Racecar driver Biniam Van Wynen was driving cars long before he got his permit

Youth racecar driver, Biniam Van Wynen, has come a long way already to realize his racing dreams at Berlin Raceway in Marne, both figuratively and literally.

By Justin Tiemeyer - Contributing Writer

11/10/2024

Youth racecar driver, Biniam Van Wynen, has come a long way already to realize his racing dreams at Berlin Raceway in Marne, both figuratively and literally. After all, the Lowell resident was born in a rural village in Ethiopia. Biniam was only eight months old when he was adopted and brought to the United States, so his father, Bill Van Wynen, told this part of the story.

“It’s not on the map,” Bill said, referring to the village where Biniam was born, but he did his best to describe. Bill had flown into Ethiopia via Addis Ababa, the nation’s capital and largest city, took a four-hour ride south to Hawassa, and somewhere nearby, two hours South and off the beaten path, is where Biniam was born.

The image of Bill taking “planes, trains, and automobiles” to see his baby boy for the first time is appropriate, because this is a transportation family. Biniam learned how to drive race cars before he graduated from elementary school, and his father, Bill, was flying commercial airplanes out of Houston for Continental Airlines while living in Conroe, Texas, about 40 miles to the North.

When Biniam was only two years old, Bill packed himself and Biniam up and moved to Michigan where Biniam could get to know his extended family. Biniam does not have a lot of memories of life in Texas. “I stepped in a pile of fire ants, and they started getting to me,” Biniam said.

Bill was flying out of Chicago for United Airlines after the merger with Continental, but when he was grounded and back in town, he and his brother, John, would take Biniam and John’s son out to Berlin Raceway, just like Bill’s father had with Bill and John, so many years ago. “So, we kind of made that a tradition with our sons,” Bill said.

The tradition of attending races quickly turned into a tradition of participating in races. In the kids’ division, Biniam raced in a vehicle called a mini wedge. These days, Biniam’s younger brother, William, drives his old mini wedge. He started when he was five, and they had to retrofit the car by bringing the pedals forward and installing a different steering wheel to accommodate his small size. Biniam’s legacy has already started.

After mini wedges, racers move up into limited late models or super late models. “Anyone aged fourteen or fifteen can race these late models up to getting old and retiring,” Biniam said.

From late models, a racer might switch to Automobile Racing Club of America (ARCA) cars or skip ARCA altogether to head to NASCAR Truck Series, NASCAR Xfinity Series, and NASCAR Cup Series. The big differences between those vehicles made to be accessible to youth and those typically used by professional drivers are how the cars handle, top speed, and horsepower. A limited late model vehicle can hit about 110 miles per hour on a short track, whereas, some of these other cars can make it to 200 miles per hour on a bigger track, like Daytona or Michigan International.

“I actually just got my driver’s permit a couple months ago, at the end of April,” Biniam said. “On the racetrack, you almost feel a little safer, because you know what everyone’s doing. You know they can drive. Outside of the track, not so much.”
Biniam has the skill, experience, and the vehicle. The next step is networking. Some people describe racing as similar to boxing. It is not enough to be good at what you do. You have to connect with the right people, you have to book the big events, and you have to get the right kind of publicity.  Through his friend’s dad, Jesse Johnson-Brower, Biniam has made some important connections. Jeffrey Earnhardt of the Earnhardt racing family recently surprised Biniam with a guest coaching session at Berlin Raceway, and Biniam has also linked up with Jesse Iwuji Motorsports, the team co-owned by NASCAR driver, Jesse Iwuji, and NFL hall of famer, Emmitt Smith.

“There’s no direct path to NASCAR,” Biniam said, referring to the NASCAR Cup Series, “but that’d be a top goal, for sure.” Though Biniam has his eyes on the prize, he is not just a racing machine. Outside of motorsports, Biniam likes being outside, enjoying nature, and traveling. He goes to school like everyone else, and he expects to attend college, but unlike everyone else, Biniam gets asked a lot of questions about what it was like to race on a track before he could legally drive down Main Street in Lowell.

“I started a new school this year,” Biniam said. “People immediately knew me because I race cars.” In addition to the questions about racing at such a young age, people crowd around, asking how fast the cars go and whether or not Biniam has ever been in one of the big crashes.

Biniam is hoping to squeeze in another practice before the winter weather hits, and he has the NASCAR 2024 Regional Awards Banquet on Friday, January 17, 2025, where there are rumors of Biniam winning Rookie of the Year. After that, racing season starts in April 2025. When Biniam hits that track again during the 2025 season, he is showing up for the greater Lowell community, and he is hoping the people of Lowell show up for him too.