May 30, 2006

Points Race #5, May 21st

Remember the popular old fishing bumper sticker, "A bad day of fishing.....? Well you can pretty much insert any hobby or past time into that phrase and it carries the same impact. But in my case I can honestly say that a bad day of racing is certainly not better than a good day at work. At least not last Sunday the 21st. That day I wished to god I was back at the office.

It was a colder than usual morning so we were plagued with a slick track for both practice sessions. Sam looped the thing in both sessions leaving him so far behind the other guys that he never really had anything or anyone to chase and learn from. The first spin was pretty harmless. No contact with anything so he just continued on. The second spin on the other hand sent him over the rumble strip and into the grass. He was trying to get himself back onto the track when an official ran up to him and grabbed his seat to stop him. He was concerned with the traffic that was near and wanted to send him off after they passed. The problem is the goofball pushed him back onto the track back over the rumble strip! This hairbrain move tore 4 teeth off a new sprocket and threw the chain, eventually binding it in our clutch. Since we were one of the last groups to practice and one of the first groups to race, we had to miss our first heat while we fixed the kart. Things didn't change much for the second heat or the feature for that matter. I was running around like a crazy man trying to widen that, and lean out this, that I wasn't quite sure what was working and what was not. Cardinal sin number one. Do not change more than one thing at a time. It's common sense and I know it. It's just that desperate men do desperate things and sometimes they're not the right things.

It was a bit frustrating for my son as well. He wants to be in the thick of things and 9 times out of 10 we are kart lengths behind anyone. Can't really blame the chassis since we have another driver in our class with the exact same kart and he's doing great. Can't blame the engine really. Although there are many builders out there, this class is pretty much spec. No adjusting of anything other than the high and low jet settings. The principle of this class is to keep it even so driver talent shines. Could Sam have more experience? Sure he could, but I truly believe he's about 95% there. There's still a learning curve but even though he jumped into a class this year that runs on average over 4 seconds quicker per lap, he's still quite smooth and shows real maturity out there. We'll still continue to practice every chance we get, that goes without saying. Which brings me to ME. Do I really know what I'm doing? If I don't I'd like to know which book I didn't read or which individual I didn't talk to because I'm about certain that I've referenced every bit of information that is out there for me. I'll never say that I know everything but I have to believe that I'm in the right ballpark at least. It can just get a little disheartening when you think that you've done all that you can do yet there's a distinct difference in your engine tone verses the others. Is it down on power? A wrong line out of a crucial turn? Bad gear selection? Puts you right back to square one all over again.

It's basically going to come down to practice, practice, and more practice. Nothing else is going to help us find the answers to all of our questions. And not just for his driving but for my tuning as well. You can only ask so many people how they do it before you realize that you have to take what's said with a grain of salt. It works for them but should just be a guideline for you. At the time of writing this piece I just received word from the engine builder about a set-up that looked promising on an engine he just had on the dyno. A light at the end of the tunnel? In one week you'll find out.

May 09, 2006

Sunday May 7th


A pretty uneventful weekend in general. I learned that the slew of sprockets that I purchased and brought to the track were not the right ones for our application. Knowing this we had to forge ahead with basically the same set-up as last week. Sam was not very happy with the fact that he'd be chasing his tail again this weekend. Aside from experimenting with tire pressures we had nothing in our arsenal to help us get further up with the top two runners in our class.

Well 3rd place always sounds good on paper but when you factor in that no one else showed up other than the three of us, it paints a totally different picture. We'll take it though. I promised him we'd pick up the correct parts and head out to practice this weekend before our next race and hopefully we'll have a little more exciting news to report next week. Beating the top running driver may be a stretch, but once I understand this new kart a little more I have all the faith in the world in him and his ability to compete more closely with them.

May 01, 2006

First Rain-out


This past Sunday was our first rain-out. Frankly Sam and I didn't want to go to the track this weekend anyway so it worked out fine for us. Allergy attacks made life miserable for me so the rain was a welcomed contributor to this cancellation.

We got first place points though! Unfortunately so did everyone else. How, you may ask? Well the club has a rule where if a race is cancelled and you do not compete in at least two heat races, all PAYING drivers will recieve 200 points each. So when I called the track to make sure everything was off for the day, the young lady on the end of the line confirmed it, then went on to tell me to get myself to the track and pay to enter my driver if we wanted to receive his points for the day. And by the way, do it within the next 45 minutes because the track is closing soon. I'm in my pajamas and more than 45 minutes away, so jacket on, in the truck, and a quarter of a tank later I'm paying to enter Sam in a race that's never going to take place.

Now I don't quite agree with this procedure but I guess it's the best compromise that the club can come up with for people who are there already. I can understand the volunteers who show up and have to wait until they call it a day to leave. I can also understand the guys who drive long distances to get here for the weekend only to turn around and go home. What I can't understand is why we couldn't compensate them in some other way as to not inconvenience the rest of us who choose not to embark in the first place. Why can't we give everyone a big fat zero for the day and credit those who paid already. It can't be that big of an administrative nightmare to note individuals who paid but didn't race and just give them a freebie next week could it?

Anyway I learned a lesson here. If we want to stay in the points chase, my big lazy rump cannot stay firmly planted in a chair or in bed on days when it could be rained out. I'll have to go to the track like everyone else and pay my dues. Literally showing that in one form or another, we're all just racing with our wallets.