2003 MSOKC HPV Champions
February & March '04 Reports

27 March - First (Disgusting) Laps

Thanks no doubt to the National Kart News week in Florida a last month, we got both karts on the track earlier than ever. The Saturday afternoon session was the ladies' first chance to try out the new Circleville Raceway Park pavement, however, we had no plans to lap for speed as the main objective was to break in the Ed Kesse-rebuilt HPV engine and the new Yamaha.

The track is about 1M% better than last year although there are currently three fairly severe bumps to content with. The first is right at the turn in point for Turn One which tends to unsettle the kart just as the weight begins to transfer. But that one didn't bother our drivers as much as the heave/drip going on at Four. And the bump at the exit of Nine was just a nuisance. CRP owner Steve Tatman says the company that did the resurfacing is supposed to come out and smooth out One and Nine but wasn't sure what could be done with Four. Steve had also just finished new run-out curbing at One, Four and Five that, at 30" or so wide, makes those corners new and faster. More...

21 March - I Stand Corrected, Sort Of

It has been pointed out to me that my knowledge of the Hip Hop lingo is so abysmal that neither Snoop Dog nor anyone in his Posse would have been able to decipher my opening lines of the March 20 entry. Even after some coaching from our resident experts I still wasn't getting it. Until I suddenly get younger or the Hip Hoppers get older, I guess I'll stow away my Bling Blings and stick to the King's English. It's okay though, I was getting tired of wearing my pants way down low like that anyway.

20 March - We Got Da Hizzle In Our MIzzles

I have no idea what that means but we gots to keep this site down low wit da kids, Dawg. What Snoop Dog would somehow get from that headline is that we have the horsepower in our motors. More...

13 March - Dana & Tracy Featured On Thunder Valley Racing

We are thrilled and delighted to discover that Thunder Valley Racing, a website "For Women Racers and Their Fans", has Dana and Tracy as their featured drivers for March. Thunder Valley is the most prominent web presence promoting female racers so that they should take an interest in our gals is very flattering and encouraging. Dana and Tracy are in good company too - NASCAR Winston Cup (Nextel, I know) driver Shawna Robinson and NHRA Pro Stock Bike Champion Angelle Savoie are two of only a few other featured drivers. And many, many more lady drivers are showcased in their Racer Profiles section.

We're not sure how long Thunder Valley keeps their featured driver articles up on the main page so make a point to check out www.thundervalleyracing.com sooner rather than later. Many thanks to Editor Karen Salvaggio and the Thunder Valley staff for the pointing their limelight our way.

06 March - Chassis Setup 101 Seminar A Success

Chassis Setup 101, a seminar designed to help local karters understand how their racing karts work and how to make them go faster was a unqualified success. Teaming up with Mike Unger, we had 24 racers enroll to learn the basics on alignment, scaling, kart dynamics and how to tune at the track. Mike, an engineer and driver training instructor for by profession in Marysville was perfectly suited for designing and leading the class. Conlin SpeedSports with our web presence, electronic tools and penchant (obsession?) for organization was a natural for handling the logistics. And our built-in staff was able to handle all the backstage and check-in stuff allowing Mike to concentrate on the classroom. More...

27 February - Florida Spring Training Day 7: Betrayed By The Weatherman, Emphasis Is On Fun

Throughout the week the forecast, however gloomy in the middle, promised a beautiful, if cool, day on Friday. So we were disappointed to say the least when we woke up to a low, thick cloud cover. The clueless suit & tie in front of the map on TV tried to say it was some sort of coastal version of lake-affect snow. At the track it was cold, misting and generally miserable. We considered just packing it in and getting home a day earlier. But since I had accurately predicted what would happen after the shower Thursday, I was asked to forecast and advise. We decided to stick it out. More...

26 February - Florida Spring Training Day 6: Our Best Day Yet & Dana Impresses Montoya

When we got to the track Thursday morning the Easykart trailer was already there and setting up. Pablo Montoya (Formula One driver and future World Champion Juan Pablo Montoya's father), the importer of the Easykart was still en route somewhere between Palmetto and Miami. National Kart News owner, Curt Paluzzi cranked off a number of photos for the magazine while Mike studied the kart. Once again, you will have to read Mike's report when the article appears in National Kart News to see what he thought of it so I'll just say it is an interesting kart and an interesting concept. More...

25 February - Florida Spring Training Day 5: Rain Gives Us A Green Track

Okay, so we got rained on. And it was a little cool (67). But a bad day at a kart track in Florida is still better than a good day at the office.

Awoke to pouring rain but by the time we got to the track, the rain had subsided and beautiful blue sky could be seen to the west. Unfortunately, it stayed there, tantalizingly, frustratingly close but wouldn't work its way over the track. As a result, the track was very slow to dry and required a lot of squeegee work on the big puddles.

The TS Racing guys came early to do a photo shoot, interview and driving impressions of the Corsa Veloce which they are the new U.S. importers of. The Veloce/Sonic was fitted with rain tires and Mike did about a half dozen sessions before turning the kart back over to the team to do some laps. More...

24 February - Florida Spring Training Day 4: Tire Work And Test Driving A New Package

First order of business was to find some compressed air with high enough pressure to pop the beads of about a dozen tires onto the rims of about a dozen wheels. Mike's nitrogen tank didn't have the necessary regulator to do that safely. So a tour of Palmetto gas stations was undertaken but who ever has the franchise for those $0.25 air pump/vacuum machines has done well in central Florida - we could find no gas station with the old reliable big, loud compressor. More...

23 February - Florida Spring Training Day 3: Learning & Gearing

Even in the age of wireless, digital, microwave communication, the Chinese Telephone is still as effective as it ever was. Moving information through several human beings never was and never will be an efficient means of getting facts from one place to another. So it was no surprise when we rolled up to the gates of the Cooper Motorsports Park at the prescribed time a padlock & chain were cinching them closed. Mike tracked down Curt of National Karting News, who was about 5 hours away and verified that the plan called for us to be there at 9am. We had been considering climbing over the No Trespassing signs to at least walk and inspect the track and had even determined what tools we'd need to to use on which nuts and bolts to quickly and efficiently disassemble the gates, if it came to that. More...

22 February - Florida Spring Training Days 1 & 2: Nearly Uneventful Travel

With a bite in the air and the occasional dusting of snow flakes we loaded up Mike Unger's trailer and were on the road with him and fellow Honda Transportation Research Center test driver Roger Schroer shortly after 9 a.m. and heading south. Quickly we realized we would be learning a lot on this trip but not only at the track. Just eavesdropping on Mike and Roger Schroer as they talked about technical observations and testing experiences - each story either intensely interesting, hair-raising or hysterical - was an education in itself. It came out early in the ride that Roger's several jobs as a Honda commercial "stunt" driver makes him a member of the Screen Actors Guild. Imagine that: Us traveling to Florida with a card-carrying member in good standing of the Screen Actor's Guild. More...

20 February - A Week Of Karting In Sunny Florida

We're starting our season early in 2004 with a trip to the new Palmetto kart track near Tampa, Florida, where the forecast calls for sunny days and temps in the 70s.

No, we haven't become so obsessed as to think this is the cost of defending a lil' ol' club championship (although this certainly won't hurt our chances). A week of karting in warmer climes is an opportunity we just couldn't pass up. Back in December National Kart News asked their technical writer and our friend Mike Unger (or maybe he asked them) to do some chassis testing in Florida for the magazine. Mike thought having an excuse like that to spend a week out of the snow and cold playing with karts was a pretty good idea so he agreed. But he also thought it sounded like an awful lot of work and he asked if he could invite an assistant test driver. When he asked Dana if she wanted to be a test driver and me if I wanted to be a test session crew chief, we thought having an excuse to spend a week out of the snow and cold playing with karts was a pretty good idea too so we agreed. More...

09 February - Conlin SpeedSports Takes To The Skies

Acting on a dream she's had for a long time, Dana has begun ground school and flight training at Bolton Field, southwest of Columbus. Paying her own way and racing from work in Dublin to the airport with no time to eat dinner, she'll be spending an evening each week taking copious notes and learning aeronautics from the ground (literally) up. The first day of class covered concepts of the internal combustion engine and induction system which she seemed to grasp with no trouble. Funny since I've been trying to get her to grasp them for five years and her teacher can do it in 2 hours. More...

07 February - It's Official, Tracy To Race Super Can

After three months of discussion and conjecture over whether Dana and Tracy should both race HPV in 2004, the issue was put to rest at the Ohio Valley Karting Association's annual swap meet. With the help of our 2-cycle engine builder Ed Kesse, we were able to negotiate the purchase of a Yamaha Super Can engine with a fairly prestigious history. More...

01 February - 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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