[Editor's Note: For more reviews of the summer's biggest movies, check out the Daily Loaf Movie Review Index.]

Every sport has a junior level; a place for kids with talent to hone their game before deciding whether to pursue a professional career. There are peewee football, baseball and hockey leagues offering structured learning all across America. Soccer and basketball barely even require organization: If you have a ball, you pretty much have a game. I played football and baseball as a child, quickly establishing that I would be working indoors as an adult.

But what path do aspiring stock-car racers take? Parents can’t just go out to Dick’s and pick up a starter model chassis and some STP decals for little Billy to start practicing. Instead, kids who want to become the next Tony Stewart fight for a place in the World Karting Association’s (WKA) National Series, which is to NASCAR what Little League is to professional baseball. The excellent new documentary Racing Dreams follows three young racers fighting for a shot at a life in the fast lane.

This article appears in May 20-26, 2010.