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

4 June - Still In A Slump

We (Tracy is far left) were on pace with the leaders but had nothing extra for them.

We still haven't got it all figured out yet and our slump continues. Although we were turning some of our fastest laps of the season in these new classes we weren't able to challenge for the lead in any of our races Saturday night. In fact, we were able to break into the top three only once when Dana finished there in the second TaG heat race. Low end performance seemed to put her at a disadvantage.

Things get crazy on the backstright in Spec 100 Heat 2.

Tracy had a good run going in her second heat too holding down fourth with her sights set on third when a rear hub suddenly failed throwing her off the track in a wild spin. The fact that her kart was even able to take the green for the Final and circle around for points was a testament t the help we got from D.W. Route and Nick Bowman in putting the thing back together with the bits and pieces we had to work with. Thanks guys.

The lack of speed is something we will have to find the time to track down, going all the way back to the fundamentals and working our way back up. It could be one thing working against us or a combination of things. The question is how soon we'll be able to find the necessary time given all our personal schedules.

Things looked good in practice with the karts feeling good and having competitive times. We even found time to have master welder Rocky Johnson repair some damage to the rear bumper from the crash with Jim Martin last race.

John Fox tries Tracy at Turn 7.

Tracy was up first in Spec 100 starting third but immediately fell to 5th. This, unfortunately would be the theme of the night. She stuck with the lead pack but when Eric Creech in his 2005 Biesse Kart got by Jason Stukey, he just drove off and left the rest of them to fight over 2nd through 5th. Late in the race John Fox made up his deficit in sixth and challenged Tracy for a top five finish. On the last lap he tried a run down the inside at turn 7... two karts... one line... you know the rest. John and Tracy both stayed pointed the right way but no one was really sure if they would there for a second or two. When they come out of Turn Seven Tracy retained her 5th place and John had to settle for 6th,

In TaG Dana drew the 4th starting spot but when the green fell she couldn't seem to get out of her own way and fell to 6th. She stayed there until Chris Tatman, fighting with Jason Stukey spun in Turn Ten. The inherited 5th place is where she finished.

Dana runs high in 10 to avoid Chris Tatman

In Spec 100 Heat 2 Tracy started 6th where she stayed until things got crazy on the backstraight. Coming out of Turn four, Mike Yoerger and Max Viney got together, both karts getting a little air in the process. Viney lost a lot of momentum during the airtime and ended up in the path of Randy Ritter. Randy couldn't avoid Max and spun after giving him a good shot too. That handed 5th place to our driver but at Five she was able to move into 4th past Viney who was still shaking off the effects of the banging around he'd just been through. Tracy was looking to make up time on third place and things were going that way until the right rear hub failed at Turn Six sending her into that wild spin .

TaG Heat 2 saw Dana gridded 3rd. Again we immediately lost a position at the start but 3rd became hers again when Stukey ran wide at Turn 5. She was able to educed gap to second place from 2.5 to 1 second in the last three laps but had to settle for third.

There was a lot of damage on Tracy's #99 kart from the crash in Heat 2. As mentioned earlier, we just barely had the time or the pieces to get her into the Final race. Even then, with the assortment of mis-matched parts we knew the race would be a compromise and just a run for points. The result of the fifth place finish in Heat One and the DNF in Heat 2 she was gridded deep in the field, way back in 8th and ran there the entire race.

Dana was gridded 4th in the TaG Final. Again she lost a position at the start and couldn't find a way to move any further up. With a little over a lap to go she looked to get inside Chris (who was in a fight for third) on the run from Nine to Ten but couldn't make it stick. Fifth is where we finished.

Sadly, this was a typical start this night - Dana (3rd from L) looses ground as the green flag falls.

Had a couple good fights out there, some good excitement, some bad excitement but overall feel we were off the pace. We'll keep working at it with the time we have.

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