
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.







