NEWS – The outcome of the 2012 Commercial Point Karting Classic (formerly the Commercial Point Grand Prix) last weekend was nothing but spectacular for Bruce Brothers Racing. Between Conor and Peter, they were entered in five races during the two-day event – and they won all five of them. There is no doubt in my mind that they were guided by the spirit of my mom, Martha Bruce, who passed away Saturday morning. She was their inspiration and she kept them safe throughout the weekend. She was one of the biggest supporters of our racing endeavors since we began. As her health deteriorated over the past few years, her ability to attend the races diminished. She had become extremely ill in the months and weeks leading up to the CPKC, and in the days leading up to the event, the projections for the end of her time here on Earth went from days to hours. She would not have wanted her condition to prevent us from participating, so we loaded up on Friday and headed to Commercial Point on Saturday morning. It was not long after we unloaded the trailer that we got the telephone call that she had passed. We called upon some of the many good friends we have in the racing community to look after our equipment while we went to pay our last respects. It was good to see her body resting peacefully after such a long and painful illness. Even when you know it’s coming, it’s a huge loss when it does.
PRACTICE – The CPKC, like the CPGP before it, is a street race through the village of Commercial Point, Ohio. The
track layout changed significantly since last year’s event, so the practice sessions were extremely important – not just in terms of the drivers learning the new layout, but also for finding the optimum gear ratio, chassis setup, etc. The new configuration features a longer front straightaway, a chicane through a church parking lot, quite a bit of new asphalt, and a new system of track-side barriers (a combination of water-filled plastic containers and straw bales). We returned to the track just in time for the boys to attend the driver’s meeting prior to the first of two practice sessions. The best times from the second session were supposed to determine starting positions for the qualifying races later on Saturday, but timing and scoring system was not working properly, so the organizers reverted to a random draw for qualifying race starting positions. During practice, both boys ran well and we had to make very few changes to the setup that we determined to be necessary for the new configuration. I was confident that both boys would have qualified up front based on practice times, but I was concerned about where they would end up in the random draw. Finishing positions from the qualifying races determined starting positions for the feature races on Sunday, so it was important to start the weekend near the front. Martha must have been looking out for them, because, of the eight karts in Peter’s class and the 12 in Conor’s, they drew the second and third starting positions, respectively.
SPEC 100 PIPE – There was a lot of discussion about gear ratio among the competitors in Peter’s class. A ratio that was too high would mean slower starts and less acceleration out of the corners. A ratio that was too low would result in less top speed down the long straightaway. We opted for a ratio at the high end of the range and it worked perfectly. The 12-lap qualifying races were held on Saturday. From the outside of the front row, Peter grabbed the lead at the start. There is a great on-board video that can be found
here. The pole-sitting kart (with the camera) dropped to third and caught a great battle between Peter (the No. 2 kart) and the kart in second until the latter caught a wheel on one of the barriers, which resulted in a deflating tire. Peter set the fastest lap on Lap 6 (40.866 seconds) and went on to win comfortably. A win on Saturday meant that Peter would start his 15-lap feature race on Sunday from pole position. When the field came around for the green flag, Peter was nowhere to be found. I would later learn that, on the warm-up lap, it was Peter’s turn to catch a wheel on one of the barrier, which caused him to spin. Because the field wasn’t lined up, the starter gave them another lap, which allowed Peter to resume his position. When the green flag did fly, Peter once again grabbed the lead and began to pull away. An on-board video of Peter’s race on Sunday (including his warm-up lap spin) can be found
here. Once the camera kart made a pass for second, he began to reel Peter in. The camera kart stopped just past half distance with a loose carburetor. When that happened, I gave Peter the ‘big lead’ signal and he backed off – a lot. So much so that the next kart in line, which had been behind him by the entire length of the front straightway, began to reel him in. Peter held onto the slimmest of leads at the end for his second win of the weekend. I would later learn that he had clipped the barrier on the outside of Turn 1, which bent his rear axle. We also found a big crack in his exhaust, which caused him to be down on power. With so many things that could have gone wrong but didn’t, it was apparent that someone was watching over Peter.
80cc SHIFTER – We also seemed to have picked a good gear ratio for Conor – one that allowed him to make good starts and have plenty of speed down the front straightaway (just over 70 mph). Conor got away well from the third starting position in his qualifying race on Saturday. He followed the pole sitter through to second in Turn 1 of the opening lap. On Lap 3, the leader pushed too hard going into Turn 1 and spun backwards into the barriers. Now in the lead, Conor was pursued by the new second place kart until the latter suffered a broken gear shift lever. Conor went on to win comfortably. Several of the karts in Conor’s class showed up on Sunday with new tires. We had opted to put new tires on Conor’s kart on Saturday and hoped that they would last the distance. One of the karts with new tires dropped out on the warm-up lap with a loose wheel. From pole position, Conor made another great start and led into Turn 1. He extended his lead over the next few laps, setting the fastest lap in the process (38.257), and then managed the gap for another comfortable win. Four classes, including Conor’s, also had the option of entering a 20-lap pro race on Sunday. Six karts in Conor’s class, including Conor, lined up for the 80cc Shifter pro race. As the result of his earlier win on Sunday, Conor again started from pole position. By this time, Conor’s tires were well used. The kart that had dropped out on the warm-up lap in the previous race had tires that were still new, but would be starting from the rear. Fortunately, the battle that was shaping up never materialized. Conor made another great start, led comfortably, and then began to pull away. The kart with the new tires put in a few fast lap times, but pushed too hard and spun on two occasions. Conor once again managed the gap for a comfortable win – his third of the weekend. Someone was also looking out for Conor, as after post-race tech inspection, we also discovered a big crack in Conor’s exhaust.
NEXT RACE – So, the weekend brought a total of five wins along with one huge loss. For the adult classes, the organizers elected to go with cash prizes instead of trophies this year. Both Peter and Conor won $125 for their feature race wins, and Conor won another $250 for his pro race win. Martha would have certainly been proud of her boys. Next up for Bruce Brothers Racing is Mid-State of Ohio Kart Club Race No. 9 at Circleville Raceway Park, which is Sunday, August 19, 2012. In the meantime, the
memorial service for Martha is tomorrow, Sunday, August 12, 2012, at Powell United Methodist Church. Rest in peace, Mom…
Bill
p.s., Lap times, lap charts, and results can be found
here.
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