Tyler Allen sat in the heat, robe on and hat affixed upon his head, taking in all that was his college graduation.

The sun was shining on Husky Stadium at the University of Washington that Saturday. Allen, about to officially receive his mechanical engineering degree, allowed himself a moment to let it all soak in. Four years of hard work, four years of late nights, four years of taking on all that he could. All accomplished on this warm Saturday afternoon.

Finally, the ceremony hit its conclusion. As per tradition, Allen and the new graduates tossed their hats high into the sky.

Then he was gone, on a dead sprint to the family car.

It was race day at the South Sound Speedway in Rochester, Wash., and the 22-year-old Interlake graduate wasn’t about to miss it – even if it was commencement.

“As soon as those caps were in the air,” Allen said, “I was gone.”

Relying on a fellow racer to qualify his limited late model stock car, Allen made it to the speedway with just minutes to spare. After changing into his racing uniform on the drive down, he sprinted to the car, ready to race. As he ran towards his green and black #35 R & C Roofing Chevy Monte Carlo, he heard the public address announcer notify the crowd that “Tyler Allen is in his car and will make the race.”

“I kind of felt like a big-time race car driver for a moment,” Allen said.

Thanks to years of hard work, Allen now has a shot to feel like a big-time driver for more than just a few fleeting moments. With a passion that started in his childhood only to be awakened in college, the 22-year-old has put himself in a position to make a big name on a big stage.

An Old Flame Rekindled

Allen’s love for racing started early. His grandfather would race “anything that could race” and owned the car of a local driver. His father, Terry, raced Minicups, half-size stock cars with a small 13-horsepower engine that would reach speeds of 60-80 miles per hour.

Soon after, Terry Allen’s job would change – and racing would go back to a spectator sport.

“We sold the car and things got away from racing,” Terry Allen said. “Although we always loved racing -we’d watch it every weekend – he really got into baseball.”

Tyler Allen turned his focus to the diamond, becoming a talented pitcher, to the point where Terry figured his son would play the sport in college. Instead, he opted to go to the University of Washington after graduating from Interlake in 2006. An interest in physics during high school spurned his decision to pursue a degree in engineering – likely aeronautical engineering.

Then, near the end of his freshman year, Allen joined on with the UW’s Formula SAE team, a student design competition organized by the Society of Automotive Engineers. He quickly decided mechanical engineering was the degree in his future. And a degree wasn’t the only thing he was going to pursue.

The old flame was back. Not long after, he went back to his dad with a simple phrase: I want to go racing.

Paying His Dues

“I didn’t think it was too good of an idea for him to do in college,” Terry Allen admits, remembering his first thoughts after Tyler declared his intentions. “But we said OK, but only if he went and worked on a team for a year and it didn’t affect his grades – then we’d think about it.”

Terry set Tyler up with Ron Wolf, a driver he knew from his old days on the track and a driver he knew would work his son hard. Tyler spent the next year learning the in’s and out’s of racing – from how to pack wheel bearings (“I got all the dirty jobs, all the hard jobs,” Tyler said) to how to work as part of a pit crew to how to spot during a race – Allen learned everything there was to know.

“What I didn’t realize at the time and what I didn’t realize until we got going is that Ronnie really took me step-by-step through the car,” Tyler said. “He really worked me through the car without me knowing it.”

Home work was done on ferry rides. Late nights became even later as duties picked up with the crew – and the UW Formula SAE team demanded plenty of time too.

Yet a year later, Tyler Allen held up his end of the bargain. At 19-years-old, the Bellevue kid was about to become a race car driver.

Wolf helped the Allen’s find the car, a 2007 Chevy Monte Carlo, at the Cope Brothers Automotive Machine Shop in Tacoma. Then it was time to hit the track.

Tyler calls the first time behind the wheel “one of the coolest experiences of my life.”

“It’s so big and powerful and loud and overwhelming that you don’t know what to think,” he said. “It’s so intimidating. I don’t think people realize that watching it. It’s a whole different animal when you step inside that car.”

Earning Respect

Tyler Allen got his first big crash out of the way in the second practice.

“Shocking,” he said, recalling the crash. “I’d always imagined it to be this big kind of slow motion thing. The car got loose, I corrected and smash! It was over that quick.”

That was the only practice crash he would have. He immediately jumped into the races at the South Sound Speedway, competing in the limited late models class against 19 other drivers.

“My biggest goal that first year was to gain respect,” he said. “If you don’t show it, you’re not going to get it. It’s absolutely a growing pain.”

Midway through that first season, he’d stopped being lapped by the race leaders. He even had his first confrontation after a race (“It was scary. It taught me a valuable lesson.”). He was feeling more and more comfortable, learning to read and trust the car. By his second season, he was competing in the top-10 and earned a pair of second place finishes.

This year he’s running in the top-five and currently sits in fourth place with 474 points. He finished third in his latest race on July 18 and is still hoping to chase down the class’s leaders.

But a funny thing happened along the way this season. A chance clip on TV led to the opportunity of a lifetime, an opportunity that Allen is preparing for as his own personal big break.

A Shot at the Big Time

While watching racing together, the Allen’s spotted an advertisement for Richard Petty’s Driver Search, a four-day program in Charlotte, N.C., hosted by the racing legend. The contest would judge drivers in a variety of different ways – endurance, car control, race practices and many other factors – with the winner given the opportunity to qualify for an ARCA Racing Series event at Rockingham Speedway in October.

Allen put in for the first Driver Search, but the program was already full. When Petty announced plans for a Driver Search II, Allen was given an interview and was later accepted for the four-day contest beginning on Sept. 13. Naturally, he found out he was accepted during finals week.

“I’m going in to this as it is my shot,” Allen said. “It would mean the world to me if I could come away from this saying I won.”

Guest instructors include former NASCAR Busch Series driver Randy Lajoie, NASCAR Sprint Cup series driver Marcus Ambrose and retired driver Kyle Petty, the son of Richard. Allen, who hopes to one day race in the NASCAR Nextel Cup Series, says he hopes to make connections for a possible career – as well as win the competition.

He’s now preparing by getting seat time in as many different cars – and go-karts – as possible in preparation for the event, one he knows can greatly alter his future plans.

“I’m just going to give it my all and hopefully walk away a winner,” he said. “It’s a chance of a lifetime and I’m going to go after it.”