MSOKC Race No. 9 - Sunday, August 17, 2003

Originally sent: Tuesday, August 19, 2003 7:34 PM

First let me say that, if you would like to discontinue receiving these emails, please let me know. If you would like to know how the race went on Sunday, read on...

It was another exciting day of racing for the MSOKC Rookie Box class at Circleville Raceway Park on Sunday. The random draw had Conor starting from the third position (out of six) in the first heat race. The fourth place starter got by Conor in the first turn and the three in front of him appeared to be headed for a three-wide battle through Turn 2. Anticipating trouble, Conor wisely backed off. The three made it through somehow, but backing off cost Conor another two places. He patiently began picking his competitors off at about one per lap (including his main rival who finished fourth), which left him third at the finish. Starting fourth in the second heat race, Conor made it safely through Turns 1 and 2 without dropping a spot, but between Turns 3 and 4, the winner of the first heat race ran up over the back of Conor, shredding part of the bodywork in the process. Little time was lost however, and Conor quickly set off for the three in front of him. He dispensed with the first two without too much trouble, which put him into second place. By that time, the leader (Conor's main rival) had amassed a healthy lead. Conor was able to close the gap (turning another personal best lap in the process - a 0:58.82), but ran out of time and had to settle for second. With a 3rd and a 2nd place finish, Conor found himself tied with three others (a 2nd-3rd, a 1st-4th, and a 4th-1st) for the top starting spot for the feature. In such cases, they let the computer decide, which gave Conor the second starting position. Starting from third, Conor's main rival got the best of him at the start. He lost another position when he put a wheel in the grass on the exit of Turn 5. After working his way back into third, Conor reeled off a series of fast laps that included another personal best of 0:58.43, which caught him up to the first two. While applying pressure to the leader, Conor's main rival dropped a wheel onto the grass on the exit of Turn 6, which allowed Conor to get past between Turns 7 and 8. The job of applying pressure to the leader (and the winner of the first heat race) now fell to Conor. He was able to pull up along side going into Turn 5 on the next lap, but couldn't get by. By this time, Conor's main rival had caught up and was applying pressure to Conor. The next three laps or so were a nose-to-tail affair for the first three. On the white flag lap, Conor got a run on the leader in Turn 9 and made a dive to the inside coming out of Turn 10. This time it was Conor's turn to come up short by less than a kart length. I suppose that three wins in a row out of four starts was asking for a bit too much...

We have some bodywork repair to do, after which Conor's next race will be next Sunday, August 24, 2003 (MSOKC Race No. 10 at CRP).

Bill