2012. It looks like we'll... Ok possibly we're going to... Oh I don't know yet!

What I do know is that the kart is in a hundred pieces all over the shop floor and it is getting a complete rebuild regardless of what we decide.

This being our send off year, we have established the fact that if we do anything we're doing it all for fun.  No pressure and nothing to prove here.  We just want to spend our possible last summer at the track with the friends we've made over the past ten years.  Traveling to far away places is not on the docket.  And going out to pit ourselves against the pros will most likely not happen.

And depending on what Sam's plans are after graduation, I could find myself behind the wheel of the beast myself.  If he decides to spend the summer in Europe with Robert (his brother from another mother) well not actually, he's our Foreign Exchange Student from a year ago, I could find myself with time on my hands and an itchin' to get back in the seat of something.

I can't let all my hard work in the off season go unrewarded can I?

So if he stays here in the states, and for as long as we can enjoy doing this before he has to leave for college, our schedule this coming season should look something like this:

May 6th  BKC Points Race 1
June 3rd  Blackhawk Farms Raceway
June 10th  BKC Points Race 4
June 17th  BKC Points Race 5
July 8th  BKC Points Race 6
July 22nd  BKC Ponts Race 7
July 28/29  BKC Points Race 8 & 9

And the tentative events being:

Aug 25/26  BKC Points Race 10 & 11
Sept 9th  BKC Points Race 12
Sept 16th  BKC Points Race 13
Sept 30th  BKC Points Race 14
Oct 7th  BKC Points Race 15
Oct 21st  BKC Points Race 16
Oct 28th  Backwards Enduro

Stay tuned as we weed through all of our options.  He's still not absolutely certain of which university he plans on attending.  And the talks about Europe are still in their infancy.  But if he should choose to trade his helmet, suit, and kart for a beret, scarf, and paintbrush, you'll be the first to know!

A very safe and Happy New Year to everyone from all of us.

Goodbye, So Long, Farewell.

From an owner, mechanic, and father's point of view.

It's usually around this time of the year when I pen our tearful goodbyes to the racing world for another season.  As relieved as we are to say that we can now have our weekends back for other productive chores or fun-filled adventures, to realize that it's over again leaves us a bit heavy hearted.

To anyone who has followed us to the track or on our blog, you are all quite aware of the struggles we faced this season.  Our fourth class in eight years, we've been trying to climb this ladder for some time now, and in many cases too quickly or not with enough thought given to where we were headed.

Most people get into racing with some sort of plan as to where they want to be in X amount of years.  Long hard thought is given to what formula they want to graduate to, and in some cases, which specific team they are going to drive for.  This may have worked for the Lewis Hamiltons of the world but that doesn't necessarily mean it applies to all drivers.  My son included.

So having said this I feel it quite important to start this year's thank you edition with an apology.  I owe Sam a huge debt of gratitude in hanging in there even though he wanted to be racing elsewhere, and an apology for not listening enough and trying to run all facets of this team on my own.  We had a game plan from the start.  It just took eight years to figure out it was MY plan and not his.

I was so focused in getting us to the pinnacle classes of karting that I never stopped to listen when he wanted to go back to a previous class that we had competed in before.  I violated rule number one that we had established back when he was nine years old and just getting into this sport: If you can't have fun doing it, it isn't worth the effort.  Really, if you can't come off the track having learned something or realizing that you just had about the best time of your life then maybe you should move on to some other hobby.  Eight years later he was still looking for fun and I had thrown that out the window because I was planning our next step.

I can assure you that for how ever many years there are left for us in this sport, I am handing the entire operations segment over to him.  He will plan schedules and classes to compete in and I will be just fine with that.

Thanks will begin again like they do every year with Pegasus Auto Racing Supplies.  Standing behind us for all of our years we have established a very professional appearance with some of the best equipment in the industry.  We may not have always been the team to beat out on the track, but we're challenged by only a few back in the pits.  Year after year we've had more people stopping by our trailer to ask about something we have on our kart or in our tool box and it's all because of the great products you stock.  Thank you again for your assistance this season, we truly appreciate it.

OMP America LLC.  Along for the ride for nine years as well.  We've had nothing but OMP gear on our driver's back since we started back in 2002.  It looks great and it does what it was made to do.  Help teams and drivers look their best while providing the ultimate in protection when the unfortunate does happen.  We've had a few instances that come to mind which could have ended far worse had we been using any other brand and because of that, a huge thank you is in order.  Gabriele and Danilo have been more accommodating than they really had to be for a couple of guys like us and we really appreciate everything they've done for us.

And to the most important people in the world and the reason we are able to accomplish all of this every year, my wife and daughter.  We couldn't go out on the road for a dozen or more weekends a year and pull all of this together without your help.  From food preparation and moral support to just having every member of this family in the same place to enjoy the time we all have together.  This speaks louder than any go fast part or flashy suit.  If we had no sponsors helping us and had to foot the entire bill on our own, we would still be wealthier than any top notch team by just being together to share the experience with one another.  He and I thank you both for that.

So the run to stardom (or the dream of it) looks to be coming to a close.  Moving forward, anything we do after this season will be for the love of the sport and the people we enjoy it with.  A classroom behind the wheel will give way to a lecture hall on a college campus.  Geometry and skills once used to navigate a road course will be the precursor to analytical thinking used to build bridges or split atoms.  And needing to go fast will only be required when getting from class to class.

No matter what form the 2012 season takes, we will bring every moment to you as we have for nearly a decade.  To those of you still reading, we thank you too.

A fitting end to a funny season

Just a day in the life of a kid going sixty miles an hour around a track on a Sunday afternoon.  I submit to you, one fantastic round at Badger Raceway this past weekend.



Gridded 12th (of twelve) we faced an uphill battle in our final round of the 2011 Bridgestone Race Series.  Disappointed would be an understatement if you asked us how we felt about this, seeing that we were gridded second in the prefinal and parked it on lap 4 with a skipped chain and missing rear bumper.

The whole weekend was a bit strange to be quite honest.  We arrived late on Saturday to test, went out and did five very quick laps and parked it after the rear bumper fell off.  Yes you read it right, it fell off on Saturday too!  And with all of the vendor trucks in the paddock locked up tight, we had no choice but to scrap our plans of going any further for the day.

Sunday morning came and we collected the needed parts to put the kart back together again.  Our first practice was impressive, eventually leading to an outside front row position for the prefinal just four one-thousandths off the pole sitter's time.  But like I said earlier it would be short lived.  I watched in total aggravation as the bumper slipped a tad on one side, then it began to droop, and then all hell broke loose and it let go.  The bumper twisted itself in such a way as to jam itself in one wheel and launch the kart off the track in a very dramatic fashion.  The ensuing return to ground caused the chain to pop off its sprocket and ultimately end our round.

After one very irritated driver calmed down, and one badly bent kart had been straightened, we returned to the grid to take our newly designated spot at the back of the field.  So what do you say to your driver when the points are pretty much established in the season already, and he's situated at the tail end of the pack after yet another disappointing experience in a season plagued with this luck?  You tell him to go out there and have a good time, that's what you tell him!

So even though his fight back to the front ended in only a fifth place finish, I've never seen him drive with that much determination before and I've NEVER seen him with a grin on his face as big as the one he had that day.  Sure we wished that we could have gotten past some of the back markers sooner and posed a threat to the front runners but we already proved we were faster than all of them this weekend.  And with a conclusion like that, I think we both can put this season behind us with a smile on our faces.

The year so far

We've reached the midway point of our 2011 season and we're finding ourselves with many thoughts and ideas that keep crossing our minds.  Was TaG the right direction to move in?  Should we have stayed with the Rotax series?  Could we have experienced more success had we traveled the Road Race tour instead?

All good questions, but when you get down to the heart of the matter I don't believe we would have found anything more in any other series than the one we landed in.  We're just having a bit of bad luck and that can surely come to someone regardless of the series that they're involved in.

Things haven't been going well since the start of this season.  It's almost as if we hit the ground in April about as fast as we were ever going to go and we've been back pedaling ever since.  Frustration and high expectations of ourselves began to whittle away at any of the fun that we were having until just a few short weeks ago when we had to pull the emergency brake on this effort and regroup.  If we were ever going to make this work we had some changes that had to be made.  Mainly in the attitude department.

Now find any article that has ever been written on this blog and you will see one common thread: Fun comes first.  If you find that you are incapable of conjuring up just one small smile at the end of the day, then you may just have to do some soul searching into whether or not this is for you anymore.  And by the way things were looking I didn't feel that we had many days left in this.

It was tough, I'm not going to sugar coat anything here.  And the worse thing was that even though I knew that Sam didn't appear to be in it one hundred percent, I myself didn't want to throw in the towel just yet.  But seriously, if you don't have the total dedication of everyone involved, especially the guy doing the driving, you're just going to be throwing your money and time down the drain.

We agreed on one week to do some soul searching and I'm glad (and quite relieved) to say that I'm cautiously optimistic that things look like they should turn around for us.  A renewed attitude about how we go into these events and what we should expect from them made our last outing register quite a bit south of the "tense" scale.

USair Raceway in Shawano was next on our schedule and we arrived on Friday afternoon to begin our testing.  Almost immediately upon our arrival we were to meet our first obstacle which would test our faith.  I was informed that our gear set up was incorrect for the track, and to make matters worse I had no spares to fix this situation.  Lost day at the track?  It sure looked that way, but what could we possibly gain from throwing a fit and elevating every one's temper to an all time high?  Thank god for the little birdie that told us to just work with what we had and astonishingly enough we found the combination to be quite fast.

Tolerance, patience, I gotta try these more often.

Two tenths off of a fast lap around the track ain't bad for someone who hasn't seen it in six years.  All practice sessions, qualifiers and heat races proved we were in the top five.  And out of twenty drivers that wasn't all that bad.  Hey, could we possibly have fun again at this?

But all of that would change in the Final.  Qualifying fourth, we barely made it around for the parade lap when Sam pulled off the course.  Our driver gear had failed and completely sheared every one of its teeth off leaving us with nothing more than dampened spirits and a great seat to watch the race, not to mention a severely thinning checkbook.  Aside from the set of tires that took exactly four sessions to completely destroy, I found out how much these drivers cost and let me tell you I'll be checking the condition of mine a little closer from now on.

But the best part of the weekend was the ride home.  No tension, no awkward silence, just four people who weathered a storm both on and off the track (mother nature tried to kick our teeth in on Saturday) and who all lived to tell about it.  Not in rants, not with too much emotion, just with a smile on our face even if the outcome wasn't what we had hoped for.

Now if all weekends could be this way.

The Big Bang

The size nine stiletto of one miss Lady Luck kicked us square in the chops this weekend as we lost our first engine of the season.

Sixteen thousand RPM's one second, and absolutely nothing the next.  And as it usually goes, the catastrophic failure always occurs on a high speed stretch of the track so to anyone who has experienced this before you know it can be quite the horrific moment.

After all this sudden excitment he still managed to keep it out of the fence, or anything else with some weight behind it, and coasted safely off the track.  Later it was found that a ring had let go and got ingested in the engine, putting day one of a two day race weekend in the books as a DNF.

On the brighter side of things, thanks to Greg Hobbs (son of legendary sports car and formula one pilot David Hobbs) Sam learned a few things this weekend that are already proving to be key in his development.  Greg so graciously took Sam under his wing for the day since I could not personally be there and besides an occasional chassis or engine set up tip, he worked with him on some trouble spots he was having on the track.  Now he has a new mantra when he sets off down pit road that should hopefully bring us one step closer to his goals.

What could have easily been one of the most disappointing weekends to date actually was a great learning experience for both of us.  Thanks again Greg for all the advice.  I figure it would have cost far more for a professional driving coach than the rebuild I'm facing so we're pretty much ahead of the game here.

Next up, Shawano, and my turn at the wheel.  If, and only if we get this engine back together in time I might get to finally find out what it is that I'm expecting from my son every weekend.  And although I expect to have fun, I feel certain that I probably won't be able to deliver.

Oh how frustrated he's going to be.

The year so far

Ughhhh!

One word can sum up the season so far and that's pretty much it.  Actually we could very well insert another single word into this mix but doing so would seriously compromise our PG rating on this website.

Some of you might be saying it can't be all that bad can it?  And my response to you would be that you're right, it could be far worse.  So what could all the trouble be?

In a nutshell, we haven't been struggling like this for a long time now.  I feel I know my way around a chassis and the whole art of tuning has begun to make sense to me. Sam certainly knows his way around the track so how could we possibly be so far behind if all the pieces are in place?  Where the problem lies is in the fact that we can't seem to get everything to come together in one cohesive ball of mind numbing speed.

Late last season we borrowed a TaG engine to play around with and immediately ran fast.  Faster than most of the guys who had been running the class for a while.  And this season we jumped right out of the box onto the track and found our legs almost immediately.  The problem is that for some very strange reason we've been back pedaling lately and can't seem to pin point why.

In today's age of on board data acquisition systems and just about every means possible of monitoring your driver and vehicle, it can prove to be more of a curse at times than a productive tool.  Case in point:  The crew sees inconsistencies in lap times and can only attribute this to some driver error.  But said driver feels that he's squeezing every ounce out of his machine and that it can only be traced to an improperly tuned chassis.  You see where I'm going here?  One weekend of this kind of thing can have more drama than an entire season on the Springer show.

After a couple of heated conversations and one promise of an early retirement we all arrived at the point where we decided that we're all going to have to try harder out on the track and be more understanding of one another off it.  This coming weekend at Badger should hopefully provide the groundwork for future success.  We have a lot of work to do to get back into the mix of things so our fingers are crossed and we'll let you know how we fare.

No rush for this one

We're sorry everyone but we haven't been very excited to bring you the latest news after the Pegasus Auto Racing Grand Prix of Dousman two weeks ago.  Being the host sponsor of the first round of the Midwest Sprint Series had us proud and excited to show the out-of-towners how it's done.  But old lady luck had other plans for us that weekend.

It's tough on everyone when you find yourself running at the back of the pack.  It's equally frustrating when your kart is plastered in the host sponsor's livery and you are the last kart the crowd sees in the field.  Lap after agonizing lap.

Yes we did have some of the best drivers in the Midwest in attendance.  And guys who I might add have won numerous national titles.  But we're not chopped liver ourselves, and we ran in the pack with a few of these drivers in classes past but fate wouldn't allow it in this particular event.

And in defense of our driver and the talented individual who I hired as our tuner that weekend we did quite well personally.  Our best time was a half second quicker than we ever went around that track but unfortunately for us everyone else was also finding these accolades in their efforts.

And although I learned a lot from the young mechanic who worked with Sam for the better part of the weekend, I found it very unorthodoxed for me to just show up at a race track and sit on my rear end.  Not one wrench was touched nor even one setting changed.  I was relegated to fly-on-the-wall status and I owed it to the mechanic to stay that way.  You know what they say about too many Chiefs and not enough Indians.

So to spare the ugly details, we finished at the back of the pack in both of our races.  Dead last to be brutally honest, but I for one feel good about the fact that we did make progress.  If you can't beat the competition, you can at least better yourself.  And we clearly did that.

Is there a reverse on a kart?

If that's not the case, we could sure use a do-over on the season so far.

A third, fourth, and a sixth all in our last three weekends.  And in that order I might add!  I don't know how we can be slipping this far behind so soon but the frustration level is at an all time high and we'd better hope we can shake it before the Midwest Sprint Series rolls into town this weekend.

Several drivers that we faced this past weekend are already slated to attend so it appears that we'll have our work cut out for us.  Aside from the fact that nearly everyone was on the faster Bridgestone YLB tires, we could not duplicate our performance from the week prior even though the kart (and mother nature) were identical in the two events.

So with new rubber in hand, a tuner working with us who should bring more to the table than yours truly, and a better understanding of our home track over some of the others, we are hoping for the best.  We'll bring it all to you next week.

GAME ON!

The 2011 season is upon us with a non points race this weekend at Badger Raceway.  Although we're not planning (or ready) to be out there this weekend, we will most likely be hitting the track for some much needed practice in the next week.

Our LM30 Merlin chassis has risen from its long winter's nap and got just about every fastener replaced on it.  It will again be skinned in its familiar Pegasus/OMP livery and power this year will come from our new IAME Leopard TaG engine.  We are very excited to get out there, and we're optimistic in our chances of repeating our successes of 2010.

Stay tuned for more updates as the days draw nearer.  For now, direct your attention to our season schedule on the site's side bar for a complete list of our events planned for this year.  And as always we welcome each and every one of you to join us.

Recognizing a job well done

With the 2010 racing season behind us, we took a break from our busy winter rebuild schedule this past weekend to meet with friends and fellow competitors from the Midwest Sprint Series at their annual awards banquet in Rockford Illinois.

Tim Koyen and his son T.J. have put together one heck of a race series, and the festivities on this particular night proved just as entertaining for the large crowd gathered to enjoy some food, fun, and the coveted class champion awards.

The "Eagle" as it's called.  Whether a Bronze eagle from the WKA or its crystal counterpart in the MWSS, all drivers want one.  And all drivers work very hard to get one but only a few will actually find themselves fortunate enough to take one home.  And this year it was our turn.

2010 Rotax Senior Champion.  Say it once or twice, let it roll off your tongue, I for one find it very exhilarating.  This victory for us fortifies everything that I've said for years, even back when I raced cars myself, that you don't necessarily have to be the fastest guy out on the track every weekend to win a championship.  The right combination of speed, perseverance, patience and brains can do it just as well.

We're living proof to this testament.  In our '09 season we were fast but suffered from a rash of technical problems which forced us well back in the points by mid season.  Then throw in an unhealthy dose of anger, frustration, and raw emotion and you have a recipe for your very own team's demise.

On the contrary, this season we just kept plugging away and even in our darkest moments (the U.S. Rotax Grand Nationals in Indy come to mind) we rolled with the punches that were dealt to us, dusted ourselves off, and tried again.  And when every attempt led to another set back, we chalked it up as a practice session and set our sites on the next event.

You know if you had asked us back in April if we thought we would be where we are today our answer would have been a very strong and convincing "No".  With Shinya Michimi and Scott Kopp gracing the pit lane each weekend we thought just with the two of them alone we would not have stood a chance.  But like we find out all too soon, what works one weekend doesn't necessarily work the next.  And for every great weekend at the track there are twice as many that don't go as well.  Chassis set-ups can be on target one moment and the next session they can be impossible to live with.  Racing is a dynamic sport with so many variables that change so frequently that even if you do know the field like the back of your hand it's still hard to ever say that there's one clear favorite.

There were events that we would pull up to and just go fast right out of the box without ever touching the set-up.  There were times when we would not relax for one moment, thrashing between rounds only to have the kart handle as bad or worse than it did before.  It seemed like we all took turns having misery and luck as our crew chiefs but in the end we did it.  Inch Hi Motorsports prevailed where all others didn't, and by some numbers game we ended up on the top of the heap. We are very proud of this accomplishment and extremely honored to have been able to compete with such a talented group of drivers.

In 2011 TaG seems to be where everyone is migrating towards.  Ourselves included.  The costs associated with this class compared to a Rotax campaign is a bit more pleasing on the budget.  And like we wrote in an earlier article, after a couple of test days with this package we were totally sold.  A good pairing of power and reliability that we feel we can live with.  Money has been put down on our new mill and it's being built as we speak.

So without sounding too much like a broken record let us once again take a moment to thank Franklin Motorsports, OMP, and Pegasus Auto Racing Supplies again for the wonderful treatment last year and all the help you provided in making this another championship winning season for us.  Your help has given us the spring board needed to get to where we are today and we want you to know how much we appreciate it.  We look forward to another season with you all on board.

See everyone in May!

Ever wanted to be part of a race team?

A much needed rest from racing just came to an end last night as we began tearing into the #98 Merlin chassis for its annual ground up rebuild.  Remarkably enough the chassis looks straight and with the exception of your usual suspects who are slated for replacement: bearings, throttle cable, and the assorted fastener, all looks pretty reusable.

This is a good thing for us since we spent an obscene amount of money in our Rotax debut last year on our way to another championship winning season.  And in our quest to repeat our past successes we have a feeling that this year will be no less forgiving on the books.

Who said racing was cheap right?

But we really have a lot to be thankful for when it comes to the support that we receive each and every year from our returning business partners.  Without their help absolutely none of this could be possible.  We are very fortunate compared to many teams that we compete with, but we can always use more help and we're constantly searching to bring new people on board with us.  Whether you're a business owner looking to expand your market, or a race fan looking to get up and close to the sport, we have a plan that can get you just what you're looking for.

Business owners can showcase their products on a stage set in a fast paced world that only motor racing can offer.  And with demographics touching virtually every corner of the market from child to adult, male and female, and just about every income bracket in between, there's every reason to believe that your ROI will be swift and your bottom line fat.

For those of you who share a passion for the sport but lack the time or funding, we have entry level plans that can get you one step closer to the action.  From simply receiving honorable mention for your contribution to joining us on pit road, we have a level that can work for you.

The list below outlines what we have to offer and I would encourage anyone who is interested to e-mail us for more information or to request an application.  We can be reached at mjm@pegasusautoracing.com


Premiere Sponsor (Unlimited number of spots available)

• Silver - Share in the dream and receive honorable mention on the team’s website. $25

• Gold - With the Gold level, you will receive an honorable mention on the website but with the addition of an autographed team picture. $50

• Platinum - At this level you’ll receive the benefits of our Gold sponsor level with the addition of a small graphic on the kart. $100


Executive Sponsor (Two spots available)

• Standard - Platinum level Sponsor with larger graphic on kart and up to four (4) tickets to one event including lunch at the track. $500


• Preferred - Standard level Sponsor plus four (4) tickets to two (2) events including lunch at the track. $1000



Marquee Sponsor (Single spot available)

• Featured link on team website
• Framed and autographed picture
• Team apparel
• Admission to any event(s) during the season. Up to four (4) tickets per weekend with lunch served at track
• Up to an 8 square foot section of trailer gate for company logo or graphic
• One afternoon test session behind the wheel of a team kart at Badger Raceway with full crew support
• Driver (and team) available for shows, open house, grand openings, etc.

Call for rate