In kart racing, like many motor sports, the unknown lurks around every corner.

Just this past weekend, Redmond’s Tim Griffin crashed his kart twice during races in Richland, Wash.

Griffin, who won the Oregon State Karting Championship Series title last season, has even loftier goals this year. The 20-year-old college student is racing for Rylan Karrer, a 9-year-old boy who is facing his own version of the harsh unknown.

Rylan, a Griffin family friend who spent the first few years of his life in La Pine but now lives in Texas near Houston, suffers from a rare heart condition called restrictive cardiomyopathy. He is on a heart transplant list, awaiting the new heart he needs to survive.

By sharing Rylan’s story and distributing “Racing 4 Rylan” stickers at karting events throughout Oregon and Washington, Tim and his father, Chris Griffin, hope to raise $5,000 to help pay the Karrer family’s medical bills.

Chris has been friends with Rylan’s father, Andrew Karrer, for 10 years, and the two worked together several years ago at the La Pine Rural Fire Protection District.

“After his heart transplant, it’s going to require a lot from the family,” Tim Griffin says. “We’re trying to do whatever we can to help them out. It’s to kind of involve him (Rylan) in this racing. It makes me feel like I’m racing for a good thing, instead of just for my own personal gain.”

Kart racing involves small, open, four-wheeled vehicles racing at speeds up to 70 mph on a half-mile to mile-long circuit track. Tim, a graduate of Crook County Christian High School in Prineville, started racing about four years ago, traveling to the Portland area frequently for events. He calls karting “a very technical sport,” requiring knowledge of the engine — which sits right next to the driver — and the ability to react to myriad track conditions.

“There’s a whole bunch of things you’ve got to learn,” Tim notes. “You go around that seven-tenths of a mile in about 40 seconds. … It’s extremely fast, and you’ve got to be really up on your reaction times.”

In Tim’s first two racing events of the season last weekend, he did not finish the finals of either race after crashing out. But he and his father, who serves as his mechanic, did raise $200 for Rylan from cash donations from other drivers. The Griffins realize that their efforts will not cover much of the Karrers’ overall medical bills, but the Karrers are grateful nonetheless.

“I think it’s just fantastic,” says Rylan’s father, Andrew Karrer, who lived in La Pine for 15 years but moved his family to Texas four years ago. “Chris called me back in the fall and he had some ideas. It’s huge. Stuff like this means so much to us, especially being so far away.”

“It’s an opportunity to do something nice for somebody else, and it’s good to look for those opportunities,” Chris Griffin says. “It makes life matter a little more. I can only imagine what it would be like to go through what (the Karrers) are going through. We’re going to help them out as much as we can. Even though it’s not much, we’re going to do our best.”

Tim Griffin is in the process of transferring from Central Oregon Community College in Bend to the Oregon Institute of Technology’s Portland campus. He aspires to become a software engineer, working with either video games or computer animation.

“That makes him a geek that likes to drive fast,” jokes Tim’s father.

The move to Portland will put Tim closer to the kart-racing scene, as most of Oregon’s premier kart tracks are located in the Portland area.

Kart racing often serves as a steppingstone to car racing, and Tim says he hopes to eventually compete in Sports Car Club of America auto races. For now, he plans to stick with the karting and racing for Rylan.

Andrew says Rylan “feels OK,” but he often has pain in his stomach and back where fluid builds up.

“Day to day, he’s doing pretty good,” Andrew Karrer says. “It’s tough. We’re waiting on a phone call (for a heart) 24 hours a day.”

Rylan is an auto-racing fan who last year attended a NASCAR race at Texas Motor Speedway with his mother and father. He got to wander the pit area and meet some of the drivers.

“It was a great day,” Andrew Karrer says.

Though not on the same level as NASCAR, Tim has recorded some video of his kart practice sessions to send to Rylan. The Griffins hope to travel to Texas at the end of the karting season and take Andrew and Rylan karting at a local track, if Rylan has recovered from his heart transplant by then.

Tim says that racing for Rylan is an honor.

“Last year, it was, ‘I need to win this and this,’ ” Tim explains. “This year, it’s like, I’m doing this for fun and for Rylan. I want to do good for him and let him in on the action, and show him what I’m doing. I think this year is going to be the most fun I’ve had, just because of this.”

About kart racing

Karting involves small, open-wheeled vehicles racing on scaled-down circuits. Karts have no suspension, and they typically measure about 6 feet long and 3 feet wide and weigh between 150 and 200 pounds. Engines vary from five to more than 30 horsepower. Sprint kart racing takes place on circuits resembling small road courses, with both left and right turns. Tracks range from half a mile to more than one mile in length. Speed and successful passing are crucial.

SOURCE: www.worldkarting.com

Racing 4 Rylan

Redmond’s Tim Griffin is dedicating his kart-racing season to family friend Rylan Karrer, who suffers from a rare heart condition called restrictive cardiomyopathy and needs a heart transplant to survive. Donations can be made to “I Heart Rylan” at SELCO Community Credit Unions. For more information, contact Chris Griffin at 541-350-3801 or search Facebook for “I Heart Rylan.”