Conlin SurvivalSports

We must be nuts.

Sunday, July 8th, was one of the hottest days of the year. As the National Weather Service issued heat advisory alerts, urging people to stay indoors, avoid over-exertion and exposure to the sun, we were spending the day not only out in the elements but going 6 rounds wrestling a machine and all the while being dressed for winter!

Preparations

Having lost the June 17th race for lack of healthy tires, we took no chances coming into this race. Two new sets of different compound tires were mounted and ready for action. We have found that the one piece CMS body we are using this year tends to be a little susceptible the rigors of hard racing - especially around mounting the points. So between last race and this one several places had to be mended to prevent ungainly flapping around or, in the worst case, having the whole thing blow off at the end of the straight-away.

But as soon as we hooked up the trailer in the morning it was apparent that as much prep was going to have to go towards the drivers and crew as the kart this day. Hot, humid, oppressive. It was going to be a long day.

Practice

At the track, the low turn out was noticeable. The heat kept some of the regulars away. Those who were there were obviously the serious, hard-core racers who wouldn't let a little thing like record heat an humidity keep them away from the track. By the end of the day I decided they were the only smart ones.

The heat seemed to get to Dana almost from the first lap of practice. She couldn't get comfortable with the kart and there was an obvious lack of heroics going on out there. Mediocre times underscored that.

I went out on the harder compound tires to see what, if any difference they would make. The kart was sliding around a little bit more but overall the effect seemed to be marginal. We didn't have a stopwatch on me but the balance felt good, the kart seemed quick and I was and was somewhat optimistic for the day - provided I wasn't overcome by the heat along the way.

Dana's Heat 1

At the start of her first heat race Dana's problems continued, the green flag dropping while she was out of position. Trailing the others into Turn One she was never in a position to challenge. Bryan Rose did a good job of holding off Joe Fagan and John Fox for a while before they both found a way past.

As usual Dana made up some ground in the late stages of the race but not enough to worry anyone. And what better day to run an extra lap than this one? In what could have been a heat-related spell, the starter miscounted the the laps and it became a seven lap race. The extra lap didn't benefit Dana though. She crossed the finish line in fourth. Joe was still first, John second and Bryan third.

Jim's Heat 1

At the drop of the green flag I got a great start from the outside of row one. Sean was able to stay on the inside through One and Two but my inside line into Three gave me the lead. Sean took a look going into Five but thought better of it and dropped back. He stayed on my bumper the rest of the lap and somehow got through Turn Ten with enough momentum to be clearly in the lead by Turn One.

While Sean tried to stretch his lead, things were getting interesting in our kart. Remember that gag where Moe of the Three Stooges backs into a lit blow torch and after a while says, "Hey, is somebody cooking a ham?" And then slowly realizes he's what being cooked? That seemed oh so familiar suddenly, even in the midst of trying to retain second place.

It was lap two that the aroma of bar-b-que wafted into my helmet - and a bothersome searing pain entered my hip in the sharper left hand corners. I was tempted to head for the pits but decided instead to see if I could change my seating position a bit. That only worked a little but I found by taking the corners just a little slower, the burning subsided to a manageable level.

But this not only let Sean get away but found me falling into the clutches of John Gearhart. I couldn't see John at any other part of the track so I knew he had to be right behind me. In fact, at times during the last two laps John was right on my bumper and at the checkered flag he was a mere two kart lengths behind. Gary was bit bit further back in fourth.

I couldn't get out of that kart fast enough once the race was over and inspection found a nasty burn on my hip where the clutch had been rubbing against me at 5000-6500rpm. Actually, I was more concerned about the condition of my new suit than my old hide. Of course, we thought we had the clutch clearance problem fixed but during this race the G-forces in turns 2, 5, 6, 8 and 10 caused the seat to flex to the point where machine and man meshed. It wasn't a pretty sight.

Dana's Heat 2

For her second start of the day, Dana drew the pole position starting spot but despite Joe giving her some encouragement from behind, John got a better start and drove around the outside and into the lead on the straight running up to Turn Two.

Bryan too made a great start and going into Turn Two pulled out to challenge Joe for first. He ran out of time and when Joe cut across to take the normal line Bryan soon ran out of road too, having to hop across the inside curb to keep from touching.

Meanwhile Joe had motored around Dana into third and then was able to slide down the inside of Bryan at Turn Three. Dana looked like she had a notion to follow Joe through but couldn't quite match his speed and Bryan was able to retain third. Trouble in turns Five and Six saw her drop back a bit from the others. Once in a rhythm and on hot tires she gained some but still finished fourth behind Joe, John and Bryan.

Jim's Heat 2

There were several remedies for the problem with the clutch clearance, the best of which was Larry Wilson's - to add a seat brace to keep the side of the seat from flexing so much. But I was concerned with whether we could get that installed in the hour or so before the next race.

As I was studying my options, my old snowmobile racing mechanic - my Dad - showed up. An improvisational fabricator from way back, he was a great help in getting a seat brace (pilfered from the McCall Motorsports trailer) bent, twisted, coaxed into a shape that would suit our needs.

The brace did it's job. Too well actually. When I got into the kart for my second heat, I found I no longer fit into the seat! With zero flex in the seat side, it was too narrow for my hips - one of which was very sore, may I remind you. But out I went, wedged in more than seated in the kart.

I was gridded inside row two with Sean next to me. My only chance was to get around Gary and John and build a little bit of a lead before Sean could get past them. That was the plan. And it almost worked.

Coming up to the flag I hung back a bit and then got on the throttle before the green came out giving me a run on the front row. Going into One Gary went a little left and John went a little right and a large gap seemed to open up for me. Kind of a Moses/Red Sea thing. On the exit of One, the gap was narrowing and only a dab of the brakes kept me from getting into both of them.

John had more momentum going and I slotted in behind him and followed him through Two, Three and into Four. John handed the lead to me though when he spun on the exit of Four. Sean had gotten by Gary too and was chasing me down the backstraight. I led all the way to Turn Ten again where Sean for the second race in a row shot by me coming out of Ten and onto the main straight leaving me to wonder "how does he do that?!"

Anyway, once by I tried mightily to stay with him but his Wilson Racing Coyote kart allowed him to slowly draw away and win again. John was third and Gary came home fourth.

Dana's Feature

On lap four, Dana closed right in on Bryan and on the backstraight, he waved her by. It looked as thought the engine temp may have gone over the top on the Rose kart because as he followed Dana around the rest of that lap, he was making adjustments to his air/fuel mixture screw (presumably to dump more fuel in) on every straight piece of track available.

Once he had his motor dialed in, Bryan set after Dana again and in a couple of laps had closed in on her bumper. When she got a little loose in Nine, Bryan was able to slip down the inside going into Ten and take third place back again. She did a pretty good job of staying with him until she got to Five where the interval increased suddenly to about 1.5 seconds. That's about what it was at the finish line too. Joe won again with John following him under the checkered.

Jim's Feature

We had changed back to the softer compound tires for the final for lack of any better ideas to find a little more speed. They were marginally better but enough to give us a fighting chance in the feature. And fight we did.

With his two heat wins, Sean was on pole with me on the outside. I was having trouble going as slow as Sean wanted to go on the pace lap and when I finally nearly stopped to align myself with his kart, he took that opportunity to jump on the power. Fortunately for me, starter Steve Tatman saw that we were all out of alignment and waved us off. On the second pace lap I was still having trouble with the creepy crawly pace Sean was setting. But, he was the pole guy and he gets to choose the pace, so creepy crawly it would have to be.

When Steve did throw the green I got another good start and nosed ahead going into Turn One. Sean and I ran neck and neck all the way to Turn Three where I took the lead. But Sean wasn't taking that without a fight and came back along side entering Turn Four. I had the inside line though and won that corner too. At the end of the backstraight Sean had enough speed to draw up along side again but not enough to get by cleanly.

Mindful that in the two earlier heats Sean had shot by coming out of Turn Ten at the end of the first lap, I was trying a different line through Ten to leave less room for him on the inside. When he didn't come through on schedule at the end of lap one, I figured it must have been working.

But at the end of lap two there was the white number 27 rumbling up the inside again. But my new line must have pinched his exit a little more than he would have liked - he didn't have his usual momentum and I was able to hold him off and once again we went through One, Two and Three side by side with me making the most of the inside line at Three.

On lap 3 I kept the tight line out of Ten again and Sean ran high and had a go on the outside as we came onto the main straight. He couldn't get by before One and quickly squared off the turn to get a run one me going down to Turn Two. Again, he couldn't get a nose inside and I led through Three.

Later that same lap I got a little sideways in Seven - just a little - and the #27 kart cut to the inside to make it a race to Turn Eight. Side by side again but, again, I was in good shape (or so it seemed) on the inside for Eight. Sean may have realized before I did that entering the corner from the middle of the track would hurt my exit speed and fell back to make sure his was good. It was. At nine he slid down the inside and I had nothing to respond with other than turning into the side of him - and that wouldn't have been cool. Forced to an outside line, it got a little slick on the Turn Nine outlands and a big slide let Sean immediately open up a big lead.

Not that it mattered much, I knew as soon as he got by he would be able to slowly disappear. But it was fun keeping him back there while I could. So we notched up another second place finish and Wilson Racing earned another First.

But one of these days...