RACING NEWS:
THE GOOD DAYS, & THE BAD
12/23/02:
Ugggghhhh.....I have had my highs and lows in the past couple of months. The first day in the new kart went great. I was just getting used to it and seeing what the new kart was capable of. The next day started off a bit slow with carb trouble. We took the carb apart and found a tiny piece of crud in the bowl. Once we got that cleaned out the kart ran even better than the day before. I really started to get the hang of shifting and was keaping up iwth traffic as I found a good line and all of my shifting points. The next few weeks after that I was just finding more and more speed and was lowering my lap times everyday. Then...About 8 weeks ago the day was going along great. I couldn't of asked for a better day, the engine was running clean and strong, and the chassis was grabbing the track perfect. Just as I was wrapping up my last couple of laps the engine looses tons of power. So I came off the track, then bailed home to see what was up. I came to discover a very disturbing site, as i took the head off. The cylinder had 2 gouges in the side of it, and the piston & head had tons of smashed bits in it. We think the cause of this is a faulty rod beaing that went out. At the moment we are getting the engine fully rebuilt and I should be up a ready to hit Stockton for some practice before the first race of 2003....
TESTING THIS WEEKEND!:
Well, I have got my new kart as you may know if you have stoped by the Photos page. My new kart is a CRG Speed Demon, set-up with a Honda CR80 built by Replika. Since the race season is coming to an end I will be mainly practicing inbetween now and next year. So I should be all set for 2003 season. I will be racing Formula 80 Novice next year at the Stockton Club events. It is still up in the air but I may race IKF as well next year. We will see as the season comes near....That's it for now I will keap you posted so come back soon :-D....
NO LONGER RACING FOR THE '02 SEASON:
I was not able to get an engine in time, as a result I have missed 2 more races this year adding up to 3 races missed. My points are now obviously "Down the drain". Since there is no reason to go and buy a new engine with only 2 races left this year I am just going to get prepeared for the 2003 race season in advanced.
I am planning on moving to 80 novice shifter next year. So while I have these several extra months of off season I will be practicing and getting ready for next year.
Stockton club race #5
July 7th 2002:
The Day started out early as normal with registration and pre-tech. Morning practice went with no problems and was interesting how the drivers adapted to a track that has never been ran before and one of the most challenging track layouts at stockton Track Layout-L. After the drivers meeting it was time to start racin'!
1ST heet: Started in the very rear of the pack due to me pea pickin' #93. Made a pass in turn one. Going into turn two, I made another pass since some people were tryin to win the race in the first turns and made contact w/eachother :-D. I made several other moves to make it into 5th for the first heet.
2ND Heet: Now I am on poll (inverted pea pick) next to Carol Brown#5. As the green flag drops we race side by side down the straight but I got the inside andvantage and pulled into first in turn one. I led the race for the first lap or so then trafic started to catch up. I got bumped back to 2nd and held there for atleast 4 laps. But unforunately the carb was a little to rich and the engine 4-cycled on me on the back stretch which cost me a lot of valuable time & resulted in 3 karts passing me. I again finished 5th.
MAIN: Well, I finished 5th both in the 1st & 2nd heet so, that puts me in 5th to start in the main. Green flag drops and we are off....The whole race I held 5th place. But just after hitting turn two on the last lap I hear the faint sound of another KT right behind me. I wasn't sure how far he was behind me but I took the inside line. As we were coming out of the hair pin onto the straight I noticed how close the kart was to me. About 1/4 way down the straight he broke the draft and started to pull beside of me so we were neck to neck. I just tucked my head down and hoped I would cross that line before he did. I crossed the line ,what seemed to be only about 6 inches, ahead of him and took anoter 5th place finish!
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