NAMPA, Idaho — Most Nampa High School sophomores aren't spending their weekends behind the wheel of a race car.
But for Kole Jennings, one season was all it took to go from first-time driver to one of the top local high school racers.
A year ago, Jennings only knew drag racing through his dad's stories and a quick family outing to Firebird Raceway.
WATCH: See how Jennings went from first-time driver to drag racing runner-up
"Just a midnight grudge race and I was like, oh, this looks like fun. Let's do this," Jennings said.
His family found a 1998 Pontiac Trans Am and spent the fall and winter getting it ready for his first season. By summer, Jennings was already racing through some adversity.
He broke his left leg at football practice, then while still recovering, returned to the track weeks later and still made the final round.
Then, with one race left in the local season, the Trans Am broke down. So he found another car: his mom's SUV.
"Mom's car's all-wheel drive. We're going to use that one because you know it'll hook up," Jennings said.
In high school bracket racing, that can actually work. The winner is not simply whoever has the fastest car. Drivers predict how long their car will take to run the quarter mile, down to the thousandth of a second.
"All consistency," Jennings said. "You say you're going to run a 14-second quarter mile, you have to run the 14-second exactly when you cross it."
Jennings had only two practice passes in his mom's SUV before race day and kept advancing.
"And kept winning, so I was like, oh, we'll keep doing this," he said.
He took the SUV all the way to the semifinals. By the end of his first season, Jennings finished second overall among more than 40 high school racers.
Now, the sophomore has his sights set one spot higher.
"Hopefully, winning a championship, taking first place overall next year," Jennings said.
Jennings said he plans to keep drag racing while also pursuing a career path in CTE.
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