Bungendore teenager Jay Waugh is set to compete at his first Sprintcar race meeting in the USA.
Having visited Cory Kruseman’s Sprintcar and Midget Driving School twice previously he is now ready to line up in the Ventura Racing Association (VRA) 360 Sprintcar class on the 19th of April. The fields number upwards of 50 competitors all vying for the podium positions.
The Kruseman sprintcars are powered by 360 cubic inch V8 engines. They run on methanol and produce more than 630 horsepower. The cars weigh around 550kg’s plus the driver. The power to weight ratio is equivalent to that of a formula one car.
Back in Australia Jay is still racing karts at the local Fairburn track and in effort to keep his fitness up he is often up early to go swimming and cycling before school where he is completing his year 12 at Copeland College. In preparing for this trip Jay has been working hard; having three jobs, he is the pizza maker on a Thursday night at Hunnyz Café in Bungendore, he works for Bruce’s Bobcats in the school holidays and Autobarn Belconnen on any free weekends. Jay is very grateful to all of his employers who have been extremely supportive of his sporting commitments in allowing him the necessary time off to compete.
The past couple of months have been a busy time seeing the family attending race meetings in Newcastle, Lithgow, Wollongong, Eastern Creek and Canberra in addition to travelling to Brisbane for the Australian Rotax Karting Nationals last September where Jay finished a respectable 17th. This was a great result considering he had to start from the rear of field due to a crash in the first lap of the pre-final.
Jay is due to arrive back in time to do some testing in his Rotax powered Wildkart. On May 25th Jay will be competing in the ACT titles at Fairburn set to take on a full field including the 35 yr old 5 time Champion. Jay’s class is shaping up to be the most fiercely fought of the day.
