27 July - Clean Sweep For Dana, 3 Top 5s For Tracy
After working in the garage to get Dana's kart back to Circleville Raceway Park settings after a day of testing at BeaveRun and doing the general between race maintenance on Tracy's kart, I staggered into bed around 4am. There I had fitful dreams of life with Brian's "chrome" Sparco helmet bag (see the BeaveRun testing story below). But with only 2 1/2 hours of sleep, I figured I had a built-in excuse for any sort of sub-standard performance for MSOKC Race #8 and put the girls on the alert to double check me on everything - if I said I refueled the kart, go look in the tank.
But I really didn't need my excuses. Practice went well, both girls coming in complaining of understeer at the first portion of the corners which was easily adjusted out. Once it was, neither went out for the third practice, Dana conserving her energy after 60 some laps at BeaveRun the day before and Tracy just not seeing the point of going out again.
In round one of the heat races, both girls drew pole positions. At the green flag, both girls led the first lap. Tracy got a great start and ran a very strong opening lap before Bo Strawser was able to get by on lap 2. The other fast guys came through the field and moved past Tracy but she didn't make it easy for them, evidence that she keeps getting faster. In fact, Briggs Medium championship leader Tyler Tatman looked for a way past for a couple laps before getting by near the end. Even Tyler's dad Doug was complimentary about Tracy's run to fifth place.
For Dana's first heat it was she and John Fox again on the front row. We were thrilled that she was able to break the phenomenon of the outside kart getting the better start - that alone felt like a victory. Instead, though, we waited all six laps before celebrating as she crossed the line first.
In the second round of heats for which the first heat's starting order is inverted, both girls started from dead last. For Dana that meant getting around John, Don Wilbur and Roberto Zayas which she was able to do and won her second race of the day. John somehow got bottled up behind a raging battle between Don and Roberto and finished fourth. In Heat 2 Tracy had 10 other karts between her and the lead but we would have been happy with another fifth place finish. With fresh McCall Motorsports power behind her (last race's broken motor looks like a blessing in disguise) she was able to make some impressive passes to get to that fifth place. Another great run.
For the feature Dana was under pressure to make it a clean sweep of three wins out of three starts. And she was determined to do everything she could to make it happen. That determination led to one of the more humorous incidents on the track in recent memory. As Dana and Don approached starter Bob Strawser, you could cut the tension with a knife and when Bob threw the flag with his usual flourish, Dana took off! Unfortunately, Bob had thrown the yellow flag, having mistakenly put the yellow in his green flag hand and the green in his yellow flag hand!
The other guys saw the yellow and after a moment of confusion backed out of the throttle and prepared to do more pace laps. But Dana was GONE. Her race had started and she was determined to put in a good, fast opening lap. As she disappeared into the distance and other crew looked my way for a reaction, I just said "It must have looked like a good start to her." At Turn Seven, where she can begin to see following karts in her peripheral vision she wondered how those other guys could all still be so close behind her. When she arrived at Turn 9 and saw them circling around waiting for her, she figured it out.
So how was it that Dana was the only driver not to see the color of the flag? Probably because ever since Dana started racing I've told her not watch for the flag but to watch the flag man. When he flinches, I've taught her, just go. She's a good student of racing technique and I never thought a starter would throw a yellow with that sort of zeal.
When the real green flag dropped Dana repeated her previous start and moved out to a good lead. Behind her John was able to get around Don but couldn't gain any on Dana. Dana was on her game and the kart was really working well and by the last lap Dana had the entire backstraight as a lead over second place. Further back Don and Roberto were the only excitement in the race. But we'll take a boring win just the same as a squeaker.
Tracy earned the fifth starting position in her feature and was able to hold onto it for all eight laps. On her way she again recorded her best-ever lap at CRP of 51:17. Tracy is really driving well and could probably use some better equipment to get her that little bit closer to the likes of Tyler, Bo and Jacob Gearhart. We'll have to see what we can do.
So, what a weekend. Very little sleep, lots of laps but the result was good data going into next week's GLSS race and best of all, results that moved Dana into first place (after adjusting for dropped races) in the HPV championship and Tracy into a tie for fifth in the Briggs Medium class. And, Tracy didn't get run over from behind once! After four years of teamwork it is nice to be heading the points sheets again and to have a first-year driver getting there. We'll ride this out as long as we can.
26 July - Good Testing At BeaveRun
With Dana still in 3rd place in the Great Lakes Sprint Series championship after the fourth round at Camden it was obvious that for us to compete the rest of the series we would have to have test at the tracks we would be racing on and test good. In both cases, BeaveRun and South Bend, they would be tracks we'd never seen before.
Dana's new job at the Dublin Goddard School would preclude attending the normal Friday testing that is part of each GLSS weekend. That meant we had to find a weekend to roll out to western Pennsylvania and the only open date on our schedule was the Saturday prior. With a regular MSOKC championship race the next day it made the July 26/27 weekend and intense couple of days of karting.
Mike (Unger) and Brian (O'Hara) love the place and we were very fortunate both were up for a road trip, Mike bringing his ICC shifter Biesse kart and Brian came along spiffy "chrome" helmet bag in hand to do some back to back driver training with Dana.
Testing for us went extremely well. We benefitted hugely under Brian's set-up guidance and driver coaching. By being able to go out and do a few sessions in between Dana's, Brian was able to go beyond just watching her in the kart. Between the two of them they put 85 hard testing laps on the kart and improved about three seconds once Dana was familiar with the track. Unfortunately, it didn't go so well for Mike. He only got about 25 laps in before a seized connecting rod bearing ended his day. He spend the balance taking pictures for National Kart News and keeping an eye on Dana.
By the end of the day Dana could see why the Mike and Brian liked BeaveRun so well. It is a long track, fairly technical track with several corners that will deny you a fast lap if you or the kart aren't working well. And because the track is still relatively new (opened fall of 2002) there is till very little rubber on the track making grip a premium. By the last session, we had our Biesse Viper set up unlike anything we've used on the other tracks we've run. And just to give it a little more different flavor, it runs in a traditional European clockwise pattern, unusual here in the States where our penchant for ovals influance our road course configurations.
So it was a good day out with "the boys". We made a lot of progress. I felt bad for Mike. Felt lucky to have Brian on our side. And I discovered an unhealthy fascination with Brian's "chrome" Sparco helmet bag. Dana shared that fascination but at least I was able to control myself.
20 July - No Testing Means Low Points For Great Lakes Race #4
A lack of testing did us no good at all at round 4 of the Great Lakes Sprint Series regional championship. It had been over a year since Dana last raced at G & J Kartway in Camden, Ohio, and the first time she was on that track in the Biesse/HPV. Dana's new job at the Dublin Goddard School prevented us from getting on the track on Friday as we had planned. That forced us to arrive at the track with nothing much more than good advice from Brian (O'Hara) and Mike (Unger) to go on.
The first practice session went badly when we discovered that our data acquisition/dash board was not working. This meant Dana wasn't getting lap times at the end of each lap but worse, the engine temp and max rpm were not being recorded for analysis after the session. Our objective for the first practice was to determine how close we were on the suggested gearing. Fortunately, Dana was aware that the red light display had gone to flashing which meant we were exceeding the revs we wanted. If it wasn't for that, it would have been a session for getting Dana reacquainted with the track only.
By working fast and pushing the kart up to the grid in a trot were able to get the driven gear changed just in time for the second session. Dana seemed to like the karts balance in the second session so we made no changes to the chassis for the third session, just let her find speed on her own.
We hadn't figured out the fast way around by qualifying and so we qualified fourth out of the four HPVs. For the first race we made a slight change but it wasn't enough apparently as it became obvious that the track had gone loose. For the final we made a drastic change - sort of an experiment and learned that we never wanted to do it again - which hurt the kart's handling over bumps and slowed Dana a bit. Even if we had hit a good set up we still would have had our work cut out for us - Winner Scott Rettich and third place finisher Christy Snell both call G&J Kartway their home track and really know their way around. Second place finisher Lance Hancock is a former national champ and is fast everywhere.
So the day was not one of our best and it illustrated just how important testing is for the Great Lakes Sprint Series since the level of expertise and commitment is so much higher. Nevertheless, we finished each race and minimized the damage to our position in the GLSS championship.
BeaveRun, north of Pittsburgh is next and we hope to be a little closer to the competition. Our plans call for us to test there next weekend to get Dana familiar with the track and find a set-up that works well. And since the track is less than a year old we're hoping everyone's unfamiliarity with the track will even up the playing field a little. We'll just have to do our homework and see what happens.
13 July - Dana: 3 Races, 2 Wins - Tracy: 3 Races, 3 Engines
Ya know, back in April at the first race of the new season, Spec 100 racers and some HPV racers were up in arms about the club's plans to group the two classes together. HPVs would be at a disadvantage at the start but could probably make it up later in the race. At that first race, combining Spec 100 and HPV would have meant putting 18 karts on the track at once. Disaster! Mayhem! Carnage! WKA Manufacturer's Cup and Stars Of Tomorrow series regularly put 35+ karts on the track but was beside the point.
Opponents to the idea said the HPV slower starts (because of it's spec'd lower engaging clutch) would cause a pile-up at the first turn. Proponents said, do faster starts or drive with your head. One of the arguments made for the combining of classes was that although there were eight HPVs and 10 Spec 100s entered for that race, how healthy would the entry lists be in the dead of summer?
The answer to that is 2 HPVs and 10 Spec 100s.
But the two HPVs that showed up were the two top competitors and John Fox and Dana put on three of the best two kart races seen for a long time. Dana tried awfully hard to make it a clean sweep of three wins out of three. Starting from the outside in Heat One, she took the lead immediately and never gave it up. In Heat Two she started from pole and John lead from the start (yes, we're noticing a trend too). At Turn 9 of the last lap Dana got by. Or was she let by? More on that later.
By virtue of her two Heat race wins, Dana started the feature from pole. Once again John got the jump from the outside and commenced to giving Dana "a lesson on how to keep a faster kart behind you". I hope she was taking notes because John did it superbly, running down the middle of the track - not blocking, just driving very defensively - and staying ahead of her all eight laps. And, in fact, it was a great compliment. As John said later, "You know Dana's gotten pretty good when I have to resort to cheap tactics to keep her behind me".
But John has been racing a long time and he's learned a few tricks along the way. And I'm starting to think he knows when to use them. For example, before the racing started we had been discussing this apparent phenomenon of when the two of them start side-by-side, it is the driver on the outside that leads into Turn One and goes on to the better finish, contrary to the accepted advantage of the inside lane. This has happened, we think, everytime John and Dana start next to each other.
John had drawn the inside position for the first heat and, if the theory was sound, that meant Dana would win the first race. With positions automatically reversed for Heat 2, John would start outside and would likely win. As we went through the what-ifs we all came to the same conclusion: With a win a piece they would be tied in points going into the feature in which case the drawn starting position for Heat One would be the tie-breaker. John would be "awarded" pole for the feature, Dana would start outside and win, scoring a total of six more points than John for the day.
Got all that? Then go back and read it again, I'll wait.
Okay. So everything played out exactly as we all supposed until Dana made that pass for the lead two corners from the end of the second heat. But as we saw in the feature, if John wanted to keep Dana behind him, he probably could have. Could it be he didn't want to win the second heat and leaving it to the last minute gave everyone a good thrill? Hmmm, food for thought. So instead of the feature grid being determined by the luck of the draw, Dana "earned" the now undesirable pole position. At the green John got the predictable jump and that was all he needed. We may have been out-Foxed - figuratively and literally. We might not be that Foxy yet but we learn fast.
But even if we were that sly and cagey, we didn't have time to use it. Every moment that we weren't trackside watching one of our karts we were scattering tools and parts all over our pit area in an attempt to keep Tracy on the track. In her first heat her engine just quit at top speed just after passing Lee Griffith for fifth place after a close, clean fight. Dr. Butch hasn't operated yet but we're thinking we broke a value guide or something intake-ish.
We swapped to the spare motor between races (yes the same spare that was down on power a few weeks ago but we were hoping the race motor's carb would cure that). It didn't and once again Tracy had to endure the frustration of falling through the pack. My frustration led me to ask John Gearhart if he had a spare motor we could borrow for the feature. The Gearharts are really good people and I've never heard John say "no" to a fellow racer. (Which is probably why it is so easy to abuse him - earlier that day he supplied us with a head gasket and a a main jet.) So between the second heat and the feature we were playing musical motors again.
The Gearhart loaner was the ticket giving Tracy as much power as she's had all year. She made several good passes and got up to fifth holding off Matt Rice, her closest rival in her championship contest when the her muffler, likely overlooked when things were tightened up, fell off between Turns Six and Seven. Losing a muffler during the race is dealt with harshly for two reasons: First, it weighs a couple pounds and is not a good thing to be bouncing around as other racers come through. Second, there is a definite advantage to removing the muffler. Less back pressure allows the engine to breathe better and gain power. It is possible that a muffler could be attached in such a way that it could intentionally fall away after a lap or two without regard for where it goes or who it hits as it does. For that reason the rules call for an automatic disqualification.
That was a bitter pill to swallow, being DQ'd after working so hard to get Tracy on the track each time with not much time to spare either time. But rules are rules. This time Tracy got clobbered by the rule book (or her rushed mechanic).
We did one more hot motor change after the final. No, we're not sadists but we needed to get our practice motor back on the kart as we had a guest driver waiting to try out Tracy's kart. Fellow long-time SCCA member Rich Grunenwald had contacted me a month or so ago about getting his son Andrew started in karting. We invited them to come out try out ours and they didn't need much convincing.
After spending that day with us I wouldn't be surprised if it put them off karting altogether what with cannibalized engines, spares and tools strewn everywhere. Racers that know me can tell how our day is going just by how many tools are out of the 'box. Andrew and Rich saw all of our tools while they were there. But hopefully they saw the fun in the challenge too. Yes, it can be a lot of work but if you're a racer not knowing what emergency you're going to have to respond to is part of the fun. And when you overcome the challenge it is sweet.
Rich knows all that - he's been racing an Improved Touring Mazda RX7 for years with the Sports Car Club of America. And that racing culture wore off onto Andrew too. Andrew did about 20 laps, each one faster than before. He had one or two spins while the tires were still cold but that's typical. But he didn't go out there like a wildman and bounce through the grass as been known to happen. But he wasn't timid about it either. He worked at it sensibly, gradually increasing his speed as he got comfortable and showed an overall respect for what he was doing.
I hope things work out and the Grunenwalds give karting a shot. Rich and Andrew would be fun to race with.
06 July - Brian O'Hara Is Not Human
Brian O'Hara is a highly advanced machine designed to operate racing go karts for long periods in extreme conditions.
At least that is our suspicions after his performance in the Mid-State Ohio Kart Club one hour enduro. Teamed with Dana in our HPV, he drove 37 laps in the 45 second range, very likely turning the fastest laps of the race. And while most other drivers were looking for relief at about 20 laps due to fatigue on a very, very hot and humid Ohio summer day, Brian turned some of his best laps (best: 45.18) around his 30th lap. If the Conlin/O'Hara team had not done their second scheduled driver change, they would have won the race outright. As it was they finished second behind Sean and Mike Dillon.
The whole idea of running an enduro came about after some club members objected to the original schedule of two points races over the July 4th weekend. Many said they traditionally traveled on those days and would be forced to drop two of the allowable three races on a single weekend. So the schedule was adjusted, moving Race 7 to July 13 and making the second day of the holiday weekend a non-points enduro.
When the enduro was announced, Mike Unger quickly recruited his team: seasoned veteran and Dana's main HPV opponent John Fox (a logical choice) and me (an illogical choice). I hadn't raced seriously in well over a year and had reservations the moment Mike mentioned it. But he assured me it was all for fun and that I'd do fine. But I've been around racing long enough to know that all sounds fine until the green flag drops.
Dana's choice was logical as well. Brian O'Hara was not only intimately familiar with the our Biesse kart but he was definitely fast and would fit in Dana's kart comfortably. Brian jumped at the chance to race with her. I told Brian he had carte blanche on our kart as far as set up. He had brought along some sticky Vega tires and so I knew he would want to use his expertise to get the most out of them. So while he, Tracy and Dana set about reconfiguring their kart, I sat around the Unger pit, loaded up on fluids and bench raced. It was like a vacation for me! He he he.
I had to refuse Mike's offer to get acquainted with his Biesse/Leopard on Saturday evening because I knew even a few laps would tighten my out-of-shape body up for the next day, when I would really need it. So my first exposure to the 30 horsepower Leopard engine was in practice Sunday morning. My first session revealed that CRP's straights are a lot shorter than I remembered them. It was suggested that the straights are the same, it was the 30 HP that made them shorter. Either way, each corner came rushing up awfully fast and kept me very busy - so much that Mike grabbed his camera hoping to do some shots for an upcoming National Kart News article about over-driving. I came in before he could click any off and I disappointed him in the second practice session by settling down and adjusting to the speed. Just as well, if I'm going to be in National Kart News I would like it for something other than being an example of what not to do.
In long distance racing it is more about strategy than outright speed and that is why the shifters and Yamahas and HPVs can all race in the same category. It's all about pacing and pit stops and above all, keeping the kart or car on the black hard part, not the green soft stuff on either side. Pits stops were regulated to a minimum of three minutes to discourage rushing or carelessness during refueling and getting in and out of the pits. So the number of pits stops would factor in along with pacing. Brian and Dana's plan was to have Dana do the first 15 minutes, Brain do 30 and then Dana do the last 15. I expected 30 minutes to be too long for anyone, even Brian, to lap consistently and thought their plan was flawed.
The Unger/Fox/Conlin plan was to send John out for the first 20 minutes, me for the second and the have Mike be the anchor and bring the kart home. For my part I was to run in the 49 to 50 second range and stay on the track. John was targeting 48 second laps and Mike thought he could do 46s easily.
At the green flag Dana lead from the pole with Sean on the outside (this was kind of an interesting sight for those aware of the off-track soap opera). Sean sensibly waited until the backstraight to power on into the lead. John started in fifth position and after a few laps had worked into third behind Dana.
On schedule Dana cut into the pits and handed off to Brian. After about 18 laps John came in and I took over. I found the Leopard very fast but the power was very gradual. The 30 horsepower wasn't delivered in a huge kick in the back but kept building as long as my right foot was down. I don't know the top speed but I'm sure it was in excess of 60mph. Mike had also mounted the Vega "white" tires. These tires work best at low pressures, in our case about 8psi. That low pressure allowed a lot of sidewall flex and on CRP's bumpy surface that made for a bucking bronco of a ride. The rebound, it seemed to me, really allowed the kart to jump around in the corners and gave me ample opportunities for heroic and spectacular saves. More than I really wanted, actually. John complained of the same thing and in his case the bouncing beat up his ribs a bit. Nevertheless, I was able to lap fairly consistently in the 48 second range, better than my target. I did put two wheels off at Seven once but no harm was done.
When Mike's dad hung out the "10 Minute" sign, I nearly went off the road at One trying to read it. A little more forethought towards pit-to-driver communications would go a long way. Red dry-erase 2 inch scribbling on a white background does not jump out while going by it at a high rate of speed. Once I was fairly certain I wasn't going to fling off into the grass, I pondered the true meaning of the message I had just received: "10 m/NuTFs". Ten minutes? Surely he meant ten minutes to go, not ten minutes completed but that wasn't the plan for pit signaling. When they showed me "I5 M\nUTes", I knew which way we were going and by then my upper body strength was starting to wane. On the brief straights I was consciously relaxing my grip and even flexing my arms and hands to offset the tension of the corners. Still, I bailed a couple laps early though when fatigue set in and I felt I wouldn't be able to respond to a sudden change of direction as well.
Toward the end of my stint I felt the kart understeering, especially through Turn One. But, frankly, I thought it was more me tiring than anything When I handed off to Mike I mentioned the understeering at One but dismissed it as fatigue on my part. Hindsight being 20/20, we should have changed the RF tire but we set Mike out at the end of the 3 minutes with the same rubber. That was our crucial mistake and it cost a possible win. After about Ten laps Mike was back in for a new tire and that was that. The tire that come off was literally down to the cords (no exaggeration - there was no rubber on one third of the tire). We finished 3rd.
Meanwhile, Ironman Brian was still clinking off 45 second laps after 25 minutes in the kart. Dana smartly left him out for a few extra laps before calling him in. That was their crucial mistake. Brian probably could of finished the race but duly obeyed team orders and came in after 37 laps (and still turning low 45s - that's sick) while leading. In fact, I can't be sure but the Conlin SpeedSports Biesse Viper/HPV may have led the most laps of the race.
I've always said that winning a race wasn't really a matter of being the fastest as much as making the fewest mistakes. As it was, the M&S Racing team of Mike and Sean Dillon made the fewest mistakes and completed the most laps in 60 minutes - 66 I think. An excellent performance for the father/son shifter team. After the race someone pointed out that no fuel was visible in their tank. Talk about cutting it close.
It was really a lot of fun and I am hugely flattered that Mike invited me along. Had I insisted that we change that tire during my pit stop instead of incurring an extra 3 minute pit stop for it we may have pulled off the win. I guess a year plus out of the seat will do that though. There is talk of another enduro towards the end of the season and that should be even more enjoyable what with the cooler temps and probably more competition. If so, you can count us in.
Thanks to Julie and to Mike for capturing the images you see in this entry.
05 July - Dana's First Win(s) and Tracy's Top Four Finish
After two and a half years of trying, Dana's dedication and determination finally paid off with not only her first heat race win but her first feature win as well. Make no mistake about it, it was a team success story since everyone at Conlin SpeedSports had something to do with getting Dana in a position to win but when it came right down to it, victory came because Dana has worked hard to be on top of her game.
Practice, for a change, was uneventful. Although the kart was loose, Dana said she liked it that way. (This is in stark contrast to her earliest days in karting when she reported the kart too loose all the time - she's definitely learned the joys of sliding through the corners.) Because of the holiday weekend, entries were down but that didn't gain us any confidence because John Fox, who we consider our greatest rival currently, showed up and looked to be running strong as usual.
A great start in the first heat got Dana in front of John and although he stayed close, John was never able to get by for the lead. In the second heat the roles were reversed with John getting the better start and leading the first lap. On lap three, Dana made a charge down the inside at Nine. John wasn't ready to relinquish the lead and the two of them ran side-by-side through Nine, Ten, down the main straight and up to Turn One where Dana finally lost a little ground. After that John made his kart as wide as possible going into Nine and Dana couldn't get by anywhere else. As John said later, "she had that one chance, I wasn't about to give her another."
In the feature John and Dana made up the front row and it was Dana's turn for the better start. John stayed close until the seventh (nail biting) lap and then faded back a bit ensuring our first win as a team of all-female drivers. Roberto Zayas scored big points too, finishing third in all three races. Maybe he's getting that Birel kart tamed.
Not to be outdone, Tracy had a great day too. Her practice went well too but she took me up on the offer to tighten the kart up a bit for the loose track. In her first heat she raced her way to fourth after starting in the sixth position. It was in her first heat that she cut a few more hundredths off her personal best lap to a 51.78.
In the second heat, she made a textbook perfect pass going into Turn Five on the first lap only to be "Monster Trucked" and spun around at Turn Six. This is the second event in a row that she's had a Rice kart climbing over her, this time it was Matt's twin brother Marc. If we were the paranoid types we'd be thinking something was up with that. The nose of Marc's kart hit Tracy's helmet and landed on her shoulder but after getting going again Tracy worked back up to sixth and was nearly on Marc's bumper when the checkered flag fell.
Starting fifth in the feature, Tracy held onto that position until Bo Strawser and Eric Fagan took each other off the track at Turn Three moving everyone else up two positions. Bo recovered first and was able to get around Tracy for third a few laps later but she was able to hold off Eric on the final lap to keep those extra four points. And the way the Briggs Medium championship is going, she may need those four points at the end of the year.
Speaking of championship points, both girls are second in raw points earned in the MSOKC championship for their respective classes. That is a little misleading though because only the top ten finishes out of 13 races are counted for each driver. This gives drivers that may not be able to make every race in the series a chance to still compete for the championship. Not everyone wants to race every weekend and some even want to go on vacation once in a while so this clause allows them to do it. What it means is that the raw numbers don't mean much and no one will have a good sense for how the championship will go until late in the season. We'll just have to wait and see.
Thanks to Mike Unger again, handy as usual with advice and supernatural powers of clairvoyance; Julie for the video/pic work the fruits of which appear here; and Lynn for timing and paperwork.
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