KENNEBUNK — Most people don’t learn how to drive until they’re 15. Cameron Lovejoy got a bit of a head start.

Lovejoy began racing competitively at a time in life when most are just beginning to play with Hot Wheels and learning to ride a bike, let alone a car. At the age of five, Cameron’s father Joe, a racer himself from a young age, offered him the chance to sit behind the wheel of a 400-pound go-kart that reached up to speeds of 60 MPH on the track.

As can be imagined, it was a challenge at first.

“I was excited and scared,” Cameron said of his first few races. “I thought I was going to crash.”

It took a year and half for the Lovejoys to notch their first checkered flag. But as he got more and experience behind the wheel, it became obvious Cameron had an aptitude for racing. Over the course of six years racing go-karts, he tallied over 100 first-place finishes, including seven wins on a national circuit that travels across the country.

“I never would have dreamed that we would have accomplished what we’ve accomplished,” Joe said. “It was the best of the best from all over the country. Most kids dream of just winning one national and to be able to do it seven times is unbelievable.”

Cameron had so much success that the Lovejoys began to develop a reputation across the country. The competition started to take notice when they showed up to a track.

“We were definitely known as a front-runner throughout the country,” Joe said. “We’ve raced in Virginia, North Carolina, Ohio, Indiana, everybody knows who we are and (Cameron’s) a respected driver for sure.”

In his final season of go-kart racing last year, Cameron won five different championships in various circuits, bringing his career total to 10. That’s when he and his father decided his talents had probably surpassed the go-kart series.

“We kind of sat back and realized to win five different championships in one year, its just time to move on and give other kids a chance,” Joe said. “It actually got to the point where it was getting kind of boring for him. It wasn’t because he was that much better a driver than everybody, but he had way more experience because he raced so many different series.”

This year, Cameron moved up to cars in the Maine Mods series, a two-year old circuit that travels to tracks in Maine and New Hampshire featuring drivers ranging from ages 11-15. The car he now drives is a whole different animal from a go-kart, turning times similar to late models and reaching speeds upwards of 85 MPH and weighing in at over 1500 pounds.

“We were probably a little nuts getting him into so early,” Joe said with a laugh.

Even so, as the youngest driver in the series, Cameron currently sits third in the yearly points standings through four races.

“We figured this year we’d just test this thing and I never thought we’d go from a go-kart into a car and do this well,” Joe said. “Everybody else doesn’t seem as surprised but its tough, each time he certainly gets better with the car. He’s definitely a much better driver than I ever was.”

Considering all this, it would be easy to assume that racing cars consumes the 11-year olds life. Instead, Cameron also plays football, baseball, indoor soccer and basketball in addition to racing on the weekends in the summer.

In fact, despite his precocious talents, Cameron gave a flat-out no when asked if he wanted to race in NASCAR some day. Still, he said he realized he was fortunate to be able to go so fast and find so much success at such a young age.

“My friends all think I’m really lucky,” Cameron said. “And I think I’m lucky too because not many kids get a chance to do it.”