For two childhood friends to be teammates in any professional sport is a rarity, so the bond shared by two kids who grew up in Peachtree City, Ga. -- Reed Sorenson and Shane Bourgeois -- is even more unique.

The neighbors grew close on the baseball diamond, but only played that sport together for a year before Sorenson's march through the national Quarter Midget ranks -- including nine championships -- caught Bourgeois' attention.

Sorenson, who for more than the first 10 years of his career raced in equipment fielded by his family, came to depend on Bourgeois' help, even as he achieved success at each level he attempted, from Quarter Midgets as a 6-year-old to Legends cars to ASA Late Models.

When they reached the threshold of their teen years, the die was already cast, Sorenson recalled.

"I was so involved in racing that by the time I turned 12 that was it for me," Sorenson said. "Shane started coming for fun, then he started working on it, and he started making a little money because my dad would pay him a little bit."

Beginning as 12-year-olds, Sorenson drove Legends to three Atlanta Motor Speedway track championships, in 1998, 1999 and 2001, while winning 22 of 43 starts. But that was a crucible that forged their love of the sport.

"We'd race in Charlotte on Tuesday nights, at Atlanta Thursday nights and then somewhere in Georgia on Saturday nights," Sorenson said. "Most of the time it was Shane, me and my dad doing all of the work.

"Those cars were pretty easy to work on -- but still, we were only 12 or 13 years old. But we had a lot of fun doing that and we learned the basics of what it took to work on racecars.

"And we did a lot of other stuff, for fun, too."

With driving being a more intoxicating endeavor, Bourgeois stayed active in football, where he thrived in high school to the point where his parents wanted him to concentrate on that.

"I really didn't know what I wanted to do with my career," Bourgeois said. "[Looking back] I would have never expected to have made it up here, but I just kept working at it, and the right things came along. (Continued)