Nathan Levenhagen at 2025 Mid-State Kart Club Ignite Challenge – photo by Mark Schwigen
The 2025 racing season is already beginning to wind down, as crazy as that sounds in my head. With only a handful of events left on the calendar, our next stop is Mid-State Kart Club for Rounds 7 and 8 in the 2025 Ignite Challenge presented by Skip Barber Racing School. The current points leader is going in with the championship almost locked up already, and with our slow start to the season, the best we can hope for at this point is top 3 or 5 in points.
I went into this weekend feeling cautiously optimistic. I had struggled at this race a lot in 2024, but I was hoping with the steps forward I’ve made so far this season, I would be able to translate that into a better result this year. Saturday morning practice would be my first time around this track since last year’s race, and my only allotted time to get up to speed before the sessions that mattered.
My day got off to a pretty good start, putting in a top 10 time in the first practice with room for improvement. Unfortunately, a number of factors sent things downhill pretty quickly, and before I knew it, I was struggling to stay in the top half of the field. Having to go out in the slow group for qualifying, and having no one fast enough to work with, I ended up 18th on the starting grid for race 1, my worst qualifying since the Gateway Challenge race when I had 2 cracks in my frame.
Now I find myself starting at the very back of an Ignite Senior field, at a track were passing options are limited, and turn 1 on the start is almost always a trouble spot. My only goal: survive. The green flew for race 1, and what unfolded over the next 30 seconds was probably the best start I have ever had to any race in my life. Starting 18th, my line got a slight jump, and then the red seas just parted in front of me. I drove past a whole line of karts, avoided the inevitable turn 1 chaos, and by the end of lap 1 I was in 7th with a BKRS teammate both in front of and behind me. Now with 19 laps to go, against all odds, I had a shot at the podium from 18th on the grid.
At this point in the race two factors started playing in. One was drafting, being that I was too far back to draft and keep with the front pack. Second, which is part of what led to the drafting problem, was aero-wash. Mid-State has a monza turn similar to Norway, but theirs is tighter and flatter. What that meant was if I followed a kart too close through that monza, the air coming off the front nose would lighten up the kart too much and cause tons of understeer. I tried some techniques to work around the issue, but none were enough to keep me with the front pack. With a couple of position-trading throughout the race I ended up finishing 7th, with a 7th-best laptime setting my grid position for race 2.
Ahead of race 2 I debriefed with Bobby, and we made some changes to try and find some extra time to run comfortably at the front. Even if it didn’t work and I was able to just hold position, that’s two top 10’s at a track that has not treated me well in the past, and on a day that was looking nearly hopeless just a couple hours earlier. A first ever Ignite Challenge podium is what I had my eyes set on, though.
Starting 7th, I once again had a good start, with my lane getting another good jump. I had made it up to 4th place heading into the trouble turn, and as fate would have it, I the moment I saw a podium within grasp, I got spun from behind. And wouldn’t you believe it, I cycled out right where I started back in 18th. It ended up being a racing incident just from people trying to find space on the start, but it still sucks the anvil had to drop on me again. I soldiered on for 20 laps getting a couple of spots in the process, but 15th was all I had in the end.
Pros of the day: I improved a ton on my performance from last year, and ended up being a podium contender facing near impossible odds. Cons of the day: The day got started too slow, and Lady Luck strikes again. Nonetheless, we take what we can get. As always, Bobby Krug Racing Services and CKT Racing did an incredible job this weekend coaching me and giving me the equipment I need to succeed, so massive props to both of them.
With Gateway being next on the menu, that makes only one more event left in the Ignite Challenge series before I close the book on my 4-year Ignite journey. At the beginning of this year I set three goals for myself, and one of those was to finally win at the Gateway Kartplex. Now that my other two goals for the year are off the table, this is the one I have to make happen. One race left, and one win on the line to finish my journey where it all started.