The Bridgestone Championship Series round #10 event at Badger Raceway was a hot one on and off the track. Temperatures in the 90's and yet another three class combination made our day tough to say the least. Sam won his race but because of a first lap skirmish with another driver not even in our class (and gridded behind us) he finished with a battered kart.
Someone once told me that when you run up front or when you are surrounded by better, quicker drivers, the chances of contact or a crash are usually diminished because of the caliber of talent around you. This theory didn't hold true as the above mentioned driver proceeded to aggressively push and shove his way to the front of the pack with an obvious disregard for others around him. In doing so he wrecked not only Sam's kart but another driver that Sam was closely competing with.
I totally agree that there is going to be rubbing, touching, and contact in racing. Although I find road racing to be a far cry more civilized than circle track racing, this sort of thing does happen from time to time in our sport. But this was totally avoidable in my opinion and a very dumb move on this driver's behalf and I'll tell you why.
The driver that I'm talking about has far more experience racing karts than probably half the field of drivers on that day. He also was probably the quickest when you look at his lap times compared to others. Saying this one might think that he/she would possess enough maturity to wait until the right moment to safely pass everyone on either a slower turn or a long straight. It was clear after this act of stupidity that this frame of mind obviously doesn't exist inside this driver's head.
And a mature person would apologize to everyone affected by a stunt like this but none was to be heard by him or his father. At least none was made to us as I can't speak for the other driver involved. It was truly disappointing also when they were pitted directly across from us and didn't even make eye contact after this. They returned from tech, packed up their trailer and drove off. Maybe their conscience was getting to them, most likely it didn't, but at least we know now we'll need eyes in the back of our heads the next time we share a track with him.
The silver lining in this dark cloud is the fact that Sam now is in first place in his class in points. Like I've said before if and when more drivers in our class return from other series' that they are involved in we're going to have to work extra hard to preserve this lead. It won't be easy but he's proven time and again that he can step up when the moment comes.
Wish us luck!
