MSOKC Race No. 10 (Rain Make-Up) - October 14, 2007

Originally sent: Wednesday, October 24, 2007 12:18 AM

NEWS – The 2007 Mid-State of Ohio Kart Club racing season came to a close with a make-up for rained-out Race No. 10 a week ago on Sunday. The turn-out was light in some of the classes for which the championship had already been decided, and because of a conflict with the 2007 Mazda RoboPong 200 Presented by Bridgestone, a 200 lap endurance race at Newcastle Motorsports Park near Indianapolis. We played 'musical tires' again to make use of the last bit of rubber we have. We used the fronts off of Peter's kart for Henry's fronts and mixed-and-matched the best left-overs that we could find for Henry's rears and Peter's fronts. The weather was warm again on Sunday for an October race, but not as warm as the previous Sunday.

PRACTICE – Race No. 10 was designated as a 'backwards' race, so the make-up race was run in the opposite direction (clockwise) at Circleville Raceway Park. There was moisture on the track initially, so both Peter and Henry took it easy in their first practice sessions while they re-acclimated to the opposite direction. One of Henry's rears didn't look like it was going to last the entire day, so we replaced it with a spare that we had brought along. We obviously did something right, because Henry recorded a personal best lap time ( 44.08) in his second practice session. We had also elected to leave the gear ratio on that Henry runs in the regular direction for this backwards race, which may have accounted for the majority of this improvement. Peter got down into the mid-52 second range in his second session.

JUNIOR SPORTSMAN 2 – One of the karts in the class that Peter ran last year made the transition to Peter's class for the last race of the year. Four other 'regulars' showed up, so there were five in all. He started his first heat from the third position and held it through the first few corners, which are Turns 10, 9, 8, etc., for a backwards race. He was able to run deeper into the turn at the end of the long straightaway than the kart in front of him on Lap 1 and moved up to the second position. He was able to repeat the out-braking maneuver on Lap 3 to move into the lead, which he was able to hold to the end. In Heat 2, starting from outside the front row, Peter didn't waste much time moving to the front. He made an excellent move to the inside on the approach to Turn 9 (the second corner) and motored away to another heat race win. He made an excellent start from pole position in the feature and pulled away initially before backing off a bit. The newcomer in the class, who had started from the rear all day, made his way through the field and began to catch Peter. Peter responded and was able to keep the gap constant from about the midway point on. Peter capped off his season with another perfect 1-1-1 finish, his fourth this year.

80cc SHIFTER – I always prefer when Henry starts one heat race towards the rear and the other towards the front (as opposed to both from mid-pack). Such was the case on Sunday where Henry lined up for his first heat in the seventh position (of eight). He got a great start and moved up one position in Turn 9 and another in Turn 6 on the first lap. On lap 3, he was right on the tail of the kart in fourth place going into Turn 10. He was able to get underneath going into Turn 9 and made the pass stick. He had to downshift mid corner to maintain his momentum, and this turned out to be a key to quicker lap times throughout the rest of the day. He caught up with the leaders at the end, further improving his personal best to a 44.04 along the way. Henry made another great start from the pole position in Heat 2. With clear track in front of him, Henry reeled off a series of laps in the low 44 second range while those behind him scrapped for position. Henry amassed enough of a lead, further improving his personal best to a 43.97 in the process, to hold on for his first 80cc Shifter class heat race win. A fourth and a first were good enough for the second starting position for the feature. He made another great start while the pole-sitter hesitated momentarily, and once again found clear track in front of him. The pole-sitter recovered quickly, but he and the next few karts had nothing on Henry, who continued to lower his personal best lap times, the best of which was a 43.89. On Lap 7, the third place kart (the eventual season champion in this class) passed the second place kart and set out after Henry. Henry seemed to be able to hold him off everywhere except the braking zone at the end of the long straightway, where the lack of front disk brakes (everyone except Henry and one other kart in his class has them) was a detriment. Henry would pull away slightly through Turn 9, but get reeled back in at the end of the straightaway. On the last lap, the eventual class champion got a good run through the turn leading up to the long straightway and was able to muscle his way inside at the end. Henry could have taken a defensive line and held him off, but chose not to do so. Ten laps on a ten turn circuit is a total of 100 turns. Henry led through 96 of them. A second place feature race finish was another personal best for Henry in this class, however.

NEXT RACE – That's it for the 2007 MSOKC season. Peter is the 2007 MSOKC Junior Sportsman 2 class champion and Henry finished a solid third place in the highly competitive 80cc Shifter class, improving one position from last year. The MSOKC season-ending banquet is November 16, where trophies and prizes will be awarded. Henry will continue in the 80cc Shifter class next year, although his participation in the latter part of the season will depend on what college he decides to attend. Laura and I are still trying to come to grips with that and other similar realizations. Peter can contest the same class next year, but we are considering some alternative classes for him. And then there's Conor. He has been incredibly patient with having to sit out this season. While he has enjoyed his timing and scoring responsibilities, I'm sure he's chomping at the bit to back into action. With the help of a generous benefactor, we purchased a highly competitive Yamaha Super Can kart for him at the end of the 2006 season. It has been waiting patiently in our basement since then. Conor's return to action will depend on what the doctors have to say, however. Conor has a check-up in Iowa City scheduled for November 9, after which we hope to know more.

Bill

p.s., Lap times, lap charts, and results can be found at http://www.mylaps.com/results/showevent.jsp?id=260167