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Dana |
15 - 18 September- Karting With Egos
Do the first two racers here look like outlaws with no respect for the rules? They do to the third one - photo by Lynn
When Krista Schumacher deliberately crashed into the back of Dana going into NCMP's Turn 5 on the last lap of Saturday's Pre-Final of race #9 in the Great Lakes SuperKarts! USA Klein Tools Pro Tour, we wondered why she was resorting to Stupid NASCAR Tricks to take 8th place. After all, it wasn't for a podium spot and it wasn't for points - she hasn't raced with Great Lakes SKUSA all year.
When Krista Schumacher tried to do it again on the last corner, throwing herself off the track in the process, we wondered what we could have possibly done to get her so angry with us... other than out-qualify her and then out-drive her.
Touch and Go (TaG) engines carry on-board starters. The rules say they should start the motor on the grid but most clubs don't enforce the rule.
When an equally agitated Shawn Mattes got in my face in the scalehouse queue about us using an external starter, and then commiserated with Krista Schumacher, we began to piece it together.
A little background: One of the rules for the TaG class set by TAGUSA (TaG racing's governing body) is that a TaG kart must start on the grid using the onboard starter. There must be a battery onboard too but it doesn't have to start the engine, an external battery can be connected to the onboard starting system to power the onboard starter. Got all that? If a TaG competitor has to use an external starter on the grid (that is a battery and electric starter motor that is connected to the crankshaft temporarily), that driver must move him or herself to the back of the grid for that race. The spirit of this rule is so that the battery and the starter cannot be removed or gutted so that their weight can be put in a more strategic position on the kart.
However, since it is such an arcane rule and one that has absolutely no relevance to the real competition on the track most clubs do not enforce the onboard starter rule. MSOKC doesn't, the New Castle Motorsports Park TaG 200 race doesn't. Even Stars of Karting, the premiere karting series in the US, (of which Krista Schumacher and her husband Cy Schumacher participate) wrote the rule out of their regulations altogether:
"Starting system must be intact and present as original.
Malfunction of starting system shall not result in penalty if alternate starting methods are used only if post event inspection reveals that all components are present as supplied. Failure to have any components installed will result in exclusion."
SKUSA guests Krista Schumacher and Shawn Mattes caused quite a stir on the grid - photos by Julie
But most importantly, at our very first Great Lakes SKUSA race back in April we discussed the rule with Terry Riggins. I said something to the effect that the PRD engine's starting system was notoriously problematic and asked if we needed to chase that to avoid penalties. Terry's response was something to the effect of not to worry about it, that they were more concerned with the competition on the track than on the grid (something like that). Further, having talked with many of the other regular competitors in the Great Lakes SKUSA TaG class, it didn't seem like anyone had a problem with it. Lastly, the other regular drivers were not just being tolerant of us - at the other six SKUSA races we entered there was at least one other kart starting with an external starter besides us. So, the officials didn't mind, the other championship contenders didn't seem to mind and the issue never came up in the first eight races of the season.
So, back to the present. Dana's starter was (is) dead because I shorted the entire system when my watch contacted the positive terminal on the battery and the exhaust pipe a while back. I couldn't bring myself to buy the fourth starter in two years. Tracy's starting system was (is) fine and was starting her kart on Friday. But on Saturday a clutch shoe was stuck, refusing to retract and the starter system could not overcome the drag it created. We used the external starter on both, thinking that Krista Schumacher and Shawn Matte, like all the other regular TaG racers, would want earn positions on the racing surface, not the grid and didn't think anything of it. Since Krista Schumacher and Shawn Matte couldn't do that, they threatened a protest.
Turn 5 early in Saturday's TaG Senior Pre-Final - photo by Lynn
If the whole thing would have affected our points I would have put up a fight but since it didn't and it seemed so petty and stupid, I told Terry we'd start in the back if it was such a big deal to Krista Schumacher and Shawn Matte. We knew Dana would have to drop to the back but we came up with a way to start Tracy's kart on the onboard starter by turning the rear axle and removing the resistance that was slowing the cranking.
Some time while waiting for the Final to roll around we were asked by a person in official capacity (who was well aware that both ladies were faster than Krista Schumacher all day) which of our two drivers were designated to take her out after all this. Without hesitation Dana said, "We don't race that way."
But once we got to the grid it all got a bit more complicated. We learned there that we weren't falling to the back for the Final if we couldn't start with the onboard, we were starting from the back regardless as penalty for using the external starter in the Pre-Final. In other words, when the girls left the grid for the Pre-Final, we were absolutely sure we were not breaking any Great Lakes SKUSA rules based on the precedents of 8 earlier events and yet we were penalized. Again, had a championship position been in jeopardy, Terry would have had a fight on his hands. As it was, we calmly went to the back as directed and proclaimed the race Passing Practice.
Dana puts a wheel over the curb at NCMP's Turn 3. Clutch problems bit her again in the Final- photo by Lynn
While we were steaming over that, it came to light that Conlin SpeedSports was not the only TaG entrants that were under the impression that SKUSA was voluntarily not enforcing the onboard starter rule. Suddenly up near the front there was more commotion as other series regulars were threatened and sent to the back. Krista Schumacher then tried to capitalize on that by taking the positions of the two drivers she had ejected directly in front of her who were in rows two and three. Essentially moving herself up from 10th starting position to 4th before the karts ever hit the track! Fortunately, Terry saw what was happening and quickly took affirmative control. Krista Schumacher, as a result, could only move up to 6th. Still, nice try if you don't like to race it out on the track.
And then: In what can ONLY be described as Divine poetic justice, Krista Schumacher, her ally Shawn Matte and husband all took each other out in one corner halfway through the race. Shawn Matte and Cy could not return to the track and by the time Krista Schumacher got her Kosmic Kart back on the track, all she could do was watch the girl that started in 14th (Tracy) finish 7th ahead of her. Dana dropped out on lap 6 after spinning the %**?!#@ clutch off again.
Only Tracy ran on Sunday (and started with her onboard starter each session) recording her best NCMP lap along the way - photo by Lynn
The rest of our weekend? Hard to really remember anything that happened on either side of that fiasco. But Friday practice went well and we were pleased that our TaG 200 co-driver, Lynsey Tilton, could get a few sessions in the 99 kart. Tracy had a couple flat tires on Friday that we traced to cracked wheels due to a slightly bent axle (so fellow racers if you're using Douglas mags and you bend an axle, don't run more than you need to on it). It was also nice to have Grandma, Aunt Debbie and Uncle Dave come out to watch a bit but more to celebrate Dana's and Todd's engagement.
Tracy got a great start in Sunday's Final moving from 8th to 4th by Turn 2 - photo by Lynn
On Sunday we only ran Tracy as the clutch toasted the crankshaft on Dana's fresh engine. We tried something very different on Tracy's kart for qualifying and it made her 2 seconds slower. We changed it back and in the Pre-Final she turned her fastest laps of the weekend on the way to finishing 7th from an 11th place start (Krista Schumacher broke down on the warm-up lap). The Final saw Tracy make a great start from 7th that had her up to 3rd coming out of the first turn. She fell back to 7th again by the end but not bad for a kart powered by a piston with 20something hours on it. Tracy was still using the old piston we installed when we stuck hers in Qualifying back at South Bend.
Huge thanks to Todd and Eric who, as always, kept the karts on the track and running well securing 3rd and 4th in the Jim McCollough Racing TaG Senior championship for Tracy and Dana, respectively. It was a weekend of ups and downs. We learned a few things, as we always do. But the greatest awakening was to what lengths a few people will go to pick up a few mid-pack positions. And for what? To make their MyLaps results look better? We may be naive but I hope we never get to the point where we need to rely on ways of getting our competitors out of our way before the race even starts. I can't see our egos getting that out of control.
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