We bought John Michael a new race kart. After talking at length with his coach and seeing him learn a new track in the kart he has been training and racing in, the coach convinced us that he was ready for a big step-up in class, from a 9 hp four-stroke to a 29hp two-stroke. This new kart is significantly faster, but he would also be racing against much more experienced Junior drivers.

So, on January 6, we went to the Adams Motorsports track, where his kart was fully built and he got a day of practice under his belt. He did very well, but pretty much had the track to himself.

On Saturday, the second “Chill Race” of the season was held. He was in a large field, had a few warm-up laps, qualifying, then two short heat races in which one could move-up (or down) in the starting order. He moved-up each time. Then he was in the 16 lap race. He got a poor start, but moved-up a few places to finish 11th and was the talk of the paddock.

Jenson Button, 2009 Formula 1 world champion, was racing in the same type of kart, but in the Senior race and John Michael was able to meet him. He’s a great guy and immediately began to talk to John Michael about the track conditions – just another driver! Phil Giebler, a former Indianapolis 500 Rookie of the Year was also racing in the Senior race. So these races are comprised of the “Been There”, “Are There”, and “Will Be There.” Exciting.

If you only watch one video, watch the first lap of the race video. John Michael is in kart 629. Another driver passes him and John Michael re-passes him, but the kid tried to bully John Michael into giving way and ended up in the dirt and pounding his steering wheel. Mild-mannered John Michael!

John Michael and I went out to the Campo track on Saturday, while kc was in Nice with Mary Pat. His coach was not able to be there at the last minute, but he arranged for John Michael to borrow a kart (or two) from one of his friends, Pat.

John Michael did the warm-up stint on a four stroke 212 kart. When Pat asked him what he thought about it, John Michael said something like, “Well, it’s slow.”. Pat and his friends tried to remove the limiter and adjust the throttle control, but felt that was not improving things much. Pat asked John Michael if he had ever driven a 125 cc cart (two levels faster than what he normally drives). The answer was no, but when Pat asked if he’d think he could handle it and would he like to try, he said “Yes!”

We had a lot of frustration that John Michael handled very well. First, the kart flooded on the grid of the qualifying race, so he never got to the track and was placed at the back of the grid for the main race. Second, in the main race, during the warm-up laps, the kart died and John Michael sat in the infield. It was a one in a million (Chinese part) failure of a completely new spark plug.

Pat and his friends really liked John Michael so they scrambled and got the organizers to allow him to race in the “Race what you brung,” no limits race.

It was really quite amazing to see how well he handled this high-powered kart. He had no spins nor did he clobber any cones (both which are common in these races). He finished second to a guy with a dual-engine, four rear wheel Franken-kart. Then we learned that John Michael was first in his class (age).

On top of all that, John Michael was one of the winners in the Halloween best costume competition, which was held by everyone driving around the track in their costume. See the cool video. It was very fun.

A very fun Friday and Saturday that ended in a heavy thunderstorm.

John Michael

Kate R.

JR Q.

Michael M.

Richard F.

Mike G.

On Saturday and Sunday, August 28&29, John Michael got his first dirt track experience. kc and I went Saturday and she took John Michael on Sunday. After a full day of experience (three sessions on track!), he seems to be off to a good start in Sunday’s grid-qualifying race.

Update, Sunday night

John Michael had a great weekend. He was in second place with 3 laps to go, but spun to the inside and finished fourth.

Here are some photos from Saturday

Here are a couple of short track-side videos

Here are onboard videos from the qualifying race and the final Saturday race.

Because of his strong and continuing interest in developing as a competitive driver, we contacted a local company which provides driver coaching, kart preparation and mechanical support for John Michael.

We had a interview with the owner and coach, Josh Huff, and he said that despite John Michael’s experience, he needed to assess him himself, to see if he has what it takes to start this challenging commitment.

So, on Wednesday the 10th, we drove to CalSpeed Karting (where John Michael has already driven rental karts). Josh met us there with a competition kart that had been set-up (at a second meeting) for John Michael.

It was hotter than blue blazes there. John Michael had, I think, five sessions on track, four with Josh, either following or leading him. After each session, they’d download video and telemetry from the kart and review it in the Sprinter.

We returned to Josh’s shop today so that he could weigh John Michael and the kart he will be using and load weight to meet the minimum specified for the race class he will be doing. He also said that he wanted more weight on John Michael’s kart so that John Michael would find it more difficult to drive away from him!

Josh said to me, “After one session, I knew he would be able to race. After three, I knew he can be very good.”

So, Josh wants the driving coach who works with adults to meet John Michael and to give his input. We’ll do another coaching session in two weeks. John Michael will do another rental kart race next week and do some local dirt-track races in two weekends. Then, in September, Josh wants him to drive in his race class up at CalSpeed karting.

Should be fun!

Onboard videos

Videos from trackside

kc, Billy, John Michael and I went to the Grand Junction Motor Speedway for some laps. We were surprised to find such a great track and helpful staff. Billy did two stints and John Michael three. They both improved their times around the track, nearly every time around. By his last lap, John Michael was within .4 seconds of qualifying to drive a more powerful kart. He and Billy had improved their times by almost 10 seconds in the time we were there.

After a truly great vacation together, we all (except Colleen, who left the previous day) gathered together at the top of the Ribbon Trail to say goodbye.

Here are photos from John Michael:

Here are my photos:

John Michael is totally committed to becoming a professional racing driver. He really wants to race F1!

He spends the majority of his free time at home driving a race simulator. He has a nice screen, great wheel and pedal set, and a makeshift cockpit.

He has raced at K1 Speed many times now. K1 Speed is an indoor race track with electric karts. Up until three weeks ago he only was able to race the Junior Karts, which was frustrating for him, even though he won most of the sessions in which he competed.

A few weeks ago he was able to race the Adult Karts – quite a bit faster – and became proficient in short order. He actually did a teen race the day before CalSpeed and qualified and finished very well.

But…. we had found CalSpeed Karting up at the Fontana Speedway a few weeks ago (after leaving a chaotic parkour competition early). kc wangled his way into eligibility (he’s not yet 12) and on a day-off school we drove up for him to drive in three sessions.

Despite getting into a crash (no fault of his) and getting injured, he has a great time. The adults he was racing against were both impressed and addled that this kid was out there pushing them.