MSOKC Race No. 5 - June 13, 2004

Originally sent: Tuesday, June 15, 2004 7:53 AM

Bruce Brother's Racing was back in action this past weekend. A good time was had by all and all of the equipment was brought home in one piece.

Conor's class had a fairly light turnout (four karts) as the result of several former participants having moved up a class for various reasons. Conor started on the outside of the front row for his first heat race. The winners of the two previous races started on the inside of the first two rows and timed the start perfectly. They stayed nose-to-tail through Turn 1, which left Conor nowhere to go on the outside. After some wheel banging, he settled into third place. He made a good run through Turn 4 on the second lap and was able to pass the second place kart on the entry to Turn 5 (after the long back straight). He then set his sights on the leader. He was able to apply plenty of pressure, but could not get past. On two consecutive laps, he tried a different line through Turn 7 which brought him along side the leader, (can you hear my heart beating?) but this cost them both some time. This allowed the third place kart to close the gap. Approaching the last corner of the last lap, Conor left the door open on the inside and lost a position just before the finish line. Starting again on the outside of the front row for his second heat race, it was Conor's turn to time the start perfectly. He went side-by-side through Turns 1 and 2 with the pole-sitter, which put him on the inside for Turn 3. He led the next few laps with the two previous winners close behind. He once again left the door open on the inside of turn 10, however, and the second-place kart took advantage. Conor tried to maintain his line, but was pushed up into the marbles and spun a rather spectacular "360" in front of the main grandstand. He rejoined in third place, caught back up to the first two, but could not pass. Starting from the third starting position for the feature, he ran the first few laps a close third, after which the second place kart succumbed to the pressure. He then set his sights on the leader. He was able to pull along side on several occasions, recording what had to be a class-best lap for the day of 51.17 sec, but had to settle for a well-deserved second.


The defections from Conor’s class meant a bumper crop (seven karts) for Henry’s class. He started from pole position in the first heat race. He maintained his position and led the first few laps uncontested. The winner of all but one heat race in this class this season (Henry won the other one in Race No. 2) began to apply pressure by lap 4 (of 6). Entering Turn 10, Henry left the door open and lost the position. He was able to keep in touch and finished second. Starting fifth in the second heat race, Henry made a good start (the changes we made to his clutch seem to be working), made a few well timed passes, and again finished second, abet a distant one. His best lap (49.20 seconds) seemed to be on par with the winner, however. A pair of second place finishes in the heat races earned him the second starting position for the feature. He lost a position going into Turn 1 and ran third for the next few laps. He ran wide exiting Turn 4 on Lap 3 and temporarily lost another position. He was able to make this back up, and re-connect with the second place kart, but was not able to pass. With both the humidity and the temperature increasing in the afternoon, we probably should have leaned-out the engine (by installing a smaller carburetor jet) and reduced the tire pressure, but, you know what they say about hind-sight…

Both boys maintained their position in the championship (third for Conor, second for Henry), but this was the first race weekend in a long time without at least one win in either a heat race or a feature. You know, though, the competition was so close and fair, and everyone had so much fun, that it didn’t seem to matter.

The next race is Sunday, June 20, 2004, but we will not be there. Henry and I are off to Honduras on a mission trip with a group from our church. We will be doing construction work at a facility that houses children with AIDS or that have been infected with HIV. Laura, Conor, and Peter are flying to Kansas City to spend some time with family. So, the next race for us is MSOKC Race No. 7, which will be held under the lights on Saturday, July 10, 2004. In the mean time, both boys will be thinking about how not to leave the door open in Turn 10…

Bill