MSOKC Race No. 4 – Sunday, May 30, 2004

Originally sent: Monday, June 07, 2004 2:35 PM

Bruce Brothers Racing had this past weekend off, but were in action the weekend before. In spite of threatening weather and the Memorial Day holiday, there was a good turn-out for both Junior Sportsman 2 (Conor) and Junior Unrestricted (Henry). With Great Lakes Sprint Series visiting Circleville Raceway Park the following weekend, there were a variety of national-level drivers in attendance (one in Conor's class and three in Henry's). Conor had a minor engine problem in practice that we were able to sort out prior to his first heat race and Henry seemed to acclimate well to his new Vega tires. Both boys had the benefit of a fresh chassis alignment, which Henry and I learned to do at the Chassis Set-Up seminar we had attended the weekend before.

Conor started from pole position for his first heat race and was able to maintain his position into Turn 1. With the events of the previous race in mind, he set a comfortable pace for himself and led every lap. Starting 6th in the second heat race (out of 8 starters - two relative new-comers volunteered to start from the back), he worked his way up to 3rd and was even able to put pressure on the first two in the closing laps. His heat race finishes earned him the 2nd starting position for the feature. He dropped a position at the start but was able to quickly make it back up. He then set out after the leader (the winner of the second heat race). These two circulated nose-to-tail for the next few laps with the leader clearly holding Conor up a bit. He was able to pull along side on the back stretch at on point, but this put him on a less-than-ideal line for Turn 5. He decided that discretion was the better part of valor, and backed off. He tried the inside line coming out of Turn 10 on the final lap, but came up about half a kart length short. His finishes for the day brought him closer in season points to the points leader in his class (who had an uncharacteristically lack-luster day), but he actually lost 2nd place in the championship battle to the feature race winner. The three of them are separated by a mere 16 points (460, 446, and 444).

Henry started from the 3rd position in his first heat race. He dropped two positions at the start and drove a clean race to finish 5th (out of 7 starters). Three of the four in front of him were the national-level guys who were on non-spec tires, however. Starting from 5th in the second heat race, he dropped a position at the start but was able to quickly make it back up. He was not able to match the pace of the national-level guys or of the season points leader in his class, but running by himself, he did record four nearly-identical laps that were close to his personal best. Starting from 5th in the feature, he again dropped positions at the start. There was a mid-pack melee in Turn 3 on the first lap however, and by being in the rear, Henry was able to come through without loosing too much time. He again ran most of the race by himself and finished 5th. At post race tech inspection, the national-level guys were excluded from the results, which improved Henry's results to a trio of 2nd place finishes. This moved him up to 2nd (from 3rd) in the championship battle.

During the week off, we discovered a problem with Henry's clutch. We are in the process of rectifying this, which should help him with his starts. We also have a few things to try in the engine department, which we hope will give both boys a bit more horsepower. The next race is Sunday, June 13, 2004.

Bill