Success drives Dixon brothers

DIXON – At just 14 years old, Jared Wiggins races electric and nitro buggies and he competes with grown men twice his age.

Despite that, Wiggins, a freshman at Dixon High School, never shows any intimidation when he is one of the youngest people at an event.

"It just makes it that much better when I beat them," Wiggins said with a laugh.

Jared's brother, Justin, 16, is just as confident about his work. He owns his own computer business.

"Anything with technology, I can do better than anyone else," he said.

These two brothers are different, but they are both successful.

Once they are dismissed from class, Jared runs to his garage to work on his buggies, while Justin runs to his basement and repairs computers and other electronics.

"This is better than having kids come home and sit in front of the TV and play video games all day," said Jim Wiggins, the boys' father. "I told them to find something they love and make it work. They come home from school and start working."

Since he was 10, Jared has been racing radio controlled, battery powered and nitro fuel-powered buggies, which are basically high-powered remote controlled cars.

"Everything comes unassembled and I build the cars myself," Jared said.

He runs them on dirt tracks during competitions. He has competed in more than 40 races throughout his young career.

If he needs to work on a turn or an obstacle, he can go in his backyard and practice on a lighted dirt track, which he created with the help of his dad.

The track is between 10 to 15 feet wide and it takes up more than 11,000 square feet of land. The track also has tight twists and turns, jumps and other obstacles similar to those Jared might encounter in competitions.

Jared has two main cars he races and other practice cars. Each car takes 8 to 10 hours to build, and they weigh more than 7 pounds. Each car can reach speeds up to 70 mph.

Jared has raced his cars nationwide, including in Illinois, Iowa, Wisconsin, California and Pennsylvania.

He recently competed in the regional Chi-Town Shootout, a radio controlled racing competition in Joliet. He joined more than 350 entries and he earned three second-place finishes and one fourth-place finish.

Next for Jared is a national event in June, which takes places in Chico, California. If he is able to place in the top 40, he will compete in the world championships, which take place in Las Vegas in 2016.

Justin operates his business, Wiggins Computing, in the basement of his parents' home. Computers, tablets, cameras and modems fill a room tucked downstairs.

Justin has been working with electronics since he was 12.

"Most of the jobs that I do are either tune-ups or I remove junk from people's computer," Justin, a sophomore at DHS, said.

In addition to specializing in computer repair, Justin also has installed a security system and wireless Internet on his parents' property.

"Working with the schools is how I learned this networking stuff," Justin said. "I started working with family friends and it went from there."

Justin works with businesses all over Dixon, such as Third Street Citgo, Midwest Cement and Drive Safe School of Driving.

Working with businesses and private clients keeps him busy.

"I don't know how much more business I can take on with the time that I have," Justin said. "I'm busy all the time now."

Although the brothers are different, Jim said, they get along – for the most part.

"They get along fairly decent," he said. "When they come together, there are issues at times, but they are brothers."