Back in the driver's seat to win my first race.

"Daniel Justice" (DanielJustice)
05/09/2015 at 16:23 • Filed to: None

About 5 months ago, literally just before the beginning of the new year, !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! announcing to all that I would be trying my hand in the auto racing world, starting all the way from karting where I currently reside. The type of karting that I’m doing is called Road Racing, and it’s different from the karts you are used to, because we race on the same courses that auto racing takes place on, rather than purpose made sprint tracks for karts.

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Last weekend my first race of the year took place, at Summit Point’s Shenandoah Circuit. I entered with our newly refreshed and upgrade kart to take my first official win. I may have only had one other racer in my class, but we had a great battle and I managed to finish, something we’ve only done a few times before.

Next race is June 13-14th at Summit Point’s Main circuit. If you’re in the area, come on out and watch the racing! Find me and I can educate you on the karting we do, because you can get into it easier than you think! Until next time.

Daniel Justice, #100

!!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!!

DISCUSSION (12)

Axel-Ripper > Daniel Justice
05/09/2015 at 16:38

This is something I just discovered last year and desperately want to do one of these years. Maybe with a clone motor or something. I really want to do the runs at Daytona, because it is so completely ridiculous to be running a TAG kart with less than 15 hp around the banking at Daytona.

AntiSpeed > Daniel Justice
05/09/2015 at 18:25

Hey! I didn’t frequent oppo much so I missed the intro you posted a year ago, but you’re kind of where I was when I was your age. I started karting when I was 16 and jumped to cars at 17. I made it to Pro Mazda before I ran out of money, and since then I’ve done a few British Formula Ford races and I’m doing the SCCA’s F1600 pro series this year (ahem, if I ever receive the parts that I ordered 2 months ago...). Let me know if you have any questions!

Blunion05 drives a pink S2000 (USER WAS BANNED FOR THIS POST) > Daniel Justice
05/09/2015 at 18:29

Kinja'd!!!

Awesome, thanks for sharing! This position looks so derpy from afar though.

Daniel Justice > Axel-Ripper
05/09/2015 at 19:41

Glad to see some interest in road racing on oppo. Where do you live? Our club (the Woodbridge Kart Club) will sometimes run so-called “fun finales” after the day’s racing is complete. For a fee of $10, this allows new comers to try out a racer’s kart on the track. I think they may be holding the event this coming race in June. Agreed with Daytona, we might be getting a laydown kart soon with a 100cc reed valve that can push around 110-120MPH there. Never been though.

Daniel Justice > Blunion05 drives a pink S2000 (USER WAS BANNED FOR THIS POST)
05/09/2015 at 19:43

The type of kart I drive (sprinter) is an awkward thing to look at. The nose looks goofy from most angles, but as always, function not formality.

Daniel Justice > AntiSpeed
05/09/2015 at 19:55

Wow that’s pretty awesome. A big question I’ve always had, how do you make the transition to Formula Ford in Britain from the states? That would be my first stop ideally after karting in a few years. Sponsorship, contacts, and so on. Also what do you do when you aren’t racing in the lower series? I assume you have a job on the side?

AntiSpeed > Daniel Justice
05/09/2015 at 20:12

I probably did it the craziest way possible, a friend of mine from college ended up going to Oxford Brookes for a masters degree in motorsport engineering, and he proposed the idea of me coming over and running a car together (I’m an EU citizen so I was able to move there without a problem). We only did 2 events before I felt like I was starting to risk paying rent, but it was an awesome time! The best way is to just call a team and schedule a test. You’ll have to pay for it on your own, there really isn’t any way around that.

Also, Formula Ford has fallen off the professional ladder (although it’s still very well represented and quite competitive at the club level), today the entry-level pro championships in Europe are FIA Formula 4 (which has sister championships in several other European countries) and BRDC Formula 4 (which is basically the same as F2000 in the U.S.). Go to their website and email some teams saying you’re interested in testing. If you end up being able to race they should be able to help with immigration as well.

I’m not working regularly at the moment, I’m delaying getting a traditional job as long as I possibly can, and maybe longer than that. I’m trying to get into instructing and I’m working on ways to promote the racing I’m doing this year.

Oh, and when I was racing in Pro Mazda I was also a full-time college student.

Daniel Justice > AntiSpeed
05/10/2015 at 14:46

Very good insight, thank you for sharing your experiences. Are you still trying to maybe make it professional since you are holding off getting a job? I actually didn’t know that the British formula ford championship folded, looks like as you said, Formula 4 has taken it’s place.

AntiSpeed > Daniel Justice
05/10/2015 at 15:31

Yup, I’m still stubbornly holding on to that dream. =oP But I don’t think they grant new superlicenses to people my age (kidding... kind of) so my F1 aspirations are dead, and IndyCar is pretty hopeless in general, so I’m shifting my eyes towards sports car racing. Pirelli World Challenge looks like it has all the ingredients to be huge (the GT3 cars are awesome and if they effectively promoted their live online streams they could be sitting on a goldmine, IMO.) and you can have a sports car career well into your 30’s and 40’s.

Axel-Ripper > Daniel Justice
05/10/2015 at 20:08

I’m in the Charlotte, NC area. There’s plenty of opportunity to get going around here, be it at GoPro Motorplex (which is AMAZING btw), any of the various dirt ovals (Woodleaf, Millbridge, Liberty, etc) or even up at VIR or CMP if I wish to hike. Mostly just not a good time right now (getting married this year and such, plus I’ve got a project truck and old FSAE car sitting in the garage wanting attention). Actually one of my friends has a dirt oval kart with a clone motor for sale that I could probably buy and convert, but again, one of these years. I’ll probably straight up build a full kart one of these years (I have the experience and technology).

Daniel Justice > AntiSpeed
05/12/2015 at 18:31

Glad to see you aren’t giving up. Right now I’m just shooting for the top, but if I have to settle for a lesser series in the future I’ll gladly to take the offer. I’d love to be in an LMP1 in the WEC almost as much as an F1 car. And like you said, you can keep racing sports cars well into your life. I’m in love with the karting I’m doing right now though, it’s almost tempting to stay with it and not move to cars. But it won’t pay me anything so I have to keep moving up. I’ll be staying with my karting for another year or so, then move to Skip Barber.

Daniel Justice > Axel-Ripper
05/12/2015 at 18:37

Heard a lot about GoPro, would love to head down there sometime but we’re committed to road racing. We were actually at VIR last year for the road race there, what a stunning and amazing location. We’ll be there hopefully in late July for the next race, try to make it up there! They don’t usually run fun finales there but we could introduce you to the racing. Definitely hope you can find the time for karting, we will always welcome new faces.