Ricky Stenhouse Jr. lapped Tennessean sports writer in go-kart race
NASCAR Cup driver Ricky Stenhouse Jr. lapped Tennessean sports writer Mike Organ twice in a 12-lap race at K1 Speed in Nashville.
- The author finished ninth out of ten drivers, getting lapped by Stenhouse Jr. twice.
- Greci won the race, followed by Stenhouse Jr., with the author finishing significantly slower.
At least I can say that I finished in the top 10 of a go-kart race in a field that included 2023 Daytona 500 champion Ricky Stenhouse Jr. and Nashville Superspeedway general manager Matt Greci.
I wish I didn’t have to say that I finished ninth in a field of 10 drivers at K1 Speed, where the go-karts reach a blistering 45 miles per hour.
I also wish I did not have to embarrass myself by writing this first-person account in advance of the NASCAR Cup Series Cracker Barrel 400 at Nashville Superspeedway on June 1, which Stenhouse will try to win and where Greci will run the show.
Why did I agree to this assignment?
Because I was foolishly self-assured I could hang with anyone in the field, including Stenhouse, who also won at Talladega in 2024, and Greci, who showed up with his own NASCAR-sanctioned helmet.
I’d proven I could drive fast. I got my Camaro up to 117 mph running hot laps at Nashville Superspeedway a couple of years ago and went even faster on Interstate 840 on the way home from the IndyCar Music City Grand Prix hopped up on media room Mountain Dew after watching those land rockets go 200 mph.
I was so cocksure that when someone whispered into my ear asking if I planned to wreck Stenhouse, I replied, “Oh, yeah, it’ll make for a much better story.” Imagine the headline, “How I ran a Daytona 500 champion into the wall in a go-kart race.”
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You will never see that headline in print, at least not from me. And maybe it’s for the best. I remember that right hook Stenhouse hit Kyle Busch with after the All-Star Race at North Wilkesboro last year.
I never came anywhere close to running Stenhouse into a wall, even after starting just two places behind him and finding myself on his bumper on the second of 12 turns.
My strategy at that point was to stay behind the four-time superspeedway winner for a half of a lap or so and pick up some tips. After that I’d pull next to him and either spin him out or crash him into a wall.
It may have been the dumbest idea I’ve ever had.
After I got close, Stenhouse took off like a bolt of lightning, pushing the 20-horsepower electric engine to its maximum speed and leaving me in his dust.
I did not think I would see him again. And I didn’t. Until he lapped me. The first time.
Yep, that’s right. There was a second time when Stenhouse blew past me in this 12-lap race.
Stenhouse didn’t have to worry about running me into the wall. I hit it and hit it hard without any help on my second lap and watched as several cars passed while I tried to get headed again in the right direction.
I had no idea so much skill was involved in go-kart racing. Stenhouse and Greci slithered through the course without backing off the throttle and never coming close to a wall.
“Especially at a go-kart place like this, the brake is your worst enemy,” Stenhouse told me after the race. “Lifting early and not using the brake is important because with the electric go-kart the brakes will kind of shut the engine off. You’ve got to be super smooth on the gas and try not to touch the brake.”
I touched the brake and the wall a lot.
My trouble started early. I was the first driver to receive a blue flag signaling a faster driver was approaching. It came halfway through the first lap. The driver receiving the blue flag, me in this case, should hold his line and yield to the faster cart.
Turns out it was Greci who was not only passing me, but waving as he zoomed by in his flashy helmet and with Stenhouse in his sights.
The fact that Stenhouse enjoyed the beatdown he gave me on the track made matters worse.
“I came out here to bump some people out of the way, especially some media people,” he said with a big grin. “I’m laughing the whole time and smiling and having fun. Sometimes when you’re in your Cup car, you’re not smiling. It’s not going the way you want it to. On the go-kart track, it’s always fun.”
Greci eventually passed Stenhouse and won the race. To put into perspective how slow I was, Greci averaged 31.862 seconds per lap, Stenhouse averaged 33.110, and I averaged 39.731 while completing two fewer laps.
That does sound like fun. For them.
Reach Mike Organ at 615-259-8021 or on X @MikeOrganWriter.
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