Bellefontaine native Jerome Wickham made waves at the Motorsports Country Club of Cincinnati last weekend, locking in two solid second-place finishes at the Pro Am series—despite missing the first race and seeing the track for the very first time.
Wickham showed up at the 16-turn, 0.95-mile circuit with no prior laps and just a five-minute warm-up before qualifying.
That didn’t stop him from throwing down a hot lap and landing on the front row for the eight-lap pre-final.
He led most of the race and looked poised for the win, but a few late-lap slip-ups on the unfamiliar layout cost him the lead before the finish.
Still, he crossed the line in second and set himself up nicely for the Final.
Heading into the Final with just 12 laps of track time, Wickham stayed glued to the leader’s bumper for the first eight laps, studying every move and setting up a potential last-minute pass.
But a minor setup issue—starting tire pressures just 1 psi too high—meant less grip when it mattered most, and the pass never came.
Still, Wickham walked away with another second-place finish and a ton of valuable data.
Next up: Wickham returns to MCC on the July 4th weekend for his first national-level race of the season.
But first, he heads to Newcastle, Indiana, on May 3 for Round 2 of the Kart Racers of America Championship.
