You might not see it at first glance, but Hunter Cross stands out from other 8-year-old kids. Not many third-graders at Discovery Bay Elementary School share his need for speed.

Hunter got into racing by taking the driver’s seat in a go-kart. He found that racing go-karts was difficult, as they all run at more or less the same speed. That’s when he turned his attention to dirt bikes, which is where his focus has been for two and a half years.

“You couldn’t race,” Hunter said. “It (dirt biking) was funner. There was jumps and stuff. It was pretty cool.”

Depending on which series he’s racing in, Hunter spends most of his time racing against kids between 10 and 12, sometimes even 14 and 15. His mother, Kari, likes his chances at developing in the sport, as all those kids will be forced to move to higher levels, while Hunter will stay where he’s at and be far more experienced than kids of his own age when they get there.

His experience in the sport has been largely local, although some of those events are bigger, national events. From here, he hopes to gain more sponsors and take his love of the sport to events held throughout the country.

“He wants to grow with people sponsoring him,” Kari said. “He’s made some friends who are older, so he’s gotten some experience. The next step is to travel to national events. We’ve done some local, national events. Next year we hope to go to bigger ones. We need sponsors.”

Hunter’s experience hasn’t come without drawbacks. He got into the dirt biking two and half years ago, but a year of that was spent rehabilitating a leg broken during practice.

“He was warming up a bike,” Kari said. “It was a little fall, but he fell the right way. It’s actually kind of funny. He’s had these spectacular crashes and was fine. It’s the little, silly crashes when he gets hurt.”

At some point, the goal is for Hunter to turn professional – but his goals are even more ambitious than that. “I’m hoping to be one of the best dirt bikers ever,” Hunter said. “I just keep on trying my best. I want to improve more and more each day. It’s pretty fun for people to try who have never done it before. It’s really fun.”

To keep track of Hunter and his races, log on to www.hunter71.wordpress.com.