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

31 December - A Look Back At '04

As we look back at 2004 we first have to thank God for the blessing of another safe racing year. Beyond that we can enjoy the success of an extraordinary year. As we ramped up for the '04 season we were hoping Dana would be able to defend her '03 MSOKC HPV championship with a new Biesse Viper kart and were anxious to see how Tracy would do in her first year of 2-cycle racing with the team's older Viper. After some pre-season testing we made the bold statement that we were going to try to win both the MSOKC Super Can and HPV championships. We came close.

Our season started early with pre-season testing in Florida courtesy of National Kart News. The highlight of that week at Cooper Motorsports Park in Palmetto was the invitation by Juan Montoya for Dana to try the Easykart there for testing and shown well. The rest of the week was effective in Dana and I learning the new kart and allowed us to focus on Tracy's program when we got back to Ohio. More...

Dispatch File Photo

26 December - Dispatch Revisits Conlin SpeedSports

Capping off a run of publicity for us over the past several weeks, The Columbus Dispatch included an update on our team in their annual Year-End Updates edition. You can find it in the December 26 Life section on page E3. Take a peek at the Dispatch article here.

We're thrilled with the attention we've received this year and especially in the past month. Many, many thanks to Eileen Dempsey for two great articles (August 9 & December 26), to fellow racer Tom Rice for making Eileen aware of our racing effort and to the Dispatch for its interest. Also, thank you to Nate Ellis of ThisWeek Newspapers for his time and talent in writing the December 23 article in ThisWeek Hilliard. And last but not least, to Mandy Yost of the Hilliard Northwest News for the article that appeared in that newspaper December 16.

We are very pleased and flattered that each of these news organizations saw merit in our story. We hope that these articles will promote karting to families and motorsports to women athletes. And the exposure afforded us by these papers will surely aid us as we progress further in the sport and rely more heavily on outside funding.

By Darrin Bryan/ThisWeek

23 December - More Local Print

A week after a nice article in the Hilliard Northwest News, ThisWeek Hilliard newspaper did a feature story on our drivers. Unfortunately, this issue was delivered to homes in and around Hilliard in the early hours of a massive snow storm so it is likely most of the papers are under 4 inches of wet snow, 1.5 inches (we measured) of ice topped by another 2 inches of dry, grainy snow. But the publisher delivers the papers in a nice plastic bag so when our townsfolk find it in March or April it should still be in pretty good shape. But if you can't wait that long, it is on-line for a while at the ThisWeek Newspapers website. Check it out.

16 December - Short Story In Hometown Paper

Our drivers were spotlighted in a support article for a feature done on Adams Roberts a karting friend of ours here in Hilliard. The Hilliard Northwest News led off the Inside Hilliard section with a nice picture of Charlotte national winner Adam and his kart and gave the female perspective on karting on the next page. Check out Sisters find there's no glass ceiling in go-karting.

11 December - The St. James Treatment, Day Four

Lyn intros "The Business Of You"

Saturday, the final day of structured Lyn St. James Foundation Driver Development Program classes, the ladies returned to Phoenix International Raceway, the site of the on-track activities on Day One. But this time they hardly even saw the track. Instead, laptops in hand, everyone found a seat in the PIR Media Center where the morning session was shared by Mike Trotter, Executive Director of Purdue University's Department of Consumer Sciences and Retailing and Mike Prusinski, Communications Manager at PIR.

Mike Trotter presented "The Business of You", sound concepts for finding, approaching, signing and keeping sponsors. He made it very clear to the women that they weren't looking for charity but that they had significant opportunities to offer businesses and that on any level, they could provide valuable exposure and awareness for their sponsors. More...

10 December - The St. James Treatment, Day Three

Dana loads up the HPI software

If day two was intended to wear the ladies out physically, day three was designed to wear them out mentally.

The morning session was led by Dr. Jacques Dallaire of Human Performance International who guided the Lyn St. James Foundation Driver Development Program students through the challenges of performing at their peek. "Dr. Jacques" explored powers and effects of focus, concentration, stress and fatigue and offered methods to monitor and manage them. Physiological affects of peek athletic performance on heart rate, oxygen intake, and muscle strain were reviewed leading to recommendations on proper body conditioning for professional race car drivers. More...

09 December - The St. James Treatment, Day Two

Day Two started at 7 am for breakfast with all 21 ladies suited up and ready for a long day at Phoenix International Raceway. By 9:00 Dana was lapping the infield road course in a Improved Touring-ish Mustang. Dana, having never driven a car that heavy or that powerful, didn't get comfortable very quickly. Other racers that had more or at least some big car experience got on pace right away. More...

08 December - The St. James Treatment, Day One

Day one was really just about getting there. There being Goodyear, Arizona, suburban Phoenix. Dana left first thing in the morning, insurance against weather, mechanical, air traffic, flight crew or any one of a hundred other delays that would jeopardize her getting there on Day One. Activities for the Lyn St. James Foundation Driver Development Program were set to start at 8 am Thursday so Dana being delayed overnight was out of the question.

Being a little short staffed at work and not wanting to take more time off than absolutely necessary, I left early Wednesday evening and if I got delayed it would not be the end of the world. Things ran on schedule for both of us (because we purposely avoided Chicago O'Hare when making the reservations) Dana arriving mid afternoon and I late in the evening. More...

Being Dale Bethel

03 December - See What It's Like Out There

Friend and fellow Hilliard kart racer Dale Bethel has put some very cool video footage on the web. Outfitted with a lipstick style camera mounted on his helmet and a small camcorder strapped around his waist, he captured a full MSOKC Shifter Kart race at Circleville Raceway Park. If you ever wondered what it is like to race full bore in a kart around CRP, this will put you in the driver's seat (and to enhance the effect, have someone kick you in the ribs every time Dale turns the steering wheel).

Some of you may remember we fitted a video camera to Dana's kart back when she was running the Briggs class - until it got shook to pieces - that provided some cool footage but Dale is using more sophisticated equipment and gives the viewer the true driver's perspective. And, he's made it available to everyone to watch! It's about 8 minutes long and takes a few minutes to download even with Broadband but it is worth the effort. Well done Dale and we're looking forward to more next season!

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