- Hunter VanZile: It's very nerve-wracking at the start.
We could all crash
and we could all go through smoothly.
But when they wave the green flag,
all the pain, all the anxiety, nervous,
everything just drops.
My name's Hunter VanZile,
and I drive a Pro Spec for Championship Off-road.
This one is the Forest County Potawatomi Cup.
We're all as a family, we're all communities
coming together and enjoying the racetrack.
That's Forest County Potawatomi.
My dad let me race short-course karts
about nine years ago.
He supports me more than anything.
It's just, he's my backbone.
He's taught me everything he knows,
and I've learned from that.
We kind of had that bonded, two heads at it,
and we knew what we needed to do to be involved in racing.
He'll tell me, like, to do this.
And then I'll say, "No, let me do this."
And there's just,
he knows a little bit more than I do,
and I know a little bit more than him.
We work our way through it.
My first-ever race, my dad was my spotter.
I had no idea what I was doing out there,
but we got lucky and got a third.
As soon as I got up on the podium, I knew, I was like,
"All right, this is exactly what I wanna do
the rest of my life is do this."
Back then, was just, it was just a family thing.
And now we have sponsors, the community,
my family, friends, everyone's there with me now.
After I won in Bark River, the tribe,
Forest County Potawatomi and the whole community seen it.
And that really exposed me out there.
I got my name out there,
and I was the first-ever Native American to do it.
That caught a lot of people's attention.
That's when I felt like
the community was right with me the whole entire time.
Yeah, I try to give back as much as I can.
I would love to work with the tribe.
I usually bring my truck up to the rec center
to show the kids, like, what it's all about.
Yeah, they always wanna get in and touch every button in there
and just slam the gas is what they wanna do.
Anyone is willing to help, if you ask.
I might not know the guy, but if I ask,
"Hey, can I get a hand with this on my shock setup?"
I mean, they're willing to help.
There's been times where I broke parts
and I needed help.
Yeah, there's always people that are willing
to help us get there.
I got a lot of friends that are supporting us.
Sponsors is a big thing.
I mean, Forest County Potawatomi has been there since I started.
I have a lot of family supporting me,
a lot of friends that will support me.
I have my dad helping me,
and my mom's there to cook and keep us fed and everything,
and my sisters are there for the entertainment.
Everyone, every single one of them keeps me happy.
Even if I travel out far, Crandon's my hometown.
This whole community is all there with me.
[gentle music]