MSOKC Race No. 9 - August 19, 2006

Originally sent: Monday, August 28, 2006 11:39 PM

NEWS – A week ago Saturday was our first Mid State of Ohio Kart Club race at Circleville Raceway Park in nearly a month and it was another one with a bit of a twist. There is a cut-off between Turns 3 and 7 that is normally used only for cool-down laps. It by-passes several turns and the long back straight. For Race No. 9 a week ago Saturday, which was also a night race, the 'short course' was used for the entire evening of racing. The short course is a lot like an extended oval, with five left handers and one right. All three boys acclimated easily to the change and Peter actually liked it.

PRACTICE – None of the boys had experienced the quick left hander that is composed of the combination of the usual Turns 3 and 7, so Conor and Peter both went out for some practice laps during the open session. Both need a gear change to accommodate for the extended full-throttle run that is usually interrupted by Turn 3. Henry stayed in the pits to work on finishing up his summer reading assignments prior to the first day of school, which was last week. We also made a chassis adjustment to Peter's kart, which resulted in a measurable improvement. Peter had not been in his kart in nearly a month and complained that his seat was too tight – time for bigger one…

ROOKIE BOX – Peter started from the pole position for his first heat race, which because of the shorter course was extended from the usual six laps to 10. His class consisted of five karts on Saturday. The kart that started on the outside of the front row tends to be aggressive at the start and indeed got the better of Peter at the start. Peter was glued to his bumper for the entire 10 laps. Some may have thought the short course was fun, but there are very few opportunities to pass. Peter was able to pull along side between Turns 8 and 9 several times, but could not make it stick and finished second. He started last in the second heat. I have never seen a kart in Peter's class stall at the drop of the green flag, but this time, two did. Peter went from last to first while the two got restarted, each loosing about a half a lap in the process. Peter cruised in the lead, turning laps in the mid-32 second range, until Lap 8 when he came up to lap a slower kart who obviously had no clue what those waiving blue flags meant. Even though Peter was over a second faster per lap, he could not get by. He was patient, however, and did not take any chances. He was far enough ahead of the next kart that he could trudge around for the last two laps for another heat race win. The feature, which was 15 laps instead of the usual eight, started much like the first heat for Peter. He started from the pole and ran side-by-side through Turns 1 and 2 before getting squeezed and loosing the position in Turn 3/7. After this, he was glued to the back bumper of the other kart again until Lap 13 when the pair came upon a slower kart approaching Turn 8. The kart in front of Peter braked suddenly causing Peter to brake even harder to avoid contact. Peter did a lazy half spin and high-sided his kart on the edge of the track. He needed to get out and push to get going again. He lost a lap in the process and finished fifth. Peter was very upset with the events that had transpired, but Laura was able to calm him down. In spite of having no open track in which to work, Peter set the fastest lap time in the feature (32.01).

JR. UNRESTRICTED – Conor's lap times from practice were reasonable, but the restricted Briggs Animal engine that we have been using lacks the top-end speed of the unrestricted Briggs Raptor engine that the other karts in his class use. This was particularly evident in the long full-throttle run leading up to Turn 8. Conor was fast from Turn 8 through Turn 1, but would loose four or five kart-lengths on the run back to Turn 8. We have been given permission by the club to find a restrictor plate diameter that makes these two engines perform equally. We started too small in Race No. 7 before finding one that worked reasonably well in Race No. 8. After practice on Saturday, because of the top end discrepancy, we decided to try a bigger one for Race No. 9. Conor started last of four in his first heat. He was patient at the start and fell into line. He made two passes in Lap 2 and set out after the leader, who has not had much competition this season. Conor was able to pull away from the other two, but could not quite cut into the lead, dropping about 1 to 2 tenths per lap. He finished a comfortable second. When we put his kart down on the grid in the pole position spot for the second heat, one of the other parents asked me how much air pressure we were running in Conor's rear tires. It did not take me long to figure out why she asked – Conor's right rear tire was nearly flat with a piece of metal that he had picked up in the first heat sticking through the carcass. I quickly ran back to the trailer and grabbed another set of older rears that I just happen to have mounted on some spare rims, which are quire a bit narrower that the ones we usually run. I guessed at how much air pressure he might need for these and ran back to the grid with my trusty battery-powered impact wrench in hand. The other parents already had the rear of Conor's kart in the air, and I was able to get the rears changed just as the gate opened for the formation lap. I had no idea what to expect when the green flag flew. Conor lost a position at the start and was a bit tail happy through the first few corners, but after that he began to settle in. He again pulled away from the other two, but could not do much about the leader. His best lap was his last, which was actually better than his best lap from the first heat. Starting second in the feature, he again ran in second to the finish. We had decided to leave well enough alone with his rear tires. He again improved on his fastest lap of the day, which was a 26.36. This time, he was actually able to cut into the lead on several laps, which seemed to catch the leader by surprise. He was able to respond however, but the margin of victory was only a second or two as opposed to a quarter of a lap or so as it has been regularly this season.

80cc SHIFTER – Henry had a bit more work to do acclimating to the short track since he also needed to figure out a new set of shift points. He started his first heat from the sixth position (of 10). He got away from the standing start well, but so did the majority of the field. One of the faster karts muscled past on Lap 1. Henry was bottled up behind a group of karts that was being held up by a slower kart. With no clear track in front of him, Henry could not seem to get a rhythm going and dropped several more positions over the next few laps. He eventually finished eighth. The slower kart that caused the bottle up in the first heat started behind Henry in the second heat. He got caught on the inside with nowhere to go in Turn 3/7 on Lap 1 and lost several positions, but not to the kart that caused his problem in the first heat. With the karts in front of him spaced out a bit, he was able to begin picking them off one by one. He was up to seventh by Lap 3, sixth by Lap 4, fifth by lap 5, and fourth by Lap 8, which is where he finished. The feature was much like the second heat for Henry. Starting sixth, he dropped one position at the start and then began working his way through the field – sixth by Lap 3 and fifth by Lap 7 (of 15). Meanwhile, there was quite a bit of action going on at the front. The pole sitter, who had won the first heat by managing to keep everyone behind him, was trying to do the same in the feature. Several of the faster karts were not happy with this and were letting him know with 'gentle taps' on the rear bumper. One of these taps (on Lap 10) by the kart that ended up crossing the finish line first was a bit more than gentle, which sent the lead kart into the grass. This promoted Henry to fourth, which is where he finished. He was later promoted to third when the winner was disqualified for one too many taps. Third is another personal best for Henry in MSOKC 80cc shifter class competition. Henry's fastest lap in the feature (24.24) was actually faster than the best lap for the eventual winner.

NEXT RACE – I had been out of town the entire week before this race and arrived home late Friday evening. Friday night was spent at our church's annual Festival, where Laura and the boys were volunteering (okay, Laura was volunteering and the boys were messing around). Saturday morning was spent frantically making sandwiches, Gatorade bottles, and loading everything up for the mid-day start of practice. With extra tuning to do for a different track configuration and the various problems we had throughout the day, we were all exhausted on Sunday. The next race, September 10, 2006, is back to the regular course configuration at CRP and back to the regular Sunday schedule.

Bill

p.s., Lap times and results can be found at http://www.mylaps.com/results/showevent.jsp?id=157898