CKN Driver Diary: Jordan Redlin @ SKUSA SuperNationals XVII

After several weeks out of the kart, a long travel day, and feeling sick from the flu, it was a relief to be sitting on the grid ready to do battle at the SKUSA SuperNationals in Las Vegas. This was going to be my last Junior race and as one of only two Canadian drivers entered I was determined to show what I could do against 79 other international drivers in TaG Junior. The first practice session went well, I learned the track fast and immediately felt comfortable driving close to the barriers. In the second and third session, we worked through some engine technicalities but in the fourth and final session the engine was good and I placed just outside the top ten.

“wow, I just meet the owner of CRG and discussed setup with him.”

Placing inside the P1 group is really important at the SuperNats. As we were preparing the kart for Thursday practice, Mr. Eddy Tinini, the owner of CRG, visited the CRG West tent that I was pitted in. He gave my mechanics and I some very valuable set up information and his help was greatly appreciated. I thought, “wow, I just meet the owner of CRG and discussed setup with him.” I really felt the commitment he has to the product and the performance of the drivers that use it. A few finishing touches on our set up we were ready for the final day of practice.

Thursday practice came early as our class was running in the morning, and I didn’t get any sleep! The anticipation was hard to overcome but a bit of coffee and some pre-workout energizer 20 minutes before my first session, I was ready to go. I felt comfortable with the setup and we started to prepare for qualifying. At a race this important the team follows changes in the weather very closely and it looked like the weather was going to be a big factor in the next few hours, and they were right. We spent all of the afternoon getting the kart ready for full wet conditions and we needed it.

RAIN,RAIN,RAIN, was the talk Friday morning, everyone in the paddock was scrambling for rain tires. We were prepared and had one set for racing if we needed it but in the 17 year history of the SuperNats they have never had days and days of it. We went out for the warm-up and got the layout of the track, now with water on it, as much as five inches of water in some sections. We made a few small adjustments and felt ready to qualify. I pushed hard in qualifying but never felt satisfied with a lap. Qualifying 13th overall, I would start each of my heats in group A row 4. This position turned out to be good as I was close enough to the front to get a good start each time but not so close to get pushed off. My first two heat races were good, a sixth place finish in the first and a eighth place in the second meant that I was in good shape points wise going into the final heat.

Jordan had to drive from the rear in Sunday’s Final after an opening lap crash. (Photo by: Cody Schindel/CKN)

I got a good start and made up ground coming out of turn one, entering turn two however was a different story. I was hit hard from behind and spun so quickly that one of the drivers behind had no choice but to drive right over top of me. Luckily there was no damage and I was able to get going again quickly, although it did push me down the field to around 25th place. I raced hard and was able to make some great passes and ended up finishing the third heat in 16th. This would give me 30 points overall and a 13th place starting position in the Final.

The level of competition in the field was very high and the team was confident that we could mount a challenge from that position.

The number 13 was starting to come up more and more, this was my 13th major event of the year, qualified 13th overall and I would start the main in 13th. I was really hoping that the number 13 was lucky, especially since we were in Las Vegas.

“…just when I was picking up the throttle the driver behind me decided to use me as his brakes and collided with my rear bumper…”

As soon as I woke up on Super Sunday I checked the weather: SUNSHINE, oh yeah. I arrived at the track earlier than normal to help with our dry setup. We knew that it was competitive and my confidence was high for the main.

I lined up for the start and it was clear right away that the start was going to be tough. A number of drivers got together on the warm up lap, tensions were running high as none of the drivers had raced on a dry track for two days. After a couple of start attempts the driver directly in front of me had an issue and that allowed me to move up a full row. One less kart to pass on my way to the front. We all came up the main straight and took the green. My row had a great start and we got the jump on the outside row. By the time I got to turn one I had moved from 13th to 5th. I turned into turn one and drove through the apex, just when I was picking up the throttle the driver behind me decided to use me as his brakes and collided with my rear bumper, since he hit me on an angle it spun me around, suddenly I had 36 karts blasting past me. Not again! I spun back around and attacked the track. Lap after lap I passed karts but with some of the best drivers in the world it became tougher and tougher to close the gaps as I moved to the front.

In the end I finished 24th overall. It was my last junior race as now my new challenge will be racing with the Seniors next year.

I’ve been fortunate to have learned from many great drivers and mechanics. The list is long but I would like to say a special thanks to everyone who has helped me out. Thanks to Cody Schindel from CKN, Rob Howden for always finding a way to mention me during my races, Mr. Tinini of CRG, Mario Alfreider, Darko Orcic, Ryan Perry, Tyler Dueck and especially the crew at CRG West and PSL Karting for giving me the opportunity to represent them this year at the SuperNats.

Bigger and better for 2014!!!
Jordan Redlin