Welcome To

August 20, 2011 - Summer Racing Update

After having been out of the seat for almost a month and a half, I was itching to get back to racing. At the end of June I traveled to Norway Illinois for a Midwest Sprint Series race at Concept Haulers Speedway for the 2nd race of their season this year. After a fun day of testing and practicing, my mechanics had the karts set up to run very well for the weekend’s events. On Saturday I ran two classes, as I normally do on any weekend, these classes being Yamaha and Komet Junior classes. The classes are broken up by a light and heavy designation that runs either day. For Saturday I finished with a second in the Komet and a win in the Yamaha class. On Sunday the same classes ran and the results changed a little, I won the Komet and got a third in the Yamaha class after a good battle to the end.

Next up for the JOEL JENS RACE TEAM were a couple days off before heading to a new track for me in Pennsylvania. While on our break, my mechanic Tiffin Willareth got to spend some time with his family while he was up north and he also spent some time with my family before we headed out. We then set off for Wampum Pennsylvania for a week of testing in preparation for the CRG America Nationals over the July 8-10th weekend. When we got to the track we were greeted by wonderful track personnel that were so welcoming to us. My tuner worked feverishly to make sure that the testing and planning we needed for the big upcoming race was carried out. It turned out we were not the only ones that had the plan to test the week before, friends of mine from Florida and Connecticut were also in town to do the same. My engine builder Kevin Nelson, from Switch Engines came out to test and offer me pointers. Having him work with me was awesome and so beneficial. So I ran a local Beaver Run Karting Club race with my Yamaha kart and won the Pre-Final and Final race on Saturday. I learned a lot about the technical track that day, and it proved to be beneficial for the upcoming race. This track was extremely challenging with its elevation changes and technical turns. On Sunday we decided as a team that we had a good handle on the Yamaha package and decided to work only with the Komet for Sunday. We tried a lot of different things that day as it was such an informal day. I can’t thank the people of BeaverRun for making a class available for us to do this testing. They normally do not have a Komet class so this was such a nice gesture. During the days between races I was able have fun with my friends; Ashley, Brandon, Tazio and Dario where we got to hike trails in the area and visit an old fashion swimming hole and waterfall. That was so much fun. We also got to have our own Fourth of July fireworks demonstration. During the times that I was having fun my tuner was preparing brand new TONY/KARTS for me to use in the coming weekend.

The fourth round of the WKA/Bridgestone Manufactures Cup at Beaver Run was the weekend of July 8th thru July 10th. I was entered in the Yamaha Junior, light and heavy as well as the Komet Junior light and heavy classes. Going into the race weekend I was sitting very well in the point standings and was hoping to only improve so that I would be in great positions for the final event. On Saturday in the Komet class I qualified second and won the Pre-Final and went on to win the Final. This made my win total increase to 5 for the year. I really need to thank Switch engines, Verde Speed, TONY/KART and my mechanic Vic Matuzewski who give me the best equipment for my wins. The other class of the day was Yamaha where I qualified 4th and won the Pre-Final. For the Final, hard racing and contact had positioned me back a few positions coming into the last lap. While running in 3rd coming to the last turn, I ended up out of the race which was unfortunate.

For Sunday’s races we knew we still had the karts to beat and that everyone was going to be gunning for us. In the Komet class again we were quick in the warm-ups and decided to put on a conservative package for the days races. In qualifying we ended up 5th but it was good to see 3 of the top 5 qualifiers on TONY/KARTs. For the Pre-Final and Final race a fellow TONY/KART driver and friend (Ashley Rogero) won and we were second. So I was pleased with the results as it put us on top of the point standings. For the Yamaha race we qualified 5th and did not have the results we were hoping for thru the day as hard racing and a lot of aggressive driving shuffled us back thru the day, but we managed a 7th place finish to secure us a runner-up position in the national points standings for that class. So leaving Pennsylvania I was leading two classes, second in one and 7th in the last. Not too shabby! I was hoping to be leading all 4 but “that’s racing” and we will show them at the next race.

I really hope we can go back to BeaverRun as I enjoyed everyone at the track and the track itself was really great. I’d also like to thank the Series Sponsors; Bridgestone and Mazda as well as the sponsors of my particular classes. I’d also like to thank my sponsors: Switch Racing Engines, Stocks Harley Davidson, GO Designs, Bank First National, Verde Speed Resources, L & T Clutches, Tony/Kart, TA Motorsports, Greensource Financial and my parents. Please follow me on my website www.joeljensracing.com

Return to News