Compass Racing Development LLC is owned by professional racecar driver McKenna Haase. McKenna owns and manages her own sprint car team, Team Haase Racing LLC, and is a 5-time winner at 'Sprint Car Capital of the World', Knoxville Raceway. Compass was founded when McKenna was 17 years old in 2015. Following a severe concussion in a sprint car crash, McKenna purchased a bare 2004 go-kart frame she found on the Internet and converted it to a box stock outlaw kart using a design she'd dreamed of building since she was 13 years old. She decided to use the kart to give a child the chance to race who wouldn't receive one otherwise. At the time she was volunteering in a 1st grade classroom in her elementary school, and the art project of a student caught her eye when 6 year old Gage Stevens drew a picture of a racecar with the number 71 on it.
Following discussions with his teacher, McKenna learned that after purchasing a kart for him, tragic events in Gage's family life caused his father to temporarily be removed from his life. McKenna met with his family at their home shortly after and shared the vision for Compass and offered Gage the opportunity to drive the original Compass Racing Development house kart. The rest is history. Gage went on to win every race that year except for one. He moved up a level the next year and continued to dominate, collecting an additional 4 feature wins. Following a nasty crash in 2016, Gage spent some time recovering from an injury and trying to get back in the groove behind the wheel. In 2018, Gage began racing with his father again and together they were a dominant force. They've collected over 30 feature wins, 6 championships, and 2 national titles.
After Gage, McKenna continued putting together karts for other children and growing the program. Since 2015, many children have been involved with Compass, and the program continues to grow. The 2019 and 2020 Compass Racing Development house kart driver is 8 year old Lucas Pence, who races in honor of his mother Alicia who passed away from brain cancer in 2019. Compass helps with coaching, mentoring, sponsorship, safety gear, and more for a variety of families in a variety of capacities.
Thank you to everyone who has made Compass possible. We couldn't have done this without a small army who has made it a reality. Thank you to the families for teaching us what life, living, faith, and racing are truly all about.