In 2025, Johnny Kaminskey became the youngest driver to compete in Ferrari Challenge North America competition. Moreover, rather than work his way up from the Am class, he debuted in Trofeo Pirelli alongside the fastest drivers in the series. And, on his very first weekend, he stood twice on the podium -- 3rd place x 2. Sixteen years old.

A season-best 2nd place came at the season's third stop, the Miami International Autodrome, two weekends after F1 raced there. As a side note, my apologies if Miami's palm trees don't quite fit the current holiday aesthetic, but so it goes. Then, at season-ending Finali Mondiali, Kaminskey grabbed a pole position. And when the final checker fell on the season, he sat 4th in thepoints chase, a laudable result given his experience.

They say youth is wasted on the young. But that's not what I saw this year. Johnny's father Brian signed an age waiver for Johnny to compete in 2025, but that was insufficient at Watkins Glen. Too young to compete. Did Johnny stay home that weekend, though? Nope. While I was making a first stroll through the Glen garages, his was one of the first faces I saw, so I made a beeline to say "Hello." It quickly became apparent that he wasn't just there to cheer his teammates that weekend. He was there to learn as much as he could when he couldn't be in the car. Sure enough, whenever I saw him thereafter, he was peering over shoulders, talking to the One11 Competition team engineers, pouring though data,

observing the crew working on the cars...

A final thing I'll note: Throughout the season, Johnny was active in the Kids for Kids Foundation, a charitable organization focused on helping families that struggle with catastrophic pediatric health crises. It's a cause

close to my heart, so it made me that much more a fan. And being we're in the season of giving, https://www.kidsforkidsnyc.org/if you're interested in learning

more.

Youth wasted on the young? Nah, not always. I look forward to Johnny's next chapter.