Fast Day In The Desert For JBR No. 18 Team In Formula-100 Round Three Race At Grange

Date: May 27, 2017 Event: Junior LO206 (Race 3 of 5) Series: F-100/F-206 SoCal Championship Location: Grange Motor Circuit, Apple Valley, CA Layout: CW (0.8-mile 15-turn sprint course) Format: Six Stages; 5 min prac (x2)/5 min qual/8 lap heat/8 lap heat/14 lap main Finishes: 1st /1st /1st /1st /1st /1st Winner: Justin Blumenfeld of JBR (CRG KT1 #18)

Justin Blumenfeld and the No. 18 JBR Racing team had a commanding day in the desert, bringing home first place in all rounds and racking up some coveted seat time at this fabulous hidden track in the Mojave Desert. While overall turnout was quite low with five total competitors in LO206 (three in Sr., two in Jr.), Justin was able to put down the fastest laptime of them all with a 1:07.570, and take his second win from the pole in this series.

Practice 1 & 2 Recap:

Justin's morning began with a pre-driver's meeting practice session, his first time on this track. By his second lap, he settled in nicely and was able to begin working on the finer points of negotiating the 15-turn course. After the conclusion of the driver's meeting, Justin took to the track again, and comparing his laptimes to the competitors reassured the team that their gear selection was close to optimal for the rest of the day. The temperature was warm but not scorching, and with a light breeze, track surface conditions were ideal, with medium tire wear and a high level of grip to be found. The newly replaced axle also performed well, and the slightly softer material gave Justin a bit more flex and bite in the turns.

Qualifying Recap:

With the smaller turnout and the election by the Race Director to go with the Option 2 schedule, the day's pace was quite quick, with only approximately 15 minutes of downtime between sessions. Fortunately for the team, there were no on-track incidents for Justin, so no repairs or major adjustments were necessary. Justin was able to qualify on pole easily.

Heat 1 & 2 Recap:

Both heats went off flawlessly, with Justin putting down his fastest time of the day in the middle of Heat 1. As temperatures began to rise, Justin donned his cooling cap underneath his balaclava for the first time. While his new cooling vest inserts were prepped in the ice chest, he elected to not wear them at all as the heat never climbed above the mid 80's. He will likely have to use the vest in his next race as temperatures will likely be in the 100's at that point.

Main Recap:

While Justin was planning on running at least a 16-lap main, race control elected to drop it to 14 laps to save on time, much to his disappointment (he would happily run until his gas tank was empty if allowed to)! At the drop of the green flag, he got a great start, and by turn one, was already three kart-lengths ahead, growing his lead throughout the entire race and closing in on lapping second place towards the end of the race.

F-100/F-206 SoCal Championship 2017 Season Standings:

At this time, the LO206 Junior class is not competing for championship points due to low entrant registration count. While this is unlikely to change for the remainder of the season, Justin and the team are excited for him to run all the new tracks and get some much needed seat-time and experience while competing with this great group of people.

Next Race:

Blumenfeld's next race will take place on Saturday, July 1st at CalSpeed at the Auto Club Speedway for round five of Tri-C Karters, where he will be running the 0.640-mile Sportivo layout in the clockwise direction. After his disappointing finish in the prior round following the wreck in Heat 2 where he bent the rear axle and dropped out of contention, he is looking to regain a podium finish and compete for his elusive first win in this series.