Driver Profile Devlin DeFrancesco

Devlin DeFrancesco has always been in a hurry. Just ask his mom, Cathy, who gave birth to him an incredible fifteen weeks premature! Yes, you read it right. Speeding into the world as a one pound baby boy that could rest in the palm of your hand, Devlin spent his next four months of life in an incubator at Women’s College Hospital in Toronto. He was issued last rites on multiple occasions, and in the event he did survive, he faced doing so while plagued with challenges due to his jump-start into the world. Suffice it to say, the boy can overcome obstacles.

Ten years and seventy pounds later he continues to live his life in fast-forward, a new star in North American racing who won a Canadian National Karting Championship in his first attempt. Perhaps aptly named with DeFrancesco its champion, Devlin raced in the Micro-Max class with the youngest racers in the country, but there’s nothing little about the speed his race kart produces. If it found its way to a Highway or Interstate, it would pass any car cruising the posted speed limit and surely catch the eye of police watching on with a radar gun. It’s quick to be sure, and one doesn’t have to look far to see where the kid’s need for speed originated.

His father Andrew is a huge fan of Formula One, Indycar, and pretty much anything that moves quickly. He has been one of the biggest sponsors and supporters of North American kart racing in recent years, and has formed many friendships through motorsports that are now extending to his son. Devlin was coached by former IMSA prototype racer and Formula Kartways owner David Tennyson when he raced in Canada and attended Sterling Hall School for Boys, and since a family move to Florida - into the former home of Paul Tracy of all people - Devlin now attends St. Anthony’s Academy in South Florida and races under the guidance of Bobby Wilson, one of America’s most celebrated karting champions and a former Indy-Pro driver. Wilson manages DeFrancesco Racing, a race team which has quickly attracted some of the most talented young drivers in the United States.

Successful since its inception, team drivers consistently set fastest laps, stand on podiums and score wins in both Canada and the United States. The same can be said for DeFrancesco, as he has done all three on both sides of the border while racing in a variety of championships. His 2010 season has seen a jump in class to both Rotax Mini-Max and Vortex TaG Cadet, and once again he has scored poles, wins, and fastest laps. The new season has also led to an expanded racing calendar, as along with competing in three major US National Championships, Devlin is contesting his first full international schedule racing in the World Series of Karting Master Series. For the boy who came into the world so small, there is no racing challenge proving too big.