COTO DE CAZA, California -- Austin Reed, driver of the #514 Ringers Gloves, (RBP) Rolling Big Power, Headblade.com, Approved Memory, Pimphats.com, FOX SHOX, theNfactorpics.com, Latest Concepts Fabrication Modified Kart Toyota Tundra competing in the popular CORR closed circuit off road series has learned some tough racing lessons over the last few weeks.
It all started at the SXS Dirt Alliance race at Perris Auto Speedway August 9th. Perris is a new track for the SXS series and the track was set up great. Although Austin was off the pace during qualifying he raced hard during the main event and was running down the second and third place trucks. As he was setting up to make the pass he pushed up into and he clipped a tractor tire on the side of the race track. His truck flipped over a few times, and although he continued on he finished the race towards the back of the pack.
The weekend of August 16th Austin and team raced at Pomona, CA in the CORR series. The racing was good, as Austin qualified 5th for both days out of 28 trucks. In Saturday’s main event, Austin got a bad start and moved back to 8th place. He worked his way back up to fourth during the 3rd lap when fellow driver and friend, Sheldon Creed, cut a brake line and clipped the right rear of Austin's truck which sent him in a barrel roll and ended his day. His start for Sunday's race was much better, and he passed a few trucks on the outside line in the high banked big bowl corner. As Austin was coming out of the corner he had a good angle and he carried a lot of speed. However, the combination of that speed and the freshly watered down track and slippery straight away resulted in him pancaking the wall coming onto the straight away.
Having been around racing a lot and understanding the ups and downs of the sport, Austin shared his thoughts on how important it is to learn from each event. “I have really had a couple of rough races recently, nobody likes to have finishes like those. But with the help of the team, I try to focus on what worked, what didn’t and where I can improve as a driver for the next race. While I haven’t been racing long I know from the years of watching my Dad’s teams how important it is to mentally move beyond the bad weekends.”
The team has two race weekends coming up following the Labor Day weekend. They are busy preparing for the SXS Series, September 7th and the CORR Series at Chula Vista September 12th-14th.
Trophy Karts are smaller versions of the Trophy Trucks. The new Elite/Modified Kart has a KX250F 38HP Kawasaki 4 stroke motor, Chromoly Cage, thicker tubing than standard TK, 4 wheel Disc brakes with JDA Hose and Fittings brake lines, Steering Rack, ITI front and rear Sway Bar, 20" Tires, 10" Wheels, 5 speed Sequential Transmission, 4 Gallon Fuel Cell, 300M Rear Axle, 4 Link Rear Suspension, 2 Bros. Racing Pipe, and will do 80 mph. The JR. 2 Modified kart has a Subaru 15 horsepower sealed spec motor with has a top speed of about 50 mph.
Austin and Kassidy's Karts are prepared by Crew Chief Shannon Weeks of SW Industries and Brandon Wells of Latest Concepts and Designs in Murrieta, CA. Austin Reed, 14 years old, is in 9th attending Frontier High School in Bakersfield, CA. Austin is the son of Dave Reed, former NASCAR championship car owner in the Southwest Series. For more information please check out Austin's web site www.austinreedracing.com and http://www.corracing.com/ or contact Dave Reed dreed@approvedmemory.com
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