MSOKC Race No. 6 - July 8, 2007

Originally sent: Monday, July 16, 2007 9:24 PM

NEWS – We're in Kansas City visiting family after an encouraging check-up for Conor in Iowa City last week, so I'll make this brief. The dog days of summer arrived for MSOKC Race No. 6 a week ago Sunday. Peter added to his string of impressive performances while Henry struggled a bit with brake and tire problems.

PRACTICE – Henry has only been getting two race weekends out of a set of tires, which is a bit rich for our race budget, so we decided to mix and match a set together to a third race out of his first two sets. This particular Sunday was probably not the best day to do this since grip was at a premium because of the hot weather. We have also been struggling a bit with Henry's dual caliper brake system, but made some changes that we hoped would help. Henry began practice on an old set of tires to save the set we put together for the race and did reasonably well. Peter, as usual, had no problem setting the pace in his class in practice.

JUNIOR SPORTSMAN 2 – For the first time since Race No. 2, there were finally five karts in Peter's class on Sunday. Peter started on the tail for his first heat. His lap chart for this heat looks like stair steps – one pass on the first lap, another on the second, another on the third, etc. By the end of Lap 4 he was in the lead and pulling away to a well deserved win. He timed the start perfectly from the pole position in the second heat and once again motored away. The feature was much the same – Peter led easily from the green flag for his second perfect 1-1-1 finish of the season. His fastest laps of the day were after taking the lead in Heat 1. I think he was holding back thereafter, which is an ominous sign for his competition.

80cc SHIFTER – Henry started his first heat from outside the fourth row. He made up a couple of places on the first lap and ran in sixth to the finish. He got away well from the second position in Heat 2 and ran there for three laps. While he was able to keep the leader in his sights, it became apparent on Lap 4 that he was holding up several karts behind him who were getting deeper into the heavy braking corners. When one kart got by, this opened the door for two others. Henry was able to hold on for a fifth place finish. Henry started the feature from the fifth position. He got away well and ran there for four laps. With tires that were just about spent, he conceded a position on Lap 5 and another on Lap 8. While he had some decent lap times throughout the day, his fastest was nearly a second slower than his personal best. This race for Henry is one that can best be described as being unremarkable, which is not bad considering the circumstances.

NEXT RACE – Henry will have new tires for Race No. 7, which is Sunday, July 22, 2007. This will be the second race in the opposite direction at Circleville Raceway Park this season. It will also be the first race of the season to use a timed qualifying format. Both Peter and Henry enjoy 'backwards' races, and as such, should benefit from the qualifying format.

Bill

p.s., Lap times, lap charts, and results can be found at http://www.mylaps.com/results/showevent.jsp?id=227159