October 25, 2009 - Halloween Howler and "Saturday Night Live" Race # 5

The 2009 Halloween Howler was delayed a day due to rain. What was supposed to be a final weekend of racing turned into one giant day with a ton of racing. Saturday got rained out so Sunday was crammed with practice, qualifying, the howler, drawing for spots for the Saturday Night Live Series and the final points determining SNL race.
The JWR crew was prepared and ready for action. We had parked the trailer on Friday night so we showed up ready to go Sunday morning. First up was a couple of rounds of practice. We time trialed for starting positions for the howler which is usually pretty good for us but, due to new tires, cold weather, bad luck or whatever we didn't manage to snag the top spot in either race. Jack started 4th in both divisions after pulling numbers for the starting spot for the SNL race.

The SNL race was up first. Jack started fourth lined up behind the 95 of Josh Gayman with the 08 of David Gayman and the 43 of Devin O'Connell lined up to the inside. Josh is Jack's biggest competition as he currently sits first in the standings so we really need to finish ahead of him in order to take the lead and the championship. The race starts as expected with Josh charging for the lead and Jack hot on his heels. The 08 slides back through the middle as the 43 dives underneath him coming out of turn 2 on the first lap. By the time they cross the stripe the 95 has the lead with Jack in 2nd and the 43 coming up in third.
Jack stays right on Josh's bumper giving him a couple of taps as they make there way around the track and increase their lead over the 43 and the rest of the pack. On lap 6 Jack sneaks a peak coming down the front stretch and loses a kart length to Josh but soon gathers it back up and continues to push him around the track. Josh takes the half way flags but Jack sets up the pass coming out of turn two and uses his brother perfectly to take over the lead for lap 11. Once Jack takes over the lead Josh just can't get to him, he stays about a kart length away but can't get to his bumper. Jack leads the last 9 laps and takes the win with the 95 of Gayman right behind him and about a half a track lead over the remainder of the field. With that win Jack wins the 2009 Saturday Night Live Tiger Sprint Division Championship!!!

Next up, the Halloween Howler. Again Jack starts in fourth spot lined up behind the 96 of Justin Barry with the 95 of Gayman, the 09 of JP Brennan and the 43 of O'Connell lined up inside of him. Jack and Justin have worked great together all year so we're thinking it will be a repeat of the last race, Justin and Jack will hook up on the outside and take off like rockets around the rest of the field.



Justin got a jump coming down the backstretch on the pace lap with Jack right behind him but the 95 saw him pull ahead and sped up taking the 09 with him on the inside and giving the 96 a slower start to the race. With Jack right behind Justin and the 43 now on the inside of him we were stuck on the outside. Jack tried to push Justin to the front on the outside but the other karts were too fast and the two of them couldn't get around together. Justin managed to sneak in front of the 43 on lap 4 but Jack had to squeeze in behind. The 43 had not been fast all day and the two of them began to watch the front 3 pull away. By lap 7 Jack had had enough and had fallen a quarter track behind the leader. He attempted a pass on the 43 coming down the back stretch but watched the 43 change his line and come down in front of him through three and four so he backed out of it. Unfortunately he backed way out of it and now had even more ground to make up. On lap 9 he started the pass coming out of turn 3 and took the position from the 43 for lap 11. He was now a straightaway behind the front three who were nose to tail and had only fourteen laps to try to catch them by himself. With 5 laps to go Jack had all but caught the 96. Going into turn three they ran into the lapped kart of Gabriel Camuso. When Justin went high to avoid him Jack slowed up just enough and went low. Jack and Justin drag raced down the front stretch but with Jack on the bottom he had the preferred line. Jack had taken third spot away from Justin going into turn 2 with 3 to go. The front two were within his sights but with three laps to go there wasn't enough time to catch him. He cut their lead down from over a straightaway to less than a quarter track but came home in third place. A well fought fight for position and a few lessons learned along the way. Not a bad day...

The leader taking the checkers as Jack comes out of turn 4

October 17, 2009 Last Points Race

This is the last points race weekend of the season. Again we have a makeup race so we'll be running one heat and two features. We were hoping to have a big field full of karts practicing for the Howler next week but just the regulars showed up for the Tiger Sprint class.

The track ran the make-up feature first and lined the karts up by points so we were starting on the pole. Justin started second and went real wide going into turn two and TJ drove underneath him to take over second spot. We ticked off a few laps driving around spread out pretty evenly in single file after Justin attempted a pass on TJ and lost some of his momentum. Justin quickly caught back up to TJ as Jack drove further away out in front. Justin spent the next 10 or 12 laps trying to make his way around TJ before finally making the pass with just a few laps to go. Jack was about a straight away ahead of them when he took the checkered flag for his 5th win in a row!!

The track went back to heat races to qualify for the final feature points race of the season. Jack started in last since he is the leader in the points standings. Jack drove too low coming off of turn 2 and gave up the inside lane to Justin Barry keeping him in second spot. Justin got loose coming out of turn 4 and turned right into the side of Jack as he was driving underneath him. This caused the two of them to lose all momentum to TJ but they kept going and the caution never flew. Jack got second spot from Justin after the accident and the two hooked up to chase down TJ. The boys fell to a little more than a quarter track behind but were able to reel TJ back into within ten kart lengths just before the finish. Checking over the karts before the feature showed that we had a bent spindle and the toe was knocked way out so even though we didn't get the heat win it was a great effort considering the condition of the kart.

The final points feature has Jack starting in second along side TJ Bleau, with Justin Barry in the third spot. Jack didn't get a very good start and Justin sailed right by him to take the second position. Justin made a pass attempt on TJ on lap one and missed, losing some momentum and falling back from TJ by a few kart lengths. They pretty much drove nose to tail until about lap 12 when Justin made the pass on TJ for the lead coming out of turn two. With 4 to go TJ made the same move on Justin coming out of turn 2, but it appeared that Justin didn't see him and half way through turn's three and four Justin drove straight up the track and off the exit ramp. Thankfully no one was hurt. Those Barry boys know how to save it off the exit ramp!!

Caution flew with TJ in the lead followed by Jack and then Justin for a single file restart. Jack stayed glued to TJ's back bumper for three laps before he set up the perfect pass as he took the white flag. Jack ducked under TJ coming off of turn 2, drag raced neck and neck down the back stretch and came out in front out of turn 3. TJ ducked down to tuck in behind Jack but Justin was already diving in there and the two of them spun out coming out of turn 4 as Jack took the checkered flag for his 6th win in a row. What a way to end the season!!

October 10, 2009 - Triple Crown Event

The Wild Thing Karts Triple Crown Event rolled in to town this week. Unfortunately Jack did not attend the event down at Stafford so we are already behind in the standings. This week's Triple Crown Feature also counts as our regular program race so we will be running the Triple Crown at Route 106. We also have a makeup race from August 22nd that we will be running today so we have a long day ahead of us.

Gates opened at 2:00 and we were there right on time. The pit area was already packed with trailers, a lot of which had come up for the Triple Crown. We got the pits set up, set out the scales and went to work. Everything looked good to go so we were ready to head out for first practice. Jack pulled out onto the track right behind one of the other karts and opted to stay behind him rather than risk passing and getting taken out during practice laps. The kart looked and felt good so we opted for no changes. For second practice we bolted on a new set of tires and went out to scuff them in. Jack pulled off the track before practice was even over.

The line-up for the make-up race was based on points as of the rained out date so Jack got the pole position. 5 extra karts signed up to race giving them an 8 kart field. Jack pulled out to an easy lead while the 15 of TJ Bleau and the 96 of Justin Barry battled with the 24 of Cornelius Flynn, the 29 of Danny Wesson and the 28 of Teddy Hodgdon. While the four of them did battle lap after lap Jack was able to drive further and further away from the group. Jack crossed the checkers about a half lap ahead of the field to take the win. A great start to the night!!

The regular program was to run time trials. Jack loves qualifying and usually does a great job. Because there was so much time between the previous race and our time trials we nearly missed the line up!! Jack went out last to qualify as the track was getting colder and colder, the tires had no heat in them, but he went for it. On his first lap he got a little sideways due to lack of grip going through turn 2 and still bested all other competitors by a tenth. His second lap was flawless and Jack took the pole!!

Jack started on the pole with the 28 of Teddy Hodgdon in second the 95 of Josh Gayman in third. Jack jumped out ahead of the 28 while the 95 and the 96 of Justin Barry followed him past the 28. Coming through three and four on the second lap the 95 of Gayman went way high and the 96 of Barry was able to duck underneath him. Jack had quite a decent lead on second place and continued to pull away to about a 12 to 15 kart length advantage. He maneuvered through the lapped traffic and maintained his lead when the caution came out for a spin at the end of the front stretch on lap 9.

The karts restarted single file and Jack and Justin hooked up and jumped out ahead of the field. The fourth place 43 of Devin O'Connell dove under the 95 of Gayman while the 24 of Mikey Flynn dove under both of them to take over the third spot. Jack and Justin drove further and further away while the field raced each other behind them. The 15 of TJ Bleau got into the mix taking over the fourth spot while the 43 reclaimed third. Jack pulled Justin right between the lapped karts of David Gayman and Gabriel Camuso. The 43 brought out the second caution when he followed the 29 through the lapped karts and tried to go around the 29 at the exit of the corner. The 43 drove over the nose of the 29 and the two of them ended up in the outside wall.

The race restarted on lap 12 with the 106 boys leading the way; 95J, 96, and 15. Jack and Justin again hooked up and took off but it would be short lived as the caution once again flew 3 laps into the run. They lined them back up for the final shoot out to the checkers. Jack and Justin rode nose to tail for much of the last five laps maneuvering through traffic with relative ease. Justin made an attempt on the last corner to take Jack at the line but Jack was able to hold on for the win.

Jack's two wins tonight moved him far enough ahead in points to clinch the 2009 Championship!!

September 26, 2009

The racing weekend started a day early for us again this weekend with the "Moonlight Madness" event held at Route 106 Friday night. The Jack Walker Racing team attended this event with a bunch of racing friends. Jack himself couldn't race as the event was for those 12 years and up but he had just as much fun cheering on all of his friends and family. We had a blast and can't wait for the next event!!

Saturday brought the return of "Saturday Night Live" Racing. Since racing season has ended just about everywhere else in New England we always get a lot more karts at the end of the season. This week our kart count jumped from 8 to 14. This is the biggest field Jack has ever raced against in competition.
We went out for first practice and the kart was fast! Jack ran some pretty great laps and came off the track not wanting to change a thing!! With 14 Tigers out there we decided to skip second practice to avoid wrecking the kart in practice. This also gave us the opportunity to watch the other karts on the track since there was so many new ones out there we hadn't yet seen before. We had a lot of fun being able to sit back and enjoy some racing instead of being "on the go" all the time.
Since it's the SNL series we time trial instead of heat racing. Jack's clutch was acting up a little in practice but we thought it would be OK. Jack went out third to qualify and took the pole, but it was a slower time than we expected so we were a little nervous it wouldn't last once the 11 other karts went out. The pole position was short lived as the 28 kart came out and took over the spot. Though it was a nailbiter to wait for that many karts we did manage to hang on to second. We were the last SNL feature of the night but we were ready. Jack started outside pole. It's not always easy to start on the outside but Jack started beautifully. Going into turn 2 the 28 bounced ever so slightly and got into Jack on lap one and gathered up half the field. This would be the first of a caution filled race. After a quick clean up they restarted the race in qualifying order. This time the field took off without a hitch and Jack jumped out to a quick lead. The 82 followed him around the 28 on the outside and the two broke away from the pack. It didn't take long for them to come up on lapped traffic but they worked their way through it. Around lap 10 Jack went into turn 2 and caught a field of about 4 lap karts spread out across the track. Jack decided to go high while the 82 went low and came out ahead of Jack. The 82 lead for about 4 laps when he came out of turn 4 and drove straight into the back of the lapped 24 kart giving the lead back to Jack. Because of the number of karts in the race they decided to go single file on the restart. Jack jumped out to a big lead with the 15 of TJ Bleau following right behind him. The 15 was soon over taken by the 43 of O'Connell. The third caution flew on lap 16 when the 99 of Isaac Miskoe slowed down to a stop on the backstretch just out of turn 2. The fourth caution came on 18 when the 82 hit the wall just under the score shack.
This last caution brought out the use of a pace vehicle in an attempt to slow them down on the restarts. The 43 dove under Jack coming out of turn two and the two ran side by side but the 43 was unable to hold onto it through turns three and four when he bounced his way through the corner and spun all by himself. Thankfully Jack was far enough away from him that he didn't bounce into Jack and take him out as well. This spin brought out the fifth caution. At this point the track director stated that if there was one more caution they were going to go yellow/checker. The typically 6 minute race had already taken about 40 minutes with all of the cautions. They got about two laps in when the sixth caution flew as the 08 stopped on turn 4. They threw the yellow/checker and all hell broke loose below the flag stand. They decided that since the karts were running out of fuel due to all of the caution laps that they would restart the race on lap 15 and let everyone refuel. We had to take an intermission and let the rest of the show continue.
After the short intermission, with all of the karts refueled we started on lap 15. No pace vehicle this time. The front two broke away from the rest of the field with Jack in the lead. One lap in the 43 tried to make the move on Jack but failed and dropped back to fourth place. A seventh caution flew when the 29 spun out on the front stretch. On the restart just before the green flag was to come out the 43 pushed the 15 out of line coming around turn 4. They waved off the green and gave the 43 the black flag. The race restarted with Jack followed by the 95, the 15 and the 43. One lap into the restart Jack began to pull away from the rest of the field even while he was lapping karts. Jack finished the race a full second ahead of second place. He then went out to run a Polish victory lap to the delight of all of his fans. Jack pulled off the track with fists pumping and the biggest smile. What an exciting race made even more exciting by Jack's dominating win!!

September 19, 2009

It's Nascar race weekend here in New Hampshire with New Hampshire Motor Speedway just up the street. Our weekend started on Friday when we took the day off to head up to Qualifying day at NHMS. We got to see a lot of racing at the track. Truck practice, Sprint Cup Qualifying, Camping Series East Race. Our buddy Joey Pole was racing in the Camping Series East race so we couldn't wait to cheer him on. It was a great race. Joey went from the front to the back to the front again. Unfortunately with about 6 laps to go in the rain/dark shortened race, Joey crashed on a restart when another car didn't get up to speed in front of him and started falling back through the middle of the pack. Joey took a pretty good hit and was out of the race. We look forward to getting to see Joey race at NHMS again next year!!
Saturday was race day for us. We were all geared up and ready to go. Route 106 ran time trials which was good for us since Jack usually does well in time trials. Jack put down two fast laps and walked away with the pole. Justin was lined up in second spot with TJ pulling up third for the start of the race. Jack pulled out to a quick lead with Justin hot on his heels. The two of them pulled away from TJ pretty quickly. Jack and Justin drove nose to tail the entire race. Every couple of laps Justin tried to make the move on Jack but just wasn't able to get up alongside of him. Justin beat on Jack's back bumper for quite a few laps and the two ran some of the fastest laps they ever ran before. Jack held off Justin for the entire race and took home his first points win in over two months!!
You'd think that with the previous two days of racing we would have gotten our fill but no not us!! It's Nascar Sunday in New Hampshire and we head up to Victory Lane Indoor Karting for another fun-filled day of racing. The great thing about Victory Lane is that we all get to race together at the same time on the track. Jack had a blast getting to race his Mom and Dad, Uncle Dave, his big sister Kayla and all of his friends. Jack learned a lot on the track. It's a completely different feeling to race a flat track on cement but Jack picked it up pretty quick. By the end of the day we were the only ones there and they decided to let us run a 100 lap race. Jack did awesome bump drafting with his Dad and holding off not only our friends but also a few of the track workers!! We will definitely be making a few more trips up to Portland!!

September 5, 2009

It's been a couple of weeks since we've gotten to race with all of the rain that's been coming through here lately. On August 22nd we actually made it to the track in dry weather and it rained for a good 30 minutes but it came down so hard it took a a really long time to dry the track. There was weather all around us so the track opted to postpone the race rather than waiting around to see if it might stay dry. The 29th was a complete wash out with the hurricane coming through and racing was cancelled before we even left for the track.
September 5th was clear and sunny. No chance of a rain out and we were excited. A long time without racing makes you itchy to get back to it. It was a pretty good day all around. The sun was shining but it wasn't too hot which makes it a much more comfortable day for everyone involved. We went out for first practice and the kart looked good. It was running well and so was Jack. There weren't too many changes made to the kart from the previous week so we weren't expecting much of a change out of the kart. We decided to skip second practice and get some lunch instead.
It was a special night at the track, instead of heat racing we were doing time trials. Plus it was going to be an extra long race, 30 laps. Jack usually does really well in time trialing so we were really excited for him to get a good sarting position. Jack went out second after TJ so we knew the time we had to beat. Jack's 2nd lap was a 9.460, not bad for a qualifying lap. Jusitn came out next and pulled a 9.453. Jack missed the pole by 7 thousandths of a second. So we were starting outside row 1 in second spot.
Jack didn't get a good start and TJ got underneath him to take over the second spot. The three boys stayed together in a pretty tight pack until half way when TJ went for the lead on Justin and the two karts touched causing TJ to spin out. On the restart Jack started 2nd again because the kart that causes the caution gets sent to the back. Jack got a better start this time and was able to maintain second spot. Jack got right on Justin's bumper while TJ fell behind. Jack and Justin were able to pull away by quite a few kart lengths. With two laps to go Jack tried to make his move coming down the back stretch but didn't gain the position and scrubbed off too much speed trying to avoid wrecking into Justin. Justin was able to pull away by a couple of kart lengths. Running out of time, Jack wasn't able to reel him back in enough to make another pass attempt. Jack came home in second spot. The points race is now tighter than ever. With only 6 races to go Jack has just a two point lead over the second place of Justin Barry.

August 1, 2009

Coming off of such a high that was last week's racing event, we had extremely high hopes for this week. We spent a lot of time preparing the kart for the race and knew that the kart was fast. We were trying out a couple of new things and needed to use the practice sessions to see how they took. Practice was OK. We stayed far enough away from the other karts that we wouldn't risk getting wrecked if any of the changes didn't work out the way we wanted them to but still were able to maintain a decent speed to really see what the kart was capable of. Now it was all up to Jack.
For the heat race we started in the third spot behind TJ Bleau and Justin Barry. TJ and Justin seemed to be playing with each other on the warm up laps and Jack didn't know what was going on. He hung back just a little too long so that the other two were able to get a jump on him at the start. This gave Jack some time he had to make up for on the track. Jack did a pretty good job of catching up with the leaders and attempted to make a couple passes but at the last second backed out of the pass giving up precious time and distance on the track. Jack hit the brakes a little too hard on his last pass attempt leaving him too far behind with not enough laps left to make up the distance and finished the heat in the third position.
The feature actually played out much the same as the heat. TJ and Justin slowed down and sped up on the white flag lap to start the race leaving Jack wondering what was going on. Instead of staying in it and staying with them he hung back just enough to lose them at the start of the race giving him ground he needed to make up yet again. TJ jumped out to the lead as the boys drove around single file. Justin passed TJ and TJ passed him right back while Jack used the time to catch up. Jack again got alongside Justin in a pass attempt but backed off at the last second. Finally with about three laps to go, coming out of turn four and heading down the front stretch Jack decided to make the pass and stay in it. Unfortunately Justin didn't realize that was what he wanted to do and cut down in front of him causing Jack to hop up out of the way and spin around through turns one and two. Jack lost about four seconds to the leaders on the lap and didn't have enough laps to make it up. Jack finished the race in third.

July 25, 2009 Saturday Night Live Series #3

After the rough couple of weeks we've had lately we were really looking forward to a good night. We went into the weekend feeling pretty good after having worked on the kart and the driver a little bit over the previous week. Jack went out for the first round of practice and drove really well. The kart seemed to be running great. We skipped 2nd practice and went onto Time Trials. The times seemed to be really fast during time trials and with Jack going out last we had to wait for everyone else to run before we knew where we would end up. Jack went out on lap one and pulled a 9.3, a full tenth faster than the current leader giving him the pole position on his first lap!! His second lap dropped down into the two's and we really got excited. Jack was starting from the pole and had a really fast kart. The changes we had made combined with the track conditions and the way Jack was driving were working perfectly together.
Jack led the 9 karts onto the track for the feature. This would be the largest field Jack had ever run against in the Tiger Sprint. Jack easily jumped out to lead the field for lap one, but the 4 car of Gabriel Camuso spun out coming around turn 4 bringing out the caution. Since they hadn't completed a lap they lined them back up in starting position for a do-over. Jack raced TJ Bleau for the lead positon and jumped out front coming off of turn two while the karts behind them started stacking up. The 29 of Daniel Wesson drove over the back of the 28 of Teddy Hodgdon who in turn drove up into the 43 of Devin O'Connell causing a back up but since all of the karts kept rolling there was no caution. Jack maintained his lead weaving in and out of traffic as he began lapping karts around lap 8. The caution flew for the second time when the 08 of David Gayman and the 09 of JP Brennan got into each other in turn 4.
Jack again started from the pole and jumped out to the lead. This time the 95 of Josh Gayman got around the 15 of TJ Bleau and hung with Jack for quite a few laps but just couldn't get close enough to go for the pass. With 8 laps to go Jack came to lapped traffic in turn four and maneuvered through it without losing any time. Josh got hung up behind the lapped traffic and lost a lot of ground on Jack before he managed to get by. With 7 laps ot go Jack had a sizeable lead on second place and drove smart to take the checkered flag!! Way to go Jack! Congratulations on your first SNL win.

July 18, 2009

More to come...

July 11, 2009 - WKA

More to come...

July 4, 2009

More to come...

June 27, 2009 Saturday Night Live Series # 2

More to Come...

June 20, 2009

More to come...

June 13, 2009 - Northeast Speedway Pavement Series

More to come...

June 6, 2009

More to come...

May 23, 2009

Jack started the Tiger Sprint Heat race from the third position. He took over second spot on lap one and began to chase down TJ. Justin nearly lost it coming off turn four early in the race but held on to maintain speed. Jack set up a nice pass on TJ coming out of turn four to take over the lead spot on lap 5. Justin then took over the second spot from TJ causing TJ to loop it in turn 2. Caution flew with 6 to go. Jack took them to the green and led them to the checkers for the heat win. Jack led every lap of the feature race. The boys spread out pretty quickly and pretty evenly making it easy for them to just ride around and not get into any trouble. Jack laid down one of the fastest laps of the season at 9.365.
In the Jr Sportsman Champ Heat Race, the inside line of Zompanti, Bleau and Duhaime somehow took each other out as they were coming around to take the green before the start of the race. They lined them all back in single file to start the race. Jack started in second spot. Barry took Duhaime with him around Jack going into turn 3 and then TJ and Jack split Cody coming out of turn two. Barry looped it on turn 4 on the next lap bringing out the caution. Jack stayed on the lead lap to finish the heat race in fourth.
This was one of Jack's best feature races so far this season in the Jr Sportsman Champ. Jack managed to hang with the top three cars for the first half of the race before falling off the pace. Jack made a nice clean pass on the lapped car of Cody Zompanti and finished the race on the lead lap in the fourth position.

May 30, 2009 - SNL Race # 1

This was the first race in the new "Saturday Night Live" Series at Route 106 Race Park. This is a 5 race non-points money series. Jack and the crew decided to try it out in the Tiger Sprint. The weekend started just like any other, only an hour and a half later...Jack went out for first practice and put down some pretty good laps along with the 7 other Tigers racing for the night. We decided to skip the second practice since this was to be a longer race than Jack was used to. Instead of a qualifying race they did Time trials. Jack usually does pretty good with time trials so we weren't too worried about it. Jack had quite a big bauble on the first lap and took it real close to the wall on the front stretch which made him have to get after it on lap two if he wanted to rip off a decent time. Jack ended up with a second place starting position behind the 95 of Josh Gayman.

Jack started outside poll for the feature. He easily slid in behind Josh going in to turn 1. Jack lost the position when Devin O'Connell drove under him on lap two. Jack took the spot back on lap 4 and rode it out until the caution flew on lap eleven when Trevor Bleau went around on the backstretch. The single file restart saw Jack in second place. Jack took the lead going into turn four on the restart but the caution flew for a spun car in turn 2. Jack took the green in second again on the restart and assumed the lead coming out of turn 4 on lap 12. Jack went too high through turn three and Josh drove underneath pulling Devin with him. The front three went three wide through turns 1 and 2 with Jack on the outside. Jack got shuffled back to fourth behind Gayman, O'Connell and Daniel Wesson, trying to stay off the backstretch wall. On lap 16 Jack made the pass on Wesson on the backstretch to take over the third spot. The 29 attempted a pass on Jack in turn three of lap 18 but did not have the position and spun them both out. The two of them landed in turn 4 where the 09 of JP Brennan came around the corner and slammed into the side of the 29 taking himself out of the race and off the track. Starting 6th on the restart Jack had a lot of ground to make up and a short time to get there. On lap 19 the 29 went in to turn 2 attempting to drive under Jack but again did not have the position and managed to hook his wheel into Jack's left side nerf bar. The two of them drove a lap and a half hooked together before being stopped under caution. After getting the two apart Jack restarted the race in last place. Jack took the 6th position a lap into the restart. Jack took the 5th spot with 9 laps to go but had about a 1/4 track to go to catch 4th. With 5 laps to go he was a straight away behind. He ended the race in 5th place coming out of turn 4 as the leaders crossed the finish line. Hopefully we'll have better luck next time...

May 16, 2009

Today was a longer day than usual with the makeup races from the previous week. Jack started the Tiger Heat in second spot behind TJ. Jack stayed right with TJ for the first half of the race looking to make a pass when he finally got the chance just before half way. TJ and Justin battled it out behind Jack and got together on the back stretch but maintained momentum to keep the race caution free. Jack stretched his lead as TJ and Justin battled for second spot and took the heat race win.
The Tiger Feature began with Jack in the pole position. After an initial "no start" Jack took them around the trak in the lead position. The boys ran the race in single file with Jack at the lead followed closely by Barry and then Bleau. About a kart length separated each of them for the beginning poriton of the race. TJ began battling Justin for the second spot which allowed Jack to lengthen his lead over the two. About half way Justin started closing in on Jack and TJ started to fall off. It was looking like this would be a race to the finish! The distance between them leveled off with about 8 to go and they rode around for the remainder of the race with Jack taking the win over Justin.

The Jr Sportsman heat started with Jack in second spot. Jack got a huge run coming out of turn four to take the lead but was easily passed by Barry crossing the stripe for lap one. Duhaime then passed Jack on lap two. Jack and TJ battled it out for quite a few laps each gunning for the third position. Jack pulled ahead of TJ when the two of them came upon the lapped kart of Cody Zompanti. TJ finally grabbed the spot from Jack with two to go causing Jack to finish the heat race in fourth spot.
The Jr Sportsman Feature saw Jack in 4th spot. Taking the green flag Barry got turned by Duhaime causing a single file restart. With Jack single file from the fourth position he had all he could do to maintain the lead lap. Jack made a nice clean pass on the lapped kart of Cody Zompanti. With about 4 laps to go the pack caught up to him putting him a lap down. With one to go they came out of turn four in a pack and caught Zompanti for a second time. Jack spun the kart trying to avoid crashing into Barry but saved it enough to keep the green flag flying. The race ended with Jack in fourth just getting back up to speed...

May 9, 2009

Week 3
This week was all about the rain. The skies were becoming more ominous with each passing minute. We only made it through about 3 heat races before the skies opened up for good. When the rain finally did come it came in buckets.
Jack managed to get his Tiger Sprint heat race in before the rains came. Jack started from third spot with an extra kart this week, Josh Gayman in the 95 Lightning McQueen machine. For some reason the caution flew on lap one and they restarted the race with Jack in 2nd. The 95 took the spot from Jack and then took the lead from Justin. The four of them drove in a nice tight pack for the remainder of the race with Gayman in first, Barry in 2nd, Jack in 3rd and Bleau in 4th. With one lap to go Barry made the pass on Gayman for the lead which let Jack catch up a little bit but he was unable to catch them before the end of the race and came home in third place.
As Jack started his Jr Sportsman heat race the skies opened up. Instead of calling the whole day the track decided to count the heats that ran this week as features and make up the heats the following week.
The five usual karts started the race with Jack starting from the 2nd spot. Jack stood on it on the start and jumped out to a huge lead but then came too close to the back wall and slowed down to save it. Barry had followed Jack through the start and easily took over the lead as Jack tried to collect his kart. Jack continued to drive the wrong line and let the others drive away from him. He managed to string together a few good laps which let him go from being two laps down in last weeks race to just getting lapped once with one lap to go. All in all it was a marked improvement.

May 2, 2009

Second race of the season. Jack is once again driving both the Tiger Sprint and the Jr Sportsman Champ.
Jack started the sportsman heat in first place. He pulled out to a bit of a lead on lap one but took turn 4 way too high and bounced off of Ryan Barry coming across the stripe. He settled into third place until he looped it coming out of turn 4 with 2 laps to go to finish in the fourth spot.
Jack starts the Sportsman Feature from the fourth position. Jack and TJ tangle on the backstretch on lap one bringing out a single file restart. Jack was put one lap down about half way through the race but managed to hold off the 15 from getting around him. With two laps to go he was lapped for a second time and finished the race in fourth position.
Jack started the Tiger Sprint Heat from the second position in a single file start behind the 15 of TJ Bleau. The boys maintained their positions for the entire heat race to start the feature from the same spots.
The Tiger Sprint feature was about as interesting as the heat race. Ryan Barry started in third place behind Jack and followed him around for a couple of laps when he slammed the outside wall hard at the start finish line taking him out of the race for the night. Jack and TJ drove around to the backstretch while they waited for Justins kart to be removed from the track. Once the officials cleared the track for the restart Jack drove around to the start finish line but TJ's kart wouldn't go. TJ also needed to be taken off of the track so Jack drove the remaining 18 laps by himself to take the win.

April 25, 2009 - Opening Day

Today's the day. Opening Day. The day we get to see what all that practicing did for the kart, the driver, the crew. Dd we make the right calls? Is Jack feeling comfortable in the kart? Can he remember the fast line around the track?

The day started out with a need to change the schedule. They originally had Jack's two classes back to back. There's no way that will work. Plus Jack's not the only one driving both of these divisions. He shares that joy with TJ Bleau. They switched the Tiger B's with the Tiger A's so we ended up going out second and last. Not to bad a spread until the end of the rotation and they start the line up over again!! Needless to say we missed one round of practice in the Jr Sportsman. Not an ideal situation. Jack needs as much seat time as he can get to try and get the line down to memory.

The Jr Sportsman heat started the day. Jack jumped out to a solid third place position behind Dylan and Ryan with TJ nipping at his heels but he was running pretty loose and came out of turn 4 too high and looped it on the front stretch. This meant he had to start at the rear of the field. He managed to pull ahead of Cody on the restart and ended up qualifying 4th in the Sportsman behind Dylan Duhaime, Ryan Barry, TJ Bleau and ahead of Cody Zompanti. Jack started the feature in 4th place and hung with TJ for half the race getting closer and closer to the wall with each passing lap. Just as they announced half way Jack finally came to close to the wall for his liking and looped it on the back stretch drawing the caution. He managed to get away without hitting anything and took the restart from the rear of the field. Jack got Cody on the start again and managed to hang with the front three for a handful of laps when the high line he was running got the better of him and he went around coming out of turn 4. With only two laps to go they lined up single file and Jack came home in fourth position.

Jack started the Tiger Sprint heat in second place behind Justin Barry and ahead of TJ Bleau. They spread out into single file after a couple of laps and drove the remainder of the race that way. Jack starts the feature in second place for the last race of the evening. On lap 2 Jack comes out of turn 4 way high and Trevor ducks right underneath him to take the spot. They ride around Barry in first, Bleau in second, Jack in third, spreading out and sucking back up together until lap 18 when Jack gets a massive run on TJ in turns in 1 and 2 and takes the spot on the back stretch. Crossing the stripe Jack goes wide again and TJ cuts underneath. Jack and TJ go neck and neck into turn 1 when TJ goes below the yellow line, the two touch, and Jack bounces out in front of TJ to take second place in the race.

April 18, 2009

The third week of practice at Route 106 turned out to be the best. A ton of karts showed up as compared to the previous two weeks. I don't know if it was the slightly better weather forecast, the knowledge that it's the last practice before opening day, or if everyone was just finally ready to run their karts, but it was packed!! The line to practice was all the way to the end of the building until about 4:00. But we got quite a few runs in and learned a little bit about the kart. Jack ran the Jr Sportsman for the better part of the day trying to dial it in and get it set up just the way he likes it. He made a couple runs alone on the track, a couple with just one or two other drivers and then one with about 4 or 5. They didn't get too racy as the track was really slick and lots of people were going around, but they certainly had a lot of fun.
At 4:00 we decided it was time to take the Tiger out and Jack finished off the day running with Gabriel to break in his new Hoosiers. He was able to just keep going as most of the crowd had left at that point. There wasn't a whole lot of waiting around time towards the end of the day which worked out great for us since we waited so long to even get the Tiger out there.
Can't wait for next week...Opening Day!!

April 11, 2009

Jack went out for his first practice session in the Jr Sportsman Champ at Route 106 Race Park today. The weather was grey, and cold but Jack got three runs in for the afternoon. All in all it turned out to be a pretty good test day. The team learned a lot about the kart and Jack gained a bit of experience in three short runs. Hopefully we won't have rain next weekend and we can get a full day of practice in before the start of the season in two weeks.