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Racing As A Family Since 1999

Tracy			Dana

February 2006 Reports

27 February - March Kart Sport Photo

We were able to find a copy of the March (we thought it was February originally) Kart Sport Magazine at the Sodi KMI kart show in St. Charles, Illinois. Mike Gingras, who races in the shifter class at Mid State Ohio Kart Club events initially gave us the heads up but we had no copy for ourselves to check out. The Tony Kart booth had plenty as their kart was on the cover so we were able to help ourselves. The photo was one of several in a two page spread featuring primarily karting babes and looks to be the same one that New Castle Motorsports Park has in their TaG 200 gallery.

This is the second time in three issues our endurance team drivers have graced the pages of Kart Sport. Back in December a pic of Kaitlin Mangham was featured in the magazine's coverage of the TaG 200 event.

Check out the March Kart Sport images here.

25 & 26 February - Mother Of All Kart Shows

Dana & Tracy pose with Memo

Our first event of the season was conducted at walking speed: through the aisles of the the convention center at the Pheasant Run Resort in St. Charles, Illinois. The Sodi KMI show is the largest kart product trade show in North America showcasing not only kart racing products but also concession kart (like you drive at your local amassment center) products. There were several new products that got our attention and were generally able to come away from the show briefed on the latest in karting products.

We had several items on our list to research for the coming season and this show provided good contacts and knowledge for most of them. Among them were finding a new source of Biesse parts, which we got a couple good leads on. Only time will tell if they can even come close to the service J&J Racing provided before they had their falling out with Biesse. Except for a day or two either side of Stars events, the phone was always answered at J&J with someone able to take an order, make technical recommendations, and get the product out that day. I've already had one of the new dealer's phones go unanswered at 2pm on a weekday. Hopefully one of the contacts we got at the show will perform better.

Saturday night we (Mike Unger, Todd Mees, Dana, Tracy and I) had a great time having dinner with Francine, Sen and Curt of National Kart News. We found that Francine & Sen, in particular, are about as goofy as us. We were attending the show courtesy of NKN, so thanks go out to Curt and staff for including us. We also picked up the new Extreme kart from John's kart shop to take to our NKN tests in Oklahoma while we were there. While wandering around we happened to bump into MSOKCers Andy Stevenson and then Donnie Gaddis. We were also glad to visit with Jim, John & Justin of J3 Competition (formerly J&J Racing) in the Kosmic booth. We also had a chance to talk with Grand Am Prototype driver, karting ambassador and Secrets Of Speed author Memo Gidley. Also running around the show was Champ Car driver Alex Tagliani and World Champ Tony Kart driver David Forte. Oh, and we can't forget forget about Jerry Mathers. Yes, The Beaver was there signing autographs and leaving people to wonder what the connection was to a star from a TV series that was older than karting.

23 February - Great Lakes SKUSA for 2006

For 2006 Conlin SpeedSports will be focusing on the Great Lakes Superkarts! USA series and the 200 mile TaG race at New Castle Motorsports Park in October. Both Dana and Tracy will be competing in TaG Senior using PRD Fireball power developed by Bill Willis at POWERsports. Dana will be piloting her trusty 2002 Biesse with which she'd won the 2004 MSOKC HPV title and came second in the 2005 TaG Senior series. Tracy will be using a recently acquired 2003 Biesse. This will be the first time both ladies will be competing against each other on the track.

The Great Lakes SKUSA series is renown for the ample track time its racers get, stable rules and rules enforcement, friendly atmosphere and clean competition. The series visits two "long tracks" each year, tracks that are designed for full sized sports car racing but our team will concentrate only on the four sprint track weekends. But, with Great Lakes SKUSA, those four race weekends provide eight full days of racing, giving us a great bang for our travel buck. It will also be great fun to be traveling and racing with Mike Unger and Brian O'Hara who will both be following the circuit.

We have already submitted our entry for the October 15 TaG 200 mile race listing Dana, Tracy and two drivers TBA. After last year's race I went on record as saying as long as the Dismores put on this race we'd field an entry, so I thought it would look good to put my money where my mouth was and be one of the first to enter.

We will also enter a handful of Mid State Ohio Kart Club races this year but will not be pursuing a championship. My work travel schedule promises to be just as active this year as last. And after 5 years of racing just about every other weekend with MSOKC, there are a couple projects around the ol' hacienda that should be neglected no longer. It would also be nice to get in a few "normal" summer activities. But although we won't be racing in many of the MSOKC events, we will still be familiar faces around Circleville Raceway Park as at least a couple of us plan to work the races we won't be participating in. The SKUSA series/TaG 200 schedule will require us to do the intense pre-race prep for only 5 events and free up a lot of off weekends for other activities.

Dana will also be racing the first event of the Southwestern Regional Cup series March 11. This event is the weekend of our week of semi-private testing with/for National Kart News at Oklahoma Motorsports Complex beginning March 5. The week will have us helping Mike Unger with a list of products being tested and reviewed for 2006 NKN articles. It will also allow us to do a little more testing with the Fireball, something that was sorely lacking last year. Then as long as we're there, we'll run the first day of the SRCS event.

Our entire 2006 schedule is posted here.

10 February - CSS Endurance Drivers in Kart Sport

According to MSOKC shifter driver Mike Gingras our TaG 200 drivers, Dana, Tracy, Lynsey Tilton and Kaitlin Mangham are pictured on the photos page of the February Kart Sport magazine. But we haven't seen it. We don't have a subscription to that publication (yet) so if anyone has a copy they can spare, we'd love to get a look.

07 February - Help Catch The B******s

Can you help catch the thieves that stole Zakk Wilson's karts?

Over the weekend one of our club's racers had their trailer broken into and all - all - their equipment stolen. The theft of Zakk Wilson's karts, engine and support equipment was caught on tape, however, so there is hope that somebody will go to jail.

The story and tape is on the 10TV web site and we're hoping you will click over to see it and possibly, just possibly, recognize one of the three vehicles the thieves needed to carry the stuff off. Take a good look and keep an open mind.

http://www.10tv.com/Global/story.asp?S=4463836

Those of you that know me well, know that this stuff really cranks me up. We know so many people that have had their karts and equipment stolen, it is astounding. I can think of at least 10 club members that have been victims without even trying hard. On national karting forums and web sites it would appear to be an epidemic. Karts are good targets (I think) for thieves because they have good value but law enforcement doesn't put the case at the top of the priority list. But for the life of me, I don't know where all this stuff goes. Occasionally we here of it turning up somewhere but generally, it vanishes into thin air. Unfortunately, it is almost never covered by insurance.

With less than 2 months before the first Gold Cup in Jacksonville, we're hoping this can be a rare instance in which the case can be broken, the stolen equipment recovered and several a******s go to jail. Check it out and see if you can help.

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