Spring 4 was probably one of the most enjoyable races I have raced in in my short year of racing. Although the engine is still not even close to being a front runner, the handling was dead on where I wanted. Steering the kart was the most enjoyable part while on the track. During qualifying I went out and just wanted to learn the new track surface after NTK was resealed last week. I went out near the back of the group just to make sure if I made a mistake I did not take anybody out. Quickly I realized this track was going to be fun and fast! Through the turns the kart would stick like I had just put brand new tires on. In qualifying I ran a 45.9 while the pole sitter ran a 45.2. I was not upset though because I ended up getting the outside pole!
In the pits I was not working on the kart and just enjoyed the special guest who I will talk about a little later. For the pre final I started on the outside of row one. There was confusion between the pole sitter and the officials so it took two tries to get the race under way. In turn one I was stuck on the outside but managed to hang on to the position but would fall in behind the leader. While going through the first turn one of the drivers in another class spun out which required a yellow in the turn. The flagmen were new and the turn two flag guy was signaling for everyone to slow down but was not using his flags, just his hands. This threw me off and I thought we we were going to restart again. While thinking that, the driver in third slipped by me and I quickly realized that was a flagman error and I needed to get back on the wheel and begin playing catch up. I rode around in third for about 3 laps when the leader spun out right in front of me and the second place driver. We both managed to get around him but it closed me right up to her rear bumper coming out of turn three. I followed her for the remainder of the race to figure out where the safest place to pass her would be and on the final lap I was planning to make my move but navigated turn 3 poorly which gave her a slight advantage the rest of the lap and ultimately the win in the pre final.
She was extremely excited about her run and I was disappointed with myself for making a goofy mistake but was not worried about it, I now knew where I could make the pass for the lead in the final.
I started on the outside of the front row once again for the final and had been hoping for a big push by Jarrett who would start right behind me. Without even talking to him between heats he did the one thing I was hoping for, he gave me a MASSIVE push at the start which got me firmly in the lead before getting to turn one! At that point I knew I just had to drive a smart race and not make any dumb mistakes. At lap 8 a driver passed me but he was racing in another class so I did not worry about that one, I knew there would be someone following him though and began running a more defensive line. On lap 10 I was passed again, luckily by a driver in another class again. With two laps left I drove my kart as hard as possible to try to keep up with the two drivers who had passed me. With one to go I was running the most defensive line I had ever driven, I was not going to lose this one on the last lap. Coming down the front straight away I knew I had my first win! Fist pumping across the line, I just won my first career race! Rolling into tech I knew I needed to make weight. 330lbs. TEN pounds over the minimum weight, this win is official!
I got back to the pits to begin prepping for the next race for the night, a 75 lap endurance race. The guest with the team would be a former NASCAR Wheelen Series driver Chuck Jenssen. With five years in a kart I knew we were going to have a treat driver on the team! The other driver on the team would be my dad.
For the start of the endurance race we would start 12th of 13 teams after a random drawing to choose the start. Chuck was the first driver and I was going to start the engine for him. On the start we got going faster than anyone else and got all the way up to 5th place! Chuck avoided two crashes in his first ten laps but on lap 10 disaster struck when he hit a curb the wrong way and wrapped the chain guard in between the sprocket and the chain. He lost 2 seconds a lap due to this but stayed out until the pits opened up. It took nearly 10 minutes to fix the damage but we finally got my dad out there now 12 laps down. He ran a clean race during his stint but on his way into the pits he spun the kart around. No damage was done and we got the driver change done extremely quickly and it was now my turn to go finish the race up. Still 12 laps down I was just going to push the kart as hard as I possibly could. At some point during my stint I hit a curb the same way Chuck did and wrapped the chain guard in between the sprocket and the chain. It robbed power but I was still able to get through the corners fast, and by fast I mean the leader finally caught me and while following him I was beating him through the corners but he was driving away down the straights. After nearly 25 laps on track of me not lifting off the gas at any point around the half mile road course I finally ran the kart out of fuel with two laps to go. I passed two karts for position on track after falling back to last after the first incident. We had a lot of bad luck during the 75 lap race but had a ton of fun and even gained one position!!
It was a great night of racing getting a win, racing with a NASCAR driver as a teammate, giving the other drivers waiting for their turn to race some action in the pits, and an overall fun day of racing that finally ended at two in the morning. The next race will be next weekend on the short track where the strongest motor will hopefully not be the winner, but the diver that navigates the corners the best.
She was extremely excited about her run and I was disappointed with myself for making a goofy mistake but was not worried about it, I now knew where I could make the pass for the lead in the final.
I started on the outside of the front row once again for the final and had been hoping for a big push by Jarrett who would start right behind me. Without even talking to him between heats he did the one thing I was hoping for, he gave me a MASSIVE push at the start which got me firmly in the lead before getting to turn one! At that point I knew I just had to drive a smart race and not make any dumb mistakes. At lap 8 a driver passed me but he was racing in another class so I did not worry about that one, I knew there would be someone following him though and began running a more defensive line. On lap 10 I was passed again, luckily by a driver in another class again. With two laps left I drove my kart as hard as possible to try to keep up with the two drivers who had passed me. With one to go I was running the most defensive line I had ever driven, I was not going to lose this one on the last lap. Coming down the front straight away I knew I had my first win! Fist pumping across the line, I just won my first career race! Rolling into tech I knew I needed to make weight. 330lbs. TEN pounds over the minimum weight, this win is official!
I got back to the pits to begin prepping for the next race for the night, a 75 lap endurance race. The guest with the team would be a former NASCAR Wheelen Series driver Chuck Jenssen. With five years in a kart I knew we were going to have a treat driver on the team! The other driver on the team would be my dad.
For the start of the endurance race we would start 12th of 13 teams after a random drawing to choose the start. Chuck was the first driver and I was going to start the engine for him. On the start we got going faster than anyone else and got all the way up to 5th place! Chuck avoided two crashes in his first ten laps but on lap 10 disaster struck when he hit a curb the wrong way and wrapped the chain guard in between the sprocket and the chain. He lost 2 seconds a lap due to this but stayed out until the pits opened up. It took nearly 10 minutes to fix the damage but we finally got my dad out there now 12 laps down. He ran a clean race during his stint but on his way into the pits he spun the kart around. No damage was done and we got the driver change done extremely quickly and it was now my turn to go finish the race up. Still 12 laps down I was just going to push the kart as hard as I possibly could. At some point during my stint I hit a curb the same way Chuck did and wrapped the chain guard in between the sprocket and the chain. It robbed power but I was still able to get through the corners fast, and by fast I mean the leader finally caught me and while following him I was beating him through the corners but he was driving away down the straights. After nearly 25 laps on track of me not lifting off the gas at any point around the half mile road course I finally ran the kart out of fuel with two laps to go. I passed two karts for position on track after falling back to last after the first incident. We had a lot of bad luck during the 75 lap race but had a ton of fun and even gained one position!!
It was a great night of racing getting a win, racing with a NASCAR driver as a teammate, giving the other drivers waiting for their turn to race some action in the pits, and an overall fun day of racing that finally ended at two in the morning. The next race will be next weekend on the short track where the strongest motor will hopefully not be the winner, but the diver that navigates the corners the best.