Jaiden Baptiste Racing

05/26/2026

To know that we were there to see Kyle Busch’s last Craftsman Truck Race win and see him run his last NASCAR Cup Series race is something that will be with us forever.

“Because you never know when the last one is” - Kyle Busch 💙🙏🏁

#18 #8

05/21/2026

For a good number of years when someone asked us who we wanted to win the race - our response was “Anybody but Kyle Busch.”

Years passed Kyle moved to Chevy and mellowed out a bit -
he slowly grew on us. Our new answer to to that same question
is “Anyone but Denny Hamlin “ which is what it is today.

We were in Homestead Miami when he won the championship. We have seen him every race we have been to.

True story -this past Sunday as
we were both going over the
cross over bridge at Dover Kyle was in front of us and Jaiden said to him “Kyle what advise do you have for a driver new to racing Micro’s”. His answer “don’t be overweight.” I laughed and asked Jaiden if he even looked at him before saying that 😂 I guess it’s
a good thing Jaiden is slim 🤪.
You could see he was heading somewhere and in this case it
was to the fan zone. I didn’t get
a picture because it was clear he was focused. I wish I did even if
it was just Jaiden asking him the question.

My heart breaks for Samantha
& his kids. ❤️🙏 He could be an ass sometimes but I’ll never say he wasn’t a great driver, Dad or Husband. This hit me hard-
we just were two feet from him Sunday.

This just proves - tomorrow
is never promised🙏Our thoughts and prayers are with the Busch Family.

Rest in Peace Kyle 🙏❤️

05/16/2026

Never did I EVER think we would be happy with Kyle Busch winning a race …. Until TODAY😂

He set a new track record for Dover and he drove a darn good race ….

So WOOO ! 🏁

05/15/2026

05/12/2026

May 2nd Jaiden raced Greenwood Valley Action Track (Gvat) . This by far his best race in the 600 to date. No car issues , no wrecks and solid finishes. At this point that’s a win. In the 600 Rookie class he finished the feature in 3rd. The race went green to checker. In the Winged Micro feature he started P15 in a 22 car field. This didn’t go green to checker 😆 after cautions and restarts he worked his way up P9.

We were off this past weekend
but will check out Airport Speedway May 16th and hit the for the and All-Star race Sunday. We will have to miss the race to race Saturday.

Airport Speedway is part of Hyper Speed Week in July so checking it out early can only help him then.

Thankful for the sponsors that are along for the ride on the good days and bad days. Whatever the race outcome memories are being made, we are all learning and doing better each week. 💙🏁

mrballen
Hazelwood Excavating Inc.
Hazelwood Racing
Southington Glass Company
Kamtech Solar
American Overhead Doors- Connecticut.
Bertrand Motorsports
Seals-it
Overhead Door Company of Waterbury
Better Built Basements LLC

05/04/2026

A full recap will come tomorrow but here is the Winged 600 Micro Feature race - GoPro view at Greenwood Valley Action Tracks on 5/2/26

Had my best race to date. Started P15 finished P9 in the 22 car field.
This was a solid race for me. Made it through the entire race, car is unscathed and picked up 6 spots in a caution filled race- it was a good day.

You can see Henion Racing in front of me where here finished P4. 👏

All videos are up on YouTube.

https://youtube.com/?si=FXGIQZ-hLtQL9Nqd

04/29/2026

This past Saturday while the crew chief was in Talladega -I had the chance to make a soccer game finally. Meriden 4- Guildford 1
⚽️ If I’m not racing you will catch me on the ⚽️ field.

I’ll be back racing this Saturday at Greenwood Valley Action Tracks.

Sunday I’ll be at the Daffodil Festival in Meriden CT representing the Wilcox Tech Soccer team selling candy & drinks to help fund our ⚽️ teams and senior night in 2028.

04/23/2026

Guess we need order some rods🤣😂😆

04/20/2026

Saturday 4/18/26 we hit Greenwood Valley Action Track. Jaiden would be running 600 Rookies and 600 Winged Micros.

In the Rookies heat Jaiden started P2 , lead for some laps and then finished P2. This put him P3 in the feature. Not being use to the racing order and schedule Jaiden got caught up watching his friend lead the non wing race, lost track of time and missed the feature. Let’s just say this was on him, he took it hard and it’s pretty fair to say it won’t happen again. Hard lesson learned‼️

In hot laps/time trials Jaiden was 19th and started P7 in heat 3. He finished P6 putting him P18 in the feature. He was out there keeping pace and doing good (for his first big race). While making a pass the other driver threw a block he went up the track, was hit by another driver and landed in the Berm. His day ended there as the car was not drivable after that. After taking it apart today he had a bent rod and a bent front axle. It wasn’t something he did - it’s racing. It happens. We will be off next weekend cheering on our friends at the Nascar Youth Series from our couch. Jaiden will be back racing the first weekend in May.

It was nice seeing three friends back together at the track racing again. Henion Racing Team Herr Racing💙🏁

Car repair and cleaning is on deck - until the next race.

mrballen
Southington Glass Company
Hazelwood Racing
Hazelwood Excavating Inc. Bertrand Motorsports Kamtech Solar Overhead Door Company of Waterbury Seals-it American Overhead Doors- Connecticut. Better Built Basements LLC