2010 04 24 Week 1 Route 106 Weekly Series Feature Race

The Feature race started with Jack in 5th place, inside of the 3rd row behind Ryan and Cody. Jack got a really good start, as Cody drifted up the track through turns 1 and two Jack was able to drive underneath and hook up with Ryan jumping from 5th to 3rd.  Just as the field was crossing the start/finish line Cody got loose and the kart pitched sideways hitting Justin's right rear tire bringing out the caution and taking Justin out of the race with a bent axle. The restart saw Jack in the third spot behind TJ.  Jack got a decent start and moved ahead of Ryan taking over 2nd down the back stretch.  Ryan made the pass attempt through turn three but backed out of it setling into third.  The top three evened out for about 5 laps until the next caution came out as JP went around.  Jack was now starting on the outside of row one.  The boys came around to take the green but it was thrown off as the flagman didn't like the start.  The next time around the green flag flew.  Jack got a bad start and Ryan went right around him.  TJ, Ryan, and Jack drove around for about 6 laps when Jack made the pass on Ryan coming out of 2.  Ryan immediately made the crossover and got back by Jack.  This back and forth let TJ pull out to a slight lead.  Now Ryan and Jack had to work together to catch back up.  They just ran out of laps as they caught TJ with one to go.  Ryan made the last lap pass attempt at the line but just missed it having the boys finish one, two, three for a photo finish.  An excellent end to an excellent day.  This was a great way to start the 2010 racing season for Jack Walker Racing.

2010 04 24 Week 1 Route 106 Weekly Series Heat Race

For opening day at Route 106 racepark the track lined up the heat races by how you signed in at the gate. This put us in a 5th place starting position. On lap one the Barry Brothers touched going into turn 1 sending Justin around and through the infield and bringing out the first caution. Since they hadn't completed a lap they just lined them back up in qualifying order. Jack started 5th again on the inside behind Ryan and Cody. They got a great run and the three of them went to the front of the field. Coming out of turn three Justin and TJ got together, nearly sending TJ down the exit ramp and again bringing out the caution before a lap was completed. This time they lined up single file. With Jack in 5th he had his work cut out for him. Caution laps were going way too fast. As the track workers tried to slow down the field they started checking up when they saw the flagman on the track on the backstretch. This caused them to bunch up and Jack went for a spin. After the race director had a quick talk with the leader, they got them slowed down to caution speed and finally threw the green. Coming out of turn 4 on lap 2 with Jack about 2 kart lengths back, Justin looped it. The flagman saw it differently assuming that since Jack was behind Justin he must have helped him around and put Jack to the rear of the field. We're now at lap two of the heat race in single file, starting last. At about lap 6 Justin and Jack passed JP through 3 and 4. Jack then went to work on Justin trying for the 4th place spot. Jack ducked under Justin out of 4 coming to the checkers but didn't quite make it. JWR took home 5th for the heat race.

April 3, 2010 - First Practice Route 106 Racepark

The outdoor season has officially begun with an 80 degree first practice. We couldn't have ordered better weather!  We had a pretty good field for first practice with 5 karts showing up for the Jr Sportsman division.  What a difference a year and good tires makes.  Jack and the Barry Brothers ran neck and neck all day long with JP not far behind. Only TJ had a bit of trouble with what appeared to be new chassis and motor issues. 
Jack drove great all day.  Looks like those indoor races paid off!!  We worked on the kart a little bit all day long to see if we could make the kart a little better.  All in all it was a great day.  This should definitely be a fun class to watch since the karts are already so close together.  From what we hear there's also supposed to be 4 or 5 more karts in this division.  Let's hope the weather holds out for another great practice next Saturday!!

Victory Lane Indoor Karting 2/28 and 3/28 2010

02/28/10 - We just completed our first ever indoor racing event using Jack's own kart.  We decided it would be a good way to get some practice and work out some of the bugs in the kart before the outdoor season begins.  We arrived Friday night to drop off the kart at the track and get a little rental kart racing in. 
Saturday was practice day - Jack's first time out on the track.  The track uses Pepsi Syrup to make the driving surface sticky so the karts won't slide around so much since they drive on slick tires.  We had never run on syrup before and had no idea what to expect.  That stuff is STICKY.  It will pull your shoes off if they're not tied on well!!  Jack went out for first practice and did a pretty good job figuring out the track and getting around pretty good.  Second practice was a different story.  You are supposed to clean the syrup off of the tires in between runs because it will cause you to skate on the track.  Well we were unaware of this and didn't clean the tires.  Jack went out for second practice and skated all over the place!!  He came off the track and said "Daddy, you need to tighten up my car or I'm not driving it!!"  Needless to say we cleaned the tires in between runs after that.  Jack did great for his first time indoors without being very prepared.  He drove a good line and had some pretty decent times.  Jack's only incident came in the heat race when TJ attempted a pass through 3 and 4 and got sideways on exit.  Jack was right there with nowhere to go and T-boned TJ.  Both karts were fine and continued onto the race where Jack finished third, but kept the kart in one piece and had a blast doing it!!  Looks like we'll be coming back again.
03/28/10 We ventured back to VLK for another shot at indoor racing.  We had the place to ourselves in our division as it appears everyone else is getting ready for outdoor racing to start.  For Saturday's practice we were the only kart in our division.  The kart was set-up a little different than last time, as we took some of the helpful hints the competitors had given us at our last outing and attempted to put them in practice.  After a couple of carburetor issues threatened to shorten our day we finally got out for practice.  The kart was loose and Jack had a difficult time maintaining speed through 1 and 2.  After a couple of changes and a quick peptalk with the driver, Jack went back out and got better and better each time.  Another kart showed up for race day, though not and exact match, it was a rocker with a different engine, they were close enough to be paired together so they at least had each other to drive with.  Jack figured out the speed and just missed his entry into turn 3 causing him to clip the wall at the exit of turn 4 during the heat race.  Since the walls are just tires with a pliable barrier once it's hit, it moves.  The wall was now in the racing groove and after a few laps, Jack missed the entry again causing him to slam into the now closer outside wall.  His kart spun around on impact but the collision caused him to bend his front spindle.  After fixing the kart Jack started second for the feature where he flatfooted it all around the track and drove perfect laps.  No incidients in this race.  All in all Victory Lane was a good racing experience for Jack and we will most likely be back again next year.