WOODBURY — As the sun beats down on an open drag strip, the light tree comes to life. Nathan Hayes, strapped in a Camaro charged with a 6.2 LS pushing 850 horsepower, silently waits while the engine rumbles, vibrations flowing through his chest. His love for petrol-powered engines drives him to fly towards the end of a drag strip at over 120 miles per hour.
The tree staring down the two high-powered cars starts to count. Yellow, yellow, yellow, green.
The whine of the blower drowns out the scream of the engine, but Hayes is unfazed, locked into the moment with his foot glued to the floor. Hayes’ adrenaline pumps as his time — 10.44 seconds — is loaded onto the track board at the end of the quarter-mile.
With relief, he heads back to the pits to load up for the day.
“I didn’t get into the racing industry until I was 12 years old,” said Hayes, a junior at Nonnewaug. “What really drove me to apply myself was being able to watch my family compete.”
After becoming indulged in racing, Hayes created his racing career while advancing his mechanical skills.
“Nathan is a great mechanically-minded student,” said Levi Johnson, a close friend and junior at Nonnewaug. “I’m convinced his skill was a gift from his parents.”
To satisfy his mechanical needs, Hayes was gifted a project car at the age of 12. Hayes treats this as his pride and joy, putting much of his time and funding towards it.
“My project car is a 1969 Chevy Nova, pulled out of a farm field, which was its previous home for 25-plus years,” said Hayes. “At 12 years old, I started my project, stripping the old Nova down to the frame.”
Over the years, Hayes’ car has been built piece by piece from the ground up with each step taken with care. Now 16, friends and family are amazed to see the progression from what looked like a junkyard find to an almost fully functional racing machine.
“I think Nathan’s Nova is a great hobby car,” said Tommy Faull, a close friend and senior at Nonnewaug. “It’s amazing watching the car come to life as Nathan constructs it.”
When friends and onlookers catch a glimpse of the project, they are slow to comprehend the dedication and funding that goes behind a piece of machinery like this.
“While assembling the car, I put in a 406-cubic-inch Chevy small-block under a four-barrel Holly Dominator carburetor, which powers a turbo 400 transmission,” said Hayes. “I increased the tire size to 32×15-inch radial tires while upgrading parts in between, like the differential, the drive shaft, and other drive train components.”
Hayes has fallen in love with mechanics and uses it to his advantage. Since becoming a part of the FFA at Nonnewaug, Hayes has been all in for the ag engineering program.
“I enjoy the ag engineering program because it gives me an opportunity to expand my knowledge of mechanics,” said Hayes. “My favorite unit so far has been the tractor tune-up unit because it’s very hands-on and I get to watch the finished product leave the shop better than it came in.”
During his sophomore year, Hayes competed in the Connecticut FFA’s mechanics competition. This competition is one of the hardest challenges the FFA has to offer because of the variety of mechanical problems that students are required to face.
The competition consisted of electrical, small engines, surveying, welding, large equipment systems, diagnosing problems, writing quotes for work performed, and a written test.
Even with the time crunch of 20 minutes per station, Hayes placed second in the state out of about 65 kids, and his team proceeded to the National FFA agricultural engineering competition in the fall at Indianapolis.
“Nathan Hayes certainly elevated the Mechanics CDE team,” said Andrew Zielisnki, the Nonnewaug agricultural engineering teacher and Mechanics CDE coach. “He definitely brought a skill set that helped the team’s overall success.”
Hayes is well cared for by his friends and the community. He is respected for his mechanical skill and work ethic.
“Nathan has a great attitude,” said Johnson. “I’m looking forward to watching him succeed.”
