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!
