Justin Fights Hard And Refuses To Give Up, Earns Third Place Season Championship At Tri-C Karters Ro

Date: October 7, 2017 Event: Junior LO206 (Race 8 of 8) Series: Tri-C Karters Location: CalSpeed Karting Center, Auto Club Speedway Layout: Grande CCW (0.720-mile 15-turn sprint course) Format: Five Stages; 5 min prac/5 min qual/8 lap heat/8 lap heat/16 lap main Finishes: 7th / 6th / 8th / 8th / 6th Winner: Dakota Tate (TonyKart #14c)

Justin Blumenfeld and the No. 18 JBR team fought hard over what proved to be an extremely challenging final race of the season, but he never gave up, and in the end, hard work and luck favored him, allowing him to come away with a 6 th place finish and win a well-deserved 3rd Place Season Championship!

Practice Recap:

Coming into the morning warm-up, the team was feeling good about their setup, having had the two previous weekends to practice the circuit and find a good starting gear ratio. Justin ran mid-pack, a little further back than he had hoped, but the team knew he would be able to run quicker once the track rubbered up a bit and the temperatures rose.

Qualifying Recap:

During qualifying, Justin was able to increase his speed, landing him a 6th place starting position on the grid, running just slightly over a second off the pole-sitter's pace. While the team elected to leave the gearing alone, a single tooth reduction would have likely allowed another half second of speed to be found on the straightaways in retrospect.

Heat 1 & 2 Recap:

In Heat 1, Justin ended up spinning coming out of the turn called Long Beach, and another driver t-boned him, sending both their karts into the air. While he was able to resume and drive away without any damage, he did injure both his legs and his shoulder from the impact, and it slowed his laptimes for the remainder of the heat, dropping him back two spots to finish in 8th place. He came off the track after the heat distraught and quite upset, and he was now sitting in 4th place for the first time this season by only two points.

After summoning up his courage and deciding he was going to fight until the end regardless if he might not get a championship spot, he went back out for Heat 2 and ran strong, and while he didn't gain any positions, he didn't lose any more either and finished again in 8th place, this time a few more points behind. Once again, the team could tell a gear change might benefit him, but at this point, it felt like a safer bet to stay at the current setup and let him race to the best of his ability with what he had practiced on. With his spirits lifted and his focus laser sharp, he would take to the track one final time and see what he could pull off.

Main Recap:

After carefully watching the Senior classes race their mains, Justin was able to observe some blocking defensive lines being taken by the other drivers, and decided to try them out in his race. With luck on his side, the 3rd place contender made an aggressive move on the first turn of the Main which sent him spinning, dropping him back to last place and allowing Justin to fly by and make up three spots into 5th place. Justin drove hard but carefully, not making a single mistake the entire race, and even pulling over at one point to yield a spot to the 6th position driver rather than risk a wreck. He then spent the last few laps holding off 7th place while his main rival was able to climb back up to 9th. In the final lap, Justin was bumper to nose with the kart behind him, but managed to take a wide line and block on the inside. Coming into the final turn, it was neck and neck to the line, but Justin was able to hold his 6th place spot in a near photo finish, and with his rival back three positions, Justin once again regained enough points to take the 3rd Place Championship spot and finish the season the way he and the team had hoped for!

Tri-C Karters 2017 Season Championship Standings:

Justin finished the season in 3rd place with 2,404 points over the course of all eight races, a mere four point gap above the 4th place finisher. He was able to take the podium in three out of eight races, with one 2nd place and two 3rd place podium finishes. Being able to walk away with a 3rd Place Championship trophy and to stand atop the podium in his first ever full season was a major accomplishment, and his skill, determination, and overall racecraft has grown leaps and bounds since he began the season. Justin is looking forward to some great off-season racing in the yet to be announced Willow Springs Kart Association Winter Series, and coming back next year to Tri-C for more competition and to hopefully find that elusive first win in the series.

Quote From Justin:

“I'm so proud to have earned the LO-206 Jr. Third Place Championship podium in my first full season of competition! I worked really hard for this, and even through those moments when everything seemed to go wrong, I never gave up and kept fighting. Every single point really does count, and if you want something bad enough, you can put yourself in a position for things to hopefully work your way. That’s exactly what happened for me on October 7th! I couldn’t have done this without the help and support of so many people, including:

My parents, for being the best pit crew, and for all the time, money, and love they give to allow me to race and do the things I enjoy so much.

My grandparents, for their love and support, cheering me on at my races, and for helping fund my winning engine.

My sponsors, Galpin Ford, Pit Posse Motorsports, and Arrowhead Water, for getting behind my racing career and investing in my success. Please support these quality companies.

Doug Fleming of Fleming Motor Sports, for the engine tuning, Nathan and Trisha Thibodeaux of Tri-C Karters for running a great organization, and Eric Nelson for his help, advice, and building me the winning #18 CRG machine.

Ulysses Washington III for his friendship, support, coaching, and getting me into outdoor gas kart racing not so long ago.

My adult racing friends from MB2 Raceway in Sylmar, CA who welcomed a young nine-year-old kid into their circle and let me build my skills alongside them, including Luke Duncan, Wyatt Carpenter, Arman Hovakimyan, David Akopyan, David Isaac, Christian Brooks, Drew Herkey, and countless others who work and race at that awesome place.

My competitors this season, including the first and second place champions Jalen Mack and Sophia Storey (congratulations!), Jared Caylor, Aiden Kempf, Dakota Tate, Daniel Eaton, Taylor Williams, Nigel Fuentes, and many more.

And finally, to all of you who follow me on social media and lend your support with your likes, nice comments, and well wishes. Thanks to everyone who has helped make this possible for me... I can’t wait to see what 2018 will bring!!!”.