Day 1 – Saturday, July 16 Arrived at the track Saturday to threatening skies, with a hint of showers at one time, but all cleared for main event time. Good racing was the order of the day. FKR debuted as an official team for this important race. Successful sprint car racer Jake Mann had driving duties this weekend and brought along sprint car mechanic Ryan “Reno” Dennis. Jake and Reno spent a couple of days prepping the 2015 ItalKart Rapido V1. Huggler Racing provided a fresh short block and re-built head. Friday practice was very challenging as we were experiencing run-ability issues. Finally, after hours of investigation and hard work by Jake, Reno, Monroe, and Jon, a new carb was installed and problem solved. Pretty sure I goofed the carb up when I was transporting the engine in the trunk of the BRZ. (Note to self…) The day started well with Jake posting fast time. Big shout-out to Michael V. for all his advice! We were starting on the pole for the pre-final and were looking forward to a good start and finish. Brandon Cusack seemed to have similar speed with us, but had to start in the rear due to transponder issues during qualifying. After some confusion at the start, Jake fell back to second, but was out in front by several kart lengths at the end of the first lap and stayed out front till the end. Brandon drove through the entire field and finished a strong second. It truly was an impressive run for Brandon and it was apparent that we’d have to tune our kart if we were going to run with him in the final. A higher gear ratio was the biggest change we made. The final start was much cleaner than the pre-final and Brandon passed Jake going into turn 1. From that point forward, they ran nose to tail till the finish. Jake made a move in turn 5 on the last lap, but was unable to pull off the pass. It was a great race to watch as two of the Northwest’s finest four-stroke racers battled the entire race. At the end of the day, we had a pole award, a first, and a second. Pretty impressive debut! Reno was indispensable in the pits and is now a permanent team member. He’s a great guy and a super mechanic. Welcome Reno! Thanks again to Michael Valiante and the Valiante family for putting on this great event. Day 2 – Sunday, July 17
I couldn’t make it to Sunday’s event due to health issues (Saturday wiped me out!), but was given updates by Jake throughout the day. Another gear change and some minor front and rear adjustments and Jake put her on the pole again! Brandon wasn’t able to participate Sunday, but Ricky Worley provided plenty of competition according to Jake. The pre-final was uneventful as Jake started on the pole and cruised to over a 3-second lead at the checkers. Ricky was second and Gerry Windsor claimed third. Jake also had the fastest lap of the race. The main would prove more challenging as rain had set in after the pre-final and the track was wet, even though the rain had stopped. Reno and Jake decided to leave the dry setup on the kart, but with rain tires. While viewing the TaG final, they paid close attention to Andrew Wilson’s run, as he started with rains. Andrew was fast initially, but started losing ground as the sun came out and track started to dry. Hustling, Jake and Reno switched to slicks on the grid and it proved to be a very fortuitous decision. The track was still damp at the start and Ricky passed Jake in turn one, but the race was red-flagged on lap one due to an incident with one of the junior karts. After the restart, Jake settled into second and kept chipping away as his dry setup came in as the track dried out. Ricky’s wet setup waned and Jake crossed the finish line leading by a 3.5 second margin over Ricky. Mike Adams finished third. It was an amazing weekend for our team as Jake won three out of four races. It was one of the most dominating performances I’ve seen by a race team over a two-day event. Many people helped at the track and along the way! Big thanks to: Jon C. Hutchings Jordan, Monroe Jordan and Monroe Jordan Racing, Reno “the man” Dennis, Jake Mann, Michael Valiante, Roger at Kart-o-Rama, my parents (for transportation to the track on Saturday), JMD Signs and Graphics, my wonderful wife, the Valiante family, and all the employees at SIMA. Please check out our schedule here on the website. You’ll notice that it’s very ambitious! You can help by volunteering, providing sponsorship (we have plenty of room for your logo on our trucks and trailers), donating to our GoFundMe campaign, or just making it out to the races and cheering us on. Our next race will be this Sunday at PGP, with Monroe Jordan at the wheel and Jon C. Hutchings Jordan crew chiefing alongside Jake and Reno in the pits. Jake’s next race will be in his sprint car for King of the Wing at Evergreen Speedway this Saturday night. We plan on filling his pits with supporters to root him on. Thanks for taking time to read this and see you at the races! #kartingrocks
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