School: Trinity Catholic high school

Grade: 11

Age: 17

Interests: Racing, Basketball, Football, Riding ATVs, Sim Car racing

Parents: Suzanne and Ken Kirkpatrick

Crew: Dad, Dave Pletcher, Ronnie Enfinger, Ryan Blair, Tyler Smith, Matt Larmore, Ed Mitchell

Motor builder: Mcgunegill Engine Performance/ Progressive Spec

Chassis: 2007 Port City

       Austin Kirkpatrick got started at Speedway Park when he was about 7. In his first full season, Austin finished 3rd in the Novice division. When he turned 9 he and his father decided that they should turn it up a notch and run the State series. It was a big transition year for Austin and his dad. That year Austin finished 8th and 9th in the Jr. Sportsman 1 division. The following year Austin and his dad didn't do much better finishing 5th and 7th in the Jr. Sportsman 1 division. Austin and his dad thought that they might have had what it took to run the National series so in 2003 they tried it. In their first national, Austin missed the show in his first race and finished 21st in his second race. The next national race wasn't too much better. Austin had some brake problems in the 1st race and finished 15th in the 2nd race. Austin and his dad were tired of being slow, so after that race they switched motor builders and got a new chassis. This resulted in 2 state race wins, and three top five national finishes to close out the season. As it stood at the end of 2003, Austin was ranked 5th in the nation and 3rd in the state.

       Austin moved up to the Jr. Sportsman II class in 2004 which is a lot tougher than Jr. Sportsman 1. The competition would get the best of Austin that year and he would end up ranking 13th and 16th nationally and 2nd and 4th in the state. In 2005, Austin would get over what happened the year before and do much better. In FKA (a different state series), Austin completely dominated winning both Jr. Sportsman II divisions. In the Florida Divisional Dirt Series (FDDS), Austin won one division and got second in the other. The National series was full of heartbreakers though. The first race Austin didn't even make the show. The second race Austin was in second place and got taken out on the last lap by a lap kart. In the third National Event, Austin was passing for the lead on the last lap and got spun out. The fourth race Austin got spun out on the first lap and got put a lap down early. The Last National of the season Austin would have to drop out of the race due to mechanical problems. Somehow, Austin still wound up being ranked 8th in the nation.

       In 2006 Austin Kirkpatrick moved up to Jr. Restricted. He started the season out great, winning the Dirt World Championships at Daytona, FL. He also won the third National of the year and the Grand National at the end of the year. Because of his WKA national dirt series performance, Austin was crowned the National Points Champion. In FDDS, Austin got third in one division and got first in the other division. In FKA, after having a slump in the first half of the season, Austin has strung together some good finishes and finished to 1st, 4th, and 1st in the standings.

       In late 2007, AK Motorsports was formed. A late model stock car was purchased by the team and Austin drove a few races at New Smyrna Speedway and Desoto Speedway to get some seat time in the new car. In 2008, Austin traveled across the state of Florida trying to get as much seat time as he could. He ran at tracks like, Desoto Speedway, New Smyrna Speedway, Orlando Speedway, Columbia Motorsports Park, and USA International Speedway. In 2008, he had two top 5 finish, and ten top 10 finishes. His highlight of 2008 came at USA International speedway where he came from 24th place all the way to 8th.

       For the 2009 season, AK Motorsports elected to start the year off at one of the biggest racing spectacles in Florida - The World Series of Asphalt. This 10 day stretch of consecutive races at New Smyrna Speedway was just what Austin needed. Austin was able to garnish a lot of seat time, race against some of the best cars in America, and also get a lot of experience. He started off slow, but got better and better as the series went on. On the last day of competition, Austin qualified 1st out of 30 cars, and finished the race in 3rd. In 2009, Austin ran the ASA Southern division where he posted 5 top 10’s in seven starts with an average finish of 8.7. He finished fourth in overall points and won the "Rookie of the Year."