Bobby Lewis 
OKBlitz.com Reporter

TULSA, Oklahoma – The Cox family made the 8,000 mile trip from Australia to America seven times before finally moving to the states this past spring. Their globe-wide trek had nothing to do with sightseeing, vacation or pleasure. The Cox family traveled around the world watching 16-year old Brad race cars.

Brad Cox drives micro midget racecars. His trip to Tulsa this week gives him a shot at his first career full Micro race in the 24th Annual Lucas Oil Chili Bowl Midget Nationals. Cox will drive the number 91AU white racer this week in hopes of making it to Saturday’s championship races.

“My nerves are kicking in,” Brad said a few hours before his first race.

This week’s race event at Tulsa’s Expo Raceway features 265 entries from 28 different states and three countries. Nobody has travelled as far as the Cox family has for a shot at Brad’s dream.

“To shift to American has been a huge sacrifice for our family,” said Brad’s father Michael. “We sold our house and everything in Australia and relocated to America in April.”

Growing up in Australia, Brad watched his dad race. He got hooked and began his racing career at the age of six. Before long, Brad began to take to the sport. He won over 20 titles in go-kart racing and made the natural progression to quarter midgets as he got older. Now, at 16, Brad is the youngest participant in the Chili Bowl, with a shot at turning heads this weekend.

“He’s been around racecars all his life,” said Michael during a tune-up session Tuesday afternoon. “He knows what to do.”

Brad says he loves his car. The car weighs just over 800 pounds and boasts a powerful Chevy Gaerte engine, capable of rocketing Brad to speeds well over 100 miles per hour. Kids his age are usually fresh off a learner’s permit, but high speeds don’t intimidate this teen.

“You honestly don’t know that you’re going 130 miles per hour,” said Brad. “That’s all the fun in it.”

The Gunnehad, Australia native knows the deck is stacked against him in a competition like the Chili Bowl. The yearly race draws thousands of fans and hundreds of drivers with years of experience. Comparable experience at this level is slim for Brad. His previous scheduled Micro midget races in Pennsylvania got rained out, and he enters this competition with just eight laps under his belt.

“This is a whole new ball game,” said Michael. “We’d be happy to beat half the field.”

The Cox family needed cash to get to this level in the sport. Moving, literally, across the world isn’t cheap. The family bought Brad’s racecar in October of last year, and constantly pumps money into what Michael calls a ‘love’, rather than a ‘hobby’. Many of the other drivers in this year’s running had numerous sponsors and years worth of racing contacts in America.

The Cox’s had none, but still found a way to make it to Oklahoma.

“We actually advertised the sponsorship for this meeting on eBay,” said the elder Cox. “I was surprised as anybody that we were able to sell the sponsorship. We’re very thankful for that.”

Shetron Auctions Equipment and Manufacturing out of the Coxes’ new home state of Pennsylvania stepped up to the plate to help the family try to fulfill Brad’s dream. Dedication, hard work and a little help from eBay landed Cox in Tulsa. The expectation is to impress on the track.

“We’ve got no expectations of winning, but we didn’t come here to come in last,” said Michael. “To win here’d be absolutely the ultimate at this stage in his career.”

Brad agrees with the man who taught him the love of the sport.

“The goal for the future is to race these things professionally,” he said before his first race on Tuesday night. “There’s a load of guys here that do that. If I could do that, it’d be amazing.”