Michiana Raceway Park " Tallmadge resident Jacob McWhirter and his Victory Racing team recently made two trips to the South Bend, Indiana track. The first kicked off the Great Lakes Sprint Series season while the latest was for round two of the World Karting Association Manufacturers Cup.

After a three and a half month off season Jacob kicked off the Great Lakes Sprint Series with two top ten qualifying runs in Cadet Sportsman and HPV Sportsman. Prefinal racing resulted in Jacob losing seven positions in Cadet and six in HPV. Saturday finals had Jake holding position in Cadet and picking up three spots in HPV to finish the day with an 11th and 13th respectively.

Sunday came with dark clouds and rain and forced the competitors to switch to rain tires for the entire day. Jake was able to keep his top ten qualifying streak going in Yamaha Sportsman, but just missed the sweep with an 11th place in Yamaha Sportsman Heavy. In the prefinals Jake picked up a spot in Yamaha, but lost six spots in Yamaha Heavy. Jake finished the weekend losing a spot in Yamaha to finish 11th, but picking up three spots in Yamaha Heavy to finish 12th.

Two weeks later Victory Racing made the return trip for the second race of the Manufacturers Cup. The Man Cup is the largest kart racing series in North America with racers coming from all over the United States, Canada and other countries. The classes are big, the talent is deep and the racing is fast. Jake would be competing in four classes with the goal of qualifying for each race on time and finishing in the top twenty.

On Saturday Jake qualified 16th in Cadet and 22nd in HPV. He lost two positions in the Cadet prefinal, but made them back in the final to finish 16th, his highest finish in the National series. The HPV prefinal found Jake forced off the track and watching from the infield. In the HPV final Jake sliced his way through the field to pick up twelve spots and finish 19th.

Unlike the previous trip Sunday brought sunshine and a top 15 qualifying run in Cadet 2. In Yamaha Sportsman, Jake avoided the dreaded LCQ (last chance qualifier) and kept his qualifying streak alive. In the prefinals Jake lost two spots in Cadet and picked up two spots in Yamaha.
The Cadet final resulted in Jake holding position and finishing in 17th. In the Yamaha final Jake fell back on the start to avoid a multiple kart wreck only to be run off the track as he was coming up through the field. He finished the day standing on the hill watching the second half of the race knowing that this would be the only race in which he wouldn't meet his goal, but wanting to know how soon he could get back in the kart.

Victory Racing and Jake want to thank his wonderful sponsors " AutoZone of Tallmadge, McWhirter & Associates, Novus Clinic, Polymer Valley Chemicals, Redmon Funeral Home, Seckinger Insurance Agency, Spring Valley Equestrian Center, The Chapel and XS Energy Drink.

Jake also is pleased to announce the creation of his website, check it out at www.jacobmcwhirter.com

Please contact us at victory-racing@sbcglobal.net if you, or someone you know, are interested in joining our team for the remainder of the 2009 season.