At least we got our first wreck out of the way.
Yesterday, May 3, 2026, we made the trip out to Oreville Kart Club in Mertztown, Pennsylvania for another day of lo206 kart racing. The plan was simple. Use practice to dial in the setup, get Brady comfortable on the 1/4 mile asphalt road course, and put together a solid run in the feature.
That is not how the day went.
Practice Got Cut Short Before We Learned Anything
During practice, another kart spun out right in front of Brady. He got collected up in the mess, slid off the track, and caught the outside wall. Thankfully, nothing on the kart was damaged, but we spent a lot of time cleaning up the chain and sprocket area before we could get back out.
What did we learn from practice? Nothing.
That is the part that stings. The damage was minimal. The cost was the data. We had nothing to work with heading into the heat race except an untested setup and a hope that we got lucky.
We did not get lucky.
Heat Race Showed Us What We Did Not Want to See
Once Brady got out for the heat race, the problem was obvious. The kart had no rear grip. I was standing trackside watching the rear of the kart, and every lap through the hairpin, the left rear tire was jacking up into the air on entry.
The hairpin is the most critical corner on the Oreville layout. If you cannot get through it cleanly, you are giving up time everywhere else. Watching that left rear lift over and over was rough. Brady was doing everything he could, but the kart was not giving him anything to work with.
We finished the heat race knowing we had to make changes for the feature.
Feature Race: Started 6th, Finished 6th
In the feature, Brady started 6th in the lo206 Medium/Heavy division. The changes we made did not deliver what we needed. The track never rubbered up, and the kart was sliding everywhere.
The good news? It was not as bad as the heat race.
The better news? Brady posted his personal fastest times at Oreville during the feature.
The result still reads as 6th, basically last in the division. But Brady kept his head, kept driving, and squeezed lap times out of a kart that did not want to cooperate. That part matters.
We have a lot to learn at Oreville, and we will be back.
What’s Next for Hornet Nation Racing
We are off this week. The team will be back on track on May 16th and 17th at Englishtown Raceway Park in New Jersey for the next round of the Northeast Karting Challenge Series.
Englishtown is a track we already have some experience on, so we are looking forward to applying what we learned from a tough weekend at Oreville and getting back to the kind of results this team is capable of.
Big Thanks to the Crew Who Showed Up
Special thanks to Garrett from Wealth Education Company, Anthony from Striglia.ai, and my parents from Hidden Valley Treasures for joining us at Oreville. Having partners trackside on a tough day makes a difference. They were there for the bad practice, the rough heat race, and the grind of the feature, and they stuck with us all day.
If you follow NASCAR and want a reliable source for racing news, give Taylor Kitchen and Above the Yellow Line Media a follow. They are one of our amazing partners, and Taylor is doing solid work in the NASCAR media space.
Brady’s racing dream runs on the people who show up for him. To everyone in our partner family, thank you. We will be back at it on the 16th.
