Age 13, Nevada City, California Vision Hayes started riding young, at the age of four. But unlike other kids, he spent little if any time in the dirt, heading instead directly onto the pavement. “I never wanted him to race motocross. Too many people bumping into each other, landing on each other,” says his dad, John. It’s a move that’s paid off. Hayes has been impressing on the asphalt as he comes to grips with his first full-size racebike, a Kawasaki Ninja 250R that he’s hurling around like it was one of the pocketbikes he cut his teeth on. “I’m pretty sure I was five when I started racing,” says Hayes. “It was at Stockton Motorplex.” What does Hayes remember about the race? “Nothing!” he says. Hey, the kid’s done a lot of racing since then. Hayes worked his way up through the mini road racing ranks, first on a Polini pocketbike that he refers to as “the cramped one,” then on a Honda NSR50 that fit only a little better. From the beginning, he impressed. “When Vision first started racing with my association (CMRRA) at age seven the older guys were worried about hurting the little guy. They soon found out they had to catch him first,” says Al Lyons, founder and former owner of the mini road racing association. “Vision wasn’t the typical young rider that rode recklessly. He rode each race in a very calculated manner, knowing where he was going to make his moves. After two races Vision was bumped to Expert.” But it hasn’t been smooth. The family was forced to take a couple of years off from the sport. Then, earlier in 2012, they got a Honda CRF230 and Vision started Supermoto racing again. Then they tried racing an older Kawasaki Ninja 250R, but Vision didn’t find it to his liking. “It was just chattering all over the place. So we parked it that day and walked across the pits and started talking to Brian,” John Hayes says. Brian, in this case, is Brian Bartlow, owner of the Feel Like A Pro racebike rental business. Hayes started renting Bartlow’s Ninja 250Rs; Bartlow was so impressed by Hayes that he’s now helping the youngster along in his career. Which has been impressive in the few months he’s been on the Ninja. At Buttonwillow Raceway Park with WERA West, Hayes took three wins in the Novice classes. He repeated the feat at Auto Club Speedway in September. In the Expert classes at the WERA GNF, he took a fourth, a second and a first (in E Superstock). And at the season finale, at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, he took a win and a second in E Superstock. Hayes is enjoying his time on the Ninja very much, he says. “There’s a lot of competition. There’s like 25 people on the grid right now,” he says. And he’s enjoying every bit of the racing experience–as every 13-year-old at the track should be doing. “The different lifestyle,” Hayes says, when asked what he likes most about going racing. “Everyone seems different. They’re not caught up in what they’re going to do tomorrow. They’re just–racing.”