Isaak ends his 2011 season at the Little 500

Isaak concluded his 2011 quarter midget season with some exciting racing at the 9th annual New Smyrna Little 500. He had a blast on the track (and off) with some of his favorite competitors and friends, particularly in Light 160, where he spent much of his time on the track battling Stetson Lail for position.

Isaak led their heat race for 22 of 25 laps with Stetson right on his bumper, Danny Sams just behind. One wiggle made the difference. Isaak drifted slightly off his line, and Stetson and Danny took advantage, taking the top two positions to finish the race with Isaak in third. They picked up where they left off in the B Main, racing hard into the A Main, where Stetson would start one spot in front of Isaak on the double-file start.

The field raced hard off the green, with Isaak pushing from the back forward as everyone jockeyed for position. A crash after just one lap scattered what had looked to be a strong start for Isaak and led to a single-file restart, with Isaak right behind Michael Torres. On that start, though, one car swerved causing another chain reaction that didn’t bring out a caution but significantly altered the running order as everyone dodged to avoid a wreck. Isaak landed in sixth, with Stetson in seventh, and they dueled each other for the rest of the race. Isaak was able to hold off Stetson, whose right front tire was slowly coming off its wheel, but needed a caution or a handful of laps more to run down the fifth place car.

That race was particularly exhilarating after a disappointing Junior Honda A Main. Isaak started fourth, battled on the start to third right on the second place car’s bumper. He said his car was loose, preventing him from making the pass into second. The fourth-place car came under and on the pass moved Isaak up enough into the marbles to cause Isaak to spin. His tires were junked up, and he didn’t have the speed anymore to challenge for the front.

Restarting in eighth, Isaak made up one position after a few laps, and held seventh to the white flag. As the checkers came out, cars 6, 7 and 8 crashed into each other on turn 1 before crossing the line for the final time. Isaak wasn’t part of the accident, but between the scorers and the judges no one could say whether Isaak took the checkers (he did) or who was part of the crash. The officials awarded him sixth place, refusing to look at video or photos (below, Isaak is in the black car passing the crash) despite their own lack of any record (such as writing down the car numbers as they crossed the line). Isaak was bummed but got over it as the Light 160 race pumped him up.

Overall, Isaak had an awesome 2011 season. He had two national wins — Junior Animal at Nashville and Junior Honda at Milwaukee, as well as another podium finish in the USAC series (third place Junior Animal at Indianapolis). He set the Junior Animal track record at Nashville while winning that club’s Ice Breaker race, where he also finished third in Junior Honda. He won five Junior Honda races in six outings at the Tampa local club, and three Junior Honda races in 10 events at New Smyrna while also breaking into Light 160.

Special thanks to all our sponsors — DWT Racing, LAT Racing Oils, Ultra-Shield Race Products, AMSOIL and ZeroNine — for their support of a successful year. We look forward to a new season filled with new challenges.

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