Jordan Prior Proves He’s One of the Best Briggs Racers On the Planet at CKNA Grands
In August, Jordan Prior drove to his second Canadian Karting Championship at the Mosport Karting Centre in one of the most exciting Briggs Senior National finals we’ve ever witnessed.
A month later, Prior locked up another Motomaster Ron Fellows Karting Championship Briggs Senior title race and earlier in the summer he nearly scored the trifecta but lost out on the final corner or the final lap at the Canadian Open in Mont-Tremblant.
All of this has put Prior back on top of the Canadian Briggs racing scene and notched his name into the history books as a repeat Canadian champion, and arguably, the best Briggs racer in the country at the moment.
So what was next for Prior? With the borders back open, he had his eyes focused on the Cup Karts North America Grand Nationals, the largest Briggs & Stratton 206 event on the planet.
Tackling the New Castle Motorsports Park circuit in Indiana, Prior was one of nearly 400 Briggs entries taking part in the event, competing in two classes, Senior Lite and Senior Medium. Both were stacked with competition as 68 drivers took to Qualifying in Lite and 72 in Medium, the two largest classes on the weekend.
Prior got off to a hot start, Qualifying P2 in Lite and P8 in Medium and he kept it up in the heat races, notching a heat win and staying inside the top ten to earn a good starting spot for both Finals.
Focused on Sunday’s Finals, Prior had an eventful Senior Lite race. Some early race shuffling knocked him back to eighth on lap four. For the next few laps, Prior linked up with fellow Canadian Jon Treadwell and the pair worked back up to fourth and fifth. Unfortunately, Treadwell’s race came to an early end on lap eleven, but Prior was right back in the hunt for the lead with five laps to go.
Moving into third with two laps to go, Prior was right where he wanted to be. He moved to second before the last lap flag flew and from there, the gloves were off. Pulling off a last-lap pass, Prior gained the lead and held on for the win.
It was his second CKNA Grands title, backing up his victory in 2019, the last time he competed in the prestigious event.
Unfortunately, his Senior Medium Feature didn’t go quite as well. Caught up in an opening lap crash, Prior slipped back to 30th before he even completed a lap. Keeping his head down, he charged all the way back to 13th at the finish.
Following the event, we asked Prior what it meant for him to score the win in New Castle.
“Winning at the Grands was super rewarding and is a weekend I’ll always remember. To be racing against the best 4-cycle drivers in North America is a challenge. It is a true test to see who can last a tough 3-day event. New Castle is such a good track and the layout they use incorporates good drafting and also good racing, which made for a great Final race. We didn’t really expect much so to be able to win it a second time is just really rewarding and I can’t wait to go back next year.”
Canadian Champion, CKNA American Champion, MRFKC Regional Champion and Canadian Open Vice-Champion. What a season for Jordan Prior.
A number of Canadian drivers competed in this year’s CKNA Grand Nationals 6 and it was great to see the competition trekking back across the border for this great event. The Cup Karts Canada division was represented very well and series manager Gerald Caseley was very impressed with how well everyone supported each other from chassis adjustments to moral support.
Missed out on the event list year as CKN did? Mark it on your calendars now for 2023. We already have!
