Cade Richards is a humble kid. Some fellow students at Lincoln East High School don't even know that he races cars, and does so quite successfully.
Even his parents, Jessica and Matt, often talk about the 16-year-old's grace.
"He's super good-natured, calm," his mother said. "We unintentionally put a lot on his shoulders."
Cade Richards has been racing for most of his life — since he was 4. Matt Richards also raced and hoped Cade would enjoy the sport, and Cade's grandfather had worked on cars his whole life, setting off a line of Richards men made for racing.Â
And the youngest has been finding success on the track.
In his first season, Cade Richards had 50 top-10 finishes in 55 starts, including 32 top-five finishes, and he took the checkered flag five times. That led him to being named the IMCA Sportmod Rookie of the Year when he was 14, despite racing for most of the season with a broken hand.
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"Sometimes I'm nervous before a race because there's a lot of stuff to keep track of and set up," Cade Richards said. "But when everything goes well, it isn't like anything else."
This month, Cade Richards is going to the Duel in the Desert race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, where he'll be racing against 150 other competitors.
The speedway also is putting on a 24-car charity race in which Cade Richards is entered. The winner will have $1,000 donated in his name to the charity of his choice.
Cade Richards will race for the Food Bank of Lincoln, whose emblem is on the top of the sportmod he'll race in Las Vegas.
"With the holidays coming up, we figured we'd give back to the community instead of just publicity for the food bank," he said. "We're just trying to give back, and it ain't hurting anyone."
In late October, Cade Richards — with his sportmod in tow — visited Speedway Motors, College View Auto Sales and Leach Camper Sales to meet with community members and receive donations for the food bank.
Jessica Richards said her son is the one who chose the food bank and he called on the businesses to set up the meet and greets.
Cans of food and monetary donations all made their way to Cade Richards, which he passed off to the food bank. When he told his out-of-state racing buddies to donate to their local shelters, they ignored him and sent money to the food bank here.
This kind of support for Cade Richards isn't uncommon, but certainly appreciated.
"An old competitor of Cade's, someone whose won nine titles, is taking Cade's sportmod for him to Las Vegas," Jessica said. "Just because he had an extra trailer."
Part of these overt acts of kindness towards her son, Jessica Richards thinks, is because Cade Richards garners respect. He works on his own cars, something Matt Richards stressed, and embraces that hard work.
"People are excited that someone young like him is doing well and working towards his goal," she said. "He's actually a lot like Matt. They both take it very serious."
And so does she. Jessica and Matt Richards drove more than 20,000 miles during their son's rookie-of-the-year season, ferrying Cade Richards to different races and heats.
They left Sunday for Las Vegas, and runs until Saturday. Cade's teachers at East are all in the loop, and he's on top of his schoolwork, the first priority of the Richards family.Â
"I'm really excited," Cade said. "I'm confident in my abilities."