Jessica's Race Recap
Championship Enduro Series Race #4
Grattan Raceway
Grattan, MI
June 29-30 & July 1 2007
Friday June 29:
It just seems like we have used up some of our good luck over the past few years. Friday practice days have not been very kind to me this year. I know it is just a test day, but without the testing time, we are trying to catch up with the competition on race day.
Saturday June 30:
We are finally staring to get enough track time with the Animal kart and it is starting to show. In the 335 Animal race I was very fast. Early in the race I was in the lead and feeling really good about how things were going. Unfortunately that good feeling did not last. 4 laps into the race my exhaust header came loose. This made my motor loose power and I fell back from the lead pack. I finished the race in 7th place. I am not happy with my finishing position, but I am happy that we were FINALLY fast enough to lead an Animal race.
As always, I was very excited before the start of the CIK SSX Yamaha race. I was very fast in practice and my kart was handling well.
The race was as competitive as I expected it to be. My best friend and biggest competitor, Josh Lane, was right in front of me and my teammate, Regan Verhing was right on my rear bumper.
We raced each other hard for the first 4 laps. That is when my teammate lost his exhaust and dropped out of the race. After that it was just Josh and I. I knew I could pass him with no problem at the end of the race and take the win.
That was just not meant to happen. On the last lap I was “bumped” off line by a faster kart in another class. When this happened, I just barely hit the exhaust that Regan lost earlier. It split open my left rear wheel and cut my tire. I was able to limp around to the finish line and finished the race in 3rd place.
Oh, by the way, I broke the track record by 3.5 second during the race.
Sunday July 1:
Yes! Things are starting to look up for us with the Animal kart. I was fast once again in the 360 Animal race. I stayed with the leaders and finished the race in 4th place. This is my best finish yet in an Animal kart.
We still have a lot to learn, but it was nice to finally be fast.
My crew made some changes to my kart before the start of the CIK SSX Yamaha race. We wanted to try some experimental things to see if we could go even faster. We can take some chances in this class on Sunday since I am leading the points standings.
Well, the new ideas my crew had worked like a charm. We lead most of the race and took the win. It was not an easy race however. Regan raced me hard all the way to the finish. I ended up beating him to the finish line by only 2 inches.
The changes my crew made not only helped me win the race, I also broke the track record for this class by almost 5 seconds!