Cole Thompson has been glued to a motorcycle’s seat since he first got a Yamaha PW50 at age 3. Now 14, he has ascended from novice to amateur to compete in races across the region and country and aims to jump to expert races soon.

Thompson and his father, Kyle, recently competed in Daytona, Fla., in the Race of Champions. Kyle participated in the Middleweight F40 Expert class; meanwhile, Cole was racing and placing well in the 300 Supersport Amateur and the 300 Superbike Amateur categories.

“He’s racing against adults. It’s not kids’ racing. So like at Daytona, a bunch of the guys he was racing against were full-grown adults who’ve been racing for years,” said Kyle Thompson. “Same thing at the Loudon series; he’s racing with adults as well as kids. But the Loudon series has an exceptional youth racing development program that’s run by the Penguin Racing School out of Massachusetts.”

Cole placed second in Supersport and first in Superbike, which is a class with heavier, more powerful engines and more modifications allowed with his green Kawasaki Ninja 300 bike.

“It was a race that I knew if I didn’t win, it was going to be my only opportunity to get an amateur championship, but I was able to pull it off,” Cole said. “I came into the pits. I didn’t know if I won or not. My dad had told me. We ran into the victory lane. I think that’s been the biggest win of my life.”

Since Cole first rode, he’s not stopped. His dad has been there for him every step of the way and found ways to fundraise for Cole’s events, with spaghetti dinners, raffles and auctions. The costs of racing motorbikes have increased steadily over time, but thankfully a few sponsors and fundraisers allowed the Thompsons to compete in Daytona.

“Him racing has been my motivation, too, because he’s my role model, looking up to him, especially when he qualified for the classic, which is a big race,” said Cole. “He’s been a big inspiration, too, because I always used to hear his stories. And two years ago, he started racing again. So that’s been a cool thing, being able to race with him.”

Cole initially made the switch from dirt bikes to track racing when he was around 9 years old and found that he was much more successful and talented on solid asphalt.

“I always raced about mid-pack, though I never really got to the front, so I never saw myself going far in the dirt career,” Cole noted. “And then I decided I didn’t want to race dirt anymore. I decided to move to supermoto.

“When I started racing supermoto, I saw that I had quite a bit of talent in the street division, and I started placing top three to first.”

His father works at Freedom Cycle as a technician for all different types of motorcycles, ATVs and more. He was Cole’s primary technician and coach — since he first rode a bike — until this year, when he moved up to the amateur level and enrolled in the Penguin Racing School.

“Freedom is very proactive in promoting youth in motorsports, so we have a tremendous amount of youth motorcycles, both electric and gas,” Kyle said. “Every year we host a run-to-ride day on our property, where kids can come up and ride dirt bikes for the first time in a large area, where we have people instructing and helping them out.

“Part of the reason why he’s advanced to the point is because he’s been fortunate enough to be able to participate in a lot of programs that corporations have done to promote youth in motorsports.”

Cole said his training with the Penguin School and racing at Loudon has been instrumental in his growing prowess. He races every Friday and receives feedback from coaches at Penguin — which Cole said has improved his body positioning massively — and in his spare time he rides dirt bikes and mountain bikes to stay sharp.

“I build the bikes and at the start of the season I stepped back as his coach, and the Penguin Racing School has been responsible 100%, this year, for his coaching program,” said Kyle. “I help a little bit, but these kids tend to listen and react better to their mentors than they do their parents. I say something 10 times and he won’t execute it. His coach can tell him that he’ll go out and execute, so the Penguin race school and NEMM were paramount in getting him to the level that he’s at right now.”

For Cole, the experience was incredible. He loves the thrill of suiting up in full leathers and racing. And despite having a few minor crashes in the past, he has not been discouraged yet.

“When I pass people, the feeling of just sliding right around them and holding them off, or just the main adrenaline you get from flying through the air or flying at 120 (mph) down the straightaway, it’s so thrilling. Going so fast or so high gets your blood rushing and your heart pumping, and it just feels so awesome,” he said.

With winter coming, the accolades, the bike and the gear are being put away for the season, but Cole will be focused on wrestling for Winnisquam High School, building strength and preparing to race in the expert class next year. Kyle will be busy fundraising and working on getting Cole a bigger, 450 bike, for the next step up.

Alexander Rapp can be reached at arapp@cmonitor.com.