Derek Kraus won his first stock car race last summer in Wisconsin. It came three days before he turned 14.

The Stratford, Wis., middle school student has made a name for himself on the short-track circult across the country even though he is not old enough for a driver’s permit. In December he was the youngest driver to ever qualify for the Snowball Derby in Pensacola, Fla., a prestigious 150-mile race Super Late Model race which has attracted some of the top NASCAR drivers over the years. His dream is to one day be competing at the top level of stock cars as well.

“The biggest goal would be to make it to NASCAR,” Kraus said. “But first we have to focus on everything that is down here in Super Late Models and win all the stuff that we can in that.”

Kraus made the jump to stock cars last year in the progression of a career that has had him go from racing go-karts to Bandoleros to trucks, finally, when he turned 12.

“I like the adrenaline rush,” Kraus said of racing. “You can feel it on your body, the speed.”