WITH determination, car control, agility, and a dash of daredevil among his strong points, 18-year-old Jamar ‘Sckoolaz’ Kinkead has all the makings of a racer on the rise.

The young gun has been making waves with his ’98 Toyota Levin in the Jamaica Millennium Motoring Club’s Dexterity circuit for just over two years.

Jamar told Auto of his love for life on the edge and his plans to first conquer the Dexterity Championship before branching off into other disciplines of motorsports.

“Whenever I tell people my age, they’re shocked because they see me competing against men who are a lot older and giving them a challenge,” Kinkead told Auto.

After a few years of standing on the sidelines and marvelling at the skilful drifting of the drivers as a young teen, Jamar was presented with his Toyota Levin at the age of 15 by his father. One year later, he entered his first competition.

“My first event was actually at Pines Plaza in Junction, but it was after my second event in St Ann that I started to move close with Kingsley Scott and [Cleve Ottey] Cutta Hype. They took me under their wing and showed me the ropes a little bit, and Cutta actually started teaching me the sport,” said Jamar.

Kinkead revealed plans to have a new car to compete at Dover Raceway by next year and to take his Toyota Levin to the tarmac sprint arena.

The St Elizabeth-based drifter added that until recently he has been reluctant to live up to the potential seen in him by his mentor, Cleve Ottey, as he does not want to leave his older fellow competitors in the dust.

“I had the last few drifting events to have fun at, next time it’s all about the competition. The time has come where I’ve decided to just drive my car and beat them all,” he said.