Jack France races in US ahead of 2024 Season
14 Mar 2024
Ahead of the 2024 BriSCA F1 season commencing this coming weekend, we take a look at Jack France’s trip to the US to take part in the Chili Bowl Nationals.
Oklahoma, USA
The Chili Bowl Nationals is a special 6 day tournament of oval racing in Tulsa, Oklahoma. 370 cars compete in the event, which draws entries from across the US and internationally. From the UK, our very own Jack France partnered with GR 22 Motorsports to secure a drive in the 38th annual running of this prestigious event. The cars used are ‘Midget Sprint’ cars which are specially built dirt racing machines weighing 600lb/500kg and boasting 400-450bhp.
Touching down on the Friday before the event started, it was straight into seat fitting on the Saturday followed by two 4 lap sessions known as ‘Hot Laps’. All drivers were then entered into a draw to race on one of the days between Monday and Friday. Another draw determined the grid starting positions. Jack was selected to race on Tuesday but unfortunately drew number 96 out of 100 for grid position. The scoring system awards more points for overtakes, called ‘passing points’ so starting from the back and working your way through the field would bag a large score. Despite having only x8 laps experience, France was soon cutting through the pack and up to 5th before a tragic fuel pump failure just before the end of the race.
A series of ‘Finals’ then take place per day. Jack set about making progress in the ‘C’ final. Having started 14th, he raced well and had got up to 6th before competitors battled back and he finished a very commendable 8th place. This scored points for the ‘Mains’ races taking place on the Saturday – the sharp end of the tournament.
NAPA UK’s France raced in ‘Main N’ and put in a stella drive to finish 6th and to progress into the ‘Main L’ race. Another valiant effort was put in but the Yorkshireman missed out on progressing further in the competition.
“The retirement on Tuesday really set up back as those points would have really helped us qualify higher. But what an incredible event to have taken part in. I’ve watched this form of racing from the UK for years so to be here and taking part has been an amazing experience” concluded France. “I would like to thank everyone who made this possible, from my family and race crew plus my new racing family in the US at GR 22”.
With unfinished business, the UK squad had not ruled out a potential return (or two) in 2024!
Home Soil
Back in the UK, France is looking forward to the 2024 BriSCA F1 campaign. Jack will campaign both a shale and tarmac car on the short oval circuits as he did last season. Both cars carry the new eye catching 2024 NAPA livery first unveiled earlier this week.
We are excited to closely monitor and report on Jack’s progress as the competition develops. With Jack’s first race taking place at Kings Lynn Stadium on Saturday 16th March, we wish him and his team the very best going forward. To stay informed on Jack and his stock car racing results, make sure to follow us on social media.
Keep up to date on all our drivers this year @naparacinguk or click HERE to buy NAPA Racing merchandise.
