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Racing As A Family Since 1999

Tracy			Dana

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Tracy fought carb problems Friday

21 - 23 April - Tracy Turns "Pro"

As Mike Unger promptly pointed out minutes after the awards ceremonies, Tracy lost her amateur status and became a "professional kart racer" by finishing fourth in Sunday's TaG Senior Final and earning a cash award at the opening rounds of the 2006 Great Lakes SuperKarts! USA Klein Tools Pro Tour. As exciting as that was, the highlight of the weekend was a close race between Dana and Tracy in the Saturday Final in which Dana got by her sister in the last corner of (what she thought was) the last lap. That race saw the ladies were in an entertaining four-way battle for 18 laps. There were also plenty of low-lights like carburation problems for Tracy and both of Dana's Sunday races ruined by mechanical problems.

Dana works up to speed at NCMP

Our weekend started Friday morning getting set up and on the track shortly after lunch. Most of Friday involved getting Tracy's engine broken in, getting both ladies reacquainted with the New Castle Motorsports Park and getting the karts close with regards to handling. By the end of the day, Dana's program seemed to be right on track but Tracy's engine while geared exactly the same as Dana's was having trouble making revs beyond 14,500, about 1,000 lower than the target. With a quick call to Bill Willis at POWERsports, we began focusing on the jetting but ran out of time before much progress could be made. It was also on Friday that we had the pleasure of meeting Eric Rumschlag, a freelance photographer that wanted to do a photo essay on the racing Conlin sisters for submission to a racing publication. As busy as the weekend would be, we attempted to accommodate Eric the best we could although most of the time he and his camera were anything but imposing.

As we unlocked the trailer Saturday morning it dawned on me, finally, why farmers like to keep their daughters on the farm and away from the city. There is a better chance the farmer's daughter will bring home a young man who understands farming and can help out with the planting and feeding and herding and spraying and harvesting. When Todd Mees showed up Friday night and Eric Creech Saturday morning to support Dana and Tracy respectively, I began to realize with their years of racing experience (Todd grew up in a racing family and Eric is an MSOKC regular) we'd brought in more than a fan club - we'd brought in additional knowledge and expertise. Both Todd and Eric showed they could jump in and take care of tasks not only without guidance but often without being asked. We weren't very far into Saturday before I realized that had it not been for their expert help we would have put underprepared karts on the track several times over the weekend. Thanks guys.

The only mechanical failure of the the weekend was, thankfully, minor.

Saturday morning we bolted the SKUSA spec'd MG tires and got out for the two rounds of official practice. Based on Bill's advice both ladies received a crash course on Tillotson needle tuning. It may surprise some readers to learn that in the past we've simply set the needles by plug readings and let our drivers focus on driving. But for some reason - perhaps the super-long pit entrance - that wasn't working here. We knew that at some point they'd have to learn the art of on-track carb tuning to be competitive and that point seemed to have arrived. Tracy completed both sessions but Dana only got two laps into the second practice session when the drive sprocket came loose from the clutch drum leaving her with no drive. Last time she was stranded on course with no drive, the clutch gear had spun off the crank causing expensive repairs. This was nothing by comparison, quickly fixed and better to have happened in practice instead of Qualifying.

The battle between (R to L) Len Bailey, Phillip Lay, Dana and Tracy was the race to watch in the Jim McCollough Racing TaG Senior Final.

For still uncertain reasons, both karts slowed down for qualifying, Dana bettering Tracy by .072 of a second for 10th & 11th starting positions. This put Dana one position but also one row ahead of Tracy for the start of Race 1. At the green, Tracy got a great start and slipped inside her sister at the first turn, which was actually the final turn of the course - SKUSA was very sensibly starting their races on the backstraight rather than the short straight on which the official Start/Finish line lies. Dana followed her through and spent the next three laps staring at the #99 number plate while Tracy chased Phillip Lay in the #21 Sodi kart. It was interesting to watch the two women circulate the track because their two distinct styles become more apparent. There were places where Tracy was obviously faster and places where Dana was. Tracy was still fighting lack of revs on the second half of the backstraight and on lap four Dana was able to get by with better top speed at the end. Dana finished 8th behind Lay and less than a second ahead of Tracy.

Dana shadowed her sister until she saw the white flag - the first one.

For the 18 lap Final our karts were gridded side-by-side and this time it was Dana's turn to get the better start and picked up a position or two by turn one. At the end of lap two it was fellow MOSKC racer Len Bailey, Dana, Lay and Tracy all fighting for 7th place. And as the rest of the field spread out this fight was the fight to watch. I have no fear of contradiction from anyone there that all eyes were on these two guys and two sisters running bumper to bumper in the TaG Senior Final.

On lap eight this group got jammed up around turns 5 & 6, the result of the fight for position between Dana and Lay. Tracy benefited from this skirmish, coming out in front of her sister once it sorted out. Tracy's engine was more on pace in this race and she was able to go into attack mode on Lay. A lap later she was found a way past and set her sites on Bailey. On lap 10 the pressure got to Bailey and he went off at turn four damaging a rotor and forcing him to retire. In just three circuits of NCMP's National course Tracy moved from 10th to 7th. Not bad. But a couple laps later Lay used the draft on the backstraight to get around Tracy. This left Tracy to try to find a way back around Lay while Dana was trying to find a way around her as the laps wound down.

So much for bitter sibling racing rivalries. After fighting for 18 laps, Dana and Tracy came up hugging.

Dana followed Tracy past the white flag and we were all on edge to see if she would be able to find a way by in the 16 corners left in the race. Dana stayed right on Tracy's bumper for 15 of the sixteen corners and was able to use the draft to slingshot by Tracy and outbrake her into the the last corner of the last lap. Or so we thought. When they went by the flagman he waved the white flag again. Tracy had a reprieve, another 16 corners to find a way back past her sister. She was right on Dana in the places she was quicker and didn't give up much in the places she wasn't. But not having found a way by anywhere else, once they got to the back straight we knew Dana would stay ahead.

It was a very good race by anyone's standards and any thoughts that racing against each other would result in unpleasant sibling-racer-rivalry was dispelled when the two climbed out of their karts and immediately hugged each other for the pure joy of close, clean racing. They had fun and knew they had put on a good show. And for their efforts they placed 7th (Dana) and 8th (Tracy) for the day in the Jim McCollough Racing TaG Senior class out of 12 entries. We were happy with those results as we knew going in that SKUSA would be attracting some of the Midwest's top drivers. We found more speed throughout the day and had a blast doing it. If we spend the season hanging around mid-pack but having great races like we had here, we'll have a very enjoyable season.

We had been told that SKUSA was a class act and we weren't disappointed. At the end of racing on Saturday the awards ceremony acknowledged the top drivers in each class. Valuable Klein Tools were awarded to all drivers and they even had a cookout to promote the social aspect of the club. Very nice touch. But there was no time to relax after the cookout as the two karts had to be made ready for Sunday's full day of racing. By the time we had done the absolute necessities it was after 10 when Todd and I locked up and headed for the hotel.

Tracy was able to find good balance and great competition on Sunday

The raceday two program was accelerated a bit to ensure that everyone would be on the road at a reasonable time and only one morning practice session was offered. The track had changed a little overnight and we were back to trying to find front grip for Qualifying. We found some for Tracy and she qualified almost a second faster than on Saturday but still only good enough for 8th starting position. Dana, on the other hand was only .02 of a second faster than her Saturday qualifying run. Some of it was handling but to be out-qualified by her teammate by .8, there had to be more wrong than that. Dana complained of poor performance throughout the powerband but the engine still seemed strong on the stand. A thorough check of the #13 kart revealed that the brake rotor had shifted and was touching the brake pad, apparently overlooked the night before when the brake adjustment was made... in the dark. But, lapping with the brakes on slightly accounted for the poor qualifying performance and we felt better about Dana's Pre-Final.

Tracy's carburetor's health seemed to be declining as the weekend went on and we had to set it dangerously lean for her to idle and drive out of the pits. Even so, it took several corners on the out lap to clear the engine out and she struggled to keep pace with the other karts on the flying warm up laps. But once she was in position, with Dana right behind her, she made another great start overtaking Al Verbish for 7th place and was looking for a way past Jason Ewers. She found it on the next lap putting herself into sixth place. We had made a hub change to Tracy's kart based on her feedback after qualifying and it looked to be her silver bullet. By lap three she was one second faster than her qualifying time. Ewers was able to get back by her on lap three. Meanwhile Dana was struggling again, her kart obviously having a problem with lap times 3 to 4 seconds adrift of Tracy's.

Dana spent a frustrating day plagued by mechanical problems

Ewers gradually drove out of Tracy's grasp and, in turn, Tracy was never safe from Verbish. With her kart well balanced, Tracy and Verbish were very closely matched. In fact, their best lap times were only .09 of a second apart in this race. That's closely matched. About halfway through the race Verbish picked up Tracy's draft and made a run down the inside of the #99 kart going into the last turn. For readers not familiar with New Castle Motorsports Park, the final turn is approached in the vicinity of 70mph requiring massive braking to slow to around 50mph for a 90 degree left-hand turn. On this lap, in this corner, it became a contest of late braking and Tracy was determined not to give anything away. Verbish couldn't get the enough of his kart inside to claim the corner and Tracy defended by keeping her momentum up on the outside. It was a beautiful thing to watch because it was close, very close, but each driver respected each other, gave each other just enough room to work and never touched.

A lap or two later Verbish picked up the draft earlier on the straight and was able to initiate his passed earlier and got it done. But Tracy didn't roll over and play dead, she stuck to Verbish for the rest of the race, crossing the finish line less than half a second behind him. When Joe Janowski dropped out with three laps to go, everyone moved up a position putting Tracy and Dana in 7th & 8th places. At the scales, Verbish, a Great Lakes SKUSA veteran, made a point to shake Tracy's hand and compliment her on clean driving.

Dana, having languished in a boring 10 lap race in a lame vehicle, had no one complimenting her drive, only her crew chief apologizing for giving her such a piece of crap to drive. After all, she never got within 4 seconds of her sister's times. Her debriefing sounded like a horror story: no power, push in some corners, loose in others, intermittent power on the straights, high engine temps... It was a bewildering array of problems for us to find and fix before the Final. We pushed the karts back to our paddock area and began to pour over her kart. It wasn't long before Todd found the one source for all the problems: all the set screws holding the rear axle in place had come out and the axle was shifting back and forth, limited only by the brake rotor. This may have been the problem she had in qualifying and was misdiagnosed by the crew and certainly the wandering axle accounted for the diabolical handling and the binding against each brake pad alternatively explained the high engine temp and erratic power.

The dedication of every crew member kept us on the track

With Todd's help (Eric returned home to compete in the MSOKC club race on Sunday) we were able to get everything squared away on both karts with just minutes to spare before the Jim McCollough Racing TaG Senior Final. Verbish and Tracy both got by Ewers at the first turn and when Janowski was driving around on the grass after Turn 1, Verbish, Tracy, Ewers and Dana all got promoted. Ewers got around Tracy after a lap and Janowski (the owner of SKUSA until last year) was soon cutting his way up through the pack. Dana's kart was behaving better although some air/fuel mixture adjustments were necessary. Once she had dialed that in, she was turning laps similar to Tracy's. But no sooner had she got the carb working, the right front kingpin came loose - the same kingpin that loosened during the endurance race back in October. With the RF corner wobbling in in lefthanders, handling went away leaving Dana with another frustrating race and frustrating day.

Up ahead of her Tracy and Verbish were at it again. On lap 10 of the 16 lap race Tracy was able to slip by when Verbish got crossed up in the back section. He recovered and kept the pressure on Tracy but never figured out a way by. It was another narrow gap at the checkered flag, only .34 separating them. And when the rigors of two full days of racing caught up with Dale Bales and Ewers forcing them to drop out before completing all 16 laps, Tracy moved up to fourth place (and into the money! WooHoo!) with Dana finishing in sixth.

If the SKUSA opener was an preview of races to come it should be a fun summer of racing.

The fact that we completed all 63 competitive laps over the two days is a tribute to everyone on the crew, Todd, Eric, Dana, Tracy and myself, working tirelessly to keep the karts together. It also helped to have a cheering section present to lend support. On Sunday Lynn brought most of the Indianapolis fan club out to the track. It was the first time for Lynn's mom Doris to come out and see our hobby and once she got used to her "little sweethearts" shooting into turn 16 at 70mph, she seemed to enjoy the show. It was also the first time Lynn's brother Dave had seen the girls racing. Dave and I used to attend several pro races each year at Road America 20some years ago and it was nice to see him back in the racing environment. Lynn's sister Debbie and nephew Steven also came out to see what we were up to. They've seen the girls race before but never at this speed, I think. It was great to see them in the little time we had between sessions and wrench spinning.

As our first SKUSA race we were very impressed. Terry Riggins and his entire crew are due praise for putting on a very slick show and (most important) remembering who the customer is. We've been involved in events where that was not the case but Great Lakes concern for their racers was rivaled only by the care and feeding of their very valuable sponsors. Title sponsor Klein Tools is very generous with give aways. We saw some very good, sensible officiating. We hand a fair amount of close racing without anyone doing anything desperate or stupid. The atmosphere was casual and cordial. We enjoyed the format which provided plenty of track time, long races and lots of time between sessions to make changes and repairs. The cook out was appreciated, especially by those of us working through the evening to get two karts ready for Sunday. All in all, GLSKUSA is a very class and we're looking forward to the next round at Circleville in June!

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