28 October - Instant Kart Team For Sale
We've decided to get Tracy up into the 2-cycle ranks so we've got all our Briggs stuff on the market. If you're interested in getting started in karting, this is everything you need and then some. Check it out here.
22 October - I Hate TechnologyA recent hard drive meltdown has stranded me without many of the email addresses I collected this year (backups worked but somehow the address book in Outlook Express wasn't getting backed up). If you were added to our mailing list in 2004, please drop me another line and I'll get you on the list for news and updates. Or, if you've never been on the list and would like to be notified when this site has been updated or if there is news of note, let me know and we'll see that you're included in future mailings.
Two days after the hard drive went south, so did my mobile phone. The computer was a back-up to the phone numbers in the phone and the phone was a back up of the phone numbers in the computer. In the course of two days I lost four years of telephone numbers.
Then, several days after that, while taping Tracy's final Cross Country event of her high school career, our spiffy digital video camera just died. No power no matter what. So we await it's return from Texas so we can capture the pics from the October 12 race.
12 October - Dana Is HPV Champ, Tracy Just Misses Top 5
Going into the final race of the Mid State Ohio Kart Club championship, we knew what our objectives were: Dana had to start at least one of the heat races and start the final to win the HPV title. This may sound easy but as we saw earlier in the season, overlooking something like tightening the chain can keep you from taking the green flag. After the checkered flag, there is weigh-in and tech either of which could remove all points for a race. So we had to be sure not to do anything stupid. We added five pounds of lead as a safety against somehow being under weight and triple-checked anything that could put us put us in disfavor of the tech man.
Tracy's challenge was even greater. Going into the last race she was only 4 points ahead of Marc Rice for fifth in the championship, a goal we had our sights set on. The math worked out a bunch of different ways but basically it came down to one safe approach: finish ahead of Marc in every race.
We had expected, with the lower temperatures, that the track would not be offering much grip and in that first, coldest practice session all but one Briggs driver went off or looped their kart. But soon the track was grippy and both girls complained of understeer. Dana also complaining of too much stick - just like at South Bend. This time though we had an idea of how to deal with that. Interestingly, by the end of practice we had both karts set up differently than we've had them all season. Don't know if it was a combination of lots of rubber down with no recent rain and the cooler track temp or what, but we had to work for it. But when Dana went out for the last session we knew immediately that we found the right combination for the day.
In the first HPV heat Dana had the inside with John Fox outside. This would be the show down for the championship and John had to be there just in case we did do something stupid. But she took green and with that reduced the "something stupid factor". Dana shot into the lead from the start (which was behind Spec 100 on a split grid) and stayed in the lead until the finish. Race win #18 for the season.
Briggs Medium Heat One found Tracy's rival, Marc, on the outside of row one next to his twin brother Matt. Tracy was starting six positions back in seventh, not too conducive for finishing ahead of Marc. The first time through Turn Four though she jumped up up to 5th when Bo Strawser and Brandon Rees got tangled at the exit. Later that lap (Tracy is always aggressive on the opening lap on cold tires) she passed Jenna Gearhart for 4th going into Turn Seven. She passed Matt at the beginning of the second lap for 3rd, giving it all she had to get up to Marc who was leading handily. At Turn 7 though Eric Fagan, who was flying up through the field got by. Brandon tried to follow Eric through but the #99 kart shut the door on him. But Brandon was fast too and on the next lap at the same place, he forced his way by. Bo, recovering from that early "off", got by our driver at Nine on the 4th lap demoting Tracy to sixth where she stayed the rest of the race.
Marc Rice (5)... ...the hard way.
Meanwhile, the likes of Jacob Gearhart and Eric were closing in on Marc for the lead. On the last lap, Marc just about threw it away by dropping a wheel off exiting Turn Five. By the time he got it all back under control Jacob and Eric were attacking. That attack went on for the last four corners with Marc losing the lead but gaining it back a couple of times. In the last corner it was still anyone's race. Midway through Turn Ten, Jacob's kart snapped around and off the track leaving Marc to cross the line for his very first win with Eric right on his bumper. It was a just reward for Marc after a season of hard work and progress.
But the excitement wasn't over, Jacob had got his kart pointing the right direction and back on the track. As he was struggling to get to the finish line to salvage 5th place, it became clear that he and Tracy, still under full speed, would be arriving at the finish line at about the same time. As it was, Beth Hopkins in Scoring and Race Director Tom Hickey couldn't be sure but gave fifth place to Jacob. They did encourage us to look at our tape and let them know if the video showed a different result. With Tracy needing every point she could get, you can be darn sure we reviewed that tape immediately, freezing the frame when the noses reached the finish line. But the picture only showed that Beth was right (as usual).
HPV Heat 2 again started behind Spec 100 on a split grid and if it weren't for a couple of karts getting together in the S100 pack, HPV was otherwise very uneventful. Dana got a jump at the start that we really should have been penalized for but John did a good job of reeling her in by the backstraight. He never found a way by so Dana got her second win of the day but still didn't have the championship clinched. It would still come down to starting that Feature race.
For the second Briggs heat Tracy was starting inside row two behind Marc's uncle, John Spangler, and Eric Fagan. Marc was a couple rows back in the seventh spot. John's start was slower than Eric's and Tracy got bottled up behind him while Brandon and Bo followed Eric around on the outside. Tracy finally got around John for fourth as they turned in for Five with Brandon following her through. Shortly after that Marc got by his uncle too. A lap later Brandon took a run at Tracy going into 7. It was a risky move and although they gave each other room, Brandon's attack line moved them both wide and out of the groove.
Marc saw this as an opportunity to move up two positions in one corner and kept his kart low. Tracy realized this and knew if she was going to stay ahead of him she'd have to win the drag race down to Turn Eight where her inside line would give her the advantage. She'd have to put her right foot down and keep it there sooner and longer than Marc. The only problem with that plan was that Brandon was not recovering his speed as quickly and was smack in front of her. There are times for a driver when lifting off the throttle is absolutely not an option and for Tracy this was one of them. Whether she played it too close or meant to push him down the straight and missed his bumper is uncertain, but the result was the nose of our kart climbing over Brandon's rear wheel. The contact barely slowed either of them down but it was enough for Marc to get the position. They finished that way; Brandon 4th, Marc 5th and Tracy 6th. It was obvious Marc was on top of his game and in two races he not only erased the four point lead we had coming into the day but had gone up eight points. Things were not looking good and we'd have to find some luck in the feature.
Barely had we caught our breath when Charles Hughes came by to ask if Tracy wanted to drive his kart in the Spec 100 feature. He had fought all summer with friend and teammate Mike Yoerger for the championship but the results of the second Spec 100 heat clinched the championship for Mike. So, Charles, ever generous, offered to let Tracy race (he must have heard about her impressive run in the HPV the week before) for him in the Feature - she could start in the back if she'd like and just enjoy the taste of racing one of the club's fastest classes.
Interestingly, Charles' kart is as old as Tracy is - 17 years. The fact that he can race at the front of the Spec 100 class with a 17 year old kart says a lot for Chuck's abilities as both a tuner and a driver. He had an opportunity to demonstrate his mechanical skills for us too. We arranged for Tracy to go out during the lunch break to get familiar with the kart but as soon as she got in we were all reminded of the differences in their heights - Tracy couldn't reach the pedals! But where I was ready to say "Oh, geez, well okay, thanks anyway Chuck", he leapt into action to resize the kart for her. The changes to the throttle and brake pedals were not small ones and soon Mike and others were working on it, re-engineering on the spot. After about 15 minutes of wrenches clanging and drills whirring Tracy headed out for a few laps of practice. Reaching the gas and brake were still a little bit of a struggle but she got up to speed pretty quick.
So the Spec 100/HPV final was doubly interesting for Conlin SpeedSports as the racers lined up. At the green Tracy hung back just a bit from her 9 kart field while Dana and John formed up half an oval behind. When they came up to the green it was John who got the jump despite Dana's best efforts. But the moment she crossed the start line under green, she was 2003 champion, the sum product of a year of hard work.
The split gave Tracy about a 10 second head start on Dana and John. Hanging back at the start may have been a smart move because she arrived at Turn Five to find three or four karts scattered around. Had she stayed right there in the pack there is a chance she might have been involved. Instead, she was able to pick her way through without problem moving up to at least 6th place. Behind, Dana was right on John's bumper down the back straight. She was grateful John signaled trouble when he saw the commotion. Once things were under control behind the wheel, her concern for her sister surfaced, wondering if Tracy had made it through. Dana struggled to see up the track (while racing at 10/10th's on John's bumper) for about half a lap until she saw her.
Even though Dana had the championship wrapped up, she wasn't taking it easy, attacking John every chance she got. And every lap John and Dana took a chunk out of that 10 second advantage Tracy had. With a lap and a half to go John got his nose along side Tracy under braking for Turn Five. Once she saw him there she backed out and attempted to leave room for Dana who she knew would be right behind him. But the exit of Five closes up fast and the sisters, in there very first race together, got into each other. The contact only slowed Dana down a little and she was back on John's tail a lap later. But it figures - Dana goes the entire season with barely a mark on her kart and she blackens the nose in the last race on none other than her own sister.
Even though she was trying right up to a final lunge at the finish line, Dana couldn't get past John for the win. Tracy finished her first 2-cycle race but the additional effort to turn the older kart had tuckered her out. It didn't help either that even after the changes she spent the race struggling to keep her feet on the pedals. Still, she was super happy for the opportunity. Thanks Chuck! And I think you'll see Tracy in a 2-cycle class next year.
The grid for the Briggs feature worked out like this: Marc, Bo, Brandon, Jacob, Tracy, Jenna and the rest of the field including, way at the rear, Eric who chose to start from the back. It took two tries to get started but when it did, Jacob & Bo seemed to work together to both go around Rice. Tracy hung on to Brandon as best she could but slowly he pulled away. Fagan was proving his point by coming up through the field and passed Tracy on lap two knocking her down to 6th. But Eric and Tracy picked up 4th and 5th respectively when Brandon spun at Turn Two. Eric continued to move up through the field to finish inches behind Bo for second place. Jacob was third with Marc fourth. Brandon was able to get back around Tracy for fifth.
Tracy's three 6th place finishes were obviously not enough against Marc's 1st, 5th and 4th. But not only did Marc score enough points to finish ahead of Tracy in the championship but also jumped ahead of Jenna for fourth. After all the math was figured, the race for fifth turned out to be between Tracy and Jenna with Jenna just beating Tracy for fifth by only 10 points.
We had the pleasure of introducing Rick Friedmann and his son Craig to karting and found a kart for Craig to try out at the end of the day. Joey Seifert's Junior Sportsman kart fit him best and Craig did a couple of trial laps. Many thanks to the Seiferts for allowing Craig to use their kart when we found that ours was too big for him. Hopefully we'll see Rick and Craig out at MSOKC races regularly in 2004.
Cheering us on this weekend was just about the whole gang from the Dublin Goddard School where Dana is an assistant teacher. It meant a lot to us and especially Dana to have everyone come out to see Dana win the championship. Tracy's cheering section was there too. Chris and Mike are almost a regular part of the team these days and we're always happy to have them there. Thanks everybody!11 October - We Have A Hand In Enduro Win
Although only one-fifth of the team was available, Conlin SpeedSports had a hand in winning the 2-cycle segment of the MSOKC 1 Hour Enduro at Circleville Raceway Park. The team of Mike Unger, John Giacomelli and Yours Truly took over the lead from the Keith Hume/Brad Carroll entry with only six minutes left in the race. We used the speed of Unger's Biesse Parilla TAG on Vega tires to overcome the Hume/Carroll strategy of a single pit stop/driver change.
05 October - Tracy Gets a Big Break, Dana Wins, Subs and Samples
The penultimate round of the Mid State Ohio Kart Club championship was held on a clear Ohio autumn day perfect for racing. Tracy trailed Marc Rice by 8 points for the fifth position in the Briggs Medium class putting pressure on her and her crew to finish ahead of him in each of the day's races if possible. Dana had a comfortable lead in the HPV championship but one bad miscue could easily erase the 50 points she had in hand.
Starting fifth in Briggs Medium a bad start saw Tracy spending most of the heat chasing Jenna Gearhart for 6th with Rice just ahead in 5th. After making a couple unsuccessful attempts going into turn Three which compromised her line through Four, Tracy forced herself to be patient there on the last lap, nailed turn Four and pulled off the pass going into Turn Five. The extra position she picked up reduced the number of points Marc gained on her in that race from 4 to 2 and she knew she needed every point she could muster.
HPV enjoyed an unusually large field, several "hibernating" drivers coming out to play with their toys one more time before the track closes for the year. Marc Reifeis had pole with John Fox next him. Roberto Zayas was inside row two with Dana on the outside. It took three tries but when the green finally come out Marc got a good jump off the front row but not as good a jump as Don Wilbur got from the third row. Too good, actually as Don had to check up for fear of being penalized. Roberto, looking faster every time he goes out with that new Biesse proved to be tough to get around at the beginning of the race but halfway through the second lap he put a wheel off at six and Dana shot by. Next she set her sites on Fox who was in turn hounding Reifeis. The three of them had several exciting laps as John took shots at Marc and Dana took shots at John. With just over a lap to go Fox was able to get by Reifeis going into turn Seven. Dana took her turn at Marc at Nine, Seven, Nine (again) and Ten but had to settle for third place.
Tracy started sixth in the second Briggs heat just behind Jim Fisher but just one position ahead of Rice. A good start had her up to fourth place by Turn Three on the first lap. With Rice on her tail, she looked inside Jenna's kart going into Five but didn't have enough. But all was not well in Tracy's kart and she was fighting understeer before the first lap was over. At Four she backed out so as to not run off the road and that was all Rice needed. By the time they were at Five, he had fourth place. There was also nothing she could do to hold off Jacob Gearhart as he come up through the field, demoting her to sixth. By the checkered she had closed up a bit on Jenna again but sixth was all we could do in that race.
Heat Two for HPV got off to a funny start as polesitter Pat Tumeo came out of Turn Ten with his hand up causing Dana and then John to raise theirs. But the starter saw nothing wrong with the start and threw the green. Tumeo and Wilbur ran two-wide all the way to Three where Wilbur gave way. Dana had kept her 3rd position but John had slotted ahead of Roberto by Three. Things got a little bunched up there and Kelly O'Chocke, in only her fourth race, locked up her brakes and looped it around and off the track. Her race ended there.
At Nine Dana was able to get past Don and set out after Tumeo. Unfortunately for Pat, he overcooked it a bit in Five and after a pretty rough ride he rejoined the track at Six. Dana was able to just get by but John had to whoa things down a lot to keep from collecting Pat as he came back onto the black part. A lap later John was able to get by Pat for second but by then Dana was untouchable. She marked up her 16th win of the season.
Even though Tracy's heat finishes were fifth and sixth respectively, her aggregate score for those two races earned her a fourth starting spot in the feature - indicating her day had gone better than many of her competitors up to that point. The problem, of course, was Marc Rice's day was going even better still and he was starting in the third position. And if that wasn't interesting enough, who was that in the fifth starting position? None other than Dana Conlin in the Jenna Gearhart kart.
As the drivers were getting ready for the feature race, we noticed Jenna was not suited up and was saying good-byes to the others. When we asked why she wasn't in her kart we learned that the delayed schedule made the race conflict with her work shift in town. We asked if she had a substitute (the rules allow for a substitute driver provided the race director is informed) and when she said she didn't, we volunteered Dana to earn Jenna some of the points she would have won if she could stay to race.
It was all as last minute as it could be and we literally had to run to get Jenna's kart and Dana ready to race. Dana had never even sat in Jenna's kart and aside from about 8 laps in Tracy's kart two weeks before, she had not been in a Briggs for about a year. As she settled in and started to familiarize herself with Jenna's kart Dana asked me, "If for some odd reason I get into a position to pass Tracy, what do I do?" Hmmm, the sudden question of team orders complicated by the fact that we were winning points for someone else. Hmmmm. I thought about it the best I could in the pressure of the grid minutes before the race. "Tracy needs all the points she can get. You can push her but don't pass her. But don't block for her either." And with that, they opened the gate and the karts rolled off.
Tracy helped herself to a huge start and managed to get herself into second behind Bo Strawser coming out of Turn One. Tyler Tatman, eager to keep up with Bo was frustrated that first lap as he tried everything thing he knew to get by Tracy whose kart was handling better than it had in the second heat but not as well as Tyler's. Coming onto the main straight he got a run on her and she could just see his nose as the approached Turn One. She did her best to squeeze him down while not putting him off the pavement but Tyler has too many years of experience to be intimated like that so in the end it was Tracy that had to concede the corner. Meanwhile Marc was running fifth but shortly into the second lap his borrowed hot motor came apart and stranded him at Turn Three. This was a bad break for Marc and a great break for Tracy as it not only erased the six points Marc gained in the heats but stood the chance to move her ahead if she could finish well.
Back several positions Dana was holding down fifth place for Jenna and slowly drawing in John Spangler. At about half way Jacob Gearhart passed his sister's kart with the strange helmet behind the wheel for fifth and then got by Spangler a lap or two later. Going into Turn Nine with a little more than a lap to go, Jacob got by Tracy for third. Behind her, Dana was trying desperately to get Jenna another 4 points by passing Spangler for fifth but couldn't manage it - still it was 60 points better than she would have gotten without a sub. And we were happy to be able to help Jenna out. Regular readers of this site know how much Gearhart Motorsports has helped us out over the year. On the cool down lap Dana chased down her sister to congratulate her on another fourth place finish. Tracy's 4th gave her fifth in the championship by about 14 points. Better than when we started the day but not a comfortable margin by any stretch.
Dana didn't have much time at all before having to jump in her own kart for the HPV feature only two races later. Dana was outside row one with John on the pole. Taking her sister's lead, Dana got a huge start too, almost taking Don Wilbur with her as Fox struggled. Fox just barely held off Wilbur going through One and did an excellent job of closing up on Dana by Turn Four on cold tires. It became apparent that the eight laps in the Briggs or the change in prep routine just before her race was having a adverse affect of Dana as she got into Seven way too hot several laps in a row and had to fight off John all the way to Eight. Halfway through John had a huge moment in Nine, the result of him trying to pick up a tenth or two by using the inside curb. He hooked an inside wheel, got the kart up on the two outside wheels and by the time he had all four tires back on the ground and everything gathered up, Dana was way out there. She finished first and added two points to her Championship lead.
Before we packed everything up we finally got Tracy into the HPV for some laps. Tracy had been postponing a test in the HPV all summer thinking she wasn't ready for the extra acceleration and speed since she felt she hadn't mastered the Briggs. But with the season winding down she agreed opportunities would be limited. She was plenty ready as on her second lap she went flat through turns One and Two. She seemed to have no problem adapting and was throwing the kart through the corners like she'd driven it all season. In her second session she got to within almost a second of Dana's best time for the day. No doubt she's ready for a better kart and some more power.
Dana was also feeling adventurous. She took Mike Unger up on his offer to have her drive his Biesse ICC (125cc shifter). Her first session was purely familiarization but she was still a little frustrated with her lack of smoothness. Reminded by Mike of a recent quote from Bobby Rahal that "a 125cc shifter is the most violent" racing machine out there, more difficult to drive smoothly than a Champ Car or even Formula One car, Dana went out for her second session. She found some of that smoothness she was looking for and although there would be a lot more practice to be done before she could be competitive in ICC, she was happy for the chance to sample the (possible) future.
We again had the pleasure of having our own cheering section as Chris Bowman and Mike Radich came out to be a part of the team. Thanks for the support guys!.
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