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Please Support our Sponsors:
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Balliet AG
Begrelt Opticians
‘Uncle’ Don Wagner of Labrador Motorsports
Dan Rouch of
R-Motorworks
Mike and Cindy Bergelt of Bergelt Opticians
Krevenko Excavating
PWP Racing Supply
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 JT
Balliet WINS in the Season Opener at the Keystone State Quarter
Midget Race Club
in
Schnecksville, PA
(May 8, 2012)- Eight year old Jacob Balliet put all
three cars into the A-mains on opening day at Keystone QMA. Both the
Junior Animal and Jr Honda cars transferred directly from the heat
races due to a win from the Pole in the Animal and a 2nd
place finish coming from the 6th starting spot in the 10
lap Jr. Honda Heat Race. The newest car, the Lt 160 was raced in
through the B-main after a heat race crash ended where Jacob had led
over half of the laps.
A Jr. Animal Feature win was his 3rd of
the fledgling season and was followed up two races later with a top
5 finish in the Jr. Honda.
JT was the youngest competitor in the Lt 160 event by
nearly 3 year and finished in the 9th position.
JT Balliet Starts of 2012 with strong runs in
Terre Haute, Indiana and Hagerstown, Maryland
After some struggling runs on the indoor concrete in Harrisburg, PA
over the winter, and on the high speed Music City asphalt oval in
Nashville, Tennessee, 8 year old Jacob Balliet has been on a dirt
track tear the past few weeks at the USAC Tracks in Terre Haute, IN
and Hagerstown, MD.
A 14 hour tow to the Quarter Midget track in Terre Haute was well
worth the time, when Jacob rolled his green and yellow machines out
for the first round of practices on Friday evening. Struggling on
the dry dusty track with both Junior cars, a brief rain shower
completely changed the track conditions when it was time to practice
in his newest ride, a 2008 NC Grizzly powered by a new R-Motorworks
160 Honda. The lessons learned from the 160 lent themselves well,
and the Junior cars were very stout in the second round of practice.
Saturdays morning, the 8 year old was very psyched to get racing,
but it was not meant to be as the entire day rained out due to heavy
rain showers that left the track virtually flooded. Sunday morning,
came, and no time was allotted for additional practice as the USAC
Officials set forth to run a 170 car show in just one day – with a
goal of having us out of there by early evening.
A gamble was taken that the track conditions would remain similar to
the second round of practice due to the amount of moisture in the
clay surface. Excellent numbers being draw by Jacob put him on the
front row of the Heat Races with both Junior cars and outside the
second row in the 160. First on the track was the Jr. Honda and
Jacob held a commanding lead over the field in the caution free
event and went on to win that Heat Race by a healthy margin. Next up
was the Jr. Animal Heat Race where Jacob again started on the pole.
He held the lead through a number of restarts and won by a few car
lengths over the second place car. Up next was his very first Dirt
Race in the Lt 160 class which consists of 8-16 year old. Starting
in the 4th starting position, Jacob moved immediately to
3rd on the initial start and restarts and eventually
worked his way to second position in the last few laps, where he
eventually finished. This impressive run was highlighted by the fact
that most of the competition in this class is a number of years
older, with a considerable amount more experience than Jacob. It is
also the largest class in car numbers at nearly every event we
compete at. These Heat Race finishes placed all three of Jacob’s
cars directly in the A-Main Features – a first for Jacob at a
National Event. Read More
It
Sure Looks Like JTB Motorsports is all Ready for the 2012 Season!
 JT
Balliet Makes His Final Lap of 2011-
With Checkered
Flag in Hand inside the Harrisburg Farm Show Complex
December 8, 2011- 7 year old Jacob Balliet wound down an incredible
sophomore season of ¼ Midget Racing with his 11th Feature
Win of the Season inside the Harrisburg Farm Show Complex this past
weekend. After getting off to a rough start in both his Jr. Animal
and Jr. Honda Heat Races at the only Indoor Dirt Race he attended
this year, Jacob was able to find his way to a 4th place
finish in the Jr. Honda and his 6th Jr. Animal win of the
year, bringing his 2011 tally to 11, and his career to 26 Feature
Wins racing older NC Chassis 1900 series cars that are older than he
is.
His first full year in the Junior Classes was without high
expectation for this 50 pound 2nd grader who was in the
younger half of his age brackets. It was obvious the enjoyment was
immediate, and the success followed quickly. Jacob started the year
off in North Carolina where he struggled in his first outing in his
new Jr. Animal car, but quickly became attuned to the additional
horsepower in his R-Motorworks prepared Briggs and Stratton Animal
powerplant. His first win in that car came in just his 2nd
start at his home QMA track at Keystone and was backed up with
another the following week. A few short weeks later Victory Lane was
visited for the first time with a QMA Jr, Honda also at Keystone.
Read More
Jacob
to attend USAC 4-Crown National Weekend
We are currently looking for Sponsors and Supporters to send Jacob
back to Eldora for the 4-Crown Nationals next month. Last season, a
number of Businesses and Friends came forward and sent this young
racer on a journey that led up to his WINNING of the Inaugural USAC
Dirt Nationals at Eldora Speedway in Ohio in the Red Rookie class.
Jacob currently sits 2nd in USAC Dirt Triple Crown Series Points
with the Jr. Animal and 6th in points with the Jr. Honda. He is
ranked 12th of 37 Jr. Animals and 37th of 92 Jr. Hondas in the USAC
MOPAR Generation Next Tour National Points.
By simply showing up at Eldora, Jacob guarantees himself a spot at
the USAC National Awards Banquet in Indianapolis later this fall for
his positon in the Dirt Triple Crown with the Animal. Trailing by
just 12 points heading into Eldora, finishing 4 positions ahead of
the point leader could land him his first National level
Championship.
Anyone who is interested in supporting or sponsoring this final long
distance trip of the 2011 race season can inbox me here, call, or
email me. Your help can be publicized with our sponsors, or kept
confidential if you wish.
Thank you,
JTB Motorsports
 JT
Balliet Continues 2011 Mid-Summer Tear
(July 25, 2011)-
Seven year old Jacob Balliet has been rolling through the
regions quarter
midget tracks on a mid-summer tear that has his family and sponsors
smiling from ear to ear with pride, many nights pulling double duty
running both his Jr. Honda and Jr. Animal cars nearly back to back.
The five week roll includes an 8 day break to the beaches of
Virginia with his Cousins, and 17 races in the summer heat.
Coming off a disappointing weekend in Hagerstown, Maryland, Jacob
redeemed himself exactly one year after his very first career
victory by winning his first Honda Blue Plate race on June 10th
at Blue Mountain Speedway. Another first came one month later on
July 12th with his first Jr. Honda (Blue Plate) race at
Keystone. During that time period, as he struggled with the Jr.
Honda car and the older more experienced competition in this
relatively new class for him, Jacob kept his confidence high as he
raced to 3 wins in his last 6 starts in his Jr. Animal car, which is
surprisingly the newer, and more powerful of the two. In those 17
hot summer starts, Jacob has piloted his Balliet AG, Defebo
Graphics, Bergelt Opticians, Krevenko Excavating, R Motorworks,
Labrador Motorsports, Providence Place, PWP Racing Supply, NC
Chassised Jr. Honda and Jr. Animal rides to 16 top 5’s, 11 top 3’s,
8 top 2’s, and 5 of his 7 wins this season across the tracks at Blue
Mountain, Keystone State Quarter Midget Club in Schnecksville, and
Tony Stewart’s famed Eldora Speedway in Southwest Ohio.
Read More
 JT
Balliet Wins Jr. Animal A-Main at Keystone State
(May 8, 2011)- On his second trip of the 2011 Season to the Keystone
State Quarter Midget Track in Schnecksville, PA, 7 year old Jacob
Balliet pulled double duty running his Jr. Honda and Jr. Animal cars
the same day. Jacob drew the 2nd starting position out
of 8 cars for the first Jr. Honda Heat race and the 3rd
starting position out of 5 cars in the only Jr. Animal Heat Race.
First on Track was the Jr. Honda. Jacob got an excellent start and
outgunned the pole sitter but didn’t quite leave enough room heading
into the first turn. Contact sent both cars spinning, and to the
rear of the 8 car field for the restart. Working quickly through the
back half of the field, Jacob worked his way to the 4th
position by the time the checked flag flew. Unfortunately, only 3
cars transferred directly to the A-Main. Later in the day, Jacob
started on the Pole in the B-Main and led all the laps leading to
the Checkered Flag to win the B-Main in the Jr. Honda car. This win
earned him the 7th Starting spot in the A-Main where he
raced to his first top 5 finish of the year at Keystone in the Jr.
Honda Car.
Read More
JT
Balliet makes maiden voyage to NCQMA for USAC’s Eastern Qualifier
(April 10, 2011)- Just a few short weeks after turning 7 years
old, Jacob Balliet entered his 2nd career USAC
‘Generation Next’ .25 Midget Race at the North Carolina Quarter
Midget Association’s beautiful facility in Salisbury, North
Carolina, just North of the Nation’s heart of stock car racing –
Charlotte, NC. The race was USAC’s Eastern Qualifier and Jacob is
now eligible to run the ‘Battle at the Brickyard’ at the famed
Indianapolis Motor Speedway later this year.
With a previous win in his 1st USAC start at Tony
Stewart’s famed Eldora Speedway in Rossburg, Ohio in the Red Rookie
division, Jacob entered that same car as a Jr. Honda in a division
with which he previously made just 5 Jr. Honda QMA starts with.
Jacob found himself up against almost 30 of the best Jr. Honda Teams
in the country, and was extremely fast in practice. Lining up on
the outside pole of the 2nd Jr. Honda Heat Race, Jacob
ran in the 3rd position until the last few laps when
fatigue started to get the best of this little 46 pounder on the
incredibly fast concrete oval. A late race pass put him 4th
at the line, and relegated him to starting on the outside pole of
the C-Main. With 4 cars to transfer to the B-Main, Jacob ran a
strong 3rd place until being spun out by the 4th
place running car, and hit full speed in the side bars by the 5th
place runner. With a few bumps and bruises, and a busted up race
car, Jacob was able to continue, but was only able to work back to 5th
position, and did not make the transfer to the B-Main.
Unfortunately, although he had a very good car, and took quickly to
the extremely fast concrete oval, Jacob’s USAC Jr. Honda debut was
over.
Read More
At
just six years old, winning has become the trait for Jacob Balliet
By Dino Oberto… “Keeping Track”
Six-year olds are just way too young to be considering
a career path t o
head down. Heck, just making it through your first year of school is
a major achievement at that age. Getting involved in sports is much the same. That’s the
period in which fundamentals are attempted to be taught and with the
proper coaching perhaps that kid can nurture into something special.
Jacob Balliet is one such six-year old. A first grader
at Drums Elementary School, he is your normal everyday
run-of-the-mill kid who is into everything you would expect from
someone his age. There is one thing, however, that sets him slightly
apart from his playmates.
Jacob is a race car driver and a very successful one at
that. For the past two seasons he has been blazing a trail across
several states competing with the Quarter Midgets of America (QMA),
a non-profit organization with over 2,500 family memberships and
approximately 4,000 drivers.
T-ball and pee wee
football is where it all starts for those respective sports and in
auto racing the way to go is with quarter midgets. QMA is a family
oriented sport that involves racing in special prepared cars. The
cars, rules and safety procedures are designed specifically for
kids. They race on oval tracks, dirt and asphalt, approximately 1/20
of a mile. A child who is 5 to 16 years of age can race.
“The first time he was in a car it was a kid kart and
he absolutely hated it. He didn’t like the two-cycle noise, the
roughness and feeling uncomfortable and we almost didn’t get him
back in a car,” said Matt Balliet, Jacob’s dad and a noted chief
mechanic for asphalt modified champion Don Wagner.
“We had an offer to put him in a quarter midget at the
Lehigh Valley Quarter Midget Club track at Pocono Raceway and he
loved it. He loved being belted in, he liked the cage, he liked the
smooth ride from the suspension and he liked the resemblance between
Donny’s (Wagner) modified and the quarter midget".
In his first season, 2009, Jacob raced locally. As
expected it was a learning experience for both him and his dad with
not much to write home about.
The 2010 campaign is when Jacob started to get a real
feel for the wheel and by June he notched his first win which came
at Blue Mountain Speedway in Berlinsville and from there the
checkered flags kept coming. He raced at eight tracks in four states and won at
each. In 46 starts he scored an impressive 15 firsts including a
huge victory at the Inaugural Dirt Nationals at Eldora Speedway in
Ohio which is owned by NASCAR’s Tony Stewart. The event was
sanctioned by USAC.
Jacob also won at Hagerstown Speedway in Maryland as
well as every Pennsylvania track he competed at, both dirt and
asphalt surfaces, including indoors at Harrisburg.
“As soon as he is out of the car he wants to go play
with his buddies, after all he’s just six,” said Matt.
“The first half of the year I would ask him what he felt and what I
was seeing and it turned out to be the complete opposite of what he
was telling me and I caught myself making adjustments to the car
based on what he was telling me and we were just horrible.
“By the end of the season he was telling me what I was
seeing and it was 80-90% accurate and it made it so much easier to
work on the car.”
For 2011 the Balliet’s are looking to run more with USAC with
their main focus on the Generation Next Tour. The USAC “Generation
Next” schedule will determine the Mopar Quarter Midget National
Champion. It reflects a national scope, racing at high-profile
venues which will generate unprecedented exposure for USAC’s
fledgling racers.
The tour will be run in nine states starting in April
at Phoenix, Arizona. One of the stops will be at the famed
Indianapolis Motor Speedway in July. A driver’s best five (5)
finishes will determine the 2011 “Generation Next” champions.
“It’s giving these kids expose and the opportunity to
travel to other states in the country that they may otherwise never
get to see. If we can get the money together we plan to run the full
Generation Next Tour. Some of the best in the business will be
running that tour. Jeff Burton’s kid and Ernie Irvan’s kid is
running it. Some of the best of the best from around the country
will be running that tour,” offered Matt.
“Personally I like the way USAC officiates over QMA
because I think it is more consistent to what these kids will see
when they get into bigger cars. I was very impressed with the way
USAC ran the show at Eldora.”
Many of today’s top stars all got their start in
quarter midgets such as NASCAR champions Jeff Gordon and Tony
Stewart. For kids like Jacob this is the best form of motorsport for
a youngster who wishes to embark on a possible career.
“We’re in this right now to have fun. It’s given him an
opportunity that I never had,” said Matt.
“Right now he is having fun to the point that when he gets off the
school bus on a Monday afternoon he asks how many more days until we
go racing. He’s that into it. He wants to work on the car and he
wants to be around the car.
“If my son wants to make a career out of this then we
need to put the tools in front of him now to do it. You can’t wait
until you’re 16 and decide you want to make a career out of this
because the industry has changed so much,” he continued.
“I, along with his mother, have made the decision that
we are going to put the tools in front of him now. If he decides
later that’s not what he wants to do for a career than that is his
choice. But if we don’t put the tools in front of him now then he’s
never going to have that option. This is a family deal and together
we all enjoy it.”
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