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Dana |
24 September - Two More Wins In A Night Of Excitement
Tracy had a comfortable lead on the way to racking up another win
In the penultimate round of the Mid State Ohio Kart Club 2005 Championship season both ladies each scored decisive victories but both also had their share of frustration and excitement in other races. But while their results were similar, Spec 100 and TaG Senior races were in other ways extreme opposites. With the Ohio Valley Kart Association racing at Circleville Raceway Park the next day we were expecting higher entries in both classes and while that was true of Tracy's class, Dana's class was almost a no-show.
After the Sunday, September 18 race I was on a plane for Maui (no, it was a working trip - not much fun at all) and with this race the following Saturday, the karts never even come out of the trailer, very rare for us. After heavy rains earlier in the week the track was washed pretty clean of rubber and so we decided to sit out the first round of practice. When we learned that there would only be two rounds, we wondered if we made the right decision. Predictably, handling changes were requested on the green track.
In her second heat, Tracy (2nd from L) had plenty of company
For the first Spec 100 heat race Tracy drew the pole position and used it to her advantage with a great start and a great first lap pulling out an immediate gap. It may have helped that she had a few non-regular racers from the visiting OVKA club between her and her usual rivals but we take the bad breaks without complaining (well, too much) so we'll take the good breaks when they come our way. The bottom line was that Tracy was able get into a comfortable lead and then kept it for the rest of the race racking up yet another win in the very tough Spec 100 class.
In the Spec 100 Heat #2 Tracy found herself gridded 9th but picked up a position as soon as the flag dropped as Randy Ridder's coil went dead on the pace lap. Through attrition she picked up a couple of spots before the end of her race.
The win in Heat #1 and the 6th or 7th (whatever it was) in Heat 2 put her in the third starting position for the Spec 100 Feature. At the green, John Fox in another HPV-powered kart ran with her wheel to wheel all the way through Turn 2. But when they got to Turn 3 his fourth place starting position was an advantage and he was able to take 3rd away from her. After that John ran a "conservative line" (his words) and knew that she would have to really work to get by him. She looked everywhere she could and blackened her nose a little more but couldn't find a way past. Still, a fourth in the feature with a heat race win made for good points and a good night of racing.
It was this close at finish of the TaG Senior heat race #1
For Dana, her first heat was a lot like Tracy's Feature trying everything she knew to get by Luke Bailey running Len's kart. Luke started on pole and got a great start. Dana attacked continuously poking her nose in at Turns 7 & 9 and getting inside Luke at 10 a couple times only to come up a few inches short at the finish line. But we were lucky to have anyone to race with what with Chris Tatman, Tim Bussen and Jim Martin all missing the race to personal obligations. We were expecting to see a couple TaG racers from OKVA, which was racing CRP the next day, enter our race for more track time but none showed. Don't know if that was because OVKA doesn't have a strong TaG class or some other reason but as it was, had Luke not entered Dana would have been just going round in circles.
In the second TaG heat it was Dana's turn to get the better start. Once out front she really got everything together and built a substantial lead putting another win hash mark on the trailer. It was a win in a thin field but she did it in style posting her second best time ever at CRP on her way to the checkered flag.
Because Luke and Dana both had a race win for the night they were tied in points going into the Feature and, as we've found out before, the tie is broken by the draw for the first heat of which Luke had the lower, better number. So with Luke on pole and Dana outside they came up to the green both determined to get good starts. And they both did, staying even as they turned into Turn One. Cold tires and cold track under a nighttime sky had both karts clawing for traction as they slid through Turn 1 just barely avoiding contact. They stayed even down to Turn 2, another left hander putting Dana on the outside again but she knew if she could stay there she'd have an advantage going into the Turn 3 right-hander. But as they carved through Turn 2, this time they couldn't avoid contact and Dana was soon in a slow loop in the grass.
She was able to resume the race once the TaG Masters class rushed by and soon was looking to move up through the pack. Kevin Brown, who was experiencing problems with his kart knew she would be coming and waved her by on the backstraight. Earlier in the day she had been admiring the Biland engine that was making a rare appearance and as she worked her way up through the Masters class she was able to admire it in action as she closed in on it. In fact, she was eventually able to see it from multiple viewpoints as it spun around in front of her on the exit of the very fast Turn One. She couldn't study it for too long though - to avoid t-boning it she had to cut hard left and drive through the grass again. The second off track trip kinda put paid to her night and from there was happy to just cruise home to a sure second place finish.
Tracy's performance did much to solidify her 4th place position in the Spec 100 championship and Dana's night looks to have moved her into second place in the TaG Senior ranking. Not a bad night, all things considered. And we were especially pleased to have Mike and Matt Cannell of Kilisport, Ltd., come out to join us for the first round of heat races. Last but not least: thanks Julie for the video work, finally giving us some video captures to brighten up this report!
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