He is 11 years old, lives in Newton and drives in the NASCAR Youth Series

Elisha James, his mother, adjusted her glasses for a photo. Glasses are a new thing.

Elisha said the family recently discovered that Case had astigmatism, which makes distant objects blurry. His glasses correct that and he wears them all the time, Elisée said.

Elisha said friends joked that, in light of Case’s past success, imagine how much better he would run now that he can see the track.

Case, 11, is a fourth-generation driver who has been racing since he was 5 years old. Currently, he is a NASCAR Youth Series driver.

Several weeks ago, Case made his professional truck racing debut in Texas at Houston Motorsports Park, Texas, on the oval track. Elisha said Case qualified fourth and finished sixth out of 15 drivers.

This interview took place a few days before the truck race. It has been edited for length and clarity.

Case: I would really like to thank my teachers and my principal for this, because they are the ones who make this possible. Sometimes for nationals I have to leave maybe Thursday or Friday, and they give me those days off just to allow me to race, which I think is really cool.

Case: One of my best races, and one of my favorite races, in fact, was this year and it was at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, the big track that the Indy Cars race at. We ran inside. Since I was 5 or 6 years old, we would go there and work at it, but we couldn’t win. But this year we finally won, which was really good to achieve a goal I’ve had my whole time in this sport.

Case: I am currently participating in four national championships. I want to try to get to five next year. But also, my biggest goal is just to get to one of the big leagues like NASCAR, IndyCar or any motorsport. I will do my best to make a career in racing.

Case: I’m going to race a truck in Houston, Texas. It’s really exciting, but there’s also the hope that we can at least do well and get a good result. It’s weird to think that I’m only 11 years old and I’m going to be racing against people who are maybe at least in their 30s and 40s, maybe even their 50s. But it’s also exciting to go. If they mistreat me, it’s good to know that’s how it’s going to be in the big leagues.

Case: I have tons of friends. Off the track, it’s mostly fun with your friends. But as soon as you get in the car, everything gets serious and it becomes every man for himself. Sometimes it can just be fun, like when you’re in a situation where your friend is in front of you and you have to try to pass him to win, which is pretty cool. Racing with all your friends is pretty cool.

Case: In NASCAR, my dad works for Ford, so I kind of got involved with the drivers there. Some drivers I look up to are Brad Keselowski and Joey Logano. The people I admire in Formula 1 are Michael Schumacher and Max Verstappen.

Case: One was in Indianapolis. I come from one of the lower networks, which, there’s this thing called B-mains. This can go A, B, C, D, etc. The A is the main show. I had a bad qualifying race and had to start in the E main race. I fought my way into the A main race and won the race, but then they took it away from me because my timing was just a hair away.

Elisha: It was an engine manufacturer problem. Its engine was damaged following an impact at some point during this weekend, which caused a small engine infraction. So a part had moved, causing the engine to move just a hair. But the rules are the rules, and that’s the way it is. But go on, how did you overcome this challenge?

Case: I got over it because I was really angry that it was taken away from me that night. So the next night it was another day of racing and I came back and won another class. I was very happy about it because I showed them that they can try to disqualify me, but I’m going to come back and try to win again and be angrier and want to win more.

Any advice for anyone your age or younger who wants to get into racing?

Case: It’s hard and sometimes you’ll feel like you just want to quit because there will be people who won’t motivate you the best and won’t support you. But what I do is just ignore them. One thing I’ve learned is that you can be really angry and hate someone, but you never go up to them and say mean things. You just play along with what they say because if you are mean to them it might hurt them and they might be mean to you. So basically normal things, like treating people the way you would like to be treated because there might be a time when you’re in the same motorsport and they’re better than you and you have to respect them. Respect everyone, you should not disrespect anyone.

Elisha: As a mom, I hope this will teach him how to control his car. I hope all these years of driving a car at high speeds in races will help him. I hope the reward is that he will be quite safe and aware of other drivers.