COMING HOME WITH MY 1ST KA100 JUNIOR PODIUM AT STARS CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES!

WOW what a weekend I had at Stars Championship series at Pittsburgh International Raceway Complex!

I came home with my first podium finish in the KA100 Jr class, alongside some great competition.

My dad and I made a last minute decision to go to Pitt for the last Stars race so I can get more seat time in my junior chassis. I haven’t been to this track since 2018 when I was still in the Micro class, which is a big difference from my junior chassis.

The weather was rainy on Saturday so I had to qualify on rain tires, which I qualified 2nd, .097 seconds off my former CRP Teammate Danny Dyszelski.

Heat 1 I was still on rains and I finished in 3rd place after a great run with 1st and 2nd place.

Heat 2 we were on dry tires and I finished in 2nd place by .229 seconds with a great drafting partner/Nitro Kart teammate, James Overbeck.

Sunday was prefinal and final day and it was a nice, sunny day.

In the prefinal I finished 2nd place with some competitive lap times for having a broken chassis. Yes I said broken, Matt Lankford was looking at my kart after the race and noticed my bar next to my seat was broke so we had to go get it welded. It is probably all the weight on my chassis, about 80lbs worth lol.

The final came around and I started 2nd. In turn 1 I was still in second till about turn 2 or 3 another driver fighting for 2nd & 3rd place(already on lap 1) was trying to make the pass on me, but I stuck to my line and got pushed back to 4th. I kept pushing forward and I knew 1st place was too far ahead and that my best chance was 2nd place. I pushed so hard I caught the 2 kart draft and passed them for 2nd. I gapped them by almost 3 seconds and finished the final in 2nd place.

Congrats to Danny on his win/championship in the KA100 Junior class this season!

I am very proud of my accomplishments this weekend, especially since I just moved up and very new to this class. My goal was top 3 and I was able to accomplish that goal with the help of my dad John Grim, Matt Lankford, Greg Bell and Brent Crews.

Also big thanks to Comet Racing Engines for the fast engine, without it he wouldn’t be able to contend and Nick Tucker with Nitro-Kart for the support he provides to us on and off track since day 1.

Thank you, the series, for putting on a good event and the chili bash and Xander Clements with Kart Chaser for the live action feed and all the officials out there working their tails off to make sure we have good clean races.

Thank you to my sponsors for all the support you have provided to me and never giving up on me.. CRP Racing, Precision Karting Technologies, Rock's Trailer Sales, Mason Motorsports, OGIO, EVS Sports

Next up, club race at New Castle 10/17, possibly Buckeye Karting in Cincinnati 10/23 & 10/24 if the weather is okay and then Daytona in December.

14TH OUT OF 62 DRIVERS AT CUP KART GRAND NATIONALS 2021 IN THE JUNIOR CLASS!

This weekend was the biggest 206 race of the year. It was an event of the year that brought in tons of drivers from different tracks all over the US in the 4 cycle classes. The weather was terrible, racing was okay and I am going home with a go kart in one piece. I would say, that is a plus.

Friday, we had dry perfect weather all day long with 3 practice sessions and qualifying. I showed great speed every practice session, top 5 overall. Qualifying came around and some kids on the track were blocking, which caused me to not get the best lap I could, but I still qualified 8th out of 62 drivers.

Saturday the bad weather came about, and we had 2 heat races and split groups.

I was in the group B class in both races, which meant we raced the same kids each time.

In the first heat it started to rain hard, I started 4th and was running 2nd with 1st and 3rd, till 3rd place accidentally hit me too hard from behind and it made me spin around. Luckily, I only fell back to 6th place but since the driver got a penalty, I finished up the race in 5th. Heat 2 comes along, and the track was wet but starting to dry out a little, which sucked for rain tires that you had to use for 2 days. I started in 5th and was able to finish out the final in 3rd. For the feature Sunday I would have to line up in 8th, which is determined by points from your heat 1 and heat 2 finishes.

Sunday was feature day and we wake up to once again rain. We had a long time till our feature race, so we were hoping the rain would miss us. 2 classes before our final what does the weather decide to do? It decides to down pour and get the track wet once again for our final. The problem is when the final was coming around to us, the rain stopped, and the sun was poking out. Now this time the mechanics(dads) are all struggling to make sure they have the right setup for the track conditions now that they have changed, they could possibly change again when the drivers were out there, so pretty much it was luck of the draw.

I lined up in my spot in 8th and turn 1 went fine, but right before turn 2 the 2nd & 4th place kart bobbled in the grass which caused me to have to checkup. I tried to go around in the middle but there so many karts, I couldn’t get around, so I got stuck. I was pushed back to 11th place, but since my kart went away, I kept getting slower and the track was getting dryer so I finished out the race in 14th place.

I am happy with my overall weekend results after some bad luck throughout the weekend and even if I didn’t reach my goal to be in the top 10. I showed I was fast and that I could contend for the win, but in the rain and with that many karts, it is the luck of the draw and who chose the right kart setup. I have more room to grow in this class, and looking forward to some great racing in 2022. One mistake from another driver can also ruin your entire race, but that is the life of racing.

2022 is a new season and I will have a little more experience under my belt, I am hoping I grow as a driver in the Junior division to get back up on that podium step one day!

Thank you to Comet Racing Engines for the fast motors and to Nick with Nitro Kart for the fast chassis(as always) and all the support this weekend.

Thank you to my sponsors for no matter what results I get, you continue to believe in me to represent you. CRP Racing, Rock's Trailer Sales, PKT Axles, Mason Motorsports, Alissa Grim Photography, OGIO and EVS.

ARYTON IS COMING HOME WITH HIS FIRST NATIONAL PODIUM IN 206 JUNIOR AT THE WKA NATIONAL EVENT!

This weekend was an up and down kind of weekend for sure, but I knew the stepping stone into Junior would be rough with the experienced competition I would be up against.

The roller coaster wasn’t so much as my driving but it was the kart setup on a new kart, different type of tire and getting it all right in the KA100 Junior kart, in 206 Junior we were golden from the beginning. I wish there would have been more kids in the classes, to give us more competition, but this weekend helped us get ready for CKNA Grand Nationals that is coming up in a few weeks.

Here is my weekend recap:

Saturday morning we had 2 warmups and 1 heat race in each class. In the first 2 practice sessions we looked real good in 206 Junior, but kept falling like a rock in the KA 100 junior class. The motor was fast, but the kart itself was not getting better. We literally threw the book (OTK book) at it each session to find out how to fix the problem, but we weren’t getting any faster.

Qualifying comes around and we qualified 6th in KA100 Junior out 8, with one good lap and only 2 tenths off, which still wasn’t enough. Again that was only one lap then the kart went away. In 206 Junior, I qualified 2nd by .127 off the first place kart out of 8 karts.

Heat 1 in KA 100 Jr didn’t go too bad, but we were still off quite a bit. The kart would come in at the beginning, fall off then come back in. It was really strange. We had a great race with our Nitro teammate Miles Murray that session and finished 4th.

In 206 Junior, I was running real good sitting in 2nd place for 5 laps till my front bumper decides it wants to fall off, due to a lot of bumper kart action going on, which ended my race and I finished last. (8th place).

Saturday ended with a black cloud over me and my go karts, but we knew we still have Sunday for the heat 2 and final race, so I had to get a good night’s rest and recoup tomorrow.

Sunday we start off with morning warmup, which 206 Jr I was good but KA still struggling.

Heat 2 I finished the heat race in KA100 Jr in 4th and the 206 junior race in 6th, so jumped up 2 spots in 206 Jr kart.

Final comes around and I knew in KA100 Junior we probably weren’t going to get very far, since we were still struggling. I made it around 8 laps till I decided to just pull in because my kart was hopping all over the place no matter what I did, so I finished that race with a DNF.

Final time in the 206 Jr class I had to make up some spots, I hoped that I would do better since I have been struggling all weekend with one class. I started in the 6th spot and by lap 3 I had already gained 2 spots and sitting in 4th place. The leader was about 4-5 kart lengths ahead of our 6 kart train, but since everyone kept passing instead of pushing forward, we all fell so far back and the leader was long gone. Normally in racing you and someone else want to push together to catch the leader and get away, but in this race the kids just kept passing each other and nobody was moving forward. You knew if you didn’t pass the person in front of you, you were going to get freight trained by the 2-4 karts behind you, so you kind of just had to go. Me and the Margay driver, Reid Sweeney, worked together and pushed away from the other karts for a while, so we could move forward. We were so far behind 1st place at that point there was no catching him, but we kept pushing till 1 lap to go. On the last lap Reid and I had a great battle to the finish line where I crossed the line finishing in 3rd place, which I was okay with at my first national junior race.

I am overall proud of my weekend, even though it started out real ruff and luck wasn’t on my side at all Saturday. The luck turned around on Sunday and I am ready for my next big National race with CKNA at the Grand National event, where I will be racing in the 206 junior class against 60+ Junior racers.

BIG THANKS TO MY DAD JOHN AND JOHN MACRANDER FOR MAKING SURE I WAS READY, MY KARTS WERE READY AND FOR ALL THE TUNING/COACHING.

ALSO BIG THANKS TO NITRO KART FOR THE FAST CHASSIS AND TO MY ENGINE BUILDER COMET RACING ENGINES, FOR ALWAYS MAKING SURE I HAVE THE BEST MOTORS YOU CAN GIVE ME TO KEEP ME ON THE PODIUM. ONE DAY I HOPE TO MAKE IT TO THE TOP STEP.

I would like to thank my sponsors for all the support they have provided to me throughout my racing journey and believing that I can do it; CRP Racing, Rock’s Trailer Sales, PKT Axles, Mason Motorsports, Alissa Grim Photography, EVS & OGIO.