LIHU‘E — For the Costa family, racing is literally in their blood. From his grade school days, Wayne Costa was always fascinated by the automotive field. At first he started out racing motorcycles, but he felt like trying something new
LIHU‘E — For the Costa family, racing is literally in their blood.
From his grade school days, Wayne Costa was always fascinated by the automotive field. At first he started out racing motorcycles, but he felt like trying something new and different.
“I wanted to move on to racing cars, just because I knew it would be a different challenge and I never gave it up ever since,” Costa said.
His wife, Dawn and his two sons, Sheldon and Calvin, are also heavily involved with the sport, which seems to be the main reason why their family remains as strong as any on the island.
“We all work together and bond together. I mean, we all love going to races and it’s kept us close as a family,” Costa said.
At the annual Fourth of July races, the Costa family was in full force, with five trophies to their credit.
Wayne captured first-place on Saturday in the Quick 8 race and followed that performance with a second-place triumph on Sunday in another Quick 8 contest.
Calvin came in second in a Pro ET race on Saturday and nailed down a fourth-place slot in the Pro 8 Import competition on Sunday.
Sheldon, who just got his license earlier in the week, was able to cruise ahead with a third-place finish in the Jr. Dragster race and he topped that performance by collecting the top trophy on Sunday in the Jr. Dragster race.
And Dawn, well she is the backbone or support system that keeps it all together.
Her mellow demeanor keeps the family humble.
“I’m very proud of them (Sheldon, Calvin, and Wayne) and the GIRA (Garden Island Racing Association) does a tremendous job with everything. They deserve a lot of the credit,” Dawn said.
Both Sheldon and Calvin attend Kamehameha Schools and come home at least once a month, especially if there’s a race.
“The best thing about racing is winning, but even if I don’t win, it’s still fun just to compete,” Calvin said.
The Warrior junior said that practice and just having the right instincts are the main reasons for their success as a family racing team.
“It’s a really good feeling to see them out there and I’m impressed how they work on their reaction times. They also support one another, which helps too,” Wayne said.
The D&W Services owner also credits racing as the main reason why both his sons have stayed away from the temptations that some of our youths fall victim to.
“I like racing because it does keep us out of trouble, it kind of gives me a rush, and it’s fun too,” Sheldon said.
The longtime reliable mechanic also wants his boys to follow their own paths, but if they follow in his footsteps, he’d be fine as well.
“They can do what they want to do and they don’t have to be a mechanic like me, but they are just like me, with their love of racing and cars, but like I told them, I’ll stand by them with whatever they choose to do,” Wayne said.
Just like any sport, racing has its ups and downs.
One of the unfortunate contests for Wayne was watching a competitor crash into the guard rail after losing control of his vehicle.
“That was the only time I got rattled, because I got to see it right in front of me and I was in my car ready to go, but other then that, the feeling you get from racing is amazing,” Wayne said.
Yet another family dragster, Wayne’s brother, Howard, the owner of Howard Costa’s Repair in the Puhi Industrial Park, was also a race car driver, but “Mr. Groovy” decided to hang his racing shoes up. However, he still might have the desire to rev it up again.
“The competition is pretty tough. There are lots of good racers on this island,” Wayne said.
But with the Costa’s dominating the Kaua‘i racing scene, it’s going to be a tough task to topple the solid foundation they’ve started.
The next GIRA race happens on Sunday, August 7, 8 a.m., at Kaua‘i Raceway Park in Mana.
For complete results of the annual Fourth of July races, see a future edition of The Garden Island.
