MSOKC Race No. 5 - June 24, 2007

Originally sent: Friday, June 29, 2007 4:08 PM

NEWS – Bruce Brothers Racing came away from MSOKC Race No. 5 with a boatload of championship points this past Sunday. Peter had another near-perfect day and Henry nearly equaled his best-ever finish in a shifter kart. Conor had increased responsibility in the timing and scoring tower, as the normal head of this activity was absent that day.

PRACTICE – Sunday morning arrived with a distinct chance of showers during the day. It had rained overnight and the track was damp when we arrived. Practice got underway after a slight delay. In addition to the track being damp, Race No. 5 was the first of three 'backwards' races (run in the opposite – clockwise – direction) this season. The boys had enjoyed and done quite well in the single backwards race last season, so we had high hopes on Sunday – if the rain would hold off. Peter spent the first practice session acclimating to the track and coping with the damp conditions but dropped his lap times significantly in the second session. Henry got down to competitive lap times late in the first session but was bottled up in traffic in the second. This was disappointing as we were trying a different gear ratio and did not have a chance to sufficiently judge the benefits. In the end, we decided to give it a try.

JUNIOR SPORTSMAN 2 – The turnout for Peter's class continues to be light – just four karts on Sunday. There have been six different competitors in this class this year, but we have yet to get all of them together at the same event. Peter started the first heat from the pole position, made a great start, and motored off into the distance. He had everyone covered on Sunday by at least a second per lap. This was not enough in the second heat, however. Starting from the rear, he made one pass on Lap 1 and another on Lap 3. He reeled in the leader on Lap 4 but was unable to make a pass, in part due to some very defensive driving by the leader in the closing laps. His fastest lap in Heat 2 was over a second and a half slower than in Heat 1. A first and a second was good enough for the pole position in the feature, however. After some side-by-side action in the first few corners, he claimed the lead and once again motored off for the feature race win – his second in a row. His best lap (52.01 seconds) was just over a half a second slower than his fastest lap in the regular direction (51.46), which he reset three times two weeks ago during Race No. 4. This is shaping up to be a great season for Peter.

80cc SHIFTER – Henry's class had another great turnout – 13 on Sunday. Heat race starting positions are very significant in a class of this size. Henry prefers mid-pack starting positions for the heat races. I prefer to see him start up front in one, although that requires a start from the rear in the other. When he starts up front, he tends to do well if he gets a good start. He can usually make up a few positions from the rear, which results in a reasonable starting position for the feature. My preferred scenario is pretty much how things went for Henry on Sunday. In the first heat, Henry started from the third position and got a great start, passing one kart in the process. There was a melee in the second turn (the normal Turn 9) on the first lap, which happened after Henry had gotten through. He ran second until losing a position on Lap 3. He lost another position on lap 4 but made it back up on the same lap when the over-taker developed electrical problems, which resulted in a third place finish. There was action immediately after the green flag dropped in the second heat, which had Henry starting from the 11th position. He took evasive action through the grass as he approached the start/finish line and just about took out the flagman! Two karts were sidelined, which left Henry where he started – in 11th. There were two more retirements on Lap 3. On Lap 5, Henry managed to make two passes and finished seventh. This earned him a fifth place starting position for the feature. He once again got away well to maintain his position. Henry took advantage of a mistake by the kart in front of him on Lap 3, which put him into fourth, and set out for the leaders. Because of the impending rain, the feature races were shortened to eight laps (from the usual 10). Henry caught up to the second and third place karts on Lap 8 but ran out of time to do anything about it.

NEXT RACE – Both Peter and Henry earned a healthy sum of championship points on Sunday. Only the best nine of 12 finishes count toward the championship. Not counting the race we missed, which will be dropped from the points total, Peter leads the championship in his class, and because of his consistency, Henry is firmly in contention for one of the top spots in his class. Conor did another excellent job in the timing and scoring tower. The next race is MSOKC Race No. 6 on Sunday, July 8, 2007, at Circleville Raceway Park.

Bill

p.s., Lap times, lap charts, and results can be found at http://www.mylaps.com/results/showevent.jsp?id=222500