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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WKA kicked off the 2008 season with a return to Daytona. The event turned out to be larger than expected with many racers eager to race since the 2007 season did not include the world famous track. The main track featured the Dunlop Tire Road Racing Series while the sprint track hosted the Manufacturer’s Cup. The weather was hot and the racing hotter. Things got started with a Friday practice followed by a welcome party for the racers which included free food and a hot lap around the Daytona Speedway.

This was Grant’s first national race and we decided to race with MRP Motorsports under the expert direction of Chris Lobaugh. Grant ran six practice sessions on Friday while we sorted out his new Birel R30X chassis. By the end of the Friday practice we felt pretty comfortable about the Saturday race. Although there aren’t any elevation changes to speak of, the track was a lot of fun to drive according to Grant. With the amount of karts entered things got hectic on Saturday with respect to track time. We got only one practice session before qualifying and the pre-final races were canceled due to time constraints. The races have a 30 kart maximum and there were almost fifty entries in Grant’s class. In this case WKA takes the top 25 qualifiers and the rest go to a consolation race. The top 5 finishers for the “consi” race round out the 30 drivers for the main feature. We put fresh rubber on the kart and headed out to qualify. There is little time separating the karts at qualifying because there are so many entries. When Grant left the pits he caught the driver in front of him by the first corner and spent the 3 laps of qualifying trying to get around the slower kart. This meant that Grant’s qualification time was about one half second slower than his fastest practice time. This in turn placed Grant fifteenth on the grid for the consi race. The consi race is only six laps and in order to make the main feature Grant would need to start fifteenth and end up fifth in a six lap race. When the checkered fell Grant had made it all the way up to seventh place but he just missed the cutoff for the feature.

With Saturday behind us Grant was determined more than ever to get a good qualifying session. He did exactly that by turning a time that was 0.6 seconds faster than he had driven the entire weekend. This placed him seventeenth out of 50 karts locking him in to the feature. Sunday saw the pre-final and final race unlike Saturday. Grant finished the pre-final in the eighteenth spot after trading paint with two other drivers going down the front straight. As Grant entered the front straight he moved to the inside of the lead kart only to have another kart move to his inside at the same time. Now Grant was sandwiched in between two karts going down the front straight. Tire smoke was rolling and the karts nearly ended up in a pile at the first turn but some how the three drivers separated and kept moving. When the feature started Grant was in the outside of the ninth row. After many position swaps back and forth Grant ended the day with an eighteenth place finish. Not bad for a first time at a national race with a record setting crowd coming from as far away as California and Canada.

MRP was an important part of Grant’s successful weekend. Chris Lobaugh was able to ask Grant the right questions and made amazing chassis tuning decisions to help us sort the new chassis. The entire MRP crew was more than helpful in every way. They come highly recommended for anyone thinking of jumping into the national circuit.

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Beaverun held its 6th annual Great Pumpkin race Oct. 20-21. The much anticipated event serves as a season ending special event for Beaverun racers. It is the only time competitors get the chance to run the course backwards. The Saturday race was run in the reverse direction. Grant, as well as others, had a great time with what is normally turn seven. The competitors entered this turn at very high speed and required hard breaking. If this turn was botched, your entry to the next turn was going to be ruined destroying your lap time. Grant took third place Saturday in the reverse direction. This was followed by a second place finish on Sunday running the “normal” direction. This resulted in an over all third place finish for the weekend.

As part of the weekend’s festivities, the kids went “trick-or-treat” trailer to trailer Saturday night. This was followed by a great dinner and costume contest. If you missed the race this year, be sure to be on the look out next October.

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Grant finished the summer league at Allsports Grand Prix with a first place. This is Grant’s fourth time taking the top honors. He just did make six races out of ten with the busy summer schedule at Beaverun. Allsports takes your top six finishes from the ten race series to determine point standings.

This season saw a bunch of new faces to the race group. Ayrton Climo took second place his first time out after moving up to the larger karts. Shaydon Clyde just edged out Dalton Wagner for third by a few points. This was Shaydon’s first season of competition as well as Dalton’s first season in the larger karts. The competition always gets tighter with each new season. Many kids are moving up after competing in the slightly smaller karts.

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Grant’s indoor racing experience proved invaluable this past weekend with Beaverun’s double race weekend. Rain moved in early Saturday morning and stayed all weekend. Rain racing requires very smooth driving and good sense of touch as the grip is reduced even with rain tires.

Saturday morning we changed the chassis setup for the wet weather as well as getting a new set of rain tires. Practice went well and we were about 10 seconds slower than a normal dry weather day. Grant qualified on pole for the heat race. When the checkered fell Grant had slipped a position and settled for a second place finish. The Saturday feature started and we held the second position for a few laps when the third spot driver moved in front of Grant. These two battled the entire race swapping position several times. Although Grant didn’t go off track, the kart he was battling with did just long enough to hit a mud puddle on the side of the track. Grant was completely covered with muddy water from the incident, as seen in the photo above. As they rounded the last corner onto the straight, Grant was leading and the kart just behind him pulled out of the draft for a drag race to the checkered flag. When the water spray cleared Grant had held to take a second place finish.

Sunday was more of the same except the drivers had to contend with downpour rains during almost every session. In fact, it was so wet that Grant scaled ten pounds more than normal due to water in his race suit. Sunday, qualifying went well again and Grant found himself at the pole position for the second time. Unlike Saturday’s race, Grant got a bad start and finished third. The feature proved tricky as well, when for the second time Grant had a poor start. By the time the group had gotten to turn two Grant was in the fourth position. Grant was turning faster lap times than the kart in front of him and he wanted to get by as quickly as possible as not to lose sight of the two front karts. The kart just in front of Grant slowed more than Grant planned at the end of the straight. Instead of plowing into the other racer Grant hit the brakes causing him to spin. Now sitting stopped on track facing perpendicular to the direction of travel, the slower pack was moving in. Grant was able to hold the fourth spot by half of a kart length. Now the third place driver was a quarter of the way around the track. Grant managed to catch this driver by the end of the race but this time Grant lost the drag race to the checkered and had to settle for a fourth place.

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Beaverun’s local series race 7 started with a Saturday practice day. We had a slow start when Grant came back into the pits after a single lap. He explained he had no front grip. No problem, I tuned the front end and sent him out again. Only to repeat a single lap and the request more front grip. I obliged by putting more front end grip into the kart. Grant runs out of the pits takes a single lap and says, “Why can’t we get any front grip?” Frustrated we head back to the trailer for some serious pondering. After some time Grant noticed his front tires were showing cords through the rubber. Instantly Grant’s super sleuth mechanic figured out the problem. We need new front tires… After changing the front tires we spent the rest of the afternoon fine tuning the front end until Grant was satisfied the balance was correct. At 7:55 PM we felt we would be competitive on Sunday. I should mention the Mike Doty assisted us with chassis tuning via cell phone.

Sunday the race group was a bit smaller than usual with only 8 karts in the Jr. Can class. We had two good practice sessions before heading to qualifying. Things would go our way during qualifying when Grant turned a 1:00:738. This was not only the fastest time in our class but the fastest time in our qualifying group that included a faster class of karts. Grant started the heat race on pole. With a good start he held off Blaise Haynes by less than 0.36 second to claim pole position for the main feature.When the green flag fell Blaise suffered mechanical problems and unfortunately was unable to race. After two laps the battle for second allowed Grant the chance to check out and when the checkered fell he was 21 seconds in front of the second place kart.

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Beaverun held a double header with race 5 and 6 on June 30th and July 1st. The weather was perfect the entire weekend including the open practice on Friday. Friday’s practice sessions were spent sorting out chassis handling issues. With the help of Mike Doty Racing, we solved a “push” by changing the rear hubs and axel.

Saturday morning started with a good first practice followed by an even better second practice. Grant then qualified second fastest out of thirteen karts with his best lap yet of 1:01:153. Grant took the green flag on Saturday’s heat race sitting on the outside of the first row. By the end of the heat race Grant had lost one spot to Blaise Haynes and settled for third. Griding third for the Saturday feature, Grant held his position and ended up with a third place for Saturday.

Sunday gave us some trouble when Grant broke his throttle cable just as the green flag fell on the heat race. The DNF sent us to the back of the field for the start of Sunday’s feature. When the race was over Grant had moved from the back of the 15 kart field to take fifth place.

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