MSOKC Race No. 8 – July 26, 2008 – Disaster Averted

NEWS – We spent the week preceding Mid-State of Ohio Kart Club Race No. 8 in Kansas City visiting family after having taken Conor to Iowa City to see Dr. Menezes. Much to his delight, Dr. Menezes received his very own full-size version of Conor’s ‘Ice Man’ poster. Henry decided to stay in Kansas City with Laura for a few extra days (we had taken two cars – a long story), so Race No. 8 was a two kart affair for Bruce Brothers Racing, and the first that Laura has missed since we began this adventure in 2003. Peter’s original set of Bridgestone tires are in good shape but Conor’s were marginal. Although we have a new set for him in the trailer, we decided to try to get another race out of his original set, which turned out to be a big mistake. It ended up working out okay in the end, but it made for a frustrating evening of racing. Race No. 8 had been scheduled as a normal heat race format event but was changed to qualifying format to make up for problems experienced with the AMB timing system from Race No. 7.

PRACTICE – Race No. 8 was a Saturday night event under the lights at Circleville Raceway Park. We arrived at the track about an hour early to allow Conor to break in his d engine and clutch, which had both been freshly rebuilt. Peter and Conor are now almost identical in height and weight, so this also allowed us to have Conor take a few laps in Peter’s kart. Conor was about a second per lap faster than Peter and he suggested some changes to make Peter’s kart faster. We tried some of these, but they didn’t seem to suit Peter’s driving style, so we migrated back to his original setup throughout the day. Conor’s engine break-in was straightforward, but it took a while to get the clutch engagement speed set correctly. Saturday was hot and humid, so lap times for everyone seemed to be down a bit from what they had been. The exception to this was one kart in Conor’s class, who had bolted on a new set of tires for the final practice session and went about a second per lap faster than everyone else. Conor complained of a lack of front end grip, which was preventing him from turning into the corners effectively (i.e., he had a big ‘push’). This set us off on a series on radical chassis changes that seemed to have an incremental beneficial effect, but never did get us to where we wanted to be. Once the qualifying sessions begin, the rules prevent changing tires, so we were stuck at that point.

BRIGGS SPORTSMAN – There were three karts in Peter’s class again on Saturday. Peter easily had the fastest lap time in his qualifying session, which put him on the pole for the start of his heat race. The outside position on the front row is sometimes a better place to be at CRP. To prevent the ‘slingshot effect’ coming out of Turn 10 by the outside pole sitter, Peter brought the ‘field’ around very slowly for the start, and only mashed the throttle after everyone was fully onto the front straightaway. This worked perfectly and Peter led his heat race from start to the finish, but the margin of victory was only 1.55 seconds after six laps. Peter was able repeat this performance under the lights in his feature race, which was shortened from 10 to 8 laps to make up for a rain delay earlier in the day, resulting in another perfect 1-1-1 day of racing. His margin of victory in the feature was a slightly more comfortable 2.15 seconds

YAMAHA JR. SUPERCAN – There were 10 karts in Conor’s class on Saturday. Conor’s practice lap times weren’t looking so hot, so we were a bit anxious about the qualifying session, which was split into two groups of five karts each. Conor went out in the first group and could do no better than the fourth fastest time. Fortunately, no one in the second group could do any better, so fourth is where Conor started his heat race. He was able to improve to third at the start, but then came under pressure from the fourth place kart on Lap 3. While doing his best to maintain his position, Conor locked up the rear brakes entering Turn 3 on Lap 4 and had a lazy spin. He lost four positions in the process but was able to make one up on Lap 6 to finish sixth. A fourth and a sixth place finish were somehow good enough for a fourth place feature race starting position. Sometimes it takes a few laps around the oval to get this many karts lined up properly for the start and sometimes it doesn’t. The flagman liked what he saw the second time around and threw the green flag, apparently to the surprise of the pole sitter (and Conor’s main championship rival). Fortunately, Conor was lined up in the other row, one kart back . Conor was not only able to get around the third place starter, he was able to pull along side the pole sitter through Turns 1 and 2. This put Conor on the inside for Turn 3. Conor held his line, but the pole sitter refused to yield and ended up spinning through the grass as the result. This action also separated Conor and the leader from the pack by a small margin, which was all that Conor needed to hold on to second place all the way to the finish. What could have been a disaster of a day for Conor (championship-wise) ended up turning out okay. And, his new tires were saved for another race day…

NEXT RACE – Next up for Bruce Brothers Racing is the Commercial Point Grand Prix (http://www.cpgrandprix.com/), a race through the streets of the village of Commercial Point, Ohio, on August 9-10, 2008. There are classes for Henry and Conor, but no class for Peter again this year. Conor will race on Saturday and Sunday and Henry will race on Saturday and twice on Sunday. This really is a fun event, so if you have an inclination, I would encourage you to attend. Admission is free, but pit passes are required for access to the behind-the-scene activities (us eating lunch, etc.). There are food vendors, beer wagons, etc., and all proceeds benefit the Scioto Township Firemen’s Association. Commercial Point is located about 13.5 miles south-southwest of Columbus, just south of Grove City.

Bill

p.s., Lap times, lap charts, and results can be found at http://www.mylaps.com/results/showevent.jsp?id=334977