2017: Mid-season Report
As we reach the halfway point in the 2017 racing season, we recap the first half of our year. So far in the midget, we have struggled to find our pace at Bear Ridge, but have shown hints of improvements with strong runs on the top side of the track and leading laps. Our break through moment of the year so far was the win with Haskell Motorsports at Albany-Saratoga Speedway. We had pace in practice, won our heat race, and then dominated the feature, running 25 mistake free laps to take down our first win of the year, and the first win of our partnership with Dave Haskell and Haskell Motorsports!
For this racing season, we decided to assemble another effort for a part time season at the Lebanon Valley Kart Track. After blowing up the Flathead Modified engine last season, it was decided we would change classes to the Stock Lite Briggs 5hp Flathead Division. In our first heat of the year in that division, we took the win and then lead early in the feature against stiff competition to finish 6th. Each time that we race that kart, we have finished higher, with a 3rd in the next race after cancelled heats, and then a 2nd place on a day when I pulled triple duty, running three different classes of karts in one afternoon. As we inch closer to winning in the Stock Lite division, we have found victory in both the Animal Heavy and Flathead Modified divisions. At this point in the year, we have run six races in the Animal Heavy division, scoring 4 wins, one second, one 4th place, and a 72 point lead in the championship. Lastly, I was hired at race four of the year to drive Paul Luntta’s Flathead Modified #79 kart. In our first race together, we lead early in the feature to eventually finish fourth. The next race, we made some adjustments to the kart, including seat fitting to increase comfort and weight distribution. We finished second in the heat race, and after a full field inversion, we finished 1st place in the feature, scoring the first victory for Paul Luntta!
2014 News
For 2014, I started out by running in a charity event at On-Track Karting in Wallingford, Connecticut. I won my division in the adult karts . So after starting off the year with a good finish, we decided that we would run part time at Stafford on Monday nights in the Senior Outlaw division. At the season opener, I took the lead early. I lead until the last lap when Josh Gayman passed me for the win. At the next race, we finished fourth after having a kart that was ill handling throughout the feature. We decided that my Ceric Kart Racing series had come to a close. We wanted to leave knowing we did our best, and we felt that we had. We wanted to focus on USAC and getting our flat kart back on track. We decided a week later to get the #36 Ultramax flat kart back together and run at Lebanon Valley Speedway in the Animal Heavy class.
On the open practice day at Lebanon Valley, it started to rain. For all classes at Lebanon, we have to use Burris Racing non-treaded tires. It was a handful to try to keep the kart going straight! It took a bit to get used to the g-forces and speed again produced by the kart!! To start my third year of racing in USAC, we finished second place behind Adam Pierson in the season opener. Unfortunately come race two, we had suspension damage from a rut on the track surface. Race three went about the same way. At the mid-way point in the season, we finally found some luck and reliability. We recorded three second place finishes in a row. On one of the nights I won my heat race and started on pole. I proceeded to lead every lap, and had a photo finish with Adam Pierson, with my nose beating his across the line, but his transponder beat mine, giving him the win. We kept our heads high, and about a month later, emerged victorious in an amazing race in which the entire top five fought for the win. Later that night I was given the chance to drive a 602 GM Crate Sportsman Modified after the races. I completed about 11 laps and had a blast!! My times were comparable to the top ten in the feature that night!! In the week prior to this win, I earned my first career victory at Lebanon Valley Speedway! Gary Silkey and I rubbed fenders all the way around the track on the last lap, with me being able to nose ahead out of turn 4! The following two weekends after the Bear Ridge I was victorious at Lebanon Valley, with my third win at the Valley being the “Mr. King of the Dirt USA” event. I really wanted to win that race because the hardware was a crown instead of a trophy. Gary Silkey said, “The crown looked better on me than it would have on him.”
Also, on July 26th, Frank Manafort gave me the opportunity to drive his 76x car that was previously run by Elliot Beveridge, Frank’s long time mechanic and friend who had passed away in February of 2014. The car was really fast in practice, finished second in the heat, and finished the feature 13th. Then at Lebanon Valley, I also made three appearances in the Flathead Modified class, driving for two different owners. Rough driving and poor equipment prevented me from having decent finishes.
Also in the late summer we hauled the #77 to two tracks that are part of the Outlaw Midget touring series: Legion Speedway in New Hampshire and Fonda Speedway in New York. Fonda is a huge 1/2 mile dirt track where speeds approach 100 mph and I finished in fourth place, limited only by a lack of top end horsepower. I did not do as well at Legion, finishing near the rear due to a lack of grip – the track is literally made from river silt and will take practice to get hooked up there. It is now time to begin the long process of disassembling both race cars, cleaning everything, and sending out the engines for inspection and overhaul. Our goal is to have everything back together and start testing in late March.
The Future
My goal is to move up to larger, V8 powered cars called “Modifieds.” There are versions of these cars that run on dirt and asphalt tracks across the northeast. In September, I had a chance to test drive the #9 dirt modified at the conclusion of the nights racing at Bear Ridge. It was awesome to drive something with that much power, and hang the tail out in the corners. Also in the summer of 2014, I was able to work as a crew member on three different asphalt modified teams that run at Stafford and Thompson Speedway. This has given me some new contacts for getting into larger asphalt cars. We’ll see what happens!
September 2013 Trip to NC:
It was like a dream come true for 16 year old Jeff Champagne, of Westfield, MA. An opportunity to attend a dirt midget chassis class followed by a day of testing and one-on-one instruction with renowned midget and sprint car expert, Brad Noffsinger at his shop in Concord, NC. The only “problem” was that Jeff would have to miss 4 days of class at Westfield Vocational Technical High School. Tough decision, isn’t it? With that, Jeff and his crew chief father, Ed, headed south last week for 800 miles, hauling the #77 USAC dirt midget and gear in their 20’ enclosed trailer.
Day one in Concord involved setting up the drive line and squaring the axles with the motor plate, modifying the Watts link to provide improved roll control, making a few safety improvements and learning proper techniques for securing belts, neck restraint and the seat. Jeff’s midget was built by Stewart Fabrication of Phoenix AZ in the 1990’s. Ironically, Brad Noffsinger was working at Stewart at the time and has firsthand knowledge of its proper set up, as well as how to correct previous owners “modifications.” Weekly teardown, inspection and cleaning routines were also reviewed in order to keep small issues from getting larger. While at the shop, Jeff also had an opportunity to meet with a senior sales engineer from Simpson Safety Products who discussed the latest in racing safety gear.
With the set up established it was now time for day two, which was held at the nearby Millbridge Speedway in Salisbury NC. Millbridge is a tight, small track, with straights that are shorter than what Jeff usually sees at Bear Ridge Speedway in Vermont. The day began with a track walk with Brad in order to learn the proper racing line as well as where to turn in and when to get on the throttle. The first laps of the day were turned by Brad, driving the car that he ran earlier this year at the “Chili Bowl” in Tulsa, OK. Next up was Jeff, hitting the red clay surface in the #77 for about 15 laps. After pulling into the pits, it was time for a debrief and consulting with Brad. This continued over and over all day until Jeff’s lap times were within striking distance of Brads. Well over 100 laps were completed over a 7 hour period, with instruction and chassis dial in occurring after each run. Needless to say, Jeff learned a lot about proper midget set up and racing that will help him back on the tracks in New England.
History
Hi, my name is Jeff Champagne. I love to race karts and I have come a long way in the three years I have been racing. I have been a racing fan since I was a little kid. My parents have pictures of me watching Michael Schumacher, the best driver ever, on TV in the late 1990’s. I was born in December 1996, so I had the racing bug early! Since the time I could crawl, I always wanted more and more Hot Wheels cars. I don’t buy as many as I used to, but I bet I have almost 500 of them in the basement. At about the time I was four I began watching NASCAR races every weekend. Back then my favorite driver was Bobby Labonte but now I am a Tony “Smoke” Stewart fan. I also used to cheer for Mark Martin as well because he was my dad’s favorite driver when he used to drive the #6 car. After a couple years of watching the “Winston Cup” races, and Formula 1 as well, I just couldn’t get enough and began watching nearly every type of racing that was on TV including Indy Car (and CART too at the time), “Busch Cup”, sports cars and prototypes and even the Australian Touring series!
From those early years I knew I wanted to race when I grew up. The more I learned about racing the more I learned that I had to start out small in karting. I would write about racing in school and the teachers would always change “kart” back to “cart” – oh well, at least I knew better. I began to hound my parents for a kart from the time I was 8 years old. They listened but always said “some day, when you’re older.” I knew I could not wait too long because even Michael Schumacher was driving karts at age 5 back in the 1970’s. In 2006 and 2007 I began to receive racing books as Christmas and birthday presents and one book was about how to get started in karting. I thought I might be close, but still no actual kart was purchased. I also learned around this time that a race track in my home town of Westfield had a kart program for kids. It was at Whip City Speedway and was a 1/8 mile clay oval inside of the ¼ mile track that the bigger race cars ran on. It had been there a few years but I had not seen it.
I guess you could say my driving career began in February 2008. It was during the winter vacation from school that my dad brought me down to On Track Karting in Wallingford CT. They have an arrive-and-drive program for kids without any racing experience, which was me, except for when I drove at Golf Acres in Westfield but I don’t think that counts! On Track has a concrete indoor road course that is flat as a board and is slick. I had to attend a class about racing and then I was all set to go. I was able to drive 3 separate times for about 8 minutes each time. It was a blast but was also challenging, I remember spinning out a couple times. There were only a couple other drivers in each group so I was able to drive without being in anyone’s way. About the only thing I did not like about the track was that the drivers race against the clock rather than against each other. I later learned they have race leagues that are true races for position, but more on that later.
The first day of the season at Whip City was always open practice and admission for spectators was free. I went there on the last Saturday in April 2008 to watch the karts run and it sure looked like fun. I even saw one girl flip her kart over but she was OK. Image the first lap of the year and she goes over! I did not know at the time but my dad had been looking at a used kart for sale in Westfield, and was almost ready to buy it but wanted to be sure I would fit. To my surprise, we went to look at it just days after the Whip City practice and I thought it was so cool! It was the #24 kart that had won the championship at Pinnacle Raceway in Chicopee, but that track had closed shortly after the owner had won the title and the boy’s parents were not going to drive long distances to race it. To say the least we knew nothing about the kart other than it had slicks and we would need grooved tires for Whip City. It came with a driving suit and boots, some loose parts, but not much else. We saw it start and then we brought it home.
We called Whip City and were put in touch with their tech inspector who told us how to get started. We were also put in touch with local racer Dale Quarterly, the man that set up the kart for the previous owner. Dale set us up with the right size rims, tires, tools and lots of advice to be sure we could finish races and learn as much as possible in our first year. We did not have everything ready for Whip’s first race, but we were there for the second – like a couple fish out of water! Wow, there was a lot to learn. From which class to be in, to passing tech, to the starting line-ups (we even went out in the wrong heat that first day!)
The first few races at Whip were all about learning how to survive and get seat time. Sure there were lots of crashes and spins but before you knew, I was finishing closer to the lead pack. I even scored my first trophy, a third place, before half the season was over. By the end of the year I had two wins in addition to the third place finish and won the karting Rookie-of-the-Year award in a battle that went right down to the last race. My final points position was 6th for the year, which was not bad since I was racing against drivers with up to four years of experience.
In the off season, I attended a driving school at F1-Boston which has 2 indoor road course tracks that are asphalt with elevation changes. I joined their winter racing league and won several races during the season in addition to winning the Fastest Driver award.
In 2009 at Whip City I started with a bang by winning the season opening race. Unfortunately that would be my only win for the year but I did get several other top three finishes and moved up to 5th in points for the year. In September we bought a used Ultramax kart that had won over 20 races at Whip City over the past 5 years. We ran it for a couple races at the end of the year in both the Turquoise and Junior classes, as part of our plan to roll the kart out full time in 2010. However, for me 2009 will be remembered as the year that I made the move to asphalt racing. Holy cow – what a steep learning curve that was. In April we purchased a used junior outlaw cage kart and commissioned it as the “007” for running in the Wild Thing Kart Series at Stafford Speedway’s “mini-mile” kart track. The Stafford track is nearly a quarter mile long with long straights and hair pin turns. The transition to asphalt was not easy and there were plenty of spins and contact that year! Lots of rims and tie-rod ends were purchased. I had a best 10th place finish (the field could contain as many as 24 karts) that year and finished 19th in the points out of 27 drivers. Disappointing considering how well things went on dirt at Whip City. At the end of 2009 I was in the F1-Boston racing league and had a string of great finishes against some really tough competition and finished 3rd in season points.
Over the winter into 2010 my dad and I worked a lot on getting the Ultramax and outlaw karts ready. For 2010 the #24 was now known as the red #36. The 007 continued on in white and black. I almost had the first race at Whip City won but was pushed out of the lead at the last turn. With the exception of one DNS when both our Raptor engines had electric problems, I had a terrific year with 8 wins on the clay as well as 6 seconds and 3 thirds. I ran strong all year and had more wins than any driver in the class. To say the least, we had finally “figured it out” and would have challenged for the championship in 2011. Sadly, there would be no more racing at Whip City Speedway since the owners had to retire and were unable to sell the facility. In the spring of 2011, the City of Westfield rescinded their lease for the land ending any hope of the track reopening.
I also had a great year at Stafford, the kart set up and my driving were much improved and more consistent so top 5 finishes started to become regular. I finished the year with 7 top fives and locked up 5th place in season points. At the awards banquet I was also presented with the “Most Improved Driver” award by race director Wade Gagner.
In 2010 a new asphalt kart track opened in Claremont NH called Twin State Speedway. It is built inside of a 3/8 mile D shaped car race track. We missed the first race of the year at TSS but when we heard how nice it was, we brought the outlaw kart and tried it out. Never having seen the track before, I finished in 2nd place, using my basic Stafford set up. We decided to run there for the whole season and had 2 wins, three seconds and a third and finished 2nd in points for the year. At TSS there is also a series within the championship called the New England Challenge which I won in its inaugural year – my first championship of any type! I also finished 2nd in the Hoosier Tire Challenge for having good finishes in a 3 race series at Stafford, Twin State and Route 106 Racepark in New Hampshire.
With the loss of Whip City, we no longer had a local dirt track to run the #36 on. So after a lot of discussion, we decided to convert the kart over to asphalt in order to run it at TSS for the 2011 season in the stock heavy oval class. Not only did we have to buy new slick tires but we also needed some wider wheels and 80# of lead in order to meet the minimum class weight. The karts are heavy in this class since it is usually for adults, but the race director gave me permission to run even though I was not the minimum age of 15 yet. For 2011 my goal was to win the championship for the junior outlaw class at Twin State. Since we were already there, why not run the #36 for fun? And talk about fun, after getting the bugs worked out of the set up, I started to fly around the track at nearly 60 MPH. My fastest lap of the 1/8 mile track was 9.18 seconds! Running the #36 on asphalt took some getting used to because the strain on the neck muscles is a lot higher. I was always smooth and only went into the grass once during the season and took down 7 feature wins and accumulated enough points to win the championship in stock heavy oval before the last race was held.
I had great results too with the #007 at TSS in 2011. I was in a tight points battle with the #20 kart of Jeremy Decourcy all season long. We both lead the points at different times, but by the last race I had a 4 point lead. I finished second in that race and secured the championship and also had 6 wins throughout the season. It was really cool to win both championships at TSS in 2011.
2011 was also a great year for me at Stafford as well. Right from the start of the season I had a lot of top five finishes, and never finished lower than 7th place. Most drivers have at least one or two bad weeks, but I kept my streak going. By the end of June I had my first trophy finish ever at Stafford, a 3rd place – finally after nearly three seasons of trying. I followed that up with a couple of seconds and then on August 22nd, had my first win ever at Stafford. Wow! What a feeling that was! My victory lap was extra slow in order to enjoy every minute of it. With the win, I was surprised to find myself in the points lead. Being a consistent top 5 finisher paid off. By the last race of the year, I was tied for first place with the #82 of Mike Christopher Jr. You can imagine the tension since we both knew the only sure way to win the championship was to win the last race.
We started the last day with a couple rounds of practice and then went into time trials to set the starting positions. I had my qualifying set up nailed, a strong engine and fresh tires. At the end of the trials I had taken down the pole award and Mike was second. In the feature race I had a slow start since I heard the starter say one more formation lap. That’s when Mike got ahead of me and stayed there until two laps to go. I knew I was faster but I did not want to pass too soon. I got by him with two to go, and we tangled going round to take the white flag. Mike lost a little momentum, and I kept going to the white, then around to the checkers to take the win and the 2011 Stafford junior outlaw championship – the highlight of my 3 years of racing karts. I went super extra slow on the victory lap that time!! Thanks to all that have helped out so far, my parents and all of my sponsors: Applied Dynamics, Industrial Steel & Boiler, Elm Electric, Park Square Realty, Images and Brothers Car-N-Truck.