Pictured: Kevin and Chris Edens |
Chris Edens began racing at the age of eleven and has represented many large organizations, corporations, and manufacturers throughout his career. To name a few, he has achieved a national championship for Intrepid, national placements for Mazda Motorsports, and has received the honor to drive a formula car for Paul Newman as well as an American GT Corvette for Acxiom. Out of his success, Chris developed and established Two-Six Motorsports, a racing team geared towards building, tuning, and racing Mazda Miatas for local, regional, and national road race and autocross competitions. However, there was once a time in Chris' racing career when an accident almost eliminated the possibility of these accomplishments. Not only did Chris face losing the ability to walk; but also, the loss of his dreams behind the wheel. This story tells of a young man willing to fight through the physical pain of surgery and rehabilitation to find his way back to the track.
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Chris was introduced to fuel-generated adrenaline by his father, Kevin Edens, at an early age. Kevin’s love for racing originated in childhood soon after his older brother started competing in motocross, peaking Kevin’s interest. Over the better part of a decade, Kevin actively pursued the family sport until becoming increasingly aware that he was in love with his best friend and future wife of thirty-three years, Jackie. Desiring to make their commitment official, Kevin took Jackie’s hand in marriage and chose to leave racing in the wake of his newfound priorities. As the years passed, Kevin solely focused on being a good husband to Jackie and soon thereafter a good father to his son, Chris. For a time, it seemed as if racing was a distant memory, but Kevin couldn’t fully shake the passion he felt for the sport in the back of his mind. It wasn’t until Chris was five years old that Kevin decided to venture back into the racing scene to try his hand at autocross. Driving a racecar wasn’t as dangerous as racing a motorcycle, but the acquired speed still fulfilled the rush of adrenaline Kevin dearly missed without the dangers existing in motocross. He now had too much to lose. Due to Jackie’s weekend work schedule as a paramedic, the only way Kevin could race was to load up Chris and take him to some of the local events held around Central Arkansas. Seeing that Chris enjoyed spending time at the track, they began to travel to regional and, eventually, national events together. Chris would sit and play in the dirt while watching street and modified cars launch, spin, and navigate the course with precision; the smell of race gas and the sound of a purring engine becoming Chris’ normal. He was happy.
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As Chris got older, he longed to be in the middle of the action, begging his father to let him become more involved with racing. Kevin cautiously allowed Chris to help where he could during autocross events but understood that it would be several more years until Chris reached the age requirement set by the Sports Car Club of America (SCCA) to become a participant. Sensing Chris’ excitement for the sport and ongoing frustrations with the age restriction, he took Chris to Davisville Speedway in Judsonia, Arkansas to watch one of his old motocross buddies race a dirt kart on an oval track. The age requirement for the World Karting Association (WKA) was several years younger allowing Chris to begin racing without hesitation. Kevin and Chris sat in the stands watching the karts compete against each other for several minutes before either spoke. “You think you could do that?” he asked his son. Chris looked at his dad and simply said, “yeah.” Little did Chris know that his effortless response would set the course for the beginning of the rest of his life. Kevin and Chris launched the search for his first go kart.