Not many 13-year-olds are generally concerned about their future careers at such a young age - which makes Alexander Rossi an exception. The young race car driver has become so talented in his sport he is already making decisions and getting the training he needs to make his career dream become a reality.

Rossi, the third-youngest driver in the United States to race a Formula car, has spent the past year turning heads, making a name for himself in the racing scene and preparing himself for his lifelong dream: to drive in the Formula 1 World Championship Race Series.

This past August, Rossi participated in an event that may aid him in that dream - the Red Bull Drivers Search at Infineon Raceway.

According to the Web site, "The search is a long-term program designed to find, test and support budding young racing talent. It was launched to directly address the lack of American presence at the pinnacle of motor racing: the Formula 1 World Championship."

This lack of American drivers in the series is something that bothers Rossi, yet at the same time motivates him to get his talent to the level needed to change the absence of American drivers in the series.

Highly competitive, the Red Bull Search looks for drivers between the ages of 13 to 17 years old. Rossi, who was 12 at that time, sought special permission from the West Coast representative at Red Bull for pre-approval to race.

In the end, he did receive permission and competed in the open finals June 8, where he finished second of 24 drivers and moved on to the West Coast run off.

At the run off, a three-day event Aug. 24-26 at Infineon Raceway, Rossi posted the third-fastest lap time, but finished eighth overall in the last main event. With about 20 laps to go, Rossi was in third, but was involved in a spinout with another driver that pushed him back to 17th by the time he got his car back on the track. With time running out, he was only able to make it back to eighth place.

Only the top six finishers were guaranteed a spot to move, but by finishing eighth, Rossi had a chance to become a wild card pick. However, because of his age, the search officials thought it was best for Rossi to get more experience with a car, despite the fact that they were impressed with his talent at such a young age.

"I felt disappointed because I spent the entire summer testing and made a mistake after I was taken out," Rossi said. "But competing this year was a big advantage for next year because I'll know what to expect and have more experience."

Despite the disappointment, good things did come of the event. One of the best being that Rossi was able to showcase his abilities and draw the attention of Danny Sullivan, former Formula 1 driver for Tyrrell-Ford, the 1985 Indy 500 winner and the 1988 IndyCar Champion. Sullivan is also the head of the Red Bull Driver Search program.

Sullivan expressed interest in Rossi's abilities and encouraged him to get further race car experience to make him even better for next year's event.

"It was kind of awkward talking to him because he knows so much," Rossi said after talking with Sullivan. "He is someone I really look up to though so it made me feel good to hear his positive comments. I did turn kind of red because I'm still a little shy, but I felt like a wave of relief came over me since I was still upset about finishing eighth."

Since that race, Rossi went to a car control clinic, has been testing cars, began working with a physical trainer and raced in his first formula car race Dec. 12 at Laguna Seca Raceway in a Formula R/T 2000 race car (he finished fifth overall in the race). Rossi is doing all of these things to gain more experience and move one step closer to his dream.

In addition to receiving encouragement from Sullivan, the Red Bull Driver Search also helped to solidify Rossi's spot in another prestigious event: the Skip Barber Karting Scholarship Shoot-out at Laguna Seca Jan. 7-9.

After seeing Rossi's speed and ability on the track during the Red Bull Driver Search, the Skip Barber people knew for sure he needed to be included in their shoot-out.

At the shoot-out, 47 drivers will be judged on their speed, character, marketability and technique.

In order to compete, the drivers had to be invited and had to have solid and proven talent.

The top four karters will win close to $100,000 in scholarships and able to participate in Barber Dodge Formula National Series, which consists of 14 races at seven different tracks.

"I'm very excited for the shoot-out, but I'm also a little nervous," Rossi said. "Now that I've been in a big competition I know what it's like and I feel like I've prepared well for the event."

Rossi will once again be one of the youngest competitors as most of the other karters range from age 17 to 20, with some as old as 25 competing.

"Most of the other racers treat me as a peer, not like a little brother, but they also don't like getting beat by someone as young as me," Rossi said. "Sometimes they'll blame the loss on their cars, but some of them also try to encourage me and help me out."

Not as if he needs much help from his peers, as Rossi is able to hold his own on the track and has proven that in such races as the ESPN Karting Championship Series, KT 100cc class in which he finished second overall. The series, held at Infineon Raceway in Sonoma, consisted of six races over six months.

"I want to race Formula 1 because it's the pinnacle of motor sports," Rossi said. "Only the best race in that series, it's extremely fast and is the most competitive and challenging of all racing."

And if anyone knows about tough competition, it's Rossi. For a 13-year-old who is still three years away from driving the family car down the streets of Nevada City that wears braces on his teeth, he is sure giving drivers many years older than him fits with his talent at such a young age.