MSOKC Race No. 9 - August 7, 2005 - A Lucky Win

Originally sent: Wednesday, August 10, 2005 5:02 PM

NEWS - All three Bruce Brothers were back in action this weekend for MSOKC Race No. 9 at Circleville Raceway Park. The track proprietor, Steve Tatman, was also back in action after suffering a mild stroke, and was looking well. We did finally get Conor's engine back from UPS on Friday, but without having had the work done that it needs. As a precaution, we borrowed an engine from our good friend Mike Fagan at Full Automotive, which we anticipated might be stronger that Conor's un-rebuilt engine. We made a few setup changed to Henry's and Conor's karts, and Peter was raring to go after a one race break to allow the surgical staples in the back of his head time to heal. We also had a few visitors at the track on Sunday, including family, neighbors, and their visitors from University of Rome in Italy.

PRACTICE - We arrived at the track early on Sunday in order to get Conor's borrowed engine properly set up, which took us a few sessions. Once the regular class practices started, it became apparent that the borrowed engine was not as strong as we had hoped. While trying to help Henry sort out his handling issues, we began switching Conor back to his un-rebuilt engine. Fortunately, Peter's practices were uneventful. The setup that we ended up with on Henry's kart left a bit to be desired, but I was able to finish the work on Conor's kart while the boys were at the drivers meeting.

JUNIOR UNRESTRICTED - Henry started his first heat from the fifth position (of six). He moved up one position at the start and pressured the third place kart throughout the heat, but his handling issues prevented him from finding a way to get by. Starting on the outside of the front row in his second heat, he made a great start which enabled him to take the lead by Turn 3. This was short lived, however, as he lost two places on the next lap and another on the following lap. He regained one of these places when the kart in front of him lost its chain. Henry started the feature in the third position and ran there to the finish, with his handling problems preventing him from running with the leaders. His problem is too much grip, which not only scrubs off speed in the corners, but occasionally causes him to get up on two wheels. We have since borrowed some wider rims for Henry to try, which pull the side walls of the tires out and reduces the contact patch. Hopefully, this will have the desired effect. If he's up on two wheels again, Henry may be sitting out a race or two until we can get this resolved.

JUNIOR SPORTSMAN II - Conor also started from the back in his first heat - sixth (of seven). Even with an engine in serous need of a rebuild, he was able to make his way through the field. By the time he worked his way into second, the leader had gotten away and was still extending her lead. You would think that after starting from the rear and finishing second, he might have had an easier time starting from the second position in his second heat race. Wrong. He was unable to get around the pole sitter at the start, and in fact lost a position between Turns 1 and 2. He spent the next lap or so trying to find a way to get by the third place kart who was being held up by the two karts in front of him. In doing so, he lost a position to the eventual winner (his current main rival) when he left the door open on the approach to Turn 10 on Lap 2. He made up two positions between Turns 3 and 4 on Lap 4, but lost one on the approach to Turn 7 on Lap 5. He eventually finished fourth. Second and fourth was good enough for the second starting position for the feature. He made a great start and held his line through Turn 1. The kart that started on the pole did not concede the corner to Conor and hit him in the right rear. There was a scary moment when her kart climbed up onto the rear of Conor's. She went into the grass, but Conor was able to continue in the lead. By about Lap 2, it became apparent that Conor was having trouble turning into the corners, which allowed the second place kart to close in. These two ran nose to tail for the next four laps or so with Conor being able to pull away a bit between Turns 1 and 5 and his former Rookie Box main rival being able to reel him back in between Turns 5 and 10. As they were coming around to get the white flag, Conor understeered in Turn 10 which allowed the second place kart to pull even on the inside. Conor appeared to be ready to concede the position, but as they crossed the Start/Finish line, there was a distinct, momentary change in tone from one of the engines. When I looked up, I saw that Conor was in the lead again and his former main rival was in pursuit at what appeared to be full pace. They completed the final lap in that order (with Conor's current main rival closing in after having worked her way through the field), giving Conor his sixth feature race win in seven starts. After the race, we asked Conor's former main rival about the last lap change of engine tone. He indicated that he had simply miscounted the laps and let off of the throttle thinking that the race was over! I felt terribly bad for him, as he has steadily improved his performance this year and really deserved the win. But, it ain't over 'til it's over...

ROOKIE BOX - Peter started his first heat from outside the front row. He nailed the start and was in the lead by Turn 2. He held the lead for most of the first lap before being passed. He was passed by several other karts over the next few laps, after which his lap times improved significantly. He seems to be more comfortable following than leading. His fifth lap (of six) was just 0.02 seconds slower than his personal best. I'm sure that his last lap would have been better, but he was slowed while lapping a new-comer in his class. In the second heat, Peter started from the fourth position (of six). He dropped a position at the start when his engine bogged. Peter had asked me to make a carburetor adjustment between heats, and when I saw his lap times in the second heat, I realized I had made the adjustment in the wrong direction. He soldered around to a distant fifth place finish. I made another attempt at his carburetor adjustment for the feature, and while it helped, I probably should have changed his spark plug, too. He started in fifth and ran with the pack, but could not advance his position.

NEXT RACE - It was difficult preparing for this race knowing that we were going to be at a deficit with Conor's engine and Henry's handling problems. We were fortunate that our visitors got to see Conor get a win, albeit a lucky one. For the next race, which is Saturday, August 20 (in the evening) we have much higher hopes. Conor's engine will be fresh (as long as UPS doesn't loose it again!), and we have been assured that the wider rims for Henry will have the desired effect. I will also make sure that Peter's carburetor is in tune and that he has a new spark plug.

Bill