Some lessons can be difficult to absorb because, on the surface, they don’t seem to make much sense. They often take years to understand.

Kelsey Babb was able to learn one such lesson pretty quickly.

“If you slow down, you can go faster,” is how her father, four-time Beech Ridge Motor Speedway Pro Series champion Bobby Babb, explains the principle that 15-year-old Kelsey had come to grasp in only her fourth race in the Road Runners division at the Scarborough track.

“We didn’t tell her that,” Bobby adds. “It’s something they have to learn on their own.”

Kelsey mastered the lesson well enough to win her first race Saturday, a day that saw her dad take first in the Pro Series as well. The Windham residents became the only father/daughter duo to win on the same night at Beech Ridge.

By the time the Road Runners finished, Bobby Babb was already behind the wheel of his car, getting ready to get out on the track for his race. It wasn’t until he took the checkered flag and pulled into victory lane that he found out that his daughter had won.

“I was pretty emotional,” he says. ” It made me happy and proud. I was on top of the world.”

Kelsey’s victory continues a chain of success that began with her grandfather, Bob, who started racing in 1956. Now 68, the elder Babb was track champion in 1976 and 1977. The Babbs are just the second three-generation racing family at Beech Ridge.

“We’ve been pretty good for 40 years or so,” said Bobby, 42. “Kelsey’s taken off a lot better than I thought. She’s a lot more aggressive than I thought. She’s surprised and overwhelmed me.”

That style, however, has to be tempered with some finesse. In the opening race of the season, Kelsey’s right front tire was pushed too hard and it came apart. She still hung on for sixth place, but – more importantly – she took stock of what happened and why.

“I didn’t use the brake enough,” she says. “If I want to do well, I have to take my time.”

It might have been her racing genes that allowed Kelsey to reach that conclusion so quickly. Yet, despite her family history, the Windham High School sophomore didn’t find herself initially drawn to auto racing.

“I wasn’t really into it, but once I started racing go-karts I didn’t want to stop. I like the speed, and it’s fun because I’m the only girl among 20 guys.”

She says she doesn’t get frightened on the track, and adds, without hesitation, “If there’s a hole, I’m going to fill it.”

Her father, on the other hand, says he’s been “a wreck” this year.

“I’m concerned about me, but she’s always in the back of my mind,” he says. “I don’t care if she finishes last, as long as she stays out of trouble and doesn’t get hurt.”

With the Road Runners on the track right before the Pro Series, Bobby watches as much of the previous race as he can. With about a lap to go in Kelsey’s race, he sprints to his car so he can be in place for the feature.

Kelsey – a two-time go-kart champion, as is her brother Bradley, 14 – plays on the basketball and field hockey teams at school. This Saturday a bunch of her classmates are planning to cheer her on at Beech Ridge.

She’ll race, she says, until she’s sick of the sport, “but that won’t be for a while.” Until then, Kelsey will pursue the family pastime with youthful gusto – bolstered by an innate sense of racing that only comes from years of watching and learning.

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