2003 MSOKC HPV Champions

28 August - A Short, Soggy Night

Even with a late arrival to the track after getting Julie settled into her dorm at Ashland University (her absence is why we have no pics for this report) the oppressive heat had us drenched within minutes of getting out of the van. There was a small period of relief as the cold front came through but that was followed by heavy rains drenching us again. We were able to get two heats in for Dana to make it a complete event for her but Tracy's raceday will conclude on September 11.

Although Julie never caught the race driving bug, she certainly shares her sisters' determination and her arrival to Ashland University was a culmination of four year's worth of work. Throughout her high school years, whenever the subject of college and college tuition came up, she always said she was going to win a scholarship to a great school. I always gave her my encouragement but my optimism was guarded knowing that those scholarships can be elusive. But Julie was determined and when she was awarded Ashland's President's Scholarship last fall, she was the least surprised of all of us. So Freshmen move-in day was a Victory Lane of sorts for her even though it would be followed immediately by another bigger race. Good luck Jooge, we know you'll make the most of it.

Had Ashland rules not booted the parents and family out by early afternoon, we would have skipped the race altogether. As it was, we only missed practice. Dana was up first starting 3rd behind John Fox. She had a little bit of trouble finding a way past Matt Rice but did after a couple laps. Matt was running the 4 pipe like John and continues to get faster. After the race both Dana and Joh complained of bizarre handling on the rapidly cooling track. A cold front had moved in and bright sunshine and humidity was quickly replaced by threatening clouds and cooler air.

We were keeping a close watch on the weather as Tracy prepared to race her first heat. Just before the we started the karts, we were tipped off that there was oil down in Turn 2. Based on that report we told Tracy to be sure to not take her normal line through 2 but to stay to the left on the exit. It turned out to be great advice.

Starting from the outside of the second-to-last row, she managed to wind her way to the inside of another kart and get that inside line for 2. Two other karts, that hadn't got the warning, were sideways before going into three. Contrary to what some folks wanted to believe, she was no where near these two and no way involved. This was verified by new Super Can competitor, Doug Cvelbar who was immediately behind her. She dodged an obstacle course again, picked off a few more karts and eventually finished 7th.

Mr. Cvelbar was quite a sub plot though. He was competing in his first kart race in a kart he designed, sourced, built and tuned himself. I didn't think anyone could build a racing kart themselves any longer and expect to be competitive but Doug proved me wrong. I was amazed at how he was able to run with a group of the class' regulars and he should be proud of his efforts. Word has it that he's got some improvements in mind for his second model due out next year. Super Can may have to look out for him and his creation in 2005.

Back at our pit area, the skies were really beginning to look ominous and we spent a good deal of time hanging onto our canopy while the wind gusts came through. We were playing the old do-we-take-it-down-and-get-rained-on or leave-it-up-and-have-it-blown-away game. Dana (with her recent ground school training) and I (with my ancient air traffic control training) make pretty good meteorologists - at least for 20 minutes into the future. We decided it would rain but that the gusts would subside after a few minutes. We called it right and when the skies finally started weeping much later, we were undercover.

I wish though that we had forecasted the track conditions better and really, it was just a matter of being distracted by the storms. We made only minor changes when, had I been concentrating, I would have made a big change. Steve Tatman gave up his second starting position in HPV due to some carb problems and that moved Dana up to pole and John to outside front row. Not a good deal for us as, if you're a regular reader, know by now that pole in HPV seems to be a disadvantage. Dana did what she could to prevent that advantage but John was still out front exiting Turn 1.

As early as the first lap you could tell that everyone was having a heck of a time getting grip. John was making mistakes. Dana was making mistakes - including putting four wheels off at Turn 4, something she hasn't done since her earliest Briggs days. After that off she was able to close back in on John but even though the track was completely dry, it was like driving on ice and she never got around him. Hindsight being 20/20 if I had been a little smarter/brighter/more focused (you pick) and had done the chassis change that should have been done, it would have been a walk for Dana.

We weren't going to make the same mistake twice and changed Tracy's kart for the conditions Dana reported when she came off the track. She was starting from pole and we had high hopes for a good finish. But two races before hers was to go, the rain that had been threatening for over an hour finally broke loose and we were done for the night.

Dana earned the points from each heat race and from the starting position she would have had for the feature. The result is that John gained 8 points on us. With three races to go, we are very vulnerable. A few more races finishing behind John and we loose first place in the championship. It looks like it will go down to the wire in HPV.

Tracy's second heat will be run on September 11, our next regularly scheduled race and total points for August 28 will be decided then. We really kinda screwed that up too. We knew rain was likely but we had Tracy take a conservative, patient approach to Heat 1. We see now that it was the wrong tactic and that she should have been as aggressive as ever with the prospect of only two races to really earn points in. Even if she wins the postponed Heat 2 on the 11th she'll only get mid-pack points for the feature and will likely turn out to be one of our dropped races.

Oh well, that's why we love racing, there's always something new to learn. We'll know next time.

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