NEWS – The weather cooperated for the first 11 races of the Mid State of Ohio Kart Club season, but that streak came to an end for Race No. 12, which was supposed to be the season finale a week ago Sunday. The day dawned cool and partly cloudy, which necessitated more warm clothing than we had brought.
PRACTICE – Race No. 12 was a reverse direction event at Circleville Raceway Park in which all classes would have standing starts like the shifter karts. The weather was such that neither Peter nor Conor wanted to do extra laps in the morning – both spent a significant part of the morning in the cab of the truck “doing homework”. While preparing for Race No. 12, I noticed that Conor’s throttle cable had stretched a bit to the point where it was questionable whether or not he was getting full throttle with the pedal all the way down. After this was adjusted, I decided to check Peter’s kart. With the pedal all the way down, his throttle was only three-fourths of the way open. This has certainly contributed to the fall-off in performance Peter has experienced in the later part of the season. When they finally did go out for class practice, both boys recorded some excellent lap times.
YAMAHA JUNIOR – From the second starting position in his first heat race, Peter got away well and settled into second in the first few corners. He got a good run through Turn 5 on the second lap and managed to out-brake the leader going into Turn 4 (the following corner going in the reverse direction). He extended his lead over the next few laps but began to come under some pressure at about mid distance (Lap 4 of 8). Peter responded to the pressure and led to the end for his first MSOKC heat race win since Race No. 3 on May 16. Peter started his second heat race from the sixth position (of seven in his class on Sunday). He gained a position at the start and another on Lap 3. The top five karts or so in Peter’s class have become very closely matched as the season had progressed, so further progress through the field was not possible. A first and a fourth place finish would have earned Peter the second starting position for his feature race, but a steady drizzle started before that could happen and the events of the day were suspended.
80cc SHIFTER – Conor’s first heat race was much like Peter’s except that the random draw for starting positions had him starting from pole position. He made an excellent start and led easily through the first few corners. The second place kart – Conor’s rival for second place in the championship – had started on new tires. Conor also had new tires, but we had him scrub them in with a few easy laps during his second practice session. New or “sticker” tires perform best on the second or third lap, but can be dicey on the first lap. They’re okay for qualifying sessions where only one lap counts, but are not ideal for heat races. This difference in tire strategy allowed Conor to develop a fairly healthy lead on the first lap. The advantage went the other way for Laps 2 and 3, which brought the first two, and the championship leader who was in third, nose-to tail. Conor was adamant in defending his position over his rival, who tried twice to out-brake him going into Turn 4. On the second attempt, Conor had to go wide on the exit to avoid contact. These two went side-by-side through Turns 3 and 2. Conor had the better line going into Turn 1, which allowed him to reestablish the lead. Over the next few laps, the championship leader began to pressure the second place kart. These two swapped places on Lap 5, which was promising for Conor from a championship-points perspective. Conor went on to win with a buffer between himself and his rival, which would have been ideal had it not been for the drizzle that started before Conor’s second heat race. Conor’s heat race win was the first time anyone has beaten the championship leader since Race No. 5 on June 26 when Conor did it.
NEXT RACE – If the final three classes could have finished their heat races either before the rain came or after it dried up (which it did eventually but after a decision had been made to suspend the events of the day), the season would have been complete (points for rained-out feature races are awarded based on earned starting positions). All Conor would have needed to do was finish one or two places behind (or ahead of) his rival to secure second place in the championship. By showing up for Race No. 12, Peter has secured his position in the championship. Because the heat races were not completed, the slate is wiped clean and a rain make-up date comes into effect, which is next Sunday, October 17. Unfortunately, my work requires me to be out of the country that day (Berlin, Germany). Friends and family have come to the rescue, however, and will see that Conor gets the support he needs during the rain make-up date. It’s going to be hard to top the way the day was going before the rain came.
Bill
Thursday, October 14, 2010
Sunday, October 10, 2010
Friday, October 1, 2010
MSOKC Race No. 11 – September 26, 2010 – Down to the Wire
NEWS – Race No. 11 was the penultimate race of the 2010 MSOKC season last Sunday at Circleville Raceway Park. Peter’s position in the championship in his class is pretty well fixed, but Conor is embroiled in a battle for second place in his class. Conor entered Race No. 11, which was another qualifying format event, trailing by the slimmest of margins, but managed to improve by the end of the day.
PRACTICE – We had a belated birthday celebration for Conor’s 18th birthday at Japanese Steak House in the Short North area of Columbus the Friday before Race No. 11. All five of us (including Laura’s sister Kathy who was visiting from Kansas City) eventually succumbed to a healthy dose of food poisoning, but it hit each of us at different times. Laura was sick right away. It didn’t hit Kathy and me until the next day. Fortunately, both boys still felt reasonably well on Sunday morning. They practiced well with both recording reasonable lap times. They had to do much of the work required to get two karts on the track themselves as I spent time lying down in the back seat of the truck. Both Peter and Conor succumbed early the following week.
YAMAHA JUNIOR – The 2006 Margay Brava 1.6 chassis that Peter uses seems to like cooler conditions, which is what we had for Race No. 11. After qualifying sixth during the previous race, he improved to fourth in qualifying for Race No. 11. In his heat race, he improved his position by one at the start and held on all the way to the finish while keeping the leaders in his sights. The first lap of Peter’s feature race didn’t go so well. He didn’t quite time the start right and lost a position going into Turn 1. He lost another position in Turn 5 on the first lap. He had the speed to regain the position going in to Turn 10, but left the door open on the inside and lost another position. His qualifying position and heat race result took possible points away from his closest rival, so his feature race result – a respectable sixth – did not make much of a difference. Peter has to do little more than show up for Race No. 12 to claim fourth place in the championship.
80cc SHIFTER – I’m thinking about starting to call Conor “Mr. Excitement”. He easily posted the second fastest time during his qualifying session, two places ahead of his closest rival. Qualifying events tend to be processional affairs – if everyone gets a good start – which would have had him finishing second all day. Well, Conor bogged the engine down at the start of his heat race and lost two places. He pulled off an excellent pass on his rival in Turn 5 on Lap 5. He pulled out a gap but ran out of laps before he could further improve his position. From the third starting position in his feature race, Conor held his position at the start, but missed a shift in Turn 4, which caused him to loose a position to his rival in Turn 5. After several attempts, he regained the position on Lap 7. On Lap 9, the second place kart retired with a mechanical problem, which resulted in a second place finish for Conor.
NEXT RACE – Conor’s results gained him some valuable points and put him back in second place in the championship, but by a slim margins. While Peter can relax a bit at Race No. 12, as his points position is relatively secure, Conor has to at lease finish ahead of his rival in one race and be right behind in the others. Conor’s 2002 Trackmagic Dragon chassis seems to like cooler conditions more so than that of his rival, and cooler conditions are just what we are expecting for the season finale on Sunday, October 3, 2010, at CRP. We’re going to stay away from the Japanese Steak House between now and then…
Bill
p.s., Lap times, lap charts, and results can be found at http://www.mylaps.com/results/showevent.jsp?id=600458.
PRACTICE – We had a belated birthday celebration for Conor’s 18th birthday at Japanese Steak House in the Short North area of Columbus the Friday before Race No. 11. All five of us (including Laura’s sister Kathy who was visiting from Kansas City) eventually succumbed to a healthy dose of food poisoning, but it hit each of us at different times. Laura was sick right away. It didn’t hit Kathy and me until the next day. Fortunately, both boys still felt reasonably well on Sunday morning. They practiced well with both recording reasonable lap times. They had to do much of the work required to get two karts on the track themselves as I spent time lying down in the back seat of the truck. Both Peter and Conor succumbed early the following week.
YAMAHA JUNIOR – The 2006 Margay Brava 1.6 chassis that Peter uses seems to like cooler conditions, which is what we had for Race No. 11. After qualifying sixth during the previous race, he improved to fourth in qualifying for Race No. 11. In his heat race, he improved his position by one at the start and held on all the way to the finish while keeping the leaders in his sights. The first lap of Peter’s feature race didn’t go so well. He didn’t quite time the start right and lost a position going into Turn 1. He lost another position in Turn 5 on the first lap. He had the speed to regain the position going in to Turn 10, but left the door open on the inside and lost another position. His qualifying position and heat race result took possible points away from his closest rival, so his feature race result – a respectable sixth – did not make much of a difference. Peter has to do little more than show up for Race No. 12 to claim fourth place in the championship.
80cc SHIFTER – I’m thinking about starting to call Conor “Mr. Excitement”. He easily posted the second fastest time during his qualifying session, two places ahead of his closest rival. Qualifying events tend to be processional affairs – if everyone gets a good start – which would have had him finishing second all day. Well, Conor bogged the engine down at the start of his heat race and lost two places. He pulled off an excellent pass on his rival in Turn 5 on Lap 5. He pulled out a gap but ran out of laps before he could further improve his position. From the third starting position in his feature race, Conor held his position at the start, but missed a shift in Turn 4, which caused him to loose a position to his rival in Turn 5. After several attempts, he regained the position on Lap 7. On Lap 9, the second place kart retired with a mechanical problem, which resulted in a second place finish for Conor.
NEXT RACE – Conor’s results gained him some valuable points and put him back in second place in the championship, but by a slim margins. While Peter can relax a bit at Race No. 12, as his points position is relatively secure, Conor has to at lease finish ahead of his rival in one race and be right behind in the others. Conor’s 2002 Trackmagic Dragon chassis seems to like cooler conditions more so than that of his rival, and cooler conditions are just what we are expecting for the season finale on Sunday, October 3, 2010, at CRP. We’re going to stay away from the Japanese Steak House between now and then…
Bill
p.s., Lap times, lap charts, and results can be found at http://www.mylaps.com/results/showevent.jsp?id=600458.
Tuesday, September 21, 2010
MSOKC Race No. 10 – September 4, 2010 – Hog Roast!
NEWS – MSOKC Race No. 10 was another qualifying format event at Circleville Raceway Park on Saturday, September 4, 2010. The event followed the normal Sunday (day race) schedule to allow time in the afternoon/evening for the annual MSOKC Hog Roast, which involved plenty of food for everyone and a variety of games. There was also a Powder Puff race in the rental karts at CRP for wives, girlfriends, and mothers of the regular racers. Laura was apprehensive about entering at first, but eventually warmed up to the idea.
PRACTICE – It was Conor’s turn to re-acclimate, as he had missed Race No. 9 while at the Bonneville Salt Flats helping a student-based team from The Ohio State University's Center for Automotive Research break the Land Speed Record for electric-powered vehicles. Both boys practiced on used tires and saved their new tires for the qualifying session.
YAMAHA JUNIOR – Peter’s qualifying time was only a half second slower than the pole position time, but the competition in this class is such that this resulted in a sixth place starting position for his heat race. Qualifying format events tend to be processional affairs and that was exactly the case for Peter’s heat race. Everyone completed the first lap in the same order in which they qualified and they ran in that order to the finish. In Peter’s feature race, he was able to improve one position during the start. He managed to keep the kart he passed at the start behind him for the full distance for a fifth place finish.
80cc SHIFTER – Conor’s class was split into two groups for qualifying. He went out third in the first group. One of the slower karts in the class had gone out first, but Conor allowed what he thought was a sufficient amount before taking to the track. On his third lap, which was his fastest, he caught the slower kart exiting Turn 10 and had to take evasive action, which cost him about a tenth of a second. He qualified third, but catching the slower kart ended up costing him a position – the margin being 0.057 seconds. Conor’s heat race was also a processional affair with everyone finishing where they started. Conor provided the excitement during his feature race. He bogged his engine during the standing start and dropped to sixth place in the process. He made a pass for fifth on Lap 2, fourth on Lap 4, and managed to work his way back up to third on Lap 8, recording the second fastest lap time in the process.
POWDER PUFF – Laura suited up in Conor’s garb for the Powder Puff race (see picture below – click to enlarge). This event has gained popularity since it was introduced during the Hog Roast event in 2008. There were 27 entries in 2010, which required four separate heat races. The top two finishers in each heat would transfer to the feature. Laura had never driven one of the rental karts at CRP, so she was at a significant disadvantage. She managed to work her way up to some respectable lap times, but did not manage to transfer to the feature. We’ll be sure to arrange some practice laps for her prior to next year’s event.
NEXT RACE – MSOKC race No. 11 is another qualifying format event at CRP on Sunday, September 26, 2010. Peter’s position in the championship is pretty well fixed, but Conor fell from second to third after Race No. 10 by the slimmest of margins. We’ll do our best to get him three clean laps during the qualifying session on Sunday.
Bill
p.s., Lap times, lap charts, and results can be found at http://www.mylaps.com/results/showevent.jsp?id=589263.
PRACTICE – It was Conor’s turn to re-acclimate, as he had missed Race No. 9 while at the Bonneville Salt Flats helping a student-based team from The Ohio State University's Center for Automotive Research break the Land Speed Record for electric-powered vehicles. Both boys practiced on used tires and saved their new tires for the qualifying session.
YAMAHA JUNIOR – Peter’s qualifying time was only a half second slower than the pole position time, but the competition in this class is such that this resulted in a sixth place starting position for his heat race. Qualifying format events tend to be processional affairs and that was exactly the case for Peter’s heat race. Everyone completed the first lap in the same order in which they qualified and they ran in that order to the finish. In Peter’s feature race, he was able to improve one position during the start. He managed to keep the kart he passed at the start behind him for the full distance for a fifth place finish.
80cc SHIFTER – Conor’s class was split into two groups for qualifying. He went out third in the first group. One of the slower karts in the class had gone out first, but Conor allowed what he thought was a sufficient amount before taking to the track. On his third lap, which was his fastest, he caught the slower kart exiting Turn 10 and had to take evasive action, which cost him about a tenth of a second. He qualified third, but catching the slower kart ended up costing him a position – the margin being 0.057 seconds. Conor’s heat race was also a processional affair with everyone finishing where they started. Conor provided the excitement during his feature race. He bogged his engine during the standing start and dropped to sixth place in the process. He made a pass for fifth on Lap 2, fourth on Lap 4, and managed to work his way back up to third on Lap 8, recording the second fastest lap time in the process.
POWDER PUFF – Laura suited up in Conor’s garb for the Powder Puff race (see picture below – click to enlarge). This event has gained popularity since it was introduced during the Hog Roast event in 2008. There were 27 entries in 2010, which required four separate heat races. The top two finishers in each heat would transfer to the feature. Laura had never driven one of the rental karts at CRP, so she was at a significant disadvantage. She managed to work her way up to some respectable lap times, but did not manage to transfer to the feature. We’ll be sure to arrange some practice laps for her prior to next year’s event.
NEXT RACE – MSOKC race No. 11 is another qualifying format event at CRP on Sunday, September 26, 2010. Peter’s position in the championship is pretty well fixed, but Conor fell from second to third after Race No. 10 by the slimmest of margins. We’ll do our best to get him three clean laps during the qualifying session on Sunday.
Bill
p.s., Lap times, lap charts, and results can be found at http://www.mylaps.com/results/showevent.jsp?id=589263.
Sunday, September 12, 2010
Gimme Shelter
I found a great deal on E-Z Up shelters at Cabela's, so I bought two to replace the ones we lost during the Commercial Point Grand Prix. We tried them out at Circleville Raceway Park during Mid State of Ohio Kart Club Race No. 10 last Saturday (see pictures below - click to enlarge).
I was actually able to salvage one of the old ones by combining parts from the two twisted ones, so now we have a spare. A full race report for MSOKC Race No. 10 will follow soon.
Bill
I was actually able to salvage one of the old ones by combining parts from the two twisted ones, so now we have a spare. A full race report for MSOKC Race No. 10 will follow soon.
Bill
Wednesday, September 8, 2010
Mario Andretti
I ran into Mario Andretti in the Delta Sky Club at the Detroit airport this evening. I mentioned that, in 2008, Conor raced with Zach Veach, who now drives for his son Michael in USF2000 at Andretti Autosport. Mario was nice enough to sign an autograph for Conor (see below - click to enlarge). Zach finished second to Conor in the championship that year, but I didn't mention that...
Bill
Bill
Friday, September 3, 2010
MSOKC Race No. 9 – August 22, 2010 – Ping-Pong Peter
NEWS – For the third time this season, Bruce Brothers Racing had only one kart to look after during a race day. For Mid State of Ohio Kart Club Race No 9 on August 22, 2010, Conor was at the Bonneville Salt Flats in Utah where he was a member of a student-based team from The Ohio State University's Center for Automotive Research that succeeded in breaking the International Land Speed Record for electric-powered vehicles (see related posts below). Peter had just returned from a trip to Chicago with Laura and Henry where they spent time seeing the sights with Laura’s mom and her brother and his family. Since Race No. 9 was a reverse direction event at Circleville Raceway Park, Peter really didn’t want to miss this one as he tends to do well in this direction. Laura agreed to drive through the night from Chicago to get him to the track on time.
PRACTICE – Peter decided to re-acclimate to the reverse direction by running some practice laps during the early-morning open practice session. I’m glad that he did, too, because during his second (and final) class practice session, the throttle return spring on his carburetor broke which left him stranded on the track. Without the early-morning session, the spring may have broken during his first heat race, which would have been much worse. During the practice laps that he did manage to complete, his lap times were some of the fastest in his class.
YAMAHA JUNIOR – The random draw for starting positions had Peter starting from near the rear in his first heat race (sixth of nine) and from pole position in the second. In his first heat race, Peter made a great start and made his way up to fourth on the first lap, but dropped a position on Lap 3 (of eight). Peter was getting out of Turn 5 leading onto the long back straightaway well. He was also managing to late-brake into the following corner (Turn 4 going in the reverse direction). He used this to his advantage on Lap 5, diving to the inside at the approach to Turn 4, but the other kart moved over on Peter even though Peter had earned the position. These two tangled which dropped Peter to sixth position, which is where he finished. Peter made another great start from pole position in his second heat race and led easily for the first two laps. He lost some ground to the second place kart on Lap 3. The second place kart proceeded to punt Peter off the track with an optimistic passing attempt in Turn 6. This would definitely have earned the other kart a black flag – if the corner worker had been looking in that direction. The result of this tangle dropped Peter to fourth. He dropped another position on Lap 4 but made up a position on Lap 6 for a fourth place finish. Both of Peter’s heat race incidents resulted in either Peter’s kart on top of the other kart or the other kart on top of Peters, which can be very dangerous. I had a discussion about rough driving with the Race Director during the intermission. The Race Director in turn summoned all of the participants in Peter’s class for a stern talking to prior to the start of the feature races. This seemed to have the desired effect, as there was much less action in Peter’s feature race. Peter started fifth and ran in fifth to the finish. This could have been a very productive day for Peter if he had not been batted around like a ping-pong ball during his heat races. I’m hoping that the effect of the Race Director’s message will follow through for the remainder of the season.
NEXT RACE – MSOKC race No. 10, which is another qualifying format event, is this Saturday, September 4, 2010, at CRP. This event will follow the normal Sunday (day race) schedule to allow time in the evening for the annual MSOKC Hog Roast, which will involve plenty of food for everyone and a variety of games. In the mean time, Conor is back from Utah and all three boys are back in school – Henry for his Junior year at Brown University and Conor and Peter for their Senior and Freshman years, respectfully, at Upper Arlington High School.
Bill
p.s., Lap times, lap charts, and results can be found at http://www.mylaps.com/results/showevent.jsp?id=583487.
PRACTICE – Peter decided to re-acclimate to the reverse direction by running some practice laps during the early-morning open practice session. I’m glad that he did, too, because during his second (and final) class practice session, the throttle return spring on his carburetor broke which left him stranded on the track. Without the early-morning session, the spring may have broken during his first heat race, which would have been much worse. During the practice laps that he did manage to complete, his lap times were some of the fastest in his class.
YAMAHA JUNIOR – The random draw for starting positions had Peter starting from near the rear in his first heat race (sixth of nine) and from pole position in the second. In his first heat race, Peter made a great start and made his way up to fourth on the first lap, but dropped a position on Lap 3 (of eight). Peter was getting out of Turn 5 leading onto the long back straightaway well. He was also managing to late-brake into the following corner (Turn 4 going in the reverse direction). He used this to his advantage on Lap 5, diving to the inside at the approach to Turn 4, but the other kart moved over on Peter even though Peter had earned the position. These two tangled which dropped Peter to sixth position, which is where he finished. Peter made another great start from pole position in his second heat race and led easily for the first two laps. He lost some ground to the second place kart on Lap 3. The second place kart proceeded to punt Peter off the track with an optimistic passing attempt in Turn 6. This would definitely have earned the other kart a black flag – if the corner worker had been looking in that direction. The result of this tangle dropped Peter to fourth. He dropped another position on Lap 4 but made up a position on Lap 6 for a fourth place finish. Both of Peter’s heat race incidents resulted in either Peter’s kart on top of the other kart or the other kart on top of Peters, which can be very dangerous. I had a discussion about rough driving with the Race Director during the intermission. The Race Director in turn summoned all of the participants in Peter’s class for a stern talking to prior to the start of the feature races. This seemed to have the desired effect, as there was much less action in Peter’s feature race. Peter started fifth and ran in fifth to the finish. This could have been a very productive day for Peter if he had not been batted around like a ping-pong ball during his heat races. I’m hoping that the effect of the Race Director’s message will follow through for the remainder of the season.
NEXT RACE – MSOKC race No. 10, which is another qualifying format event, is this Saturday, September 4, 2010, at CRP. This event will follow the normal Sunday (day race) schedule to allow time in the evening for the annual MSOKC Hog Roast, which will involve plenty of food for everyone and a variety of games. In the mean time, Conor is back from Utah and all three boys are back in school – Henry for his Junior year at Brown University and Conor and Peter for their Senior and Freshman years, respectfully, at Upper Arlington High School.
Bill
p.s., Lap times, lap charts, and results can be found at http://www.mylaps.com/results/showevent.jsp?id=583487.
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