That's what I had to explain to him as we drove home on Sunday. He was pretty disappointed and he had every right to be. For the past few weeks we have been enjoying a very good streak of success. He's managed to keep his two closest rivals behind him, and make a steady gain on the 5th place spot in the championship run. And the kart could do no wrong. It seemed like all set-ups were working fantastic. Not even a twitch in any corner. But when you're on top we all know you can't stay there forever, and then there's only one place you can go.
This was one of the coldest race days we've had since the season began in April. Partly cloudy all day and a stiff breeze made it feel much cooler than the 55 degrees that it was. Days like this do not compliment the already hard tires that we are required to run on.
From the start, he was sliding around like no other time I've seen. Albeit everyone else was skating around corners too, we looked to have been experiencing more than our share. I loosened up the kart to the point of nearly having the rear bumper fall off and had some results, but not to what I'd like. I'd go up and down with tire pressures and find some relief but I'd still watch him "dirt track" through turn one when everyone else seemed to be handling much better. It was even pondered that the crash he had last week may have bent the frame.
Unlike an automobile, a kart's steering geometry is designed to lower the inside front spindle stub (pushing this wheel down), and to raise the outside front spindle stub and raise this wheel when it is steered into a corner. This "jacking effect" contributes to the inside rear tire lifting off the track in turns. Since karts have a solid rear axle, if this did not happen, there would be too much speed scrubbed off when you would make turns. We found that when we turned the wheel to the left as opposed to the right, both front tires remained on the ground which suggests either a bent spindle, or a "tweaked" frame. Since I had no spares with me, we had to continue with what we had.
Our share of good and bad moments came in the heat races, but the real heartbreak happened in the feature. He was gridded seventh of eight starters, inside of the last row, and he was not very happy to say the least. That changed when about 4 karts spun in turn two of the first lap and he slipped through the mess to claim 4th spot. He looked strong and held the spot for a couple of laps but when his friend Zach snapped a spindle, lost his wheel and crashed, Sam spun right behind him. It took a minute for it to register that the engine had stalled and he was parked in the middle of the turn. While he tried to push himself out of harm's way, I was high tailin' it over to him to try and restart the kart. It was too little too late as he had already gone down a lap to the leaders. Luckily for us one other kart bowed out and gave us 6th place in the end. The hard part was that the team we had hoped to chase down 5th place in the points had now secured this spot in the standings with a 3rd place finish. His friend Kathya who occupies 7th spot in the points finished 5th so now our lead going into the last race (3 toss-out finishes included) is now just 31 points over her.
What was also disappointing for us was the fact that we had a crowd of employees, and the owners themselves, of Pegasus Auto Racing Supplies on hand. It really would have been nice to share a little better experience with them. No big deal though as fun was had by all who came regardless of what went on out on the track. Being surrounded with people who have been involved in auto racing for many years also helps when it comes to brainstorming little ideas of advantages that might be conjured up. Chassis settings, airflow, you name it. All of this was discussed and some of them were applied. I know that I learned something. I just hope we can use it to our advantage next week.
