It’s a hot summer Saturday night at Rockingham Raceway Park, but the action is also heating up in the pit area.

Legends and Bandolero racing has moved to Saturday nights at Little Rock, the smaller track located within the Rockingham Raceway Park complex.

The smaller cars attract a host of younger racers, who often start in go-karts but eventually need a little more speed.

Some of the young drivers travel great distances to get to Rockingham and hit the quarter-mile Little Rock track.

That was certainly the case for 10-year-old Chris Lomartire, who came from Millbury, Mass. with his father, Mike, to compete for the first time at Rockingham.

The younger Lomartire has been racing since age 4. He’s already a veteran of the Bandolero circuit, winning five races so far after hitting Victory Lane six times last year.

Lomartire and his family could soon be regulars at “The Rock:” They will be moving to Davidson in a few weeks.

The Lomartire family is already very familiar with the area, racing often at Charlotte Motor Speedway.

“I love the adrenaline rush,” Lomartire said.

Clayton Weatherman, 12, of Missouri, already has several Rock wins under his belt this season, so he’s very familiar with the course.

Weatherman has his auto racing future pretty much figured out.

“Next year, I want to drive Legends cars,” Weatherman said. “When I turn 16, I’ll drive late models. And when I turn 18, I hope to be in NASCAR.”

Both Weatherman and Lomartire won their heat races prior to the 8 p.m. Bandit feature.

But when feature time rolled around, their fortunes took divergent paths: Weatherman won the race, while Lomartire developed mechanical problems and did not finish.

But that’s racing, and both youngsters plan to be back on the track again soon.

Contact sports editor David Vantress at 997-3111, ext. 14 or via email at dvantress@yourdailyjournal.com.