Newbie News: Austin Langenstein: 'Prodigy in Training'

As Austin Langenstein puts it, "I have been racing my whole life." As a third generation driver, this 15-year-old phenom indeed has racing in his blood and speed in his genes. 

It is no wonder that Langenstein has been affectionately dubbed "Prodigy in Training" by many who know of his racing pedigree and have watched him successfully battle on the track.

Langenstein comes from a racing family, following in the footsteps of both his grandfather and his father.

Austin's father, Charlie Langenstein, is an accomplished racer, with over 250 feature wins and countless track and series championships in the Northeast Dirt modified ranks. In 2008, Charlie was inducted into the Dirt Motorsports Hall of Fame.

Austin's dad currently works as the mechanical supervisor for Hendrick Motorsports and is responsible for the Jeff Gordon and Jimmie Johnson Sprint Cup teams. In 2008, Charlie  received the Papa Joe Hendrick Award of Excellence.

Austin's mother Beth also comes from a racing family. In fact, his parents Charlie and Beth met through racing and it has been a part of their lives ever since.

Several of Austin's four other siblings are involved in the racing world as well. His sister Kasey loves racing, and has done internships in public relations for teams such as Stewart-Haas Racing. 

Austin's sister Riley, who has faced many challenges of her own, cheers her big brother on at ever race track where she can be present.

The Langensteins have a race shop right in their home where they work on the cars. "We do it as a family," said young Austin.

Austin Langenstein has been racing since he was eight years old. As with most race car drivers, he started racing in quarter midgets and then progressed to go karts.

Unfortunately, at that stage in his life, Langenstein developed terrible allergies. It was a struggle for him to even breathe in the race car.

After consulting with his family, Austin decided to sit out for a few race seasons, not wanting to jeopardize himself or anyone else on the track because of his allergies.

During this time away from racing, Langenstein focused instead on playing football, where he was a great competitor and had much success.

But Langenstein could not stay away from the car for long. With his allergies under control, he asked his father if he could return to racing full throttle and with complete focus.

For the 2009 season, Langenstein has dedicated himself to running the 600 Racing INEX Young Gun Bandolero series. He intends to run for the Bandolero Young Gun National Championship, with races at Lowe's Motor Speedway in their annual Summer Shoot Out Series and select races at Concord Motorsports Park, Bowman Gray.

Langenstein will also race in September at Orange County Speedway, the Spooktacular 100, and the Winter Heat Series events. The team will head to Atlanta Motor Speedway to prepare for Nationals and may make other "road trips" if points are needed to win the overall National Title.

While the family has been preparing the car as their "project," Austin has been working hard at preparing himself physically and mentally. Langenstein has been working out regularly and has lost fifty pounds.

"I go to the gym every day," said Langenstein. "I do weights, cardio and watch what I eat. That includes a lot of grilled chicken salads."

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