2003 MSOKC HPV Champions
December '03 & January '04 Reports

29 January - Our Busy 2004 Schedule Announced

We've put together a schedule for 2004 but its kinda scary. As it stands right now, we'll contend the Mid State Ohio Kart Club champions with Dana defending her HPV title and Tracy learning the 2-cycle ropes in Super Can Heavy. The MSOKC series has just as many races as last year but we start later in the year and end earlier making for a more hectic pace. Both gals will also compete on the Great Lakes Sprint Series which also wraps up unusually early. The result is a concentration of races in June and July.

One interesting change down in Circleville is a series of Saturday night races in the dead of summer. Providing the mosquitoes are not carrying people off like last year, this will good for driver's and crew's stamina by working in the cool of the evening and may even get more folks out to watch the racing.

We're also planning on competing on our first WKA Manufacturer's Cup National Race Trane Motorplex in Norway Illinois. Being just a half hour west of Joliet, it's another chance for family back in Chicagoland to come out and see our hobby "up close and personal." The Manufacturer's Cup is the absolute best karters in the sport so we're prepared to be humbled but as usual, learn a lot.

Lastly, we've got a number of karting promotions on the calendar in our continuing effort to get more people exposed to this great form of racing. Check the schedule and plan to come out sometime to feel the excitement. But watch this schedule for changes too - we may be force to make changes if things get too intense.

06 January- Another Biesse Kart On Our Team

Another Biesse Kart will be added to our team for 2004. On order from our friends at J&J Racing in Erie, Pennsylvania, we hope to take delivery of our second Viper by the end of the month.

Having two karts of the same manufacture will alleviate some of the problems of maintaining an American and a metric kart. We were very impressed with the responsiveness of the Italian-made Biesse kart and are particularly impressed with the support J&J Racing (the sole US importer of Biesse Karts) provides its customers. Kart tracks in the United States compared to those in Europe tend to be used less and therefore have less rubber embedded in the racing surface - in short, European tracks are much "grippier". J&J is able to request design changes from Biesse specifically for the United States customers that make the karts more tunable for our use. And one of the reasons they know what to request is that J&J knows what it takes to win. They do a lot of it. J&J Racing won every CART Stars of Tomorrow event they entered in 2003 with drivers Robbie Pecorari and Josh Hunt.

We're not sure yet whether Tracy or Dana will get the new kart. We want Tracy to do the best she can in her first year of 2-cycle racing but at the same time, Dana is the defending HPV Champion and will likely have some other drivers looking to "de-throne" her. We'll have to see how pre-season testing goes.

01 January - Conlin SpeedSports Helps With Seminar

To help promote karting in central Ohio and perhaps shorten the learning curve of new karters (we learned slow) Conlin SpeedSports is teaming up with Mid State Ohio Kart Club, National Kart News and Mike Unger to present "Chassis Setup 101", a basic kart set up and tuning seminar to be held March 6th, in Circleville, Ohio. Friend, karting partner and NKN technical writer Mike Unger will cover a range of topics from scaling your kart to reading tire condition at the track. A pizza lunch is provided. The cost to attend is a reasonable $20 per person and the proceeds go to Mid State Ohio Kart Club.

If you're new to karting or are just interested in karting and would like to know what is involved in making a kart handle well, this seminar is for you! But seating is limited and pre-registration is required. Click here to see the seminar flyer and here for the pre-registration form.

17 December - A Little (And We Do Mean A Little) Local Exposure

Our two racers were mentioned in our local newspaper, Hilliard Northwest News, for the honors received at the Mid State Ohio Kart Club awards banquet back in November. It was only the barest of facts from a press release we sent out the week after the banquet but, still, better than a poke in the eye with a rusty tent stake. Click right here for a peek.

05 December - Profiled on Thunder Valley

Thunder Valley Racing, a web site "for woman racers and their fans" has updated Dana's profile and added Tracy's. Click on the logo to the left and then click the "Racer Profiles" Link under Meet The Racers section. Once there, scroll down to the Open Wheel Racers section to find Dana's and Tracy's profiles. While you're there, clicking on the "Racer Press Releases" under the Press Room section on the main page will get you to our press release about the girls' awards.

01 December - 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.

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