If you read the April 6 installment of this newsletter, you know that we had precious little testing or practice time before our first race April 8. In fact, we weren't ready for the club's first race on April 1 and were forced to skip it. But as it turned out, Mother Nature wasn't ready for the club's first race and it was rescheduled to July due to the nasty weather.

Prep

Saturday was spent doing a thorough check of the kart after Friday night's practice and completing the usual maintenance routine. Based on what I thought I saw on the tach as the clutch engaged the night before, I made a wild-guess adjustment to the spring preload to allow more slip, aiming for about 3900 - 4000 rpm engagement. We were still a little light when we crossed the scales Friday night so a little more weight was added to be sure to be legal on Sunday.

Danger Curve

Even before practice was started there was a driver's meeting to address the condition at Turn Eight. Over the winter construction had been started at the track and there were some off-course hazards to be aware of. Some hay bales had been put in place to minimize the danger but some drivers felt more could be done. And they were right, but there was no time to respond to those suggestions on race morning. The meeting was called to be sure everyone was aware of the conditions and make their own decision on whether to race or not.

But you know what folks? Drivers should be doing that every time they arrive at a track anyway. Inspect the track and if you don't like something about it, if something strikes you as unsafe, weigh the effort it took to get to the track against the perceived threat and decide for yourself. Even if that decision is to race but to go easy at that corner. Or say an extra quick prayer.

As it was, the decision was made to have a standing yellow through that section, even though it's not an area where a lot of passing takes place anyway. But the yellow flag and pylon at the beginning of that section served as a reminder each lap to give yourself just a little more room for error in there. Not that I was paying attention or anything. Read on.

Jim's Practice

The day got off to inauspicious beginning, the kart refusing to stay running beyond what was primed into the carb to start it. A change of the fuel pump diaphragm didn't seem to make any difference but eventually it came clean and stay fired-up lending to the idea that dirt or other debris got into the fuel system and was eventually flushed out.

The plan was for me to go out in the first practice session to get an idea of where we were at on handling and engine temp and have Dana go out for the second practice session. I was last out on the track by design but it wasn't long before I was closing in on the kart that went out ahead of me. This was the first indication that we might be in the hunt for the day's race. I don't believe in "racing" during morning practice so I spent some time each lap backing off to allow traffic to go ahead and then take a run at a few corners.

I had really fallen back to get one hot lap in before I came in and was running hard into Turn 8, a.k.a. Danger Curve. There is a small bump right at the entry for the corner where the old pavement meets the new pavement and the front end took a couple of small hops but it was enough to let the kart skip off line. Pinching it down to stay on the road, the back end came around I slid off backwards into the dirt. I didn't get anywhere near the hay bales but I did have the dubious distinction of being the first Bonehead to put himself off at the turn we'd all been warned to exercise caution in.

Dana's Practice

We got the kart dusted off and checked over for Dana's first practice in plenty of time. Again, we positioned ourselves so that Dana would be last out and could run her session at her pace and comfort level. It was a wise plan, a good plan. But what we hadn't planned was the chain breaking on her way into Turn Two for the first time. She responded instantly to the engine revs spiking and rolled to a stop in Four.

That's pretty basic maintenance that got overlooked by the crew. Tsk, tsk. And that was underscored by Butch when he came to see why one of his customers had stopped on course. But in our defense, the chain wax we had been using could only be applied when the chain was warm - after it had been in use for a while - and in the few sessions that had been run since Friday night, it was simply neglected. Still, that wasn't an excuse that impressed Butch.

So Dana, in her first practice as a full-fledged racer, had more seat time on the CPR golf cart than her racing kart.

Jim's Heat 1

My starting position for the first heat was drawn as inside row two - behind Lee Griffith and Bob Strawser and next to Ron Pembrooke (?). At the drop of the green, I was able to stay on Lee's bumper through One and on the way into Two pull up along the inside of Bob for second place.

Lee and I seemed to be pretty evenly matched. For the first couple laps, I could gain on him in places and then he would pull away a bit. By about lap three I was beginning to stick to him and look for ways past. None really presented themselves.

On lap three or four it looked like I could have made a run down the inside going into Four. On the next lap I gave it a shot. It almost worked. I was a little farther back and remember having second thoughts for an instant. I got up inside Lee just as he began to turn in, saw me there and gave room. We went through the turn side-by-side cleanly but on the exit I drifted up into him, the right-front of my nose touching his left-rear wheel.

The nose shook and twisted at the contact and just for a moment I wondered if the new paint job would be a casualty. Then, when I noticed the side wall of Lee's tire had turned a lovely shade of dark blue, I had my answer. So not only had I put the first scar the new bodywork, the tighter line I was trying to hold gave me a slightly slower exit speed and Lee went ahead.

Worse yet, I showed my hand. Now Lee new I was right behind him. But exiting turn Six, Lee got a little sideways, scrubbed off some speed and I was able to go down the inside at Seven without much excitement. Once by, I figured he'd have just as much trouble getting by me as I did getting by him so from there I just drove my race, didn't make any mistakes and got to the checkered flag first.

It felt good to win again and it was great to see my crew so happy. We all knew that last year was going to be a learning year all along but the frustration was wearing on us. The team needed a reason to look forward to the new season.

Dana's Heat 1

We didn't have much time to bask in the glory. We had to get the kart ready for Dana's first race. In fact, Dana's crew let her down for the second time of the day! We had misjudged the amount of time between our two races (I was racing Super Heavy and Dana was racing Medium) and the drivers were gridded and motors running when we showed up.

Sean Wilson, who was working grid, signaled our late arrival to Starter Ed Hilt and Ed had the five other drivers circled the oval until Dana could get out there a minute or so later. Being her first race, her starting position was in the last row but the sudden, last minute panic deprived her of a chance to get psyched-up - to get her heart rate up and adrenaline running.

It takes a little practice to approach the starts with your front bumper pressed against the rear one of the guy ahead of you and Dana was a little adrift as the green flag fell. Her mission in all of her races was to run clean and run consistent. That's exactly what she did in her first race.

Jim's Heat 2

At some point between races, Butch stopped by and said he noticed that in my race the kart was "wormy" - that I was having to do a lot of correcting in the corners. He was right. In the first heat, the kart would go from a nice, predictable slide to a wild snap that I'd have to quickly catch.

Butch kinda looked the kart over and said, "I think the problem is the rear wheels are a little too wide and the sidewalls are too stiff". I pointed out that may be, but a change of wheels wouldn't be happening any time soon for this budget team. So Butch just sorta looked things over again and then in hushed tones said, "Then here's what you do: ..." and proceeded to give us a bona-fide speed secret (we know 'cause he told us it was) that I don't dare repeat here. Suffice to say that it was nothing I would have thought of on my own.

Heat Two had me outside row one next to Bob Strawser. At the drop of the green flag, McCall power allowed me to kinda drive around Bob and into the lead by the time we got to Turn Three. Again, I just drove steady and tried to limit my mistakes and seemed never to be challenged. But Butch's speed secret did exactly what he promised it would. The kart tightened up and the little surprises late in the turns went away. That made staying in front easier. Win #2 for Conlin SpeedSports.

Dana's Heat 2

We had Dana on the grid for Heat Two in plenty of time to avoid a second round of Chinese fire drills. Still starting on the last row, she was a little closer on the start. As the field raced off, she was able to stay with them until Turn Four.

We had never really worked much on her lines, discussing how "unnatural" lines are sometimes faster and this was hurting her in Four. A late apex is necessary there to gain speed early for the following straight and Dana's line had her apexing much too early and giving away loads of speed to her competition.

Fortunately, Dana's competition was accommodating: one retired into the pits, one spun off and stayed off and a third broke on course. Actually, two of the drivers got tangled up and spun off. One of them, Ron Jones, was able to recover but only after Dana had driven by while he were out in the grass. To her credit, although he returned to the track right behind her, he really didn't have an opportunity to get around her until the dreaded Turn Four. A lap later Ron had some sort of chain or axle problem and pulled off, handing third place back to Dana.

Jim's Feature

By winning the first two heats, we had pole position for the Feature. Lee Griffith was on row One with me with Bob Strawser behind me. We had one wave-off because Lee was a little anxious to get going and I was trying to set a slow pace lap like Ed had advised in the Drivers' Meeting. On the second try, Lee was still hedging up a bit and just as he got on the brakes to keep from causing us to have another wave-off, the green flag came out. I timed the flag perfectly for a change and led easily into the first turn.

I try not to look back over my shoulder in a case like this. After all, what would be the point? If Lee was breathing down my neck, I could find myself making mistakes under the pressure. If I have a large lead, the lack of pressure, the reduced sense of flight, could allow me to error through lack of concentration. Instead, I just put my head down and run the quickest most consistent laps I can a let the guy behind worry about passing.

That strategy worked and we were able to lead every lap again. This was a very comfortable race, the most enjoyable race I've had in the kart. I had no lingering rib injuries as I did all last year, the seat has finally been properly padded to the point that the shocks are absorbed before they reach my body. Of course, the repaved sections of the track helped in that regard too, so thanks to Steve Tatman for smoothing out the offending turns. So comfortable a drive was it that I was able count the each of the laps and noticed a real rhythm developing - something I've kinda missed in karting.

The victory lap was sweet, waving the flag at Conlin SpeedSports supporters in the stands and Crew Chief Tracy hanging off the fence, still watching from the grid. When I returned to the the Start/Finish line, teasing Ed Hilt about not giving the flag back resulted in a playful thump on the helmet. But it was worth it since it seemed like a long time coming and signaled the end of our apprenticeship.

Jim's Feature times

Dana's Feature

Tracy and I were sitting on the ground in the shade of the kart as it sat on the stand when we sensed each other's exhaustion. We were both relieved that our last race was here and all that would be left would be the packing up to go home after Tracy put in her practice session after the last race of the day. It was a long day for both of us - a constant run of high adrenaline since arriving at the track about 8am. Tracy was unrelenting in running check lists and doing the between races maintenance chores. I simply could not have done all that had to be done alone and the team's success was largely due to her dedication.

Dana took the green flag for her feature race from the last row again and ran a very steady, very consistent eight laps falling back from the rest of the pack only gradually. Again, she lost her biggest chunks of time in Turn Four. But the story of her race was her lap times which never wavered more than .4 from one lap to another (I missed her first lap time and had to average the aggregate of laps 1 & 2 as indicated below but her second lap was as much lower as her first was higher). She had demonstrated this level of concentration and consistency years ago when she'd "drive" the CART IndyCar computer simulation on the home PC. It's fun to see that she can now do the same thing this side of cyberspace.

Coming off the track after her feature, there was still a little drama left: She had been near the absolute minimum legal weight of 335 lbs in the two heat races but it seems everything gets a little lighter as the day progresses. This time though the scale was reporting less than the minimum now and although she had not finished in the top three, she had scored points in the all three races (including 3rd place points in Heat 2!) and it would a shame to have them removed due to a disqualification. Not to mention the undesirable novelty of being disqualified in your first serious race.

So there we stood watching the digital read-out above the scale: 334.0 - 334.5 - 334.0 - 334.5 - 335.0. 335.0! "There it is! That's our weight!", I said and with a chuckle that's what the scale lady wrote down. Whew! 

Dana receives the checkered flag	334.5... 334.0... 334.5... 335.0!

Tracy's Turn

Tracy had been looking forward to her turn at lapping and fortunately for us, we didn't have to tear the engine down in technical inspection (to assure it's legality). So we got her out on the track shortly after the last race was run but the longer day had taken it's toll on her. She could barely complete ten laps before her arms and upper body began to feel the demands of driving at speed. But while she was out there she showed her usual cookie-cutter laps, varying her times by barely .5 from lap to lap.

Tracy's Practice times

Tracy also didn't do more laps because she knew she'd be really sore for he track meet on Tuesday. Good thinkin'. That forethought and sensibility allowed her to win her 200 meter dash making it a good several days for Conlin SpeedSports!

All in all, a great start to the new season. Now, to see if we can keep it up...