The J3 Competition Race Department kept their foot down this past week at the final round of the MaxSpeed Entertainment US Open held in Las Vegas, NV. The team encountered a fast and technical circuit situated at The Rio All Suites Casino with a ticket to the 2017 World Finals on the line as well as the season championship. The team entered a solid line up its drivers who all impressed during the event.
Rotax Max Sr.
Austin Garrison
Max Hewitt
Lane Vacala
After a solid day of testing on Wednesday the team had very good pace and positioned with all three drivers for Thursday afternoon qualifying session. Garrison was able to put in some clean laps without a tow to end in 4th as Hewitt ending without any on track assistance in 8th while Vacala had an unfortunate transponder malfunction. The heats (progressive) laid out well as Garrison would go 6-3-2-1 with a small on track incident in heat one hindering his point total positioning him outside row one for the final. Hewitt progressed nicely in his heats as he competed in the top 5 with results of 10-7-5-5 slotting himself in 6th place for the start of the final. Vacala progressed and with a few last lap battles going the wrong way would start top twenty for the final.
The final on Saturday proved to be one of the most exciting finals all year in Rotax competition. After a strong battle during the opening few laps the race was stopped due to a red flag. As the 25 lap race reconvened, Garrison took the lead only two laps afterward and lead for the remainder of the event with last lap battle where he lost the lead to until regaining it in turn 11 where he went on to win the final and season championship! Hewitt also had a fantastic final battling in the lead pack with pace good enough to challenge the podium, he ended just outside the top five in sixth place. Vacala ended the final after several on track battles to finish outside the top fifteen in sixteenth.
Rotax Max Mini
Aidan Fox
Working with some newly developed materials, Aidan Fox came into the final round looking to close out what has been a solid end to his 2016 season. It was apparent since Wednesday’s practice that Fox would be a factor as he topped the charts and showed speed never outside the top three. Fox was able to lay down a solid time in qualifying ending in second place with a tricky outside front row starting position for heat one. Fox was able to manage solid heat race finishes of 3-2-14 (accident) -16 (accident) knowing he had pace to run for a podium finish, Aidan would start the final in 7th place with plenty of poise. On Saturday’s final, Fox was able to get a solid start and battle hard for second place on the podium. With several impressive passes and race decisions, Fox crossed the line in 3rd place only .001 from 2nd place taking a well-deserved podium finish. The hard work put forth at the final round in Las Vegas awarded Aidan 2nd place in the championship.
Rotax Max Jr.
Nicholas d’Orlando
Team junior driver Nicholas d’Orlando left Las Vegas without the results he and the team were aiming for. After sensible speed in practice the team were looking toward a solid run in qualifying,, however, issues forced d’Orlando to start all four heats in unfavorable positions. The unfortunate starting positions never allowed the team or d’Orlando to catch a break for a results. Ending the final in 17th place, d’Orlando and team will be pushing for a top result later this month at the SKUSA Super Nationals.
About J3 Competition:
J3 Competition Inc. is an undisputed leader in Race Services since 2004, providing the necessary tooling and management to take drivers to the next level. J3 Competition delivers its COMPKART ™ chassis line to the North American market as well as customers globally with unprecedented performance and service. With its content, B2B, and B2C website available here > http://www.j3competition.com along with all its social media outlets it’s easy to stay up to date on the latest releases and happenings regarding the COMPKART brand.
