simple request.
Back in 2007, 11-year old Tom Appleton saw an ad for F1 Boston, the indoor go-kart racing facility in Braintree.
"I've been interested in racing since I was a little kid," the North Andover resident said, citing influential connections with the sport from prior generations in England.
He asked his father, Rick, if he could attend a camp at F1, hoping to get more education on the intricacies of karting and a step up on a junior license that would allow him to race.
But that day four years ago did so much more, and now Appleton, who turns 16 in July, is on the cusp of taking his talents to a national level, and all thanks to one set of eyes that saw something special.
"Arie Ouimet spotted me and suggested that I was too good for indoor racing and that I should do outdoor competitive karting," Appleton said.
Ouimet, a Plymouth resident who is a descendant of historic golfer Francis Ouimet, was already on the road Appleton was looking to travel. He was discovered by F1 Boston founder R.J. Valentine and was succeeding in karting.
In 2008, Ouimet was named eKarting News driver of the year as a high schooler and decided to eschew pursuit of an engineering degree to move up to compete racing cars in the Volkswagen TDI Cup series two years later. And in 2011, he's been named chief driving instructor at F1 New Jersey and will race select events in the Grand Am Continental Tire Series.
"During his indoor racing, everyone said Thomas had natural skill," Rick said. "Now half of that was sales talk and half was reality, but when we went down to F1's outdoor track in East Bridgewater and he was given an outdoor kart, he was really good."
After opening eyes racing indoor vehicles that had wrap-around bumpers and could hit 40 MPH tops, Tom adapted easily to outdoor karts that went as fast as 90 MPH and, more importantly, needed a special synergy between driver and ride.
"You really have to understand your engine and kart," Tom said, "and there's no bumpers on the outdoor karts so you can flip. The racers are very experienced so the risk is less, but you can potentially crash. I got a lot of help to try and overcome these dangers."
The Appletons decided to acquire a kart and started racing in September 2008.
"It was a really big opportunity, but it's not good for the wallet," Rick said. "But it's no different than having a kid playing hockey. Most of the races are pretty cheap — they could cost a couple of hundred dollars."
With F1 outdoors in East Bridgewater as a home base, the Appletons competed in the Northeast Rotax Max Challenge, a circuit covering New England, New York and New Jersey. Rotax is an engine manufacturer that sponsors four levels of competition featuring the exact same engine per division, putting a premium on chassis adjustments to optimize the kart to the driver's weight and skills.
With few sponsors, instead of having a support staff to help analyze and prepare the kart, Tom and Rick took on all the work themselves, getting help from SSC East Racing (now known as CRG America) and the sponsorship of JAR General Construction of Haverhill.
"We were able to compete in three or four races at the back end of the season to see how we compared," Tom said.
The experience was such that Team Appleton took on Junior Max competition full-time in 2009, getting off to such a strong start last season that it was suggested that Tom step up in class.
"The Senior class can have racers from age 16 to 30, but if you have a level of skill you can move up," Rick Appleton said. "Also, he was one of the heavier drivers (by weight of car and driver) in Juniors but one of the lighter in Seniors so that would be a competitive advantage. But the competitive level in Seniors would be far superior."
Easier done than said for the teenager, who scored a second-place finish in his first Senior Max race followed by a third the next day. And when the 2010 season was completed, involving eight races, Tom ranked as the second-best racer in the Northeast region, only trailing Rotex National champion Mark Pellegrini, and 17th nationally. On the club circuit, he was right behind nationallty ranked Grant Schilling, who's also a standout on the year-round Florida circuit.
As usual, success creates more important career decisions.
An opportunity to compete in Nationals had to be passed on last year as it was "financially out of our league" Rick said, plus it would have taken Tom away from school for too long.
But this year, the Appletons are really taking the plunge. In addition to Rotex Senior Max competition starting the weekend of April 15 in Cuddebackville, N.Y. and local club series races in East Bridgewater, Tom accepted an invitation into World Karting Assoc. Manufacturers Cup races. In all, he'll be racing almost two dozen times from April through November.
"We moved to North Andover from the UK nine years ago for my work," Rick said. "Indy Car and NASCAR are very US-centric but Formula 1 and karting are much bigger in Europe. That's why we want to get into WKA because it involves European and Canadian competition. A lot of top-level car racers do WKA.
"WKA is the key one this year because we're looking to get recognized. If you can get sponsorship, you can compete nationally and also get better coaching. I'm his dad and Thomas is successful regionally, but he needs a true race manager and a tuner for his car. To have a whole team behind you, it takes you to the next level."
A stint at Bondurant Racing School in Phoenix will provide another valuable level of visibility.
"It's a couple of days of one-on-one instruction," Rick said. "It's nationally recognized and all the best racers we've seen have been there. If you put on the list that (Tom) has academic training and national ability, it's a good investment."
If exposure pays off with sponsorships, moving to Florida for the winter season and year-round racing could be the next step.
"Good racers jump from race cars to karts," Rick said. "Even if you get in just one or two races, you can get spotted."
Apart from being discovered, and with an ultimate goal of car racing in the future, Tom is going to "try to do as good as I can in New England — hopefully top-three, get my name out there and get sponsors, keep pushing and become a better driver."
And all this came about one day in 2007 when Arie Ouimet saw the potential in Tom Appleton's racing skills.
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What is Rotex? WKA?
The 10-year old Rotex Max Challenge features competition on local, regional and national levels between karts using the same 125cc engine. With sealed engines that can't be adjusted, driver skill and technical adjustments to the karts can make key competitive differences.
The Northeast region of the Rotex Max Challenge starts April 16 at Oakland Valley Race Parkin N.Y. and ends Oct. 23 at F1 New Jersey, totaling a dozen races.
World Karting Association (WKA) is celebrating its 40th season of regulating and promoting the sport of kart racing and has more than 10,000 members competing at 120 tracks nationwide with a strong international presence as well.
WKA has five divisions of racing including the Manufacturers Cup that Tom Appleton will be competing in.
The next Manufacturers Cup event starts April 29 in South Bend, Ind. and the season finishes with competitions in Wampum, Penn. in July and New Castle, Ind. in mid-Sept.
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