Handley, 15, excels at Riverhead Raceway

He's got a souped-up '89 Chevy Caprice. He's among the Blunderbust points leaders at Riverhead Raceway. He's on the fast track to becoming a stock car driver. He'll begin his sophomore year next month at Patchogue-Medford High School.

Jack Handley Jr., at 15, isn't old enough to get a New York driver's license. In fact, he's still mastering his parents' driveway. Racetrack, though? That's child's play. He earned his racing permit in June 2010, shortly after his 14th birthday.

"I think I'll be an OK driver," Handley Jr. said, looking ahead to when he's able to drive on streets and highways. "But I might be a little aggressive. All I know now is how to press down on the gas and go hard."

In the next year he'll have to figure out the Island's roads, but in the meantime, the Medford native is having fun burning rubber -- as he will on Saturday in Riverhead's 20-lap Blunderbust race.

While most kids his age do their racing on Xbox, Handley Jr. is seventh in his circuit and has six top-10 finishes. "It's exciting, interesting and nerve-racking," dad and coach Jack Sr. said, himself a former racer.

He said he doesn't worry much about Junior's safety, but "he doesn't have much driving-in-a-car experience, so I have to do some translating of driving language."

Jack Jr. said he was "born into it." As a small child, he would bang tools against whatever metal objects were within reach, Jack Sr. said, imitating his dad working on cars. Then there were the mini-jeep races in the backyard with his brother, Max, now 13. And by 7, he was into Go Karts.

They stepped up to Blunderbusts last year, looking to "get more experience and exposure, and eventually get into stock cars," said Jack Jr., who idolizes NASCAR driver Denny Hamlin. He had one top-10 finish as a rookie, but this season says he's more "comfortable and confident."