Racing into reading

Woodland Heights students read 900 books to win NHMS reading contest, earning pizza party with NASCAR driver

By ROGER AMSDEN, for THE LACONIA DAILY SUN

LACONIA — First- and fourth-graders at Woodland Heights Elementary School were rewarded for reading the most books in New Hampshire Motor Speedway's Speeding to Read program by having NASCAR driver Brennan Poole visit their school Tuesday morning.

Poole brought along a NASCAR race car, which he started up for the students, who later peppered him with questions about driving the car and his racing career.

He told the students he enjoyed reading Dr. Suess books when he was younger and now is a big fan of mysteries.

He also told them that he has driven a race car at a top speed of 195 mph and that the cars he drives are capable of at least 200 mph.

Poole said that he started racing when he was only 5 years old and won his first race ever in a quarter midget racing car, which is about one-quarter the size of an adult midget car.

He urged the students to stick with their reading and praised them for their achievement. First-graders read more than 400 books and fourth-graders over 500 books in a competition which included Alton Central School, Loudon Elementary School, and Laconia's other elementary schools, Elm Street School and Woodland Heights. The speedway plans to have as many as 20 schools on board when the Speeding to Read program begins again in September.

Students posed for group photos with Poole and shared pizzas for lunch. They also received gift bags which included two tickets for July's XFINITY Series race at New Hampshire Motor Speedway.

Speeding to Read was created by SMI sister track Texas Motor Speedway in 2011 to encourage elementary school students to read more frequently during the school year. To date, a total of 33 schools have participated in the Texas program, with more than 18,000 students reading 3 million books.

The 26-year-old Poole is in his second full season driving the No. 48 for Chip Ganassi Racing in the XFINITY Series. Poole is currently ranked seventh with four top-10s in the XFINITY Series standings. In two career XFINITY Series starts at NHMS, he has a pair of top-10 finishes, placing 10th in 2015 and sixth last July.

Poole compiled 90 wins in the quarter midget ranks and was 2002 National Champion when he was 11 years old. He then moved to racing aspalt legends all across the south and won 96 races in two years.

He won the Texas World Dirt Track Championship in 2007 and switched to late models in 2009, winning 10 races over the next three years. He won his first ever ARCA race in 2011 and made the jump to the NACAR XFINITY Series in 2015 with a top 10 finish in his first start at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

NASCAR driver Brennan Poole is all smiles as he poses for a group photo with students at Woodland Heights Elementary School in Laconia. (Roger Amsden/for The Laconia Daily Sun)

NASCAR driver Brennan Poole starts his race car at Woodland Heights Elementary School in Laconia. (Roger Amsden/for The Laconia Daily Sun)

NASCAR driver Brennan Poole speaks at Woodland Heights Elementary School as New Hampshire Motor Speedway mascot Milo the Moose watches. The school won the Speedway's reading program competition and was visited by Poole, who spoke about the importance of reading. (Roger Amsden photo for the Laconia Daily Sun)