Runnin' With The Big Dogs

The Ohio Sprint Series is a circuit that travels throughout Ohio, Indiana and Michigan under sanction of the World Karting Association. It is where folks who are serious about their karting compete to hone their skill against the best racers in the Great Lakes region. For years, in all forms of racing, the chance for the locals to test themselves against the touring "Fast Guys", has been the traditional means to learn how your equipment and skill stacks up in the best of the rest.

We've made some good progress this year on our kart (a full second better than last year - a second may as well be a month in non-racing timekeeping) and while we had no delusions of grandeur, we were pretty certain we wouldn't embarrass ourselves. Sean Wilson, one of our chief competitors, leads the Briggs Super Heavy class in the Ohio Sprint Series and we've been closing the gap on him. So I figured a finish in the top four would be something to be proud of.

Prep

The day after our practice session on July 27th, Tracy and I stopped by the McCall Motorsports shop to do a little fine-tuning of the chassis. We hadn't scaled out our kart at all this year - each time I was in town and could get over to Butch's place, he was out of town and when he was around and could do it, I couldn't seem to drag all the stuff over there. So on Saturday morning we just showed up on his doorstep with kart in tow. (He didn't want to mow his acreage anyway.)

The weight distribution was just about perfect but we found a significant problem with the alignment of the kart, a problem that has likely been there since we've owned the kart. With McCall Motorsports' sophisticated equipment at our disposal, we got this remedied fairly quickly. There were a couple other areas we explored and massaged with the anticipation of another mph or two. Looking toward the Ohio Sprint Series race, we were cautiously optimistic and excited. We were convinced the kart was as perfect as we've ever had it.

I was really looking forward to running against the best the Midwest had to offer but when problems during my work week in Atlanta, Georgia, forced me to stay until Friday evening I began to worry if I'd be up to the challenge. My flight was scheduled to arrive at CMH after 11:00p.m. and although I had everything pretty much ready to go before I left for the trip, there was still a lot to load up before we could head out. As it was I went to bed after 1:00 and had the alarm set for 6:30.

On the way to the track I suddenly recalled that the agreement Butch and I had for running Dana in his kart centered around the MSOKC races and began to wonder if Dana would have a kart to drive when we got there. If she didn't, we could run both of us in the same kart, just like we've done in the MSOKC races. But the prospect of thrashing like that all day on 5 hours sleep didn't necessarily make me want to embrace the day. And since Dana had arranged to be off of work specifically to run this event, I decided to that should she be without a ride, she'd be our driver.

She was so she was.

A Chat Between Team Owners

Upon arriving at Circleville Raceway Park, we spied the Team Rahal Junior race trailer in a corner of the paddock. Graham Rahal, Bobby's son, has been racing karts for several years and we were not entirely surprised to see him and his tuner there. We were surprised later though when a silver Ferrari (not a Jag!!!!) rolled through the paddock with his dad behind the wheel. Apparently with a three week break on the FIA Formula One schedule, father Rahal returned to the States from his new home in the U.K. to not only attend Team Rahal's race at Mid-Ohio August 12 but also Team Rahal Junior's race at Circleville.

We were even more surprised when, strictly by chance, Dana and I found ourselves queued up right behind Bobby Rahal in the registration line. The line was long and slow moving so we had a chance to chat a bit - you know, team manager to team manager (after all, we are doing the same basic jobs, he just has about 300 more employees and about $200 million dollars more to spend this year). Also by chance, I happened to read an article on the flight home from Atlanta about Rahal and the progress he's made with the Jaguar Racing Formula One team. That allowed me to speak to timely topics making me look like someone who really had their finger on the pulse of Jaguar F1. Or maybe just a sorry, annoying Jaguar groupie.

Later our paths would cross again.

Practice

In the first practice session, Dana reported that the kart was loose - the back wheels wanted to swing out and pass the front ones in the corners. But the track was very green and I guessed that by the time the second practice session rolled around, enough rubber would have been laid down that the track would be stickier. Working that theory, we didn't make any changes to the kart.

It appeared that theory was flawed. If anything it had gotten worse for the second practice session as evidenced by a series of spins Dana pulled off. For the first heat we'd have to tighten up the chassis.

Heat 1

With adjustments made based on gut feeling more than anything else, Dana took to the track for Heat 1. The Ohio Sprint Series has healthy fields in all their classes. Eight karts were entered and Dana drew the third starting position.

Waved off the first attempt to start, Dana and her fellow racers headed into Turn One in anger at the end of the second pace lap. Dana managed to retain her third place through turns 2, 3, 4 and onto the backstraight. At the end of the backstraight she was challenged in the braking zone and was forced wide. Once on the outside of the corner, she was hung out to dry as she couldn't find an opportunity to cut back in line and kart after kart slipped by between Five and the exit of Six.

At the end of lap one she was running sixth and chasing for fifth place. At the end of the back straight she had a run on the fifth place guy but couldn't quite pull it off. Out of position for Five, Joe Fagan took advantage and slipped by into sixth. No doubt angered by that, Dana got into Seven a little to hot and did a half spin. It was only a quick 90 degree slide and she never stopped but it was enough to let another kart by dropping her to eighth.

By lap four she had caught back up to seventh place and was shadowing the black #50 kart closely. In fact, recovering from the spin and driven by her determination to make up lost ground, she cut the first 50 second lap ever turned in our kart. The prior week's testing and attention at McCall Motorsports shop were paying off.

Coming up to the white flag, she was attacking at Turn Ten. On the last lap she was looking for a way around at Turns Three, Four and Seven. With only two corners left in the race she forced her way through the inside at Nine, just barely touched the other kart and claimed seventh place back.

Afterwards, the little half-spin on lap two notwithstanding, she said the kart's handling was perfect and not to change anything. It sounded like our gut feeling had served us well. We'd keep everything as is.

Dana's Heat 1 times

Heat 2

All eight karts presented themselves for the second heat and Dana found herself starting sixth. The pace laps were excruciatingly slow and this time the starts were waved off twice. On the third try it all went well and Dana got a great start getting a jump on her rowmate, the white #47 kart. At Turn Three though one of the fast guys wedged his way into the inside line and took over fifth. At the end of lap one she had fallen back a bit from the fifth place competitor but was holding down sixth place solidly.

At the end of lap two though #47 was making in roads on Dana. But she had been brilliant in the Turn Three/Four combination ("She does Turn Three as good as anybody out there" - Larry Wilson) and had stretched a big gap by the time they got to the backstraight.

But she must have been feeling the pressure because on lap three she spun at Nine losing two positions before she could get turned 'round the the right way again. We were expecting her now to do her usual bit-between-the-teeth tear to make up the ground she lost but on the very next lap; same place, same spin - if it were on TV you'd swear it was a replay.

In between her spins Bobby Rahal had come up on the observation deck I was watching from and took up a position for Graham's race beside me. When Dana spun the second time, I threw up my arms out of reflex. Bobby, who couldn't help but notice my exasperation, smiled with sympathetic amusement. So I asked him, "What do you tell your driver when they spin at the same corner on consecutive laps?" "You tell them they're consistent", suggested my fellow team owner. "That's not the kind of consistency I'm looking for", I lamented. It was fun to have a chuckle with the likes of Bobby Rahal, this year a racing personality on an international scale, and sensed that he may have been in my shoes before.

If radios were allowed in karting I would have keyed the mic and said to Dana "Stop that! Bobby Rahal's up here watching you!" But they aren't so I couldn't. But maybe she received the message telepathically since for the two remaining laps she tip-toed very carefully through Turn Nine.

Back in the pits she said the kart was super loose again (Bobby and I had gathered that). It seemed the track was getting slicker and looser as the day wore on. We'd check our guts again and make another change to the handling to make the rear wheels behave.

Feature

There was a break before Dana's feature race and while hanging around the grid she found that it was her turn to have a chat with Mr. Rahal. He had complimented her on the appearance of the kart and talked a bit about our choice of color schemes and lack of sponsorship (I don't think he took the hint) and so on.

In the feature Dana was gridded seventh but Joe Fagan, in the spot just ahead of her made a horrible start and balked her badly and the first few rows pulling away before the first corner. Fagan was having a hard time finding a way past the white #47 kart and at the end of the first lap Dana was a part of that fight for fifth place.

Fagan nipped by the 47 kart at Turn Five on the second lap and started to pull away. At the end of lap two Dana was about four kart lengths behind #47. The two karts were about equally powered and the gap remained about that for most of the race. Their's was about the only real race on the track and all eyes were on them and I noticed that Rahal, too, was watching to see if the young lady he had been talking to earlier would be able to improve position. (Cool, huh?)

On lap six her competitor had the misfortune of throwing a chain coming out of Turn Three moving her back up to sixth. With no one else around the balance of the race was uneventful for her. Nevertheless, Dana managed to not only cut another 50 second lap but post a string of 51s that gave her the claim to the fastest race our kart has ever run. Believe me, to run a 51 second average, she was hustling that kart around.

Dana's Feature times

So, all in all Dana did very well. She held her own against the best of the best. She managed to make our kart get around CRP faster than it ever has before. And she had an impromptu audition in front of a racing legend. Not a bad day's effort.

Now, it's just a matter of time until that call from Bobby. I understand Kenny's seat is open next year...