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

30 April, 1 May - New Castle Motorsports Park: The Way A Track Should Be

We used the off weekend to make our first visit to the New Castle Motorsports Park, Comet Kart Sales' track about 40 minutes east of Indianapolis, and we're very excited to be returning there in a couple weeks for our first Midwest Sprint Series race. We learned a lot about the track and our PRD engine there but we were just blown away by the facilities that NCMP has put together for their kart racers. This is the model for which all new karts track should be designed on. Full service restaurant, full kart shop and 2 sets of walk-in, heated, flush bathrooms!!! Not only that but Mike, Mark, Donna and Mark Dismore himself all made us feel welcome and appreciated throughout both days. They even were offering apologies for practice starting late due to the Red Bull Driver Search taking longer than planned. Apologies. Imagine that. After our treatment a week before, NCMP was absolute karter heaven. More...

27 April - Thou Shalt Not Covet...

...Thy Neighbor's Motorhome, or Big Trailer, or Heaters. In the April 22 - 24 entry here I make reference to the motorhomes and trailers and other amenities that were in long supply among the National race regulars and as I read it over now (finally dried and thawed out) it is obviously a case of sour grapes. Although the tension between the Haves and the Have-Nots is legend within motorsports, in karting the right driver with the right kart package can still arrive with his kart stuffed in the back of his station wagon and blow everyone into the weeds. Those things would have made the miserable weekend at BeaveRun more bearable but they wouldn't have made us faster. We have more basic work to do.

I stand by all my other comments in that entry though.

Dana and Tracy get rain advice from Brian (lower R) while Sean tends to the #13.

22 - 24 April - The Big Experiment , Part 2: Our First And Probably Last National Race

There is no way to abbreviate this report.

I'll start off by saying that if it weren't for Brian O'Hara and Sean Dillon working like dogs (cold, wet, malnourished, mangy, feral dogs [Sean even slept on the floor one night]), we would have had virtually no track time at all over the two days we were at the WKA George Kugler Winter Nationals presented by Bridgestone at BeaveRun Motorsports Complex. I can't thank those guys enough and wonder whatever made me think I could tune for two karts at a race like this. In my defense I could say that, being our first national, I had no idea of what was to be expected from us/me. But, we had a lot working against us too. Not the least of which was the weather followed by the organizers and then the track management itself. More...

16 & 17 April - The Big Experiment , Part 1

For Tracy the weekend was one long practice session

The Empire State Series divisional event at BeaveRun Motorsports Complex on the Wilson Kart Circuit served as a "dress rehearsal" of sorts for our first national race which will be held there the following weekend. And just as in theater, the dress rehearsal brought to light a number or miscues and problems that we wouldn't have wanted to have during the live performance.

For Tracy both days were nothing more than practice sessions even though she was entered in championship races. The focus was entirely on her learning the track and improving each session, which she did. She never had the kart off the track all weekend and very quickly applied the advice that Brian O'Hara (tuning and coaching for us again) offered. By the end of the weekend she knew where she was fast and where she still needed work.

Since Tracy was entered in both HPV Lite and HPV Heavy classes, she had on-track activities both days and had a lot of track time to work up to speed. Dana, on the other hand, had only one TaG class to enter and had to get her program going in short order. For her, this would be a refresher having tested and raced here in 2003. It would also be only her third outing in her new PRD Fireball powered Biesse kart. Getting laps would be the name of the game on Sunday.

Battle scars in the form of rubber streaks on the driver fairing

Unfortunately, getting all the laps we wanted was not in the cards. First, the second round of practice was drastically cut to keep the program on schedule. Then, minutes before Dana was to go out for qualifying (helmet & gloves on, ready to jump in) I noticed a problem with the clutch and after investigating briefly, determined that an attempt to qualify could only cause massive damage. The repair was an easy one once we were back at our pit but the lack of a qualifying time put Dana at the very back of the grid, 20th position.

In the pre-final Dana was able to carefully pick her way through several of the karts in front of her and generally had a good, fun run. The final, though, wasn't nearly as fun nor good. At the green Dana, starting 15th, managed to improve one position immediately and was working on picking up another spot before the first turn as the field funneled into Turn One. Up ahead someone from the fourth row had his mind set to win the race at the first corner. Suddenly karts were everywhere and the side of the track where Dana was working her pass for 13th was instantly completely blocked. As she was hard on the brakes and aiming for the grass to go around on the inside, one of the drivers behind her didn't seem to see the pandemonium up ahead and crashed into the back of her. When he did he was launched over Dana's RR wheel, the engine, Dana's shoulder and skimmed down the front fairing our our kart, running over Dana's hand on the steering wheel in the process. Because the spark plug lead had been knocked off by the other kart, our kart rolled to a stop and since still haven't tracked down the starter problem, Dana couldn't have restarted her kart once it died so her race ended there at Turn 1. Although the EMTs offered a cold compress and other attention, Dana refused treatment for her hand and shook it off.

So it was a good dress rehearsal for Tracy and valuable one for Dana what with the clutch problems and wild TaG start. Next week will be The Big Experiment, Part 2. We have no grand allusions. We will definitely be out of our element. Our realistic goals will be to finish mid-pack in all three classes. But no matter where we end up in the final standings we will be watching and learning every step of the way.

Special thanks to Brian for giving up his Saturday (and to fiancé Emily for giving up her Brian for a Saturday) to help us get faster sooner and patiently teach me about front end tuning. And thanks too to John at J&J Racing for always taking time out of his very busy day to offer suggestions and support.

10 April - Better Then We Expected

Dana (L) forces the issue with Todd Mees to get her first win of the season

Considering that neither kart had turned a wheel eight days before the first Mid State Ohio Kart Club race of the season, we were pleased with our performance at Race 1 on April 10. Both ladies adapted well to their new motors with only about a day of practice each. Tracy was in the top four positions of Spec 100/HPV all day finishing 2nd in a heat race and 3rd in the feature. Dana also did well claiming a heat race win and a couple of seconds. A lot of credit also has to go to old friend Brian O'Hara, who while taking a year off from racing himself to prepare for a November wedding, offered his experience and intuition to our team. Nearly all the changes he suggested throughout the day resulted in better laps. We still have some work to do but we've started the process and have a good team to make it happen.

Tracy (L) takes a look inside Charlie Hughes as Eric Creech (foreground) drives off to a heat race win.

Tracy got her year off to a great start by finishing second in her first Spec 100/HPV heat race to Mike Yoerger, who has owned that class for the last seven years or so. In the second heat Tracy fought for third all race long but had to settle for fourth behind Marc Reifeis and Charlie Hughes. This after making a killer start from sixth and passing two karts by Turn 3. Eric Creech, meanwhile, just walked away from the field in his brand-new Biesse Kart. Then, starting outside Reifeis on the front row for the Feature she slipped to third after leaving her mark on Yoerger's sidepod as they fought for second through One and down to Two. She had Eric right on her tail the rest of the race but never made a mistake and finished third.

Dana was still getting used to the power of the PRD Fireball as the green flag fell on her first TaG race. Starting third she fell back to fourth before regaining third and then moving into second. In the second heat race, Dana again started third and when Jim Martin ran wide at Seven Dana slipped through into second behind Todd Mees. On the last lap she stuck the nose inside at Nine and slipped into the lead for her first win of the season. For the final, Dana was gridded on pole next to Chris Tatman. At the start Chris got an awesome start and leapt out to a huge lead right from Turn One. But it wasn't just the start, Chris continued to stretch his lead in the Easykart the rest of the race, obviously having found something during the break that brought it all together. Nice work to him and his crew.

Not a bad outing for so little pre-season testing. But we've got a lot of work to do on the Fireball and continued development with the HPV. The next few weeks will provide us with huge opportunities to get the most out of our equipment and drivers.

04 April - Dana In Phoenix Featured in NKN

The April NKN features Dana's participation in the Lyn St. James Driver Development Program last Decameter at Phoenix International Raceway. Find yourself a copy and check it out or wait a few weeks until we can hang a copy here.

03 April - First Laps Of The Year (And Not A Moment Too Soon)

Finally out on the track

With only a week before the first race of the season we were finally able to get out to Circleville Raceway Park and get some laps in. Heavy business travel and personal obligations cut the available days in the off-months for rebuilding and preparing Dana's and Tracy's karts by over half leaving us less ready for a new season then ever before. So it was with a great deal of relief that we were able to do the break-in sessions for both motors without drama. Towards the end of the day the ladies were able to lap as quickly as they wanted to and got back into the rhythm of driving fast at CRP in no time.

Unlike the day before which punished Central Ohio with wet, sideways-blowing snow, Sunday featured clear skies and reasonable temperatures although the high winds remained making anything in the pits that wasn't held down a projectile.

The track was still very "green", having very little grip, after the long winter. To further handicap the grip situation, both gals were running on very old Vega SL5s as we, like everyone else in the club, await the new Vega NordAm spec tires. Tracy and her HPV seemed right on the pace immediately, turning the revs we wanted to see exactly where we like to see them and attaining the top speed we're used to seeing from the HPV. Dana quickly came to grips with the additional acceleration and speed of her new TaG PRD Fireball although we were down on revs quite a bit. The PRD Fireball is a new engine to compete in the USA and not much information is available from the North American karting community yet so we're having to fill in many of the blanks ourselves rather than just find someone to ask. We have a lot of things to learn and try on this new motor. Still, compared to other MSOKC TaG entrants that were there testing too, we weren't too far off the pace. More...

01 April - Dana & Tracy To Race In Europe

In what has to be a lesson in "you never know until you try", both Dana and Tracy have been selected to participate in the recently announced Pink Leopard Le Femme Pilote Kart du Monde karting series for women. The 4 series race, underwritten by Pink Leopard Energy Drink will visit top kart tracks in Britain, France, Italy and Germany, including Michael Schumacher's family's kart track. Pink Leopard Energy Drink is an off-shoot of the wildly popular Red Bull brand energy drink but has been specially reformulated for the demands of today's active female lifestyle.

In addition to the title sponsor the series organizers arrange individual kart/driver sponsorship packages with top Euro companies to cover prep and logistics expenses. Dana's kart will promote the Gucci accessory company's purse division while Tracy's kart will carry Princess Running Shoe livery. More...

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