Trey Shannon Establishes New Karting World Record
The United States is now home to another world record thanks to the efforts of Virginia’s Trey Shannon. The Racing for Tourettes 24 Hour Challenge Guinness World Record attempt for driving a kart solo for 24 hours on an indoor circuit took place over the weekend at The Pit Indoor Kart Racing in Mooresville, NC. Circulating around a 0.3327-mile course, Shannon completed a total of 939 laps, setting a new record of 312.4 miles. More importantly, Shannon was able to raise money and awareness for Tourette Syndrome Association (TSA).
“With no record in the Guinness World Record book for the indoor 24 hour solo run, we were able to set a completely new benchmark,” Shannon told EKN after completing the task. “Two records in the span of about 15 months feels awesome.”
The odyssey began just before 10:45 am Friday morning as Trey set off aboard The Pit’s Sodi RX7 machine. Shannon started off strong, laying down some fairly aggressive lap times during the first 6 hours. During each stop he’d work with his physiotherapist and close friend Mat Harrell to keep his muscles loose, his body warm, and his hand eye coordination sharp. With the absence of mechanical gremlins to worry about, the team kept focused on logging laps and steadily building up Trey’s mileage count. After a few adjustments to his pace and driving line, Trey settled into a solid pace for the overnight hours.
The major challenge, aside from driving a kart for 24 hours, arrived around the 19th hour. By 6:00am the temperature inside the building had dropped to an unexpected 24 degrees, and was beginning to cause problems. When Trey came in for a scheduled stop just after 7:30, his body temperature had dropped and hypothermia was starting to set in. The team did what they could to get him warmed up, and after an extended break, sent him back out for the closing laps of the 24 hours.
“I expected it to be cold at night, but not 8 degrees below freezing,” continued Shannon. “The weather forecast showed it would be 34 degrees, and we prepared for that. The folks at The Pit had never been in the facility for an entire night before, so there was no way to anticipate such a big difference between the temperature in the building and the outside ambient.”
Followed by a spectacular two row formation of the 16 drivers in attendance for the Pro Challenge All Star Kart Race, Trey crossed the line at 10:43am Saturday to complete his 939th lap, establishing a new Guinness World Record of 312.4 miles.
“I've put so much time not only into training for these attempts, but into planning them as well, so for both of them to turn out as successful as they have is very rewarding. What feels even better is the support I've picked up along the way, and all the great friends I've made in the process. I think now I'll take some time to relax and then figure out what I'm going to do next!”
In addition to Shannon’s Guinness World Record attempt, Racing for Tourettes also hosted the Pro Challenge All Star Kart Race as part of the weekend’s festivities. Racing for Tourettes and Raceland Indy Motorsports Development Group put together a great line up, with drivers like Jonathan Summerton, Mike Skeen, John-Hunter Nemechek, and Cody McMahan being a few that were in attendance. The young guns set the stage for the event, with Gray Gaulding and John-Hunter Nemechek each laying down a blistering lap in Friday night qualifying to put themselves on pole for Saturday’s two heat races.
Australian Brad Cox and UARA-Stars racer Devin Jones were victorious in the heats and would make up the front row for the 15 lap main event. Jones shot out of a cannon at the start and quickly pulled out to a 10 kart length lead early. Cox maintained second off the start and began hunting down his fellow front row starter. Unfortunately for Cox, 15 laps wasn’t enough. He managed to pull to Jones’ rear bumper coming to the finish, but was unable to make a move, with Jones crossing the stripe first for the win. The standout of the show was 15 year old Legends racer Trey Jarrell. Starting deep in the field after a disappointing heat race, Jarrell put on a passing clinic to put himself in the fight for a podium spot late in the race, battling hard with factory BMW driver Jonathan Summerton. Summerton put the youngster’s skills to the test, making his kart very wide down the stretch. Jarrell, however, was not to be denied, orchestrating a brilliant pass on the final lap with only a handful of turns left to put himself on the podium in third place. Summerton would hold on for fourth, while CJ Faison recovered nicely from a late spin to round out the top 5.
It is also not too late to donate to the cause. Racing for Tourettes is leaving their Racers Raffle open until 11:59PM December 19. Tickets are available at treyshannon.com for $25 each, 3 for $50, or 5 for $75. Prizes include a 2-Day driving course at Bondurant, GoPro HERO3 camera, Bell GP2 Helmet, set of MG Yellows courtesy of DRT Racing, a Big Foot kart stand, MyChron4 steering wheel, Raceceiver transponder pack, and Hero Card package from Raceboost.com. Winners will be announced December 20 on treyshannon.com as well. All proceeds from the raffle will go toward Racing for Tourettes’ efforts to raise awareness for Tourette Syndrome, and support the national Tourette Syndrome Association in funding TS research.
