2003 MSOKC HPV Champions

07 August - Tire Test For NKN and Another Win

Dana pushes on a new set of Vegas.

Our Saturday started early with an invite by National Kart News to do a comparative tire test between various compounds of Vega Tyres. (Watch this site for notice of that forthcoming article.) With the tire tests completed it was time to focus on the evening of racing ahead of us. It was a fair night (with the exception of some blatant blocking in Tracy's second heat) with Tracy claiming another second and Dana another win in the heats races. Both gals did well to solidify their places in the standings.

But we're certainly not out of the woods yet - a few more second places to John Fox and

Downloading test data.

Dana could find herself second in the INFONETICS HPV Championship. We're gonna keep trying to have Tracy whittle away at the lead Brad Carroll has but to make up the 60some points he has over us would be quite an accomplishment at this point. Brad and his dad, Randy, have been in a class of their own in Super Can.

We were at the track by 10:30 at the invite of Mike Unger who was commissioned to do a technical article for NKN on the three Vega Tyre compounds. Mike was concerned that the massive power of his Biesse Kart ICC shifter would mask some of the subtle differences. Having worked with Dana a bit in the Florida spring training we did, he thought that she could give him good feedback and he could just play reporter this time.

Quickly bolting on the next set of tires.

After dialing in the kart the best we could (the track had lots of grip in some sections from the rubber the SKUSA karts put down the week before and virtually no grip in other sections thanks to the dirt that the Pro Motard motorcycles put down the night before) we sent Dana out on brand new Blues. She did 10 laps, came in and debriefed with Mike. Next we sent her out for 10 laps on Whites, came in, described what she felt to Mike. Sent her out for another 10 laps on Yellows, came in talked with Mike. Her main objective was to push pretty hard in each session but do each session exactly the same - same warm up, start pushing at the same point, run the same number of laps. I have no idea what her impressions were because I wasn't included in the debriefs, I was too busy changing tires. I guess I'll have to read it in an upcoming issue like the rest of you.

Tracy edged Brad at the start but it didn't last long.

So Dana's kart was ready to go by the time official practice started and this allowed us to work on Tracy's a bit more. By the time the first heats rolled around, we were pretty much ready to race.

Jason Stukey closes in on Tracy late in Heat 1.

Hume Performance Products Super Can was up first for us and Tracy happened to pull (by lottery) an outside front row starting position next to - you guessed it - Brad Carroll. No stretching out a lead while Brad fights his way through the pack. Oh no, it seems whenever she'd starting up front, Brad's right there too.

The field did about six pace laps as Larry Stukey stalled out at the far end of the oval. I'm beginning to think it is a conspiracy to force me to excercise. The drivers take turns stalling and then everyone waits for me to grab our starter and run out there. I guess it's working, I think I've lost a few pounds. Once everyone was rolling and ready the green flag fell and although Tracy got the slightest jump at the start, Brad was by heading out of Turn 1. Jason Stukey was having none of the problems his dad had and was running a strong third and made things exciting late in the race as he closed right in on Tracy in second. But no positions changed and it was Carroll, Conlin and Stukey claiming the top three spots.

Too many karts on the same piece of road and Dana cranks on opposite lock.

In the first HPV heat, Dana drew starting position 4 in a six kart field. John was starting just behind in 5th. The start didn't go to well for either of them and both found themselves on the tail all the way to Turn 9. There it got a little exciting for Dana and John as Dana moved right to get inside Jed Aston and John moved right get inside Dana. That was about one too many moves to the inside and in a instant Dana had opposite lock cranked on trying to get the kart back straight. She did - nice save - and continued on to move up to the lead by lap 4. John followed but was hung up in traffic a bit and never had a chance to challenge.

Tracy tries to find a little piece of track to pass on.

Before reporting Super Can heat two I need to get something off my chest. They call it "racing" for a reason. No one says, "Hey, let's go to the Horse Blocks". Or, "My friend and I had a block and I won". And no one is ever introduced as a championship blocking driver. We'll say it again, our competitors can expect our drivers to use unconventional lines only on the last lap. Not everyone agrees with this philosophy. I wish they did because to run down the middle of the track the whole race in a desparate attempt to keep faster racers behind is not racing and not good sportmanship.

Anyway, Tracy started in 10th position, fell to last before the end of the first lap and worked her way up to fifth by lap three. She finished in fifth. Bob McConnell had a great run though, stretching out a big lead over Jason and Brad.

It was about this time that our neighbor, Chris Dorsey with his son Justin, came out to see us race a bit. Chris used to race karts years ago but switched to two wheels. He's been afraid to come out for fear he'd get the kart bug again. Even though they didn't stay long (maybe he felt the bug coming on) it was fun to have them out.

Half the HPV field was taken out at 8.

Dana and John did absolutely nothing to make the seond HPV heat entertaining. At the start John got out ahead and pulled away. Dana held down second all the way to the end. The excitement was behind them as half the field went out at turn 8 mid-race. It was an unfortunate development for two HPV racers, Jed Aston and Craig Rodingor, out racing for the first time this year. The incident put Jed's kart on the trailer and it might be a while before he's back

Starts don't get much more even than this one in the Super Can feature.

In the Super Can feature Tracy was P4 behind Carrol, Stukey, McConnell. At start, she was forced wide at Turn 1 and had a desparate fight with Brien Snider to keep from falling behind him. At 3 they sorted it out with Snider going wide and Tracy retaining fourth place but adrift from Bob and Jason fighting over 2nd. Brad was doing his usual drive off into the sunset - or in the direction the sunset would have if it hadn't set a couple hours before. Tracy was able to catch up to to the Bob and Jason Show but she couldn't do much about it once she was there. But with two laps to go, when she had to move slightly off line to avoid running into the back of Jason's kart a wheel in the dew gave her a big moment and she was lucky to keep her kart on the track. But any hope to take a shot at Jason was gone and she had to be satisfied with fourth.

Another even start - exactly what Dana didn't want.

Dana and John were tied for the day's points going into the feature and the tie breaker is the lottery draw that determines the starting position for the first heat. Which put Dana right where she didn't want to be. The outside starting position still seems to get a better run to Turn 1. At the green Dana did her best to get the jump on John but by the first turn he was ahead. And it was alarming how quickly he pulled away. Enough so that we may have to take a close look at the health of our equipment and make some investments with what's left of a meager budget to keep us in the championship.

Thanks to Mike for the photos from the test session and to as always to Julie for the video that provided the rest of the vid capture pics. In the week between races (next race Sunday, August 15) we'll try to find a little more speed for Dana and a few breaks for Tracy.

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