  Central Ohio Welding 253 E. Spring St., Col |
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Central Ohio Welding 253 E. Spring St., Col |
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Dana |
22 October - TaG 200 Pics
We don't do photo galleries much here at ConlinSS.com but a lot of pics were shot over the TaG 200 weekend and they do much to document our effort. Click here for the first round of photos to see how our weekend went.
22 October - The Most Fun We've Had In Karting
Conlin SpeedSports competed in it's first "professional" endurance race and what we lacked in completed laps we made up for in new friends, long laughs, new ideas and knowledge of what a long distance race requires of an entire team. And maybe the most amazing aspect of running the 200 mile race at New Castle Motorsports Park was how quickly our team, which only came together in the last few weeks, worked together the entire time.
An overview: That team effort qualified us 16th out of 41 entries and during the race we ran as high as 11th before running into brake and engine problems. We were eventually put out of the race with about 25 laps to go with a cracked cylinder head, a freak thing that we couldn't have predicted or prepared for. Our testing before this event prepared us for everything else though. Race day timing issues, however, kept us from making the final brake prep we wanted to do and that hurt us as lengthy pit stops for brake work put us laps down. Our drivers were simply awesome (and that's not a word I use freely) with Kaitlin and Lynsey each doing amazing maneuvers to squeak our kart through other driver's accidents and keep our kart in one piece. Dana and Tracy also did fantastic work during their stints driving wounded equipment. In the end we were the last kart to drop out of the race, completing 140 laps and finishing 20th. That effort was notable enough that former IndyCar driver and NCMP owner Mark Dismore brought us up for special recognition at the awards ceremony recognizing the performance of the only all female driving team (and only females in the race). We'll post a full report but it was a long couple of days and it may take a while to sift through all the memory banks but check back in a week or so.
In the meantime I want to let everyone that follows our team's exploits know just how proud I am of the job we did. Our choice of drivers proved to be perfect, each bringing specialized talents that we could exploit. Kaitlin's dad James and Lynsey's dad Roger were able to fill crucial roles on the team bringing in chassis and engine experience respectively. Sean Dillon, was on top of everything all weekend long - whatever needed to be done got done without asking. John Davis stood out in turn 3, in the cold and wind all day working our pit board and as such was my communication with the drivers when they were on the track. Julie, Hilary Miller and Lynsey's mom Dee dedicated themselves to tracking our laps and keeping us posted on the the progress of the race which played a crucial role in re-mapping race strategy as we dealt with problems. Trent Brown, a friend of Lynsey's, was a last minute addition and filled a gap in the team I was worried about. In all, I was very, very proud to be leading this group of dedicated racers through a new challenge for all of us and I would do it again with the same team in a heartbeat. This was the most fun we've had since we began karting 6 years ago. Thank you all!
11 October - Racing With Indy 500 Winners
Over the weekend, Mark Dismore, owner of New Castle Motorsports Park announced that 2005 Indy 500 winner Dan Wheldon and 1990 & 1997 Indy 500 winner Arie Luyendyk, Sr., have entered the TaG/Piston Port 200 Mile endurance race on October 22. Our team of four women (poor Dan) will be competing with these open wheel legends for victory in the most demanding form of kart racing. As Sean MacNealy of MacNealy Performance Specialists pointed out recently, the TaG endurance race is as long as the average Champ Car race.
We're not sure which team Wheldon will be driving for but it is said that Arie Sr. will be driving with Arie Jr. one their own team. But as talented and experienced these gentlemen are, they're not a shoe in for a good result in a long distance kart race. In 200 miles in a go kart, anything can happen. Should be interesting...
10 October - Be A Part Of Our Team For The Biggest Race Of The Year
Habitat For Humanity is helping Katrina and Rita victims rebuild
We need your help on Saturday, October 22, as we compete in the 200 Mile TaG/Piston Port Race at New Castle Motorsports Park. And the best part is you can do it from the comfort of your easy-chair.
We're taking the opportunity provided by the excitement surrounding this event to "give back", as they say. With the evacuees of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita now out of emergency shelters and in temporary housing, the next challenge will be to build homes to replace the ones destroyed in the devastation along the Gulf Coast. Having seen Habitat For Humanity in action through our church, Atonement Lutheran Church, we've designated Habitat For Humanity and their Operation Home Delivery as the beneficiary for a fundraiser we're conducting based on our participation in the TaG 200.
Here's how it works: You become part of the team by pledging an amount for each lap we complete during the race. There are 200 laps and we intend to complete all of 'em. But if we run into trouble we'll have to do everything in our power to get back out there for the victims of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. And that's where you become part of the team. By pledging per lap you'll give us extra motivation to stay on the track or if the worst happens, get back out there as fast as possible. No amount is too small and all (100%) of the proceeds goes to Habitat For Humanity and their effort to build new homes for the victims along the Gulf Coast. Simply fill out the pledge form linked here. We'll confirm your pledge by email and follow up with you after the race. We'll collect your check made out to Habitat For Humanity and get it over to the fine folks that will be helping to rebuild shattered lives.
07 October - We Lose One Star Driver, Gain Two
We were totally disappointed several weeks back when our third driver for the TaG 200, Canadian Melissa Court, informed us that she would have to miss the endurance race on doctor's orders. Mel had sustained neck and back injuries in a crash last year that flared up again over the summer. After several visits her doctor recommend she not do the TaG 200, which will be more grueling than most kart races, to allow her neck time to heal further. We're still disappointed because it would have been fun to have Mel hang with us for a while. Dana and I had met her in Phoenix last year when they were both attending the Lyn St. James Driver Development Program. But as disappointed as we are, what matters most is that Melissa heal properly to avoid lingering back and neck problems. There will be other excuses to have her visit us in the future.
Kaitlin Mangham winning in Arce, Italy
Upon Melissa's departure though we were faced with a tough decision: Field only Dana and Tracy as our drivers and have them share the 200 miles of racing; or find another driver to spread out the load a bit. As you might expect, we tend to track lady racers and especially lady karters and we had a short list of names of women that have particularly impressed. But after extending a few invitations that couldn't be accepted, we were beginning to think the decision would be made for us. Then in one weekend we were able to recruit two of the top female aspiring racers in the country. Two lady racers we have tremendous respect for.
Kaitlin Mangham was actually one of the names at the top of our list when it became necessary to replace Melissa but we couldn't find a way to contact her and her family. Just about to give up, we found an email address on her driver profile on the ekartingnews.com web site. A few days after sending off an note about our effort, we received a call from Kaitlin's dad, James.
Kaitlin came to our attention several years ago when we were looking into the Easykart program. At only 16 she has an accomplished and impressive racing resume. From their base in Jacksonville, Florida, Kaitlin and her family began karting at the very fast 103rd Street Complex in Jacksonville. After several good years in the local club's Junior Yamaha and HPV ranks, Kaitlin moved up to WKA National competition racing with the likes of Marco Andretti, Paulie Harraka, Mike Geissen and Cory Reeves. Once in the senior ranks she moved to Easykart, a spec TaG class. Kaitlin and her family contested the Easykart classes in the SKUSA ProMoto Tour and Stars of Karting series and won the Easykart 125 Light National Championship. As the National Champ she was sent to Arce, Italy, to represent the United States in the World Championships. There, she won the B Feature, taking the lead on the last lap.
Lynsey moved from karts to Midgets
Lynsey Tilton
We met our second driver in Phoenix last year too. For Lynsey Tilton it was her second pass through the Lyn St. James Driver Development Program. By that time she had already made quite a name for herself in west coast karting series and the Arizona Midget Association having begun racing motorcycles at age 7. Lynsey has also earned the attention of Ford Motor Company and their Women's Driver Development program designed to boost a promising female driver into NASCAR. She also won the very competitive Speed Secrets Driver Development Scholarship which selects a driver with outstanding potential for a career in motorsports.
But it wasn't until we bumped into Lynsey and her dad, Roger, at New Castle Motorsports Park during a recent test day that we realized she had relocated to Indianapolis from San Diego to attend Indiana University Purdue University Indianapolis. One thing led to another and the prospect of adding a fourth driver emerged. Lynsey did a couple sessions in the kart and was immediately up to speed. A couple days later we confirmed our fourth driver with a call to Roger.
We feel privileged and very excited about the addition of these two amazing and accomplished racers to our TaG 200 driver lineup. We're going to do our best to reward their confidence in our team on October 22.
02 October - The Curse Of Racer X
Our team report on the last race in the Mid State Ohio Kart Club 2005 championship is short but not too sweet.
With Dana's second place in the championship locked in, we used the day as another test day, trying a few new things in preparation for the TaG 200 at New Castle Motorsports Park at the end of October. The changes, it turned out, did nothing for sprint racing at Circleville Raceway Park and we found ourselves not being able to run with the likes of Tim Bussen and Chris Tatman who we've been able to race with in recent races. It was a crew chief (me) decision and it wasn't a good one. While it was a learning experience, it was none the less frustrating for Dana and the rest of the crew to be so far off the pace.
Tracy's championship was not so secure and we were taking a conservative approach to her day. We were on the mark from practice in which she lowered her personal best time at CRP again, pronouncing the kart "perfect". And then came Racer X.
A little too much NASCAR going on
Racer X put us off the track no less than four times in two races: 1) Ran Tracy wide at first turn of first heat, wouldn't let her back on the track when she had two wheels in the grass. She won the shoving match on the run down to turn 2 though after getting very crossed up but saving it in front of 2/3 of the pack; 2) Bonsai move going into Turn 5 to take third place from Tracy. Tracy said she knew it wasn't going to work, drivers behind them said they knew it wasn't going to work. It didn't. He spun in the middle of the exit and put Tracy out into the weeds and gave the following drivers huge clenches; 3) Having gotten back on the track before her, Racer X was just ahead of Tracy as she resumed the race in last place. Following him through Turn 10 he suddenly lost control of his go kart and spun right in front of her again. Tracy just missed clobbering him but was forced to run wide out onto the grass where she spun again. This time she was able to resume ahead of him and cross the line in something like eighth or ninth; 4) In heat two, Racer X was able to somehow get into the lead on the first lap but with the entire pack behind him he spun at the end of lap one and blocked the track. Eric Creech spun to avoid him, Doug Hagge touch wheels and nearly went over, Randy Ridder crashed head-on into Eric tearing up his kart. The rest of the karts went every which way. And Tracy hit someone on the way going around the mess, and spun backwards into the fence.
As often happens with these things, Racer X was able to resume leaving his competitors strewn all over the track. On his cool-down lap Tracy signaled to Racer X that he should consider using his brain in future races and while he signaled back that he didn't know what she was talking about, we think the angry mob of other drivers at the scale house might have set him straight. Maybe it sunk in a little because he managed to keep his kart straight and on the track to win the big money race at the end of the day. However, in tech it was found that his engine was out of spec and his results for the day were nullified.
So Tracy fell from fourth in the championship to fifth as a result of being caught up in each one of Racer X's brain fades in a kart that wasn't going to make it through tech inspection. That's racing, I guess. But maybe it is time to move on to wider tracks and less NASCAR Nation mentalities.
The only real bright spot of the day was Randy Kilbarger's offer to put his helmet-cam on our drivers in the feature races for on-board video. We've got the driver's eye view of Tracy's Feature and "money race" and Dana's feature. Cool stuff and for anyone that wants to know what its like out there, these vids represent it perfectly. All you need to increase the realism is to have someone kick you in the ribs at every corner. We'll have it posted here soon. Thanks again Randy.
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