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.

Isaak has spent a considerable amount of time on the track with the 2011 season winding down.

He ended the New Smyrna points series on the weekend of Nov. 12-13 with back-to-back race dates filled with highs and lows. On Saturday, Isaak won the Junior Honda A Main, putting himself in second place overall and one point ahead of third. The next day, a poor start to a caution-free A Main put Isaak back in third to end the year. He finished the season tied for sixth in Light 160.

After taking a week to prepare, Isaak headed to Salisbury, NC, for the 2011 Fall Nationals. It was his first time to race three classes at an event, adding Light 160 to Junior Honda and Junior Animal.

The North Carolina track has vexed Isaak and his crew each time we’ve raced there, and the Thanksgiving week event proved no exception. Even with three days of practice, we could not seem to find the speed in the junior classes that many of the other drivers had. With qualifiers based on speed rather than heat races to set the lower main fields, that meant a lot of racing.

Isaak began the day in the Junior Honda E Main, a place he’s not accustomed to being. He took a strong lead, then got passed but still was in solid second well ahead of the rest of the pack. But Isaak decided he wanted to win, so he challenged Andrew Molleur for first. Andrew’s somewhat erratic line caused Isaak some difficulty, and a light tap sent Andrew spinning, putting Isaak at the back of the pack with a handful of laps to go. Isaak made up three positions, enough to transfer to the D Main only as the alternate X car. He was upset, but coped. “It’s not my fault that guy decided to use my bumper to spin himself out!” he later declared.

Lesson learned for the Junior Animal C Main. He jumped from the outside line to second right away, protected his inside line and didn’t budge, making the B Main later in the day. Unfortunately, the crew changed gears between races and Isaak lost quite a bit of speed, never contending for the lead. During a red flag, he gamely said, “Oh well, I guess I won’t be going to the A Main.” And he finished up glad to have had the chance to race.

The biggest joy for him — and for his crew — was Light 160. We brought the car on a lark, without a setup, having put it together only hours before leaving for NC. We figured if we had time, we’d test it out. Isaak didn’t even want to race it. With the setup help of Michael Atwell, and shock advice from Matt Supan, we got Isaak a car that he loved racing. He started in the D Main and stayed in the lead pack the entire race, finishing fourth and transferring to the C. Friends JJ Sekelsky and Chase Lankford helped make some repairs between races, and he zoomed back out again, racing in the middle of the pack and contending for a transfer position until late in the race, when he bumped the wall with his right side and two cars passed him by.

He finished eighth, one spot better than he started. Later on, Isaak said the best part of racing was Light 160. He also had a great time playing with old and new friends, and was thrilled to see his buddies Ryan Israel and Preston Buckley do well in their races. Now it’s time to clean up the cars and prepare for the next ones.

He kicked off the morning with fast time in Junior Honda qualifying, putting him in the fourth position for the A Main after inverting the field. Minor adjustments to the car had him driving flawlessly, and looking forward to the main race. Unfortunately, we guessed wrong on the gearing as the sun came in and out, threatening to heat the track.

“It was overgeared,” Isaak said, explaining that the car began to lose steam in the longer runs, especially when he thought he was making ground toward the leaders. Otherwise, he said, the car handled great and he was able to collect a third place finish, passing when he needed to and holding his position.

Isaak was super happy that his buddy Ty Nevins took the checkers for his first Junior Honda points race win. “Impressive,” he said.

Isaak also logged in seventh best time in Light 160 qualifiers, one spot better than the previous race, though he still complained that the car was difficult to turn. At least he picked up a spot on the inside line for the A Main. He looked awesome in hot laps, then suddenly he stuck out his red-gloved hand and pulled off the track.

“I didn’t know what it was, but it had something to do with gas,” Isaak explained. “I was like, ‘It’s the gas! Do something’ You said, ‘Go back out.’”

He did. And the carburator bowl fell off. We rolled Isaak back into the pits, and he jumped out, removing off his gloves and helmet, looking sad. Then Steve Lail came running up, parts in hand, and shouted, “Where do you think you’re going?”

Thanks to a group of handlers for helping to repair Isaak’s carb while he quickly put his gear back on. He got onto the track just in time to take the green. He battled cold, dirty tires and a not-so-great line, but held on to complete the 40-lap race in eighth place of nine. He was thrilled to have gotten to race, especially after getting crashed out two of the last three 160 events.

“I was like, ‘Oh my gosh I just got out. This is going to take forever,’” he said of his speedy return to his car and the track. “I was happy. I wanted to finish the race.”

2008 NC Chassis Grizzly 33-inch (small) for sale

Isaak raced this quarter midget to the checkers in the USAC Mopar .25 series Junior Honda A Main in Milwaukee (see video here), as well as to several local wins and many A Main podium finishes. It comes race ready with Tanner G2 shocks, set of springs, Honda 120 motor, set of tires and wheels, seat, quick-release 3/4 steering wheel and adjustable steering rod, all-black body. This car is customized with extra driver-protection bar and reinforced top of cage. Also comes with an aluminum piece and upholstery to convert it back to  Rockin’ Rookie (no-seat) configuration. Can come with rookie switch. $3,200.

Contact Jeff Solochek at 813-300-2363 or email jeff@solochek.net with questions. Available after the Nov. 13 New Smyrna season ending race.

Isaak had one goal in mind as he headed to the New Smyrna quarter midget track for another Friday night race: He wanted a good finish in honor of IndyCar racer Dan Wheldon, who died in a fiery crash a week earlier.

Track conditions and some rough driving nearly kept him from making it happen, but Isaak pulled out a podium position in Junior Honda. He wasn’t so lucky in the Light 160 100-lapper.

Sunny, pleasant daytime practices gave way to cold, damp evening qualifiers and races, and the cars immediately showed it. Isaak thought his slow qualifying time for Junior Honda would not hold, but it turned out to be fast time of the group. That meant he started fourth after the field was inverted, according to QMA Grands rules.

The drivers were mostly equally matched, racing around the track bumper to bumper most of the way. But when Isaak, Ty Nevins and Joshua Kunstbeck went three-wide and got caught up in one another, everything changed. Isaak would have been in second once they were untangled, but his chain had come undone and he had a bent rod. The crew got everything back in order and had him back on the track in time, but he had to go to the back of the five-car field.

He made up two positions to finish third. Isaak then looked to Light 160, where he found great success in the last race.

With 100 laps to race, Isaak decided to drive conservatively, keeping the others in sight but mostly hanging back in seventh or eighth of nine until about halfway through. With the slippery track, he wanted to avoid crashes and keep from tiring, as this car is more strenuous to drive.

Unfortunately, he couldn’t keep crashes from coming to him. Brennan Spencer, sent to the back after causing one crash, surged from behind and turned Isaak while passing, bending the car’s left rear in the process. It was 42 laps in, and that was all she wrote.

Isaak had really wanted to finish the race and do well. But it wasn’t to be. Congratulations to Michael Torres for his commanding victory.

Isaak said later he was fine with the results, in that he had fun and he was able to get a podium finish for Dan Wheldon. He can’t wait for the next set of races as the New Smyrna series comes to a close with three daytime weekend events. Stay tuned.

After Isaak’s Sept. 30 quarter midget races at New Smyrna, he had little to get excited about. As he wrote on Facebook, “Won the Junior Honda heat race and it was downhill from there. Crashed and flipped in the Lt 160 heat, finished 7th of 8. Struggled with the line in Jr Honda A Main, finished 4th of 4 after leading about 1/2 the race. Crashed into an unavoidable wreck in Lt 160 A Main, didn’t finish. Better luck next week?”

The answer was a definite “yes.”

Isaak placed second in the Junior Honda heat race of five, then bettered that with a win in the A Main race later in the evening. In between, he scored a second place finish in the Light 160 heat race against seven older and more experienced drivers. The A Main for 160 got rained out, so the heat results stand for the night.

It looked for a while that we might not race at all. Rain fell shortly after we arrived at the track, and the radar showed bad weather all around. But the storms broke, and thanks to the many families who brought leaf blowers to the track, it got dried before 8 p.m.

Isaak hit the track for his Junior Honda heat race starting third. His car was quick and he was making his way to challenge Jamie Evans in first when he and Ty Nevins tangled coming through turn 2 with a handful of laps remaining. They slowed, giving Jamie a wide cushion on his lead, but they didn’t stall and instead retained their positions in second and third. Joshua Kunstbeck later passed into third and tried to pass Isaak on the last lap, but instead spun out and landed in the back for the A Main, with Isaak continuing to a second place finish.

Next came the Light 160 heat race. Isaak started fourth, and jockeyed for position on the start that proved messy. Two cars spun out before the first completed lap, so they lined up for a single file restart with Isaak still in fourth. He methodically picked off the third place car and then the second place car, with Michael Torres right behind him pushing through the passes, keeping the other drivers from battling back for their spots.

A few laps after Isaak took second, Michael thought he saw Isaak get loose and gunned for a pass. He didn’t have the position, though, and spun himself out, landing in the back of the pack. On the next restart, Isaak worked to keep pace with leader Brennan Spencer, who remained ahead by a few car lengths, while also fending off Stetson Lail from behind. Isaak was able to maintain enough of a lead on Stetson, who was battling Jenna Kleinman for third. He finished a comfortable second and won the respect and praise of many other drivers. His reaction? “Woo-hooo! I finished second in Light 160!”

He said he had expected to finish seventh.

After a short break, the Junior Honda drivers returned to the track. Rain began spitting, causing a brief delay. But then they started racing.

Isaak had the outside pole, which realistically meant he could count on settling into fourth as the inside line held bumper to bumper on the green flag. That didn’t faze Isaak though. He simply remained patient, buzzing up behind the cars in front and finding the right moments to pass until he found himself in first. Isaak held a solid lead with five laps remaining, passing lap traffic without problem. Just after Isaak took the white flag, though, two cars got into each other, bringing out the yellow flag.

On the restart, with two laps remaining, Joshua Kunstbeck tried to challenge Isaak for the lead. but Isaak held his line and cruised to the win.

“I love racing,” Isaak said. “It’s fun.”

The Light 160 A Main was rained out shortly after the drivers took to the track. Special thanks to Tim Gertsch for his help during the races. Unfortunately, we have no photos or video from Friday’s event. Maybe next time. Isaak’s next scheduled race is Oct. 21 at New Smyrna. Hope to see you trackside.

The training has officially begun.

Isaak spent all day Saturday at Andersen Race Park in Palmetto learning how to drive his new Tony Kart. Let’s just say he loved it.

After a delayed start — the team learned quite a bit of the technical side as the kart wouldn’t start — Isaak was off and racing. With each 15-minute session on the 0.55-mile road course, he consistently brought down his lap times as he negotiated the curves and turns, learning where to brake and when to push it.

After three rounds, Lyra told Isaak he’d do one more and we’d call it a day. “I don’t want to do one more round,” Isaak said. He smiled broadly. “I want to do two.”

By the end of the 7-hour day, Isaak was speeding around the track nearly 7 seconds faster than when he started, and 20 seconds faster than when he last drove at the track in a rental kart.

“I had so much fun karting,” he said Sunday morning. “Can we go back next weekend?”

Can Isaak control the brake and throttle? Can he make hairpin turns without losing momentum? Can he turn right?

It’s all a new adventure for him as Isaak embarks on a new phase of his racing life — go karting.

Over the Labor Day weekend, Isaak traveled to Naples to pick up a Tony Kart with a Rotax motor, so he can begin practicing to compete in the Florida MicroMax series. Florida has plenty of kart tracks around, and a competitive statewide series that draws kids from around the state and nation. (Sometimes international drivers show up, too.)

This doesn’t mean Isaak is giving up on quarter midgets. Schedule permitting, he plans to return to the USAC national tour to compete for the 2012 championship, as well. He just can’t get enough of going fast.

Hope to see you at the track!

Thanks to USAC, we now can watch Isaak’s exciting win from the June Mopar .25 Junior Honda quarter midget A Main race in Milwaukee. He was super fast, caught an early break and drove the heck out of the car to hold off a hard charging Zeb Wise. Enjoy.

Isaak returned to the quarter midget track at New Smyrna after more than a month without any races, this time with something new to try out.

Having turned 8 over the break, Isaak finally got to race in the faster class of Light 160. He loved the faster speed of the motor, and enjoyed racing with some of the older and more experienced drivers. “It was awesome,” he said. In the heat race, Isaak finished second of three, and in the feature he finished third of four. That was despite some troubles that came after getting driven into the wall on the start. He was pleased to have kept up and raced hard, not to get lapped and not to come in last. Things can only get better from here.

In Junior Honda, Isaak’s car handled well as he held the lead for the entire heat race. He got a bit loose in the main, and had to restart from the back after getting passed for first by Joshua Kunstbeck and spun from behind by Jamie Evans. Ty Nevins and Isaak quickly pushed from the rear into third and fourth, and took advantage of missteps by Jamie and Joshua to finish one-two, with Ty claiming his first Junior Honda win. Congrats!

The kids hit the track again Friday for the first points race of the second half of the season. We’re hoping Hurricane Irene stays far enough away to let the race take place.