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Dana |
28 March - Bad Goat Good Bet
When our friends at J&J Racing in Erie ended their relationship with Biesse Karts, we soon found ourselves having to find a new source for new Biesse components. One of our objectives in attending the KMI show was to find one. We came away from the show not with one but with three.
In the weeks following the show I contacted one of the midwest Biesse dealers, one that was actually referred to us. When I placed several calls throughout the business day, the phone went unanswered and then to a answering machine. I chose not to leave a message, I wanted to speak to a human and deal with a business that was taking customer service seriously. After a couple days of that I moved onto the next name I had on my list.
This company seemed less desirable initially since they were all the way on the west coast, increasing shipment time and costs. But as the new U.S. importer of the Biesse karts, I reckoned they'd have to be a sure bet. On Friday, March 17 I called their office several times between 10:30 and 1:30 Pacific time getting only an answering machine. A second phone number I found on their website had an immediate, rapid busy signal. I finally realized that their entire team may have been at the Stars of Karting Race of Americas in Norman, Oklahoma, running that weekend. So I left a pleasant message introducing myself, stating that I was looking for a new source of Biesse parts and that I wanted to place an order. When I didn't get a return call on the following Monday, I wrote it off to the team's travel back from Oklahoma. When I got no return call on Tuesday, I gave them further benefit of the doubt thinking they were getting caught up after being out of the office.
On Wednesday, with still with no call back from the west coast company, I again called the midwest dealer. Once again, my call was answered by a answering machine at mid-day. After several attempts, it became clear that no one was going to answer my call so I left a pleasant message on that machine, intro'ing myself, stating that I was looking for a new source of Biesse parts and that I was looking to place an order. I never heard back from either of these companies. This, I feel is astounding. Were we really that spoiled by J & J Racing's customer service? Was it unreasonable to expect a supplier to answer my call and questions?
Upon returning from my west coast business trip I found the business card for the third contact we got at the KMI show. My call to Bad Goat Racing was not only picked up by a human being on the second ring but they genuinely seemed eager to talk with me. Mike Jr., listened to what I needed, answered my question and promised I'd be called back to let me know if they had everything. Within 20 minutes Rachel called me back with the report and to get my credit card information.
No doubt J&J set a high standard all these years by running a professional operation and serving the club racers the same way they were serving their national racers. And I figured that we may have to lower our expectations some with our next Biesse dealer or distributor. But I didn't think it was a lot to ask that someone answer my call during business hours. Or at least return my call. But one of the problems with karting is the lack of professionalism of part-time distributors. Bad Goat's professionalism earned them our $400 order and will definitely get our future business. J& J Racing sold a lot of karts to our fellow racers in Central Ohio - at last count Biesse Karts made up about 15% of the club's entry list. If you're looking for a Biesse dealer that appreciates your business, give Bad Goat Racing a call at (480) 539-0556, visit them at badgoatracing.com or write them at info@badgoatracing.com.
18 - 19 March - Three Tracks In Two Days
Nestled in amongst the tumbleweed, sage brush and mountains of the high desert is a pretty cool kart track
Under the project name "Making The Best Of A Poor Situation" I recently visited three southern California kart tracks in two days while weekending it in San Bernardino during a business trip.
The first track was an hour north of Riverside in the high desert country. As I followed the directions on the Grange Motor Circuit web site I was convinced I had somehow missed a turn or otherwise fallen off the main road. When the road I was following became nothing more than a path in the middle of the desert with not a soul in sight, I began looking for a place to turn around. I found one but that place happened to have a sign reading Grange Motor Circuit with an arrow pointing down a set of ruts and over a hill.
Cresting the hill, I found Grange Motor Circuit with its 14 turn road course surrounded completely by a 4' cinder block wall. I'm not sure if the wall was there to keep the varments or the off-road bikes out but it gave the compound an interesting country club feel. This was further perpetuated by the regal entrance way and guard house, complete with rows of evergreen trees and lion sculptures set into the wall. Following the paved pit road in, special covered pit areas reserved for the handicapped were on the right and across from them on the left was the bathroom/registration complex which was the arcitectual center piece of the place. More...
4 - 11 March - Spring Testing
If its Monday then it must be Jasper, FL. Dana gives dirt a try.
Plans for spring testing were hatched back in the dead of winter with the Oklahoma Motorsports Complex in Norman, Oklahoma as our chosen track. Neither Mike Unger or Dana had ever run the track even though it is one of the most respected tracks in karting. So much so that Stars of Karting (the very top level karting series in North America) will visit twice in '06. The average temperature for early March was mid-60s according to the weather service but watching the central Oklahoma weather leading up to departure indicated overnight temperatures in the 20s. This would create more maintenance for the motors and reduce the amount of track time as we waited for the surface to warm up. It was decided that Mike, Dana and I (Tracy couldn't take time off from Finals Week) would to go to northern Flordia instead.
Bill Willis' POWERsports had our race motor rebuilt and ready to go right on time - we'd be breaking it and our new PRD Fireball in during the test week. The original plan was to get our new 2003 Biesse together to shake down and get to know but when my mom came down with a case of pnuemonia and I lost a weekend to a killer cold, we dropped back to Plan B. Plan B was to just use Dana's 2002 Biesse which was nearly put together for a photo shoot for NKN. It was Friday afternoon that we discovered we'd have to go to Plan C. Problem was, we didn't have a Plan C. More...
01 March - NKN TaG 200 Article Posted
Well, if you haven't found a copy of the January issue of National Kart News to read about last year's TaG 200 mile race at New Castle Motorsports Park, shame on you. Go get a subscription. But if you missed it, we have it posted here in full color. We got a couple good pics in it and a nice side bar article. Check it out.
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