27
October - RoboPong.com 200 Pre-Race Photo Gallery 1 (Friday)
Photos
from the RoboPong.com
200 Friday practice have been assembled into some order. It was blustery, cold
and there was a lot of work to do. But the casual mood of the early practice day
kept things from getting too serious. The day turned out to be a good one as before
we were done Lynsey had ripped off some laps that turned out to be the fastest
laps of the day.
22
October - RoboPong.com 200 Race Photo Gallery
We've put
together a collection photos that MSOKC member Greg Wilkinson
took during the RoboPong.com
200 at New Castle Motorsports
Park. Greg started out listening to the race on RaceFanRadio.com and then
decided to hop in his car and come see the race in person. We're glad he did and
we're glad he remembered to grab his camera. He was able to document a few cool
things no on on our team would have been able to catch while we were busy running
the race.
Greg
raced karts in the 1970's and his daughter Angel
just completed her first year of racing in MSOKC's Junior Yamaha Can class. From
the looks of the pics, Greg is just as accomplished with his camera as he is with
his or Angel's kart. Thanks Greg!
18
October - Post RoboPong.com 200 Press Release
We've
put together a press release on our RoboPong.com
200 effort and sent it off to various motorsports media outlets. You can download
it here to see what we had to say about the race.
17
October - RaceFanRadio.com Posts RoboPong.com 200 Webcast Archive
Internet
radio station RaceFanRadio.com
was at New Castle Motorsports
Park webcasting the RoboPong.com
200 live last Sunday and Conlin SpeedSports drivers got a fair share of air time.
Both Lynsey and Dana were interviewed by Charlie Brown
and Sean Buckley about "what was it like out
there?" Mr. Brown has archived the whole race at http://racefanradio.com/panel8(robopong200).html
but if you don't have the 4 hours to listen to the whole race, check out the segments
with Lynsey and Dana in them (be sure to give the big mp3 files time to load):
15
October - RoboPong.com 201
81 teams
entered the RoboPong.com 200
(which became a "201" due to a timing & scoring problem) at New
Castle Motorsports Park and we finished ahead of 65 of them - no small feat
as anyone connected with this race will tell you. And, in fact, our 16th finishing
position would have been a top ten had it not been for a broken chain on lap 97.
 |
We cannot
thank Biland importer Jack Hooker and Stoney
Creek Motorsports engine expert Lyn Smith
enough for the use of two Biland SA250 Stealth engines.
The combination of the Biland 4-cycle motor and our guest driver Lynsey Tilton
was nothing short of spectacular. Qualifying a disappointing 38th due to an early
(cold track) qualifying session, Lynsey moved our kart to 10th place by lap 21
of the race! In fact, she had to pass 3 of those 28 karts twice due to a red flag
on lap two for the scoring issue. She picked off karts so easily that at one point
I said to Todd and Eric, "this is almost embarrassing". By the end of
her stint, Lynsey had put us into 7th place! The Biland was maintenance free (and
isn't that what TaG racing is supposed to be?) and that allowed us to concentrate
all weekend on set up and strategy. Thank you Jack and Lyn - I have a feeling
at least a few Biland sales will come from this.
 |
Next, we
simply could not have been around at the finish if it wasn't for the expertise
of Mark Miller at Bad
Goat Racing working with us on the Biesse brake system. While almost all of
the other competitors were having brake issues, we never changed a brake pad or
adjusted the brakes and the brake pedal was consistent throughout the entire day.
If you want to set up your Biesse Kart so that you can do an entire season of
sprint racing without having to touch your brakes, we'll be glad to show you how
and put you in touch with Bad Goat Racing for the parts - they have everything
you need for your Biesse.
 |
In addition
their season-long support, INFONETICS
loaned us a mobile tablet PC for use in the pits for wireless communication to
Julie who was tracking our lap counts from the start/finish straight. We were
clearly the most high-tech team there with that. But when the radios went dead
halfway through the race, the INFOPAD was the only
way for me to communicate with Julie and continue to manage the race fuel strategy.
The INFOPAD takes advantage of broadband cellular Internet connections for point-of-sale
transactions by delivery truck drivers and sales people. We didn't do any remote
sales but we used the heck out of Instant Messenger and the the local weather
radar on the Web when dark clouds moved in about mid-race.
We have
to thank Rachel at BGR
Graphics for the new kart graphics kits which gave us the best looking kart
in the race. And that's not just our opinion - we actually had people come up
and tell us that. That in itself was worth about three-tenths of a second.
And our
crew: Todd, Eric, Julie,
Lynn, Roger and Dee Tilton,
Lyn Smith, Mike and Barbie
Mees, Dave Creech - everyone had a crucial
role in helping three determined young ladies beat the likes of Dan
Wheldon & Mark Dismore Jr., Scott
Dixon, Sarah Fisher & Katherine
Legge, Brandon Adkins & Zack
Beard and others that have made a name for themselves in racing. And those
determined young ladies, Dana Conlin, Tracy Conlin and Lynsey Tilton drove as
smart and professionally as anyone out there. After nearly 4 hours of constant
race traffic our kart came across the finish line with those fancy new BGR graphics
almost unblemished.
Success,
especially in racing, is all about making the right decisions along the way. I
am proud of every single person we had involved in this year's effort. I thank
you all most sincerely and I hope we can do it again soon.
We'll
have a complete report on the RoboPong.com 201 within a few weeks. Please check
back.
11
October - 75+ Entries for RoboPong.com 200; Race To Be Webcasted Live
Over 75
teams have registered for the Robo-Pong.com 200 at
New Castle Motorsports Park
adding to the prestige, prize money and excitement of this phenomenal event. Mark
Dismore and his family has created a monster here with the only major long
distance kart race in the midwest.
Currently
the forecast calls for high 50s with a chance of rain on Sunday but if you're
a racing fan you should bundle up and come on out on Sunday to see a full day
of racing. Endurance racing is an adventure for the participants but it is also
a great show for the spectators. Often a team's drama is played out on the track
as the wear and tear of long distance competition affects the mechanical as well
as the human components. With 56 karts starting the race, all running at different
speeds or pace, there is always something exciting happening on track. Admission
for spectators is free!
But
if you can't make it out to NCMP, get near a computer and listen to the race as
it is broadcasted live on RaceFanRadio.com!
06
October - Field Limited In RoboPong.com 200; Team Press Release
New
Castle Motorsports Park has announced that they have more entries than they
can permit to start the RoboPong.com
200 endurance race October 15 and will have to limit the number of teams taking
the green flag. Likely due to the number of available pits spots, only 56 teams
will be allowed to start the 200 mile race with qualifying determining the first
50 starters. Teams that could not qualify in those top 50 positions will compete
in a consolation race which will add the top 6 finishers to the 200 field.
Also,
we've sent out a team press release about our 2006 RoboPong.com 200 entry. A copy
can be downloaded here.
04
October - TaG 200... Ooops, RoboPong.com 200... To Be Televised!
New
Castle Motorsports Park's 2nd annual TaG 200 mile endurance race has picked
up a title sponsor and will be televised! Now known as the RoboPong.com
200, the race will be taped and later edited for a 30 minute segment on SpeedTV!!
Adding to the show and the professionalism the Dismores are bringing to this event,
Dreyer and Reinbold
Mini Cooper will provide the official pace car to lead the 60+ karts to the
green flag.
Stay
tuned for more and we'll let you know when the RoboPong.com 200 will hit the air(cable?)waves.
03
October - Biland Powers CSS in TaG 200!
Conlin SpeedSports
is very pleased to announce that power for our entry in New
Castle Motorsports Park's 2nd annual TaG 200 mile endurance race will come
from the revolutionary Biland SA250 4-stroke kart
engine built in Switzerland and imported to the US by Stoney
Creek Motorsports of Michigan. Biland engines placed first and second in
the Jim McCollough Racing TaG Senior championship
of the Great Lakes SuperKarts!
USA Klein Tools Pro Tour and have
run strong in every other series they've entered.
Dana,
Tracy and Lynsey Tilton
return as the CSS endurance driving team sharing our 2003 Biesse
Viper for 200 laps around NCMP's "Stars" circuit. INFONETICS,
BW Tire Goodyear, POWERsports
and Bad Goat Racing will be extending valuable support.
A superb crew has been assembled to support and service the equipment in Todd
Mees, Mike and Barbie
Mees, Eric Creech, Roger
Tilton, Julie and Lynn.
In
only its second year, NCMP's TaG 200 is already enjoying a reputation as a must-race
event for TaG owners and drivers. Prize money has risen in just one year from
several thousand dollars to $15,000 to be distributed among the top ten finishing
positions and special awards. With 12 days still left before the event, the entry
list has 59 entrants, 20 more TaG teams than competed in 2005. Nearly 200 drivers
from all over the country will descend on central Indiana to take their turn behind
the wheel and be a part of the history of this unique event including such notable
drivers as 2005 Indy 500 winner Dan Wheldon, Indy
Car drivers Scott Dixon, Vitor
Meira, Tomas Scheckter, Jeff
Simmons as well as NASCAR star Ricky Rudd.
Unlike 2005 however, our driving team will not have the distinction of being the
only all female driving team - Champ Car rookie stand-out Katherine
Legge and Indy Car driver Sarah Fisher will
also be teaming up. A complete entry
list is available here. And we're very proud that Conlin SpeedSports heads
that list as the very first entrant of the 2006 TaG 200.
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