Gage Emmendorfer, 4, zooms across the concrete on his shiny, blue New Holland tractor.

“Slow down,” dad Brian Emmendorfer calls.

With a loud “eeerrk,” the blond-haired pint-size Speed Racer comes to stop, skid marks in his wake.

Gage, the son of Brian and Heather Emmendorfer of Savannah, Mo., says he likes to go “really fast.” But it’s his prowess in pedal-pull racing that has put him on the fast track. Gage recently won the Missouri State Championship Pedal Pull for his age group, and that qualified him to participate in the National Pedal Pull, which was to be held Sept. 27 at the Corn Palace in Mitchell, N.D.

“This is his first year doing it,” Mr. Emmendorfer says.

Gage’s first competition came during the Andrew County Fair. He won in his age group. Next, he pulled at the Missouri State Fair and won again. Then, it was on to Harrisburg, Mo., where he won the state championship.

Pedal-pull racing is for those ages 4 to 12. In the event, the racers ride tractors provided at the competition and pull a weighted sled. It’s not speed that counts, but who can pull the farthest distance.

Gage shares his love of tractors with his dad. Mr. Emmendorfer, the general manager of St. Joe Tractor, has participated in tractor pulls for 19 years. Between them, father and son “share” about 36 tractors at home.

When Gage isn’t at daycare, he can be found at home on either his tractor or his bicycle.

“And I can ride without training wheels now,” he says of his bike skills.

But for now, Gage’s attention is on the blue tractor he’s sitting on. Although he’s a champion pedal puller, Gage wants to go fast.

“Watch this,” he calls, seconds before popping a wheelie.

Then, feet furiously pedalling, he zooms off down the sidewalk.

Go, Speed Racer, go.

Lifestyles reporter Cathy Woolridge can be reached at cathyw@npgco.com