MSOKC Race No. 2 – May 22, 2011 – Conor Gets a Win and Henry Fills In

NEWS – For Mid State of Ohio Kart Club (MSOKC) Race No. 2 at Circleville Raceway Park (CRP), Peter was out of town competing with his crew team at the Midwest Scholastics Rowing Championships in Oak Ridge, Tennessee. Henry is home from Providence for few weeks prior to returning for a summer internship in the Biology department at Brown University, so he filled in for Peter. Conor made room for Race No. 2 among all of his high school graduation activities. Race No. 2 was scheduled to feature a combined feature race for the 80cc, TaG, and Spec 100 Pipe classes with a rolling start for everyone and 20 laps instead of 10. While the feature race did get under way, it was cut short by a late afternoon rain shower.

PRACTICE – We thought that having Henry fill in for Peter would provide us with some extra time to experiment with tuning our Spec 100 Pipe kart. It certainly did, but we went the wrong way during Henry’s second practice session. We ran the engine way too lean and ended up sticking the piston and potentially ending the day for Henry. Fortunately, one of the local engine builders came to our rescue and loaned us an engine for the remainder of the day. We tried a new part in the carburetor of our 80cc Shifter kart and Conor was fast right out of the trailer, so we made few additional changes except for bolting on a set of gently used tires after his practice sessions.

SPEC 100 PIPE – We finished the engine change just after the driver’s meeting concluded. Henry started his first heat race from the fourth position (of eight). He made a great start and ended up second after the first few corners. He struggled with handling a bit and lost a position on Lap 3 and another on Lap 5. While pushing to maintain his position, he had a half spin in Turn 3 on Lap 6 and dropped to eighth. He inherited a position on Lap 8 to finish seventh. In his second heat, Henry started and finished fifth. He lost a position on Lap 6 but gained it back on the same lap. The combined feature race featured 17 karts, which was quite a sight to see at the start. The six 80cc Shifter karts led the way, followed by three TaGs, and then the eight Spec 100 karts. Henry started fifth among the Spec 100 karts. It had started to sprinkle just prior to these karts taking to the track, and while the track was damp, the green flag flew anyway. While the front of the field got through the first few corners unscathed, there was a mid-field melee in Turn 3 on Lap 1. Henry managed to avoid the trouble and found himself first-in-class at the end of Lap 1. The rain intensified over the next laps or so and the red flag flew bringing an end to the day. Results were awarded based on starting positions, which negated the improvement Henry had made on the opening lap.

80cc SHIFTER – We were optimistic about Conor’s chances based on his practice times on old tires. Conor started his first heat race from the fourth position (of six). He gained two positions at the start and ran in second to the finish. His lap times on new-ish tires were about half a second slower than his practice times, which had us scratching our heads. We made a few chassis adjustment for Conor’s second heat race, in which he started third. Conor made an excellent start. When the pole sitter got away a bit slowly, Conor dove to the inside and he found himself in the lead going into Turn 3. He couldn’t quite pull away from the second place kart, but managed to lead comfortably to the end for a heat race win. A second and a first earned Conor the pole position for the combined feature. Rolling starts are a new thing for the 80cc Shifter kart class and Conor timed it perfectly. He led easily through the first few turns. The second place kart over-cooked it going into Turn 5 and went into the grass after running into the back of Conor. Conor extended his lead over the next lap or so while the rain intensified. After the red flag flew, Conor was awarded the feature race win based on his starting position.

NEXT RACE – Peter’s crew team’s performance in Oak Ridge qualified them for the Scholastic Rowing Association of America National Championship Regatta in Camden, New Jersey, this past weekend. In Camden, they advanced out of their heat race into the semi-final (top 12 teams in the nation), but couldn’t manage to qualify for the final. They were on pace to advance when one of the boys hit a goose with his oar! It was fortunate that Henry had the engine problem in our Spec 100 kart, because if it had not been him, it would have been Peter in the next race. Speaking of which, the next race is MSOKC Race No. 3 on Sunday, June 5, 2011, but the Bruce Brothers Racing team will be previously occupied. That is the day Conor will be graduating from Upper Arlington High School. He will graduate with an International Baccalaureate diploma, which is a two-year educational program for high school students that provides an internationally accepted qualification for entry into higher education and is recognized by universities worldwide. Conor had decided to attend The Ohio State University in the fall, which suits me just fine. That makes our next race MSOKC Race No. 4 on Saturday, June 18, 2011, and our first night race of the season.

Bill

p.s., Lap times, lap charts, and results can be found at http://www.mylaps.com/results/showevent.jsp?id=659630