Matthew Laprade

Age: 12

Birthday:  January 10, 2012

Hometown:  New Smyrna Beach, FL

Matthew Laprade is a 12-year-old Legend car racer from New Smyrna Beach, Fla., who is competing at Cordele (Ga.) Motor Speedway this season in the Young Lions division, as well as in the Cook Out Summer Shootout Series at Charlotte (N.C.) Motor Speedway and the Thursday Thunder Series at Atlanta (Ga.) Motor Speedway.

Laprade began his driving career at six years old in dirt go-karts, now having raced for half his life. He shocked the karting world in 2019 during his rookie season by winning the Vega Florida State Championship in the Rookie Division.

Invited to the nationals as a result, Laprade went on to capture the Vega National Championship that season in the Rookie Division, cementing his place as a young racer with prodigious talent.

Laprade’s second major championship came in 2021, when he claimed the Florida Dirt Championship Series title in the Junior 1 division, and he also added a victory in the prestigious World 100 karting event in Junior 1 that season as well.

After racing Bandolero cars for back-to-back seasons in 2022 and ’23, highlighted by a third-place finish in the Bandolero Nationals at Charlotte Motor Speedway in his sophomore Bandolero season, Laprade made the move to Legend cars for 2024. His Winter Nationals mini-series championship at Citrus County Speedway came on the strength of five race wins in five days from Feb. 12-16.

Laprade’s summer stretch was highlighted by a top-five finish during round nine of the Summer Shootout, as well as a ninth-place finish in the Thursday Thunder Young Lions standings.

Away from the racetrack, Laprade’s competitive interests include golfing and fishing, and he golfed rounds with the PGA Junior League this year during downtime from his racing schedule. He is also a supporter of the Friends of Jaclyn Foundation’s efforts to fight pediatric cancer.