Tracy		Dana

August 2006 Reports

Triage on the #99 kart to get it back into battle - photo by Julie

11 - 13 August - War & Pieces

I've been known to describe a weekend of racing as a "3 day war" to non-racers and racers alike when talking about what we do at a big kart race. At least the way we do it. We eat when we can, we sleep a little but the rest of the time is spent preparing our troops for several battles a day. After each battle we debrief, resupply, repair damage and strategize for the next battle based on how the overall war is going. And I am careful to point out that the enemy is not the other racers - I see them as other platoons. The enemy we're all fighting is basic physics that are trying to fling our drivers off the track and preferably into something hard, and the evil forces in fate that want to discourage you and send you home early and broken.

The Great Lakes SuperKarts! USA Klein Tools Pro Tour stop at Michiana Raceway Park near South Bend was even more warlike than usual for us including explosions, molten metal and various pieces of shrapnel falling out of our karts. As often happens in war, alliances are formed to combat the common enemy and we had a lot of new and old allies helping us fight the enemy we encountered this weekend. We can't thank Lyn Smith and Bill Wolters and Stoney Creek Motorsports enough for lending Dana a complete kart and competitive engine when her kart was rendered useless on the last lap of Saturday's final. A huge thank you also goes to Jim McCullough Racing for some trackside engine work and advice they provided to keep Tracy on the track and later, with driver Dale Bales, setting up the loaner kart for Dana. (It should be noted that everyone just mentioned are fellow competitors in Dana's and Tracy's class and should be recognized for their sportsmanship.) Brian O'Hara was his usual chassis-tuning-encyclopedia-self providing expert set-up and driving advice (sorry his weekend didn't go better). Todd Mees was indispensable in getting all the regular maintenance done while I dealt with emergencies. We also had the good fortune of having Todd's dad Mike who not only was also in there getting dirty but brought the family motor coach up to South Bend (which served as a sort of demilitarized zone) and mom Barbie "Haliburton" Mees who made sure the troops were fed, rested and entertained. Last but not least, if it weren't for Lynn staying on the homefront and tending to a hospitalized mother-in-law, we would have lost the war before we ever loaded the trailer.

As it was, it was quite a weekend with some bright spots amongst the carnage and we'll compile and post a full report just as soon as life outside of racing allows.

Tracy leads Fred Ricart (yes, THAT Fred Ricart) to become the first TaG leader ever at Commercial Point - photo by Paul Lyda

5 & 6 August - Fun & Frustration In The Streets

Our first street race ever was fraught with frustration and gnashing of teeth punctuated by flashes of good fortune, good driving and fun.

A ridiculous series of sprocket/chain failures from contacting the pavement on the bumpy street course ended almost all of our sessions early. In between those though we managed to have Tracy lead the first two laps of Saturday's TaG race (P3 on the grid but P1 at the first corner) making her the first leader ever of a TaG race at Commercial Point and have Dana place third in Sunday's final after a close race with Fred Ricart. More...

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