25 May - Our Best CRP Laps Yet, Another 3rd With GLSS
Round two of the 2003 Great Lakes Sprint Series, a World Karting Association regional series was held at our hometrack, Circleville Raceway Park. Holding down third place in the GLSS series after April's race in Norway, Illinois, we headed out to CRP with an eye toward building on that if we could.
I was actually hoping the early forecasts of rain for Sunday were true. Normally we dread the rain - it makes all the trackside preparations and waiting miserable but worse, we never seem to get a workable setup for the kart and the on-track experience is miserable too. But earlier in the week, when the forecasters were at their pessimistic best, Brian O'Hara shared with us the rain setup info he got directly from the Biesse factory mechanic (Brian may have had to brush up on his Italian) that worked with him at the soggy Manufacturer's Cup race at Charlotte back in March. Maybe the rain with a good setup would be the great equalizer.
As it turned out, raceday was partly cloudy most of the day so we didn't get to use Brian's set up. But we did get a chance to use Brian. Much to our delight Brian offered to bring his extensive understanding of chassis dynamics into our pits to coax a little more speed out of our package. Brian is an engineer for Honda in Marysville and can talk and think in terms of chassis flex frequency measured in mega-hertz where I'm still trying to keep the wheels all pointing the same way. Brian had us trying some things we wouldn't have had the confidence to try on our own in a racing situation.
Under Brian's care we were able to turn our fastest lap ever at CRP, a 46.4. Still about a tenth off Mike Unger's best in the same kart and still wasn't good enough to qualify better than 4th in HPV Senior Light. In the first heat, Dana started and finished fourth running pretty much on her own which allowed her to put together an impressive string of 46 second laps.
Gridded fourth for the feature race, the skies began to drip a little. The precipitaion increased gradually but once the green flag was out, it was obvious that the pavement was getting just a little slick. When Christy Snell slid off at Five, Dana inherited third place making it two third places in two Great Lakes Sprint Series races for us. Even in the dampening conditions Dana was able to do a 46.5, a testament to the the progress made throughout the day under Brian's guidance. Scott Rettich took another win to lengthen his lead in the HPV Senior Light championship.
Once again, the Great Lakes officials kept things on schedule, no mean feat at an unfamiliar facility. Bob Strawser did a great job on flags (thanks for another loan of your transponder Bob - another $30 saved). We'll have to skip the next GLSS race near Buchanan, Michigan June 27 since we're scheduled be at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course for a karting promo at the Mid-Ohio Road Racing Classic. That's a bit of a shame because to race with my daughter at Buchanan would have closed a circle in my life, so to speak. It was at Redbud Track and Trails in Buchanan that I began racing snowmobiles in the mid 70s. Oh well, maybe next year.
16 May - Chassis Testing, Practice StartsFriday the 16th saw us back out at Circleville Raceway Park primarily for cold tire practice starts but when Mike Unger showed up to do some testing for National Karting News, he had some suggestions we just had to check out. One of those suggestions seemed to trim three tenths simply by making the kart turn in more aggressively. Later, Dana had a chance to make several practice starts, pushing hard on cold tires. After that exercise Dana felt cold tires were a little less scary. We'll see at the next race.
In between those objectives Mike took our kart out for a few laps and was complimentary of the way the kart was handling. I was relieved to hear that because it meant I hadn't screwed it up too badly. Yet.
Mike's guest drive inspired me to do something I've been wanting to do for some time - jump into the HPV and do a few laps myself. Well, I jumped in but before I could do any laps it quickly became apparent that I didn't fit. With the Tillett Ribcage panels that Dana likes so well in place, it made the upper part of the seat too tight a squeeze for me. I thought I'd have to take a pass on it. But that disappointing prospect made me try again and by settling in a different way and rearranging my jacket I was able to snug down and be half-way comfortable.
I knew at low RPM the HPV kart seems to crawl, the port sealing that the pipe provides not coming into affect until the revs climb. What I wasn't expecting was just how hard the kart accelerates when it is on the pipe and for how long. From the outside the HPV is visably quicker than the Briggs but doesn't nearly represent the difference from the driver's perspective.
So quickly did I find myself being delivered to the each corner that the first lap was spent deserately trying to keep the kart on the road. On the second lap I looked further down the road and made an effort to brake earlier and drive smoother but still found myself in crisis management mode at the exit of each turn. Lap three was more of the same, trying to overdrive the kart less.
Before I could really get comfortable I took a shot to the ribs that ended my run. I hit the bump in two in just the wrong way and I felt the cartilage pop and knew I was done. Interestingly, it was very difficult to drive the HPV back to the pits at a slow pace. Throttle response is so quick I found if I gave it any gas at all the thing tried to do wheelie, or so it seemed to me as I attempted to limp my old, freshy damaged body back in.
It was only three laps but it was enough to let me see just what Dana is dealing with and have a greater appreciation for what she's accomplished so far this season. And an appreciation of just how soft I've gotten in a little over a year.
08 May - Guest Speaking At Hilliard 4-H Club
Tracy and I had the privilege to be the guest speakers at the May meeting of the Serendipity 4-H Club in Hilliard. Meeting in the Fellowship Hall of the Hilliard United Methodist church, we spoke to about 20 youngsters between the ages of 8 and 15. Several of their parents were also in attendance. I explained a little about karting as an entry into motorsports and as a family activity/sport. Tracy demonstrated the safety apparel she has to wear when she takes to the track and explained why. We finished up with some video of Dana competing in HPV, Tracy competing in Briggs Medium and then on-board video from Tracy's kart. All seemed to be interested and some wanted to learn how to get involved. MSOKC karting intro brochures were available for the taking. Many thanks to Barb Rushley for the opportunity to introduce Hilliard 4-H'ers to our favorite sport.
04 May - Interesting Lessons LearnedThere were several interesting lessons to be learned at the year's first (and, as it turns out, last) Ohio Valley Kart Association/Mid State Ohio Kart Club combined event at Circleville Raceway Park. Some of those lessons were learned on the track and some off the track.
Interesting Lesson #1: The gates of CRP open much earlier for an OVKA event than for a MSOKC race. When we arrived at our usual 8:00am, half an hour before the official CRP Gates Open time for MSOKC races, OVKA karts were already circulating the track, practice having already started. I've been under the impression for the last three years that CRP operates under a noise restriction ordinance that prohibits running race engines before 9am (admittedly, this may have been concocted in my own mind since even I have a hard time dealing with a running racing motor before 9). Even thinking back to other OVKA events we've run, I don't think practice started before 8:00.
Interesting Lesson #2: Unlike the OVKA/MSOKC combined events last year, no Briggs Medium class (Tracy's class) was planned. Through some sort of communication breakdown, MSOKC Briggs racers were expected to make their karts reach the Briggs Heavy weight of 360# - up 25# from Briggs Medium. It was only after I explained that MSOKC usually draws 8 or 9 Medium racers and that none of them would be prepared to add 25# to their karts before the first heat that adding Briggs Medium was considered. In the end, OVKA accommodated our Medium racers with the idea that they would run in the Heavy race on a split grid (the Mediums would start way ahead of the Heavies).
Interesting Lesson #3: Waved off starts unsplit a split grid. When Briggs Medium was added to the line-up the plan was to employ a "split grid". Split grids are used to separate different classes running within the same race allowing each, in theory, to race with their own kind or at least for a few laps before catching the slower racers in the other class. But the starter was looking for something the Briggs Medium drivers weren't delivering and their start was waved off three or four times. Each time the anxious Briggs Heavy guys, who also had to be waved off then, gained chunks of ground on the group ahead of them.
When the green finally fell the Heavies were right on the tail of the Mediums and guess who was wagging that tail? Kart #99 with that Conlin girl in it. Tracy sensed the presence of the fastest of the group behind her and left some room going into Turn 2. The problem was she had two karts fighting for the lead trying to get through there. It all got a little dicey but everyone kept moving. Tracy managed to pick up a couple of positions in her own class while being pushed around by the faster of the Heavy guys. She finished 5th.
Interesting Lesson #4: We're giving too much away on the HPV starts. We need to work on Dana's cold tire/rich mixture starts but these start were unbearable. OVKA doesn't have an HPV class (too simple is my guess) and the starter was unaware or unsympathetic to the need for HPVs to be rolling pretty good for a clean start. The karts were already crawling when they were waved off and told to slow down. John Fox eventually stripped his drive gear as a result of the strain.
In her first heat we fell back several positions in the first lap only to fight back in subsequent laps. To make things worse, she had to do two cold starts in her first heat. A crash shaking up two of the drivers further back in the field brought out the red flag. Both drivers were able to walk away but the clean up was just long enough for the tires to get stone cold. On the single-file re-start Dana lost another position going into turn Three. At the end of the back straight she tried to take it back but couldn't quite do it and had to settle for 5th out of 8 karts. We plan to do some testing on cold tires to help Dana get comfortable slip-sliding away on that first lap.
Interesting Lesson #5: It's hard to defend your position when your motor quits. In Tracy's second heat race a carburation problem popped up causing her engine to cut out in Turn one. Only Turn One. Every lap.
Holding down a clear fifth place, we were helpless as we watched Marc Rice and his uncle John Spangler gain tons every time through One. With one lap to go Marc got by but Tracy was able to hold John off. Daryl Dillon noticed the problem, took the time to come by and suggested a smaller main jet. We put that in for the feature and were disappointed to find that the problem was no better. Still, Tracy managed to hang onto sixth there though keeping Jenna Gearhart in her sights.
Interesting Lesson #6. A kart that responds to changes is not always good. For a long while we've been reporting how well the Biesse Viper responds to changes we make. The other side of that, we learned at this race, was that it also responds well to changes we don't make.
After morning practice Dana reported the the kart being loose. Not over reacting, we made a slight adjustment and felt the track would "come to us". That is, as the track temp climbed and more rubber was worked into the pavement the handling would improve. We hit it just right as after the first heat Dana said the kart was perfect. Things were looking good.
Just before the second heat the skies clouded over and the air and track temperature dropped drastically. More experienced teams reacted to the change. Someday we will too. But we didn't this time and as soon as Dana took the green, we were in trouble, Dana fighting to keep the kart straight. She came to grips with it as the race wore on and chased down Roberto Zayas challenging him at the checkered flag.
Interesting Lesson #7: If you race late enough in the day, the competition gets easier. OVKA had a hard time keeping things on schedule for a number of reasons (our 70 additional karts and 2 extra races must have been it) and as the day grew long, some racers packed it up and headed for home before the feature race. For those who did, they didn't miss much. Rather than the typical eight lap feature, the feature length was cut to four laps to save time.
All nine Briggs Medium drivers showed for the feature and Tracy fought the fuel delivery problem but still finished sixth. Bo Strawser won with Jacob Gearhart finishing second. HPV, on the other hand, had about half its field leave early. Dana, who doesn't even get into a rhythm until lap four finished in fourth just behind John Fox and Don Wilbur who had a fierce battle for second. Ryan Johnson, leader in the Great Lakes Sprint Series HPV Senior Heavy class, won by a comfortable margin.
Interesting Lesson #8: Not everyone believes you should stay together for the children. The OVKA-run race seemed disorganized and was quickly behind schedule. Granted, the additional MSOKC karts pushed entries over the 200 mark but there were only two additional races on the schedule which would add only about 45 minutes to the raceday. Registration was held open longer to accommodate the MSOKC racers that were used to arriving later to CRP. We are usually one of the first to arrive for an MSOKC race and were registered in plenty of time but in the past when we've raced at CRP with OVKA we followed our regular routine and were fine. In fact, I visited the OVKA website the week before the event and found no reference to their raceday schedule.
As it was, the addition of the MSOKC racers may have created an unexpected burden on the OVKA workers and I'm sure they responded the best they could. Nevertheless, many of our racers got the feeling that we were being tolerated - which was in stark contrast to how we were received last year. This year's decision to ask OVKA if we could race with them was the result of OVKA coming in and taking two May dates at our home track. The Great Lakes Sprint Series was using the track over the Memorial Day weekend so this left MSOKC with Mother's Day as the only Sunday May date to race on. It seemed like racing with OVKA would be the only way we could give MSOKC racers a May date with good attendance.
But as the raceday wore on and I heard our members' dissension I began to question the wisdom of that decision. But with another OVKA/MSOKC joint race to follow two weeks later, I figured we'd make the best of it, let our guys (and gals) race and decide about future joint races later. But 11 days before that second combined race OVKA's Board voted to offer only OVKA classes, effectively un-inviting MSOKC to participate. Apparently it was a bad marriage but even in a bad marriage you have to think about the kids. For OKVA to pull the rug out from under our next race on such short notice just wasn't right. They are a much larger club but certainly they can imagine what an adverse effect a canceled or postponed race has on a small club's racers. I know MSOKC would have handled it differently if the roles were reversed.
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