Grant attended a National Auto Sport Association, NASA, driving instruction weekend at Summit Point West Virginia.  The event was organized by the Mid-Atlantic Region of NASA.  During a NASA race weekend, the driving instruction sessions run in between race sessions.  There is both on track and classroom instruction.  Grant spent time on track in three 25 minute sessions both Saturday and Sunday.  Grant was driving a Spec Miata provided by and supported by RP Performance.  Bret de Pedro, with RP Performance, provided great support and driver encouragement throughout the weekend. RP Performance is located at Summit Point and we highly recommend them for Spec Maita race support and rentals. When Grant was not busy with driving and classroom sessions we watched a lot of our friends race in the Spec Miata class.

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Just a week before the last race of the season, Grant and I traveled to Beaverun for a test day.  Making the 4 and 1/2 hour drive up, testing and then driving home made for a very long Sunday.  We needed to solve some handling issues and we knew we wouldn’t have time for practice the day before the race.  Normally we would test the day before the race but we are in the middle of football season so our Saturdays are spent on the football field.  The test day went well and we felt ready for the last race of the season.

Arriving late Saturday night before the last Beaverun club race, we went to sleep feeling ready for the Sunday race having thought we solved our setup issues the weekend before.  Sunday morning was wet from a rain the night before.  The track was still damp for the first morning practice.  Our times were off a bit but most of the crowd was off pace as well.  As the track dried before the second practice we turned a time that was 1 second faster than the first session.  We still needed to find some time however if we expected to finish well in a very talented group of drivers.  We put newer tires on for qualifying, made a few minor adjustments and hoped for the best.  After four laps of qualifying Grant was not in the top five and I began to think about what we needed to do for the heat race.  Just as I started to ponder the situation the announcer went crazy as Grant ripped the fastest time for the session nearly 3 tenths in front of the second place kart with a lap of 1:00:639.  He went from about 6th place to the top of the leader board.

The heat race gave Grant trouble and he finished 4th after starting on pole.  His times were a bit slower and we made a few adjustments for the feature race.  Starting 4th for the feature sits Grant on the outside of row two for the start.  After the first laps the karts settled in the order they started but now they are nose to tail.  Sailing into turn one Grant braked a little later than he should have causing him to tap the rear of the third place kart.  The front three were unaffected but Grant put his left rear in the turf allowing the fifth place kart to slide by.  Two laps later and Grant fought his way back to third and he was closing the gap quickly. Grant’s kart came in perfectly for the end of the race and he set fast lap of 1:00:490.  In the last lap he was able to pass the second place kart to finish the season with a second place.

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With the season almost complete, wet weather visited Wampum PA forcing the competitors to bring out the rain tires.  Everyone scrambled to change tires and chassis setups for the impending weather early Saturday morning.  Although this weather can make the day miserable for the crew (me), Grant was all smiles. He has qualified on pole in all of the rain races he has entered and was very confident he would perform well with the slick track.  Rain racing has become his favorite.

Track conditions stayed consistent throughout the day, constant rain.  Even though I was soaked, at least I wasn’t feverishly wrenching to chase track conditions.  We ran our full wet setup the whole day.  The first two practice sessions went better than expected and Grant was the fastest kart in his practice group by a large margin, even with higher powered karts mixed in the group.  Grant qualified on pole with greater than 1/2 second on the second place kart.

The heat race went as planned and Grant finished first, placing him on pole for the feature.  Grant, at this point, was certainly fast enough to win the feature but he would need to break away early to make it happen.  The kart that was sitting second knew this and put a great pass on Grant running in to turn 4 of the very first lap.  Knowing that the race had just started I wasn’t concerned about the pass.  There would be plenty of time to regain the position.  In fact, as the field disappeared into the back section of the track, I expected to see Grant in the lead as the group returned to view.  This would not be the case, in fact he was no where to be seen as the entire field headed to the long straight away.  As it turned out, the kart in front of Grant broke a lot earlier than he was expecting and to miss the driver Grant went into the wet grass.  Sitting there on the sideline he could do nothing but watch until every kart in the field drove past giving him clear track to reenter the race.  At the time I thought, “Oh well, we did pretty good today in spite of where we are going to finish.”  Grant on the other hand wasn’t thinking of this at all.  He focused on each driver in front of him and passed them as if he was on a dry track while they were on the wet track.  In only a nine lap race he was able to take a second place finish after passing 10 other drivers.  Although he didn’t win, it was probably one of his best performances to date.

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Almost the entire season at Beaverun has passed while Grant sat on the sideline with a broken left arm. Race number 9 in the series would see Grant return with a second place finish in the 18 kart field. The weekend started off Saturday with 12 practice sessions allowing us to tune the chassis for the new axle setup we were going to run in the Sunday race. Once the business end of our practice sessions was over we borrowed a “TAG” kart from Turn 1 Pro-Sports to just go out and have some fun.

Sunday morning we would get two practice sessions. The first session went very well and we turned a very fast lap that gave us a good feeling about what was in store for the rest of the day. We qualified on old tires but performed well and landed the P4 position for the prefinal short by only 0.2 second from the P2 position. The prefinal ended with Grant in P4. On the start of the final there was a red flag incident before the first lap was completed. As it turned out everyone involved walked away with only hurt feelings and banged up karts. The restart was conducted with a single file line of the original order. When the race was over Grant managed to take home a second place finish in a very tough crowd of Beaverun regulars.

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Grant returned to the driver’s seat ten weeks after he broke his left arm in three locations. The injury occurred during a race at Raceway Park in New Jersey. He had an off track excursion and unfortunately the track barrier slammed into the left side of his body breaking his arm and fracturing his wrist in two spots. Seven hours in the ER, two casts and 10 weeks later he is back on the track.

This was Grant’s first national race at the infamous New Castle track. He was very determined not to miss the last national WKA event for 2008. He was even more excited to race along side his teammate Arie Ammann since this was Arie’s first national level race in the cadet class. As always, we pitted with MRP under the watchful eyes of Tim, Chris and Mike.

Fridays practice sessions went well. Sage Karam raced with us this weekend and Grant was able to follow Sage in practice and get a few pointers from the triple crown winner. When Friday was over we felt comfortable for Saturday’s race. The weather was perfect and we were finally back to racing.

Saturday’s practice session went very well and we turned good times for old tires. We threw on some new rubber and got set to qualify. When qualifying was over we ended up 26th out of 47 drivers. Not great but we can make up some spots in the pre-final. When the pre-final was finished we ended up 17th and felt like we could move up in th feature. Grant ran a strong race with positions traded back and forth. When the dust settled we ended up 17th. Not bad for a team that has been out of the loop for so long.

Sunday practice went really well. we turned the fastest time for us so far for the weekend. All we need now is some fresh tires and we should qualify really high. Not so, the new tires were too good. The kart stuck to the ground and the RPMs were down we qualified 25th out of 48 karts. OK, we’ll get them in the pre-final. The pre-final went well and Grant moved up 5 spots to 20th. No problem, we’ll surely gain ground in the feature. This time before the first lap was finished Grant got boxed out and a train of karts went by pushing him almost to the back of the pack. Our original plan to move up through the pack did not include starting from nearly last. Still, once the race strung itself out he managed to move back up through the field and take 24th.

We had a great time racing with all our friends and it was fun to see a couple of new faces as well. The season is winding down and we are making plans for races and practices throughout the next several months in preparation for Daytona this December.

A special thanks to all of our sponsors that make this possible. Allsports Grand Prix; Aciero Racing; Applied Security; Olympus Imported Auto Parts; Ted Britt Ford and Oakley

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Oakley has agreed to sponsor Grant for the remainder of the 2008 racing season. Oakley not only produces the best sunglasses available, they also make a whole host of other products including race shoes. Visit Oakley today at www.oakley.com/products. You won’t catch Grant driving without his Oakley shoes!!!

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The Manufacturer’s Cup season has race number two in the books. Our arrival Thursday was met with chilly weather as we unpacked the trailer into the Nascar Cup garages. Like usual we were pitted with MRP Motorsports and they had rented garage space which was really nice. This trip brought new comers Ayrton Clymo and Ryan Punsalan. Both drivers making first time appearances at the Manufacturer’s Cup series. By the time registration, kart prep and track walk through were completed we were anxious to get started the next day.

Friday morning was chilly again as we sent the boys to the fuel truck to get some “spec” fuel. We started off on the wrong foot by forgeting to start the lap timer. The next three sessions were used to sort handling and gearing issues. With only four practice sessions we didn’t have alot of time to prepare for Saturday’s race. We felt like the motor was down on power and this was verified by John Walko with his analysis of our data.

Saturday moring and we are getting ready for our one and only practice session. At the last minute we run down to Brandon Adkins’ trailer and grab a new motor. We swap engines just before our practice session begins. The motor seems to do the trick and we are still a little unsure what gear to pick for qualifying. When qual was over we ended up P24 for the prefinal. The prefinal went off without a hitch and we moved up one spot to P23. We are now settling in on gearing and handling so we start the final in P23. At the start of the race the mid-pack gets into a tangle and Grant shoots into the grass on the inside of the track. He makes up 13 positions and starts the race in P10. He manages to fall only 3 spots and takes home P13 for Saturday.

Sunday we are starting on better footing with more track time behind us. Qualifying Sunday goes well and we get P12 for the pre-final. At the start of the prefinal another tangle diverts Grant into the grass again but this time it is to the outside of the track and he loses a couple of spots. Grant finished up the prefinal in P16. When thegreen flag fell on Sunday’s final there was another tangle in the group just in front of Grant. This time he can’t avoid contact and slams the spinning kart with his front left tire. This bent his tie rod knocking the front end out of alignment. From the sideline I had no idea he was racing a kart with a bad front end. He muscled the kart into an 11th place finish.

Overall a great weekend for us. Video of the starts of each final race are on our video page. Thanks to MRP Motorsports for an incredible support staff. There is no way we could have had these results without a professional kart team like MRP.

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Arciero Racing has chosen to sponsor Grant for the 2008 kart season. Arciero racing has been involved in racing since the mid 1950’s. Arciero Racing has launched and promoted the careers of racing’s finest drivers, including Dan Gurney, Parnelli Jones, Jim Clark, Bobby and Al Unser, Roger Penske, Phil Hill, Michael Andretti, Robby Gordon, Didier Theys, Scott Pruett, Geoff Brabham, Fabrizio Barbazza, and Max Papis.

Visit them today at our Sponsor’s page or directly at Arciero Racing.

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Ted Britt Ford has joined us as a sponsor for the 2008 season. We buy all of our Ford products from Ted Britt and in fact our current tow vehicle came from Ted Britt’s showroom. We always have our Fords serviced at Ted Britt because of their outstanding service department. You couldn’t find better people to deal with if you are in need of a new vehicle or if you need service. You can learn more about Ted Britt by visiting our sponsors section or go directly to tedbritt.com.

www.tedbritt.com

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Grant has captured his fifth Junior League championship at Allsports Grand Prix. This season brought many new faces to Allsports with as many as 17 different competitors racing in the junior league.

The spring league will begin Feb. 10^th. If you are interested in getting your kids involved in racing, Allsports is a great avenue. The junior league is divided in two groups based on age and skill level. Get started today by calling Allsports at 571-434-9566.

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