2003 & 2004 MSOKC HPV Champions
2004 MSOKC Super Can Runner Up

19 September - Dana Clinches HPV Championship, Tracy Secures 2nd In Super Can

Dana edges Marc Reifeis by inches to clinch the championship.

Great performances by both ladies locked up Vega Tire championship positions with Dana first in INFONETICS HPV and Tracy second in Hume Performance Products Super Can. Tracy did it in style taking 2 seconds and a third for the day. Dana got the 2 points she needed to clinch in an unforgettable race that saw her go wheel to wheel with Marc Reifeis in the final corners to edge him out by mere inches at the line.

Coming into this event we had figured Dana needed to gain four points on John Fox in the last six races (4 heats and 2 features) to win the championship. The points system used to determine class champions is a little complicated in that although we race 13 events, the points from only a driver's 10 best results are used. This is a friendly club way to allow families to go on vacation without ruining a championship attempt and to allow our racers to have a couple bad events and still have a chance for a good season. The downside is that it sometimes makes points tracking a little confusing.

Just to make things more exciting, Dana tore up her kart in practice

Tensions were high even before unloading because we knew we had to be as perfect as we could be to fend off John's late season gains. Things got even more tense when Dana made a very rare mistake at Turn 5 in practice. Although she didn't hit anything, there was a significant amount of damage to the kart - bent sprocket, broken chain, somehow she broke the bumper and most ominously, had the chain wrapped solidly around the crankshaft and clutch and wedged into the clutch guard so as to split the casting. The fear was that the crankshaft stopped so suddenly that it could have twisted or bent causing unpleasantries that I would not allow myself to imagine.

New 2004 80cc Shifter champion and metal working wizard Rocky Johnson dragged out his TIG welder and argon and got our bumper repaired in no time, He saved the day because no kart is allowed on the track without a rear bumper and we had no spares. Following that I set about checking the rest, straightening the driven sprocket hub, installing a new, lightweight plastic sprocket from Hume Performance Products, installing a new chain and reassembling everything.

While all this was happening, Tracy and Chris more or less handled the practice and prep of her kart. Fortunately, she was happy with the handling of the kart but was complaining of an air/fuel mixture problem that would be easy to correct. We got both karts out for the last practice session and things were looking up again.

The INFONETICS Gang

Adding a little more to the tension of the day was the anticipated battery of guests coming out to watch us. It was the 4th annual INFONETICS Day At The Races and out for the company outing was Dave & Mary Frea; Fred (FRED!) & Virginia Scheltz; Dawn, Paul, Josh, Lacey, Nathan Mechling & Dawn's step sister Jessica and Wade, Samantha & Alex Pinkston. Coincidentally, several of Dana's students' families were also coming out to get an idea of what "Miss Dana" does in her spare time. Phil Newlon (who shot some of the pictures on this page) brought out daughter Sedona and son Jordon and Chris & Christine Heider came out with daughter Camren and daughter Justine in tow. A big thank you to Circleville Raceway Park owner Steve Tatman for indulging us each year for these outings. And having all these folks out definitely inspired Dana, especially in the wild second heat.

John on Dana's heels early in Heat 1

En route to that second heat, the INFONETICS HPV heat 1 was up first for us and any hopes of getting an advantage from the random draw of starting positions were squashed when the grid sheet was posted: John drew the inside of row 1 with Dana on the outside - it would be a day of killer starts again. At the start Dana got the slightest advantage and then slammed the door on John going into Turn One. A little close by our usual standards but I think everyone involved realized things were getting a little more desperate. Behind them Marc Reifeis, making another appearance before the end of the season, slipped into third with Matt Rice fourth and Donnie Bellemy in Steve Tatman's kart running fifth.

Going into Turn 2 on the second lap John gave Dana a bit of a nudge just as she was turning in (not to mention that it's the fastest corner on the track) and gave her quite a moment. She was able to hang on and keep the position but it was unsettling enough that she didn't get her usual launch out of Turn 4 and faced a challenge from John again at the end of the backstraight. He couldn't quite get it done there though. Then coming out of Turn 10, John got a little too wide and put two wheels in the grass allowing Dana to open a comfortable lead. With one lap to go however he had closed back up but found no opportunity to get by.

Bob fought carb trouble, eventually handing 2nd place to Tracy

In Super Can Heat 1 Brad Carroll drew the pole with Steve Sharp next to him. Tracy was right behind Brad with Bob McConnell, recovering from some fairly serious medical problems lined up next to her. At start, Brad moved into the lead bringing Tracy with him and Bob right behind her. On lap 2 Tracy slid just a bit at Turn 3, lost a little momentum and that was all that Bob needed to run down the inside at 4. About mid-race though Bob starting having carb trouble and had Tracy looking for a way by. Eventually, with the condition worsening, Bob moved off line to let the faster kart through in a display of sportsman. Tracy then motored on to a solid second place finish recording her personal best ever lap of CRP (47.36) along the way.

Like rush hour at the Sawmill & I270 interchange - only 5 karts but all want the same spot

In the second HPV heat Matt Rice was on pole with Donnie outside row one. Marc was inside row two with Dana on the outside. John was alone on row 5. It was like rush hour at Turn 1 as Donnie was way slow getting off the start. Dana had no place to go but around the outside while Marc and John were able to carve through Turn 1 on pretty much their normal lines. Marc was still suffering from the mixture maladies that have plagued him the past few weeks. At the end of backstraight it was three wide (not a good thing) as Marc and John got around Matt. In fact, John looked set to press the issue and go inside Marc on the entry to 5 but decided that might be pushing his luck. After all, he was ahead of Dana at that point and if he ended up in the Turn 5 weeds the championship would be lost. John's been racing to long to be sucked into that one. Dana, meanwhile was stuck trying to find a way past the erratic power or Matt's motor. Going down the backstraight for the 3rd time she finally got by and started looking for the leaders.

With 2 laps to go Dana was far adrift in 3rd

With two laps to go it didn't look good. She was something on the order of three seconds (about 20 kart lengths) behind Marc. This was a disaster because the championship calculations we'd been working never included a kart splitting up Dana and John. Third place points would be moving us further away from the championship and Dana knew it. She pushed her kart as hard and she could and with one lap to go there was faint glimmer of hope. On the backstraight she was noticeably close. Approaching Turn 7, close enough to believe she might be able to do it. Through Turn 8 she looked like she could pounce but maybe wasn't close enough yet. Going into Turn 9 Dana decided it was desperation time. She left her braking later than I've every seen her in Turn 9 and was just barely able to get her nose inside. As Marc turned in, they banged wheels and both scrambled to get ahead without taking each other out.

	The heart-stopping final 2 corners of the second HPV heat. The 2 points Dana earned here clinched the championship.

Side by side at the exit. Side by side on the short straight to Turn 10. Side by side entering 10. Marc backed off slightly to keep from pushing up into Dana but she had the longer route around the corner. Side by side again midway through 10. Marc ahead coming out of 10. But in keeping his kart on a tight line and not drifting up the track and squeezing Dana out, he fell below the power range of his motor with the #4 pipe. Dana, meanwhile, with her 3 pipe was still in her power band and on the drag race up to the checkered Dana was able to make up the distance and at the line was about seven inches ahead.

McConnell gets sideways in 3 (top) - Ridder pops up above the crowd as Tracy pushes him over McConnell's nose.

Ryan Estepp had the pole for the second Super Can heat. He had Randy Ridder next to him and Bob and Tracy held down row two. At the green Ryan was into the lead with Bob getting a great start and moving ahead of Randy by Turn 2. Unfortunately, it all went for naught as he spun on the entry to 3 and coming to a stop in the middle of the road. Randy couldn't get by and ran up on the nose of Bob's Biesse Kart. Suddenly faced with two karts piled on top of each other, Tracy couldn't stop in time and clobbered Randy from behind, forcing him and his kart the rest of the way over the front of Bob's kart. How Bob didn't get his toes mashed flat is a mystery. Brad and Steve were able to get by and Randy and Tracy were able to resume. The McConnell kart on the other hand was dead in the water with broken steering.

Dana working to get a jump on John in the HPV Feature.

At the end of Lap 1 it was Ryan, Brad, Steve, Tracy and Randy. Completing the second lap, Steve bobbled in Ten and that was all Tracy needed to take 3rd place going into Turn 1. She stayed there the rest of the race. But before they were done, Ryan and Brad made it exciting up front as Brad was looking for a way past Ryan right up to the checkered flag.

John was in P1 for the HPV feature with Dana on the outside and she hoped to capitalize on that as the green dropped. She did but almost too well. She had a clear advantage as they crossed the line and I thought flagman Bob Strawser, even though the green was out, would throw the yellow to signal a restart. I even said to John's wife Sandy that Bob should restart that one.

Marc Reifeis spins out of 2nd place in the HPV Feature as Dana sneaks by

But Bob didn't reach for the yellow so we were racin'. At the end of the back straight John blew by Dana effortlessly. We're still not sure what happened there but it must have been a great launch off of Turn 4. The next lap Marc timed his turn 3 perfectly and shot down the inside of Dana at Turn 4 relegating her to third. At the exit of Turn 10 on that same lap Marc dropped a wheel off at the exit of T10 and spun. Dana was by without much drama but as Marc spun across the front straight right in front of Steve Tatman (back in his kart) and Matt. Steve had to take major avoidance just miss Marc. As Race Director Tom Hickey commented as the dust settled, "That coulda been BIG".

I had made a change to Dana's kart based on her debrief after Heat 2 and my best guess at what the track was going to do. As soon as the Vega tires came up to temp it was obvious I went too far and Dana was struggling with a loose condition and couldn't muster a run on John. At the finish it was John, Dana, Steve and Matt. Marc had retired as a result of his lap 2 spin.

Ryan hounded Tracy all 8 Feature laps.

The Super Can Feature was nice and boring for a change from Tracy's perspective. She started on the front row with Brad in P1. Ryan and Steve made up row two and Bob and Randy behind them. Brad was first through Turn 1 with Tracy and Ryan fighting over second behind him. That fight was settled by turn 3 with Tracy edging ahead on the exit. Ryan hounded her the whole race but she never put a wheel wrong and that's what he needed. She hung on to finish second. Three more races where she just put her head down and got the job done.

It was only after getting home, unpacking, showering and relaxing that we plugged the numbers into a spread sheet and began to realize our earlier calculations of the HPV points were flawed. We had left the track with a cloud of anxiety hanging over us about finding the 2 points we'd need in the final event the following weekend. The numbers on the spreadsheet were telling us it was a done deal. We checked several times and kept getting the same results. Still, I needed independent verification so I call the one guy that was probably looking just as closely at the HPV points - John Fox. He came up with the same result and offered his congratulations.

We'll be reviewing the season on a later report here but as I told John, he made us work very, very hard this season and that is what makes us better racers.

Ryan holds off Brad at the line in Super Can Heat 2	Tracy's nose was about to get even more familiar with Randy's bumper in Heat 2	Tracy makes her move for 3rd place in Heat 2.

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