28 April - Searching For Speed
Race 2 was only slightly less frustrating than Race 1, two weeks ago in the rain. This week it was the relentless, gusting wind, a brief, teasing shower and a spell of too-close-for-comfort lightning. But the real frustration was in finding the speed necessary to run with the top four guys out on the track.

A green track, the result of heavy rains the past week, had Dana struggling with the handling in practice. We were able to get that sorted out but then had to chase a gearing combination to give Dana the power she wanted at the right places on the track. It wasn't until the feature that we found a ratio that seemed to keep making power at the end of the straights while still having enough grunt to pull her out of the corners competitively. May thanks to Sean Wilson and Butch McCall for their interest and suggestions in our quest of a few tenths. As it was, Dana managed a sixth in each heat race and a fifth in the feature out of eight racers in her class. She also survived a nasty little bounce when she and John Fox were trying to occupy the same piece of track during the second heat. No harm done, just good, close racin'.

Dana's flawless performance in the feature, in which she turned her fastest lap of the day as she closed in on fourth place, redeemed the trials of earlier in the day. She scored another 124 points towards the championship and also earned $185 in "Pennies for Points" pledges toward the Scott Wolfe Moving Forward Fund. A very warm thank you to everyone that donated to this worthy cause. We're off to a good start. Some very cool pics by Julie can be viewed here.

27 April - Meet & Greet #1: Good Turnout Under Threatening Skies
Despite chilly temps and a constant threat of rain, our first "Meet and Greet" went very well. We visited with 53 folks that were interested in learing more about karting, many indicating a desire to buy a kart and start racing. The guys at Advance Auto Parts arranged a primo spot for us and even found about 900' of extension cord (okay, maybe not 900') to get power to the TV/VCR. Mike Unger and Mike Long did a spectacular job explaining the various classes and options and the rain held off until the last 15 minutes of our display. Overall, it was an unquailified success and a special thanks to everyone involved: The aforementioned Mike & Mike, Jason and Roger at Advance, Dana for greeting people as they arrived, Julie for snapping away some great pics and Tracy for keeping track of the visitor counts. Photos and more notes here.

26 April - Taking On A Good Cause
Conlin SpeedSports will helping out with Hilliard Darby High School's efforts to raise funds to purchase a new, high-tech wheelchair for one of its students. The Scott Wolfe Moving Forward Fund has been established by teacher Deb Spence to raise $25,000 for a motorized wheelchair that will provide Scott mobility through a steering device he can operate with his head. Scott has been confined to a wheelchair since 1997 when an auto accident left him unable to walk, talk or eat on his own.

At our upcoming promotional events, as well as at this year's races, we will be offering folks a chance to help Scott by "Pledging Pennies for Points": Donations will be based on the number of points Dana can earn on the following raceday. If she accumulates 140 championship points that day, and the pledge is $0.10 per point, the donation to the The Scott Wolfe Moving Forward Fund will be $14.00. A pledge of $0.20/pt would contribute $28.00. Of course, those convinced that Dana will just clean the competition's clocks next time out can make a donation assuming a perfect 160 points.

We're hoping that these "Pennies for Points" will add up to a significant boost for this truly worthy cause. Click here for more on how you can help.

23 April - Visit With Us, Learn About Karting
Preparations are well under way for our first "Meet & Greet" event at Advance Auto Parts, 4708 Cemetery Road in Hilliard from noon until about 4:00. We'll have the canopy up, karts on display, video of races at Circleville Raceway Park and info on getting started in karting. Veteran karters Mike Unger and Mike Long will be bringing their karts out and generally be on hand to answer questions and offer advice. And Advanced Auto Parts has everything you need to get your vehicle spiffed up and running smoothly for the summer. So come on out, say "hi" and pick up your automotive necessities.

18 April - A Medalist
Tracy found a little extra speed for her sport helping her Lady Panthers relay team finish third in the Watkins Memorial Invitational Track & Field meet in Pataskala. Running the second leg of the 4 X 200 relay, she overcame a lingering knee injury to run neck and neck with another competitor until that girl faded from the strain. She and her teammates received bronze medals for their performance. Pleased to have been invited to the prestigious meet in the first place and then flattered that the coach placed her on one of the top Lady Panther relay teams, she was thrilled to have rewarded that confidence and to see that all her hard work and training is paying off.

14 April - Rain, Rain, Go Away
The first race of the season is one we'd rather soon forget. Off & on showers all morning and most of the afternoon made for a miserable, soggy, cold day. Combined with not being able to find a wet setup that would allow Dana to cope with the sloppy conditions, it was all fairly unpleasant from one end to the other. To illustrate just how wet it was out there, when Dana crossed the scales at the end of her race, she was ten pounds heavier than before it. The difference was the rain water saturating her down to her underwear.

But through perseverance, Dana managed to earn a fourth in the feature and fourth in the overall tally for the day out of seven entrants. And she gained a ton of rain experience between practice and the three races. Many thanks to Larry Wilson, Sean Wilson (Dana's hero for producing a Rain-X wipe for her visor to minimize the fogging) and Mike Unger for the wet driving advice they gave Dana as she crammed to learn the wet lines around Circleville Raceway Park. Thanks also to Tracy and Julie for helping to get the kart turned around and ready for each race during the abbreviated rapid-fire schedule.

Two weeks now until the next race - we can only hope all our stuff is dry by then.

09 April - Another Speed Sport
Ever wonder why we use "SpeedSports" in our team name? That's because it seems like every sport or activity we like to watch or participate in is fast-paced and places emphasis on SPEED. And a motor doesn't necessarily have to be involved: Downhill skiing, soccer, rodeo events, volleyball, even those crazy dog relays on Animal Planet - it's all about speed at some point and that's what catches our attention.

At school it's no different for Tracy and the first track meet of the season was held on a cold and blustery Tuesday afternoon. Following her big-sister's footsteps into the Hilliard Darby Panthers track team, she has made a lot of progress since Freshman year. On Tuesday she served as the anchor runner in both the 200m and 400m relays. Her run felt good but unfortunately no one got her split time which she thought may have been her personal best. Next time Conlin SpeedSports stop watches will be backing up the coaches'.

07 April - A Useful Test
With one week until the first race, we were able to get out to Circleville Raceway Park for some laps. After a few shake down laps to see what wanted to fall off, we were able to get down to some serious testing. Dana and Tracy did the driving chores and both did a great job. Dana put in over 40 hot laps (400 corners = 400 chances for a mistake) through the course of the day and had only one miscue, an early half spin on a green track. Tracy kept the kart on the black part too but found it a little tougher to get back into the driving groove.

This was the first time we ran a true testing session, systematically trying different settings and taking careful records. We learned a few things and picked up over a second by the end of the day. Our final session was to be a race distance run but it was cut short when the fuel tank bracket came adrift and the weight of the fuel load tore the tank off the carb during the high g-loads in Turn Four. Bit of a bummer but the resulting damage was not as bad as it could have been. Click here for photos and lap times.

02 April - Karting Show Canceled
We won't be participating in the Karting Show scheduled for this weekend, April 6 & 7, as it has been canceled due to a last minute change of plans by the facility's owner/manager. A sad situation as it would have been a great boost to the club and a real chance for the racers with sponsors to give them a little more bang for the buck. This newly opened weekend does give us a chance to do a little more testing before the first race April 14. Look for an update on that early next week.

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