Tentatively speaking the tentative schedule is still tentative

Wow, that's a mouthful. If it even made sense at all!

It's been quite a while since we last posted anything on our site so we first wanted to wish everyone a happy holiday and hope your Christmas brought everything your hearts desired. Good luck to all of our friends who made the trek to the WKA season opener in Daytona, (I swear one year we'll do it too) and we hope your trip is a safe one.

What I can tell you is that we are in the midst of our winter rebuild and at least in that aspect everything is business as usual. What isn't so certain is our upcoming season. A variety of factors, some outside of our failing economy, have put our decisions on hold as to what we'll run in the new season and just how frequently we'll be doing it. There are so many things going on right now that to make a decision at this point would be far too premature.

As more information becomes available we will keep you informed. Until that time stay warm, don't drink and drive, and for all of our midwestern friends and family: keep your chins up. Summer is only another twenty-two weeks away!

Not Dad's proudest moment

Want to see more? Go to 3AM With Gus for more details.

The last time down that road

That's all she wrote for 2008. Our season at the Badger Kart Club, and karting in general for this season has finally come to a close. Third place in the points is where we landed and like every year at about this time you can almost hear the collective sigh of relief from fans and competitors alike. But as always we find ourselves asking each other how it came and went so soon.

It seemed like only yesterday that we dragged ourselves and our equipment out to the track for our first time this year, and for what promised to be one of our best seasons yet. Our final results were a far cry from what we had planned, but I nor my son can complain that we didn't reach our goals. Could we have done better? Absolutely. Did we repeat our success of the previous year? Not exactly. But other accomplishments were surely made, and not all of them are measured by where you stack up in the final standings.

39.44

Remember that number. Because it will most likely get harder for us to reach that time as the years go on. This was the fastest that he made it around the track this year and although we're comfortable with it, we were still a couple of tenths off the fastest pace. At the time of this printing, the quickest lap recorded for our class this past season was a 38.991. The track record from two years ago still stands at 38.38 and as everyone grows older and heavier this is going to be an awful high bar for future challengers to beat.

I took off twelve pounds of weight from the kart through the course of this season so it comes as no surprise that Sam has hit his growth spurt. He went through two pair of shoes in four months and if I wasn't so cheap he would have had a new suit as well. Things like this truly affect your performance and there will certainly come a time when I'll have no ballast on the machine and mother nature will have a say-so in how fast we go.

$$$$$$$$$$

Remember that sign. As we get further into this endeavour we're finding that we're adding zeros to our previous year's budget at a staggering pace. It's funny how your mind works when the chips aren't stacked in your favor. A couple of tenths off the lead group - "new tires" you say. If my engine doesn't sound like the others at full throttle - bring on the rebuild! New carbs, new tools, new information, and you're well on your way to financial disaster. It's far too easy to follow this path than to slow down, catch your breath, and realize that maybe all you need is more testing time. After all, when you're this close to the pack but not quite there, it's probably not the latest go-fast part that's going to make you quicker, it may just be good old fashioned seat time.

The customer is always right

Remember that phrase. In my retail job that's our mantra. It doesn't matter if the person you're talking to is a bumbling fool, they are ALWAYS right! And if you want to keep yourself in business nowadays you better understand this real quick.

When you disappoint them, a customer is only loyal to you as long as it takes to Google your rear end away to the next bidder. Case in point: The engine builder we began the season with seemed to cast a deaf ear on our perceived problems. It's not that he blew us off totally, it was more of an attitude like the issues that we were experiencing were not as critical as we made them out to be. The main thing we were experiencing was a fuel delivery problem at high speeds. I was certain that it was our pop-off but I didn't have the experience nor the parts to handle it on my own. On several occasions I was made to believe that this really wasn't the issue and I was assured that where it was set was where it needed to be. Unfortunately it wasn't until we had a horrible test day and I was forced to leave a heated voice mail with him did I finally get the results we were looking for. One rebuild and an adjusted pop-off and the problem was eradicated.

I have since changed engine builders and have all the parts, tooling, and the education to perform this task myself from now on. He even took about two hours to explain what he did, how everything works, and just what settings I'm looking to be at for every weather change thrown at us. Two hours of customer service I never got from my last two builders combined. So far I'm sold.

Reflecting on this season I have to say once again that Sam outperformed my expectations of him. We very well could have used more test days but time just wouldn't permit it in some cases. He did turn up the aggression this year and showed it most in the closing events of the season. The bodywork on the kart, or lack there of it, is a testament to just how hard he worked at that. It's always nice to have your sponsors clearly marked on a sparkling clean kart but if you're going to run up front it's not uncommon for you to trade that in for busted plastic and endless tire marks. We're still a bit weak on holding the line and he still has yet to distinguish the difference between this and blocking but once he gets it he's going to see some real improvements, I'm sure of it.

So now comes the time honored tradition of extending our gratitude to everyone who has made this possible for us. The list is extensive and in no particular order, I'm merely typing what pops into my head at any given time. Understand that no matter what your contribution was to my family and our team it was greatly appreciated by all of us.

Pegasus Auto Racing and Karting Supplies. Chris and Carla Heitman have been on board with us since day one and we can't express just how much we appreciate that. Without your support this would be a monumental task for us to accomplish. Look up and down pit road and you can see we have far more than the average team and it's all because of your generosity. A very heart felt thank you to you both.

OMP, and both Gabriele Pedone and Danilo Olivera. What can we say that already hasn't been said about the company, it's products, and your hospitality. We already know that OMP has the best safety equipment on the planet, now all we have to do is make sure the planet knows that. With your continued support we will do our best at getting that word out one customer at a time. We look forward to working with you again in 2009 and if either one of you should find yourselves in our neck of the woods again you are always welcomed in our pit. Just leave your cooking apron at home. We'll get it next time, I insist.

To Patrick Lynch at Shock Doctor. It may be a long road in getting the word out about all of the outstanding motor sports products that you offer. But as long as you'll have us, we'll do our part in educating people on the benefits of each and every one of these items. I really don't know how people can get by without them. We've been using everything habitually since we received them and not once have I had to send my driver back out on the course in cold damp equipment. Thank you so very much for everything.

To our family. All grand parents, aunts, and uncles. We loved having all of you at the track to cheer us on and we hope you have it in you for a return trip or two next season. Sam really needs someone other than my moody self to talk to and I'm sure he's appreciated your being there when I've had my occasional hissy fit. Thank you also goes out to my wife and daughter. And more so than one would think. My wife has volunteered on numerous occasions at the track and has easily fulfilled our requirements as a family in the club. I haven't done job one in this capacity and if it wasn't for her we wouldn't get our points or his trophy to show for it. And my daughter for her ongoing tolerance with this weekly circus. You've felt that you took a back seat to racing for a long time now and I just want you to know that it couldn't be further from the truth. Your brother and I both appreciate all of your help, (you're a teriffic tire scrubber) and for being there to kid around and lighten some situations for us. Your time will come soon enough. You keep up with gymnastics like you have and we'll be traveling around watching you compete for a change.

Bob Prusinski of R-TEC for a great engine and my well needed education in tuning it.

Dave Ellingham for your patience with my ignorance in tech. I have all the tools now so go ahead and tear us down!

Regan Vehring, and his whole family at 4-Cycle Central. From straightening the kart, to advice that was sorely needed. You and your family ARE karting and you're always there to lend a hand when it's needed. We may have gone to the "dark side" with our two cycle powerplant but you and your company will always be an important part of our success.

To Cody Elliott and his family. If you never invited us into your trailer we would still be in a 6x10 foot single axle. If you never invited us into your trailer I wouldn't have the debt from owning such a beast as the one we now have but we really wouldn't do it any other way.

If I've left anyone out I'm truly sorry. There have been so many people who have helped us along this year that I know I'm forgetting someone. We look forward to all of your continued support in 2009 and hope to see all of you again soon. For now, enjoy some of these photos from our '08 season.

The whole gang together at Badger

Bob and Spencer Clark

On the grid, ready to go

Horsing around as usual

Bittersweet to say the least

Points Race #14 at Dousman this past weekend left a bit to be desired. We managed to run our fastest time of the season thus far, a 39.44, but couldn't seem to put anyone behind us in the process.

We had a good turnout for a change with ten entries in our class. Coming off our high from the Road America event we felt confident in our abilities to finally run with the faster drivers who might otherwise ignore us on any other weekend. That wasn't to be the case since all of our efforts to repeat our performance of just two weeks prior proved fruitless. We had to settle for tenth out of ten drivers.

We are optimistic in our hopes of possibly getting down to the times we enjoyed last season but with only one race left on our schedule, that may prove to be too little too late. We'll definitely give it our all but a recent slip in the point standings to fifth might be what we'll have to settle for. We'll keep you posted.

Sign of things to come?

When I said in our last post to hang on because we've just begun I wasn't kidding. This past Sunday at Road America Sam has proven that it's his turn to be a major concern to others on the track as he posted a well deserved fourth place finish in his HPV Junior class of nine drivers.

"I'm just shooting for a top five finish" he said, before heading to the grid for his feature race. After all we did have the Stagl brothers to contend with, along with a rare visit from WKA Champion Ben Hewitt. These young men as well as several other talented drivers from our class were on hand for the day's events. History has shown where we normally stack up against these teams so we knew we had our work cut out for us. But a top five was the bar that he set for himself and we were determined to get there.

Practice on Saturday had us going up and down all day on our gear ratios. We could never really get a grip on whether it was the gearing that was affecting our performance or the ever changing track conditions. We felt strong on what we had in our last session as we posted a fast time of 50.97 seconds so it was evident that this was, if not close to, our race set up for tomorrow.

In Sunday morning's practice sessions we were scratching our heads wondering how the field had gotten away from us. What was once a quarter of a second differential was now at least double that. It was decided that a drop in one gear tooth would be our course of action so the change was made for our first heat race. This proved to do next to nothing for us so back to the original set up we went in hopes of a better finish in the final.

By looking at Sam and talking to him it was apparent that he was becoming more and more frustrated in this situation. The day of the carefree kid who was just out for fun looks to be a thing of the past. He still has a blast, but I think winning is heavy on his mind lately. We've been living in the shadow of these drivers for the entire season so far and I know that's not where he wants to be. He doesn't have to tell you this though, you could easily sense it.

When it was our turn to take to the track we found ourselves gridded fifth with some hope of staying there. With the exception of one driver positioned behind us, the fastest of the fast were all up front so keeping up with them and not allowing an inch to anyone else was the game plan. Sam gained a couple of spots right off the start when pole sitter Ben Hewitt threw a chain in the first turn but for the most part that's where he stayed until a late charge from Andrew Hobbs took third place from us. For the remainder of the event he stayed glued to his bumper and was always within striking distance. Unfortunately Andrew proved to be just quick enough to secure his spot so fourth was what we had to settle for. A strange choice of words since a top five was what we were shooting for in the first place. But that race was so incredibly close you could almost taste that podium finish.

Anyone who knows me knows that I'm not very colorful or vocal when standing on the pit wall while watching my driver race. I've never been that way when I worked on race teams prior to karting either. I have my occasional eruption when working on the equipment, but come race time, win or lose, I usually keep my emotions to myself. But this all changed this past weekend when I was talking Sam around every inch of this track (and talking to myself) clear through to the finish of the race. Once he turned on to the front straight for the last time I threw a fist in the air and shouted with delight, not caring much as to who may have heard me.

As for the whole weekend in general there couldn't have been a prouder team mate, crew chief, or father alive that day. There was also a new found spring in his step and smile on his face which was nice to see. After all, he's shown himself and all the others that he's finally arrived.

Welcome son.

Hang on tight! He's just begun

Wow! What a difference that change made. We decided to try a different engine builder (our third in two years) and I think we got it right this time.

Saturday we got to the track late in the day hoping there would be some sort of a track to work with. The club had been off for two weeks and people had been saying that times were off due to no rubber on the track. We found no break either as we struggled to get to the times were were hoping for. Although the kart felt good and looked very quick, time comparisons were going to have to wait until Sunday.

Something must have been in Sam's Wheaties on Sunday morning because he was clearly the fastest during the warm ups and he managed his first heat win of the season by a considerable margin to boot. Our luck wouldn't prove good enough for the feature race as we had to settle for second place. One more lap though and it would have been a much different story.

The start left little to be desired. Tyler Lucich got a good jump on him at the green and Sam remained behind him for most of the race. He did manage to cut a deficit of about four kart lengths down by lap eight, but a last minute swing out from behind the leader at the checker was a bit too little too late. We had to settle for the number two spot literally one foot behind him.

Still quite an achievement in my mind. His uncle said it best in his own colorful way when he asked if he woke up with a bit of an anatomy change, (I'll spare you the details) because he drove better and more aggressive than anything we've seen in the past. I have not one body panel that doesn't have tire marks ground into them. He's stuck his nose in every concievable spot where a pass might have been possible with some having worked and some not. A testament to the fact that you can no longer read his sponsors on the front of the kart.

But if broken bodywork and smudged decals are the trade off for a good strong finish then I say grind away. A small price to pay for the accolades that we've been waiting so long for.

July 27th in the books, and August 3rd is off

Although the amount of money spent this weekend wasn't nearly as much as last week's, the amount of frustration seen from driver and crew was just as high.

It all boils down to seat time. And when priorities with one of my three jobs or scheduling conflicts in our personal lives should interfere with this it's easily noticed on race day. We only managed to finish a couple of hours of testing time on Saturday, and with the track being as dusty and loose as it was we never really found any quality times from it. Contrary to the belief that smaller drivers need to have all of their bars removed, we did find that we ran much better with the rear bar installed on our kart. It was apparent that Sam was faced with a loose condition on corner exit and adding this bar just about eliminated it. He liked the way the kart now felt so we figured that's where its new home was going to be.

Race day would once again begin with a false impression on how we would stack up against the others. I often wonder if the other drivers are not as quick to find their race legs as we are, or if by some cruel joke they decide to sand bag the first couple of sessions so we feel we're "on it". More than I can remember have we looked very quick in practice only to have our competition pull away from us later in the day. In the final, Sam did manage to narrow this margin as all five drivers were within three tenths of a second of one another. Sam brought up the rear but was easily within striking distance of Tyler Lucich who was closely guarding the fourth place spot. We later commented on how we both felt that if the race was one more lap it may have been a different story but we'll just have to wait until our next race on August 17th to see if that will be the case.

So with that we want to apologize to everyone for pulling the August 3rd date from our schedule. We're planning on using this down time for a much needed engine rebuild in addition to our family vacation to Road America for the American Le Mans Series event. Ahhh, one week of getting to enjoy our trailer with no kart to work on in the back of it. For a change I get to be the spectator while someone else works their tail off for that win, and believe me I will revel in every minute of it.

It began to look like we couldn't buy a break.

I know I've said it before and with my luck I fear today won't be the last, but this was by far the worst week we've ever had to date. Beginning this last Tuesday our intention was to get out and dust off the cob webs after a six week hiatus from racing. We planned on practicing each day out at our local track leading up to this past weekend's event. But all too often we find that what you plan for is not always what you get.

Our first day back behind the wheel was supposed to be a carb needle familiarization day. In our class, like many others, you have to pretty much master the art of carb set up if you're ever going to run right. These things are so touchy that what may have worked one weekend could be totally off the next. And if the weather changes in a single day you can find yourself starting all over again real quick. Unfortunately for us this test was never to be as we cracked our frame and had to call it quits until we could find a welder. One day later, $150 lighter, and we were back on track again. Or so we thought.

On the second day we spent most of our time reassembling the kart. A hair brained idea of mine to strip it to the bare frame had back fired so I was looking at more work than I should have really had to do. The night before, I had an idea that if I could skinny this thing down a bit I might be able to fit it in my wife's car and save myself an obscene charge for a mobile welder to visit us. It wasn't until she arrived did I find that the frame didn't fit at all. One more lousy inch of clearance and it would have gone in. Aside from the fact that I now realized I was going to pay dearly to have this thing fixed, I also realized I made more work for myself than had I just removed the components around the spot that needed welding. No need to cry over spilled milk. We jumped on it and began assembling it before the welds were even cool. Once the dust settled and we had it back together again there was about fifteen minutes left in the session to get Sam out on the track and shake it down for any loose bolts or anything needing a last minute tweak. Not bad for the deficit that we were once facing. I sent Sam to get his gear on while I put the wheels back on and as if the gods of high performance were messing with us, a broken hub stud sidelined us for the day.

We returned on the third day with a new hub and a strong determination to put the past few days of bad luck behind us. We checked everything over, gave it a clear bill of health, and sent man and machine out onto the track for some much needed seat time. Everything appeared to be going smoothly, that was until he found himself under full throttle situations and the kart was stumbling all over itself. After several failed attempts at tuning the carb we found ourselves in the same situation that we had been in at the last Midwest Sprint race. It sounded like the pop-off was inaccurately set and in desperate need of an inspection. Not having the tools or knowledge in handling situations like this, we packed up for the day and made a call to our engine builder not knowing if he was even coming to the track this weekend.

So day three was over and we managed to complete just seven laps of this track. I found myself asking god why this was happening. Was it bad Karma? Had I been such a bad person that I now was finding myself paying some sort of penance for my sins? If so, why drag my son into it? I had spent a lot of time and an equally appalling amount of money this week and in the end this is all we get? These and many other questions were running through my head including whether or not there was another sport that we could get into that would take less of a toll on us financially as well as mentally.

Sunday - Race day. Not knowing whether our engine builder had got my voice mail, or for that matter if he was going to be at the track at all, we could do nothing but wait. He did eventually arrive and although we had to skip the first practice session he changed the pop-off setting and we changed the filter, fuel lines, and spark plug. After all, with a week like we had I wasn't about to chance anything here! We set out for P2 and found that it ran as good and strong as it ever did. Light at the end of the tunnel? I'm not saying a word yet.

We had the usuals show up for this weekend's event. That is, the drivers who usually finish ahead of us. But the difference this time was that Sam had stayed well within range of them through one of the heat races and the final. In one heat race he climbed up the back of Andrew Kiedrowksi and did a half spin off course. Once he got his wings again he was about ten kart lengths from the back of the pack and never had time to catch up. Either way, the new carb and my lesson learned on where my adjustments need to be seemed to garner us a new found respect as no one to be counted out. We were showing that we could run with them and with a little more practice I have no doubt that he'll be in that pack soon.

We eventually finished fifth and posted a personal best so far this season of a 39.64second lap.

Another one down the drain

We only came to practice. But after the spot where our truck and trailer was parked literally turned into a running stream we decided to white knuckle it through the night and try leaving in the morning.

We just can't seem to catch a break here in Wisconsin. What first appeared to be a winter that was never going to let go quickly turned into the Great Lakes Tsunami season. Saturday we only managed to get in two practice sessions before the skies began to threaten. Weather reports were coming in fast of impending storms packing high winds, hail, and in some areas tornadoes. This got the attention of my youngest who is absolutely horrified of even hearing the word much less being in the middle of one. We noticed several members of the club heading for shelter in the registration building and it didn't take much coercing for the girls to leave the trailer and head there themselves. Sam and I, as stupid as it sounds, decided to ride it out in the trailer until it got too bad. And although the "women and children first" line echoed in my ears the fact that I had a refrigerator, a pizza in the oven, and a television at my disposal made it hard for us to make haste with our departure.

We survived the night and the morning brought more grey skies with the forecast of rain all day. In grand fashion the registration windows opened and we were led to them like the Pied Piper leading rats through the streets of Hamelin. Everyone plunked their hard earned cash down in hopes of getting in what we could in what little time we had when just as if Mother Nature and registration were in cahoots with one another, the rains came and they cancelled the day. One hour and a thorough drenching later we were on our way home.

Our next stop was going to be the Dunlop Super Nationals at Road America but we're seriously re-thinking our approach to the rest of the season. Rising fuel costs as well as our inability to run strong on race gas is forcing us to contemplate removing key events from our schedule and just focus on Badger. We started the season very optimistic in our chances at competing in the regional and national events but given the fact that it takes hundreds of dollars in just diesel fuel to get to these venues leaves us no choice but to cancel a select few. We are still committed to competing in the BKC Points race #13 scheduled for the end of August at Road America but outside of that we are unsure about anything else. Check our schedule frequently for updates.

Record broken and palms burned

Congratulations to us is due in the fact that we've broken yet another record in our illustrious career in karting. We've managed to spend more money at this past weekend's Midwest Sprint Series Race at Badger than we have in any race to date and with absolutely nothing to show for it.

Round two of the MWSS headed to Badger Kart Club this past weekend and we felt confident that we could run not only with our club competitors but with the talent showing up from outside of our area as well. People from as far away as New York and Montana were on hand with all of the big names that you read about in any of the trade magazines. But this was our track and no matter how talented they may be, we were going to finally have our day in the sun. Or partly to mostly cloudy skies with rain. Or so we believed.

Half of the obscene amount of money we spent went on rain gear for the kart and the driver. MWSS races are held rain or shine and with the forecast calling for some strong rains on Friday and Saturday, we knew that if we ever were going to become acclimated to racing in the wet stuff it was going to happen this weekend. So with a new rain suit, booties, and rain rubber all around, we headed to the track.

Friday morning was wet indeed when we woke up at the track. Engines started at around 10am but no one really took to the track until about noon. The problem was that although it wasn't raining, the track was wet in areas but not enough to sustain life in a rain tire and bit too dangerous for race rubber. For those who are not familiar with racing tires the "slicks" that are used on a normal race day have no tread and can become quite unstable in even the lightest of showers. Rain tires on the other hand are usually a softer compound and sport large deep grooves to force water away in the event of a storm. Kind of like your all season street radials on your personal car. Where it really gets tricky is during these bouts where no real rain is falling or standing water is on the track. Only the smoothest most experienced drivers can pilot a vehicle at speed in this environment on race tires. And if you opt for rain tires with no standing water, they "chunk", or come apart quite rapidly from the heat generated in them. We, like many others, decided to watch the skies and wait.

The skies eventually cleared and stayed that way for the better portion of the day. We tested for several hours struggling to break that forty second mark but didn't find any more speed. That was until I realized that I bolted the cylinder head on his engine backwards. Just so everyone is aware, there is no right or wrong way to bolt an HPV head to the block. Yes, the cooling fins that are angled slightly do face forward and the portion that's more square faces the rear. I have been told though that there is no advantage or deficit in having it mounted one way or the other. We told Sam that now it was going to be more aerodynamic and he would see a definite improvement. There was obviously no way this statement could hold water but as wrong as we were in telling him this, a 39.70 was predominantly displayed on his dash after that session. Something can be said for playing with your driver's head now can't it? The day remained dry and we wore through a set of racing tires in no time so before we could call it quits I had to drive down to the local shop and have another set mounted for Saturday. Ka-ching! more money we didn't plan on spending.

If only our good luck could have followed us into Saturday! We started out in our practice session with hopes of bettering our time from Friday but with an apparent fuel problem we didn't even finish the six minutes that were given to us. We couldn't make the kart go down the straight over 13,000 rpm and with an engine like this that just begins to live and breathe at about fourteen-five, we were leaving a lot of power on the table. We decided to pull the plug on the session, rebuild the carb, and take another stab at it during our qualifier.

No such luck would be had during qualifying either. It didn't even matter that we rebuilt the entire carburetor. It was acting the same way it did before and we were left perplexed to say the least. Our obvious inability to perform put us dead last on the grid for the pre-final and our streak of bad luck didn't stop there. After the green flag flew on our race, Sam went into turn one and appeared to immediately lose power. It had to be the fuel I was thinking, there could be no other excuse for it. Either way he signaled that he was coming off the track and with not even one lap completed our race was over. I grabbed my gear and headed for the scales to meet him when I realized that his loss of power wasn't contributed to our ongoing carb issue but a total loss of brakes! The rod connecting our brake pedal to the master cylinder broke and rendered his brakes useless. Once he came down pit road he had to slow the kart to a stop with his hands on the tires and the ensuing friction wore holes in his gloves and embedded rubber in the palms of his hands. Poor kid, talk about taking one for the team. He did mention that before he came in to the pits that the kart felt strong and he believed our problems with the carb were gone. Outside of my initial settings I couldn't understand how but I was optimistic in our chances in the upcoming final.

Of course not finishing in the previous race put us dead last again for the final. No worries though, as we believed our problems were behind us and all we could look forward to now is a good, clean, hard race. If it was only that simple. It ended up being good for others, clean for the most part, but hard for the two of us. Hard for him to drive and hard for me to watch. It turned out that the kart never really did miraculously fix itself, and shame on us for even thinking that. Within two laps the engine was up to its old tricks again and Sam used everything in his power to just keep the kart running. Towards the end of the race there were moments when he would be driving the kart for complete laps with one hand on the wheel and the other adjusting the carb just to keep it alive. Perseverance prevailed as he managed a twelfth place spot out of sixteen drivers. But the really sad part about it all was that his fastest time he recorded was the same speed we were stuck at the day before. We can only imagine how fast he could have been had the engine been on key.

Out of all the frustration and anguish we went through I have to say that I've never been more proud of him. It could have been much easier to throw in the towel and head for the pits but he stuck in there and did what he had to do to finish the job. It had to be tough to watch the field pull away with no chance of joining them but he focused on the task at hand and made best with what he had. And in the end we finished on the lead lap. Hard to imagine if you seen first hand how poorly the kart performed.

So now its back to Badger for Points Race #6 and a reevaluation of our remaining schedule for this year. It's hard to make this assumption but I feel that it was the fuel that caused this debacle. History has shown that when we race in events that use race fuel compared to pump gas we end up with problems like this. The odd thing is the front runners never missed a beat so why us and only a few others? You can't really blame the engine builder or tuner since we had a different builder last year when we experienced the exact same problem. So if it's me and something that I and only a few other fathers are doing wrong, I then owe it to all of us to stay away from these events until I get it straight. Our pride could sure use it, not to mention my pocketbook.

Rained out

Nothing of much importance to report about our last event. Sunday May 11th was rained out.

We did manage to scuff in some new tires and complete a few laps on Saturday before the weather went away on us. The temps fell and turned the track in to a slippery mess so we threw in the towel early in hopes of the weatherman being wrong about Sunday. I'm very surprised to say that for the first time one of these clueless individuals (who pull down several times my salary) were right.

We'll hopefully pick up where we left off at our next event scheduled for Sunday May 18th.

Hello 2008!

Sorry everyone! I haven't been able to update all of you on our progress so far this year. Obligations with work and family have made it nearly impossible to keep this site up to date as well as my own personal page over at 3am with Gus.

I'm serious about passing the torch to our illustrious hero that I write about every week and make him bring these installments to you with his very own words. This was our (my) intent when we started this blog four years ago but I've been more or less sucked in to it myself when his reluctance to pursue journalism was made all too clear. I've told him that pro drivers today spend an equal time, if not more, on marketing themselves and handling all of the "non-racing" tasks that are so essential in keeping your sponsors and the public happy as you do with your driving responsibilities. It's just part of the machine and you have to be just as successful outside the car as you are inside if you're ever going to make it work. And if by any chance he doesn't decide to go as far as he can in this field he might stand a chance of getting an A+ in English. Not too bad of a trade off I'm thinking. Wouldn't you agree?

So far this year we've been to our local track three times already with two of our visits being actual race weekends. The first time out was points race #2 and we were treating it like any other test day. Sam had not one moment behind the wheel this season so we were content on going out to just shake down the new kart and its engine. It didn't take him all that long to get acclimated with things again but a new seat that had been formed without a nice radius on it was thwarting his ability to concentrate on his driving. It cut so badly in to his side that he was literally holding his breath in pain while going through corners at speed. This forced us to fore go the main and just pack it up for the day.

We got out and tested for a few hours one afternoon and found a couple of tenths but we were still a world off our pace from last year. Almost to the tune of a full second. With it only being our second time out and combining it with the fact that he was still nursing some serious rib wounds we decided to keep our chin up, get some rest, and look forward to points race number three.


With some new safety equipment and a rested driver we headed to the BKC in hopes of finding some much needed faster times. Disappointing the day was in that we were scheduled to be in New Castle Indiana for a Midwest Sprint series race but with our new trailer being two weeks overdue we had to stay back home and race Dousman as the alternative. Only one other competitor in our class was in attendance with the remaining drivers opting for the MWSS race. Shades of years past were evident with the small field but with a bit of optimism we felt our personal best times would be lowered if this was our only objective of the day. The race found us finishing second to our competition and although it didn't net the results we had hoped for, a 40.20 second lap was our fastest time of this year so far.

Now we're off to Badger again next week on Mother's Day. It's a last minute addition to the schedule and one that was given the full blessing of by my lovely wife so no scoffing here folks. I purposely left it off the planned schedule just for her but since she said it was OK then it's OK with us. No one needs to tell me twice that we're going racing.

Not much to report yet

If you stared out the window every day for the past three months and all you seen was this you wouldn't be too hopeful that the 2008 racing season is about five weeks away either.

At the rate this weather is coming at us I think we're going to take the month of April off and just hit the ground running in May. More news as the date draws nearer.

Tentative 2008 Schedule

Subject to change.

The following dates are a starting point of where our schedule should take us next year. We're going to try and make four of the five Midwest Sprint Series races with a career first for Sam in the Dunlop Tire Road America Supernationals.

Because of this we are most likely going to compete in only half of the scheduled Bridgestone Point Series races at Badger, but as we've experienced in the past this could all easily change. We made it a point to make time for both of their bonus points races as well as the August 24th race which will be a return to the Briggs and Stratton Motorplex at Road America.

We look forward to another great year and hope you can be a part of it too. See you at the track!

April 20 Badger Kart Club Points Race #2
May 1-4 MWSS at New Castle Speedway in Indiana
May 18 Badger Kart Club Points Race #5
May 29-June 1 MWSS at Badger Kart Club
June 8 Badger Kart Club Points Race #6
July 10-13 Dunlop Supernationals at Road America
July 20 Badger Kart Club Points Race #9
August 3 Badger Kart Club Points Race #11
August 23-24 BKC Points Race #13 at RA Motorplex
August 28-31 MWSS at USA Raceway in Shawano
September 7 Badger Kart Club Points Race #14
September 21 Badger Kart Club Points Race #15
October 5 Badger Kart Club Points Race #16
October 12 BKC Backwards Enduro

2007 Awards Banquet

This past November the Badger Kart Club hosted it's annual awards banquet again at the Olympia Resort in Oconomowoc Wisconsin. As in years past everyone in attendance was treated to a fine night of food and festivities leading up to the awards ceremony.

This year we got the big one! Class Champion in HPV Jr. and although I myself voted earlier in the year for a change in the awards, mainly to something more compact, the monster that we were given put smiles on everyone's faces. With the biggest grin coming from Sam. Another nice caveat in being bestowed this honor was the jacket that all class champions were given. Sam still has it hung in his room as a part of his shrine of past accomplishments. It's a nice looking jacket that probably is equally nice to wear but something tells me it won't leave the Hall of Fame any time soon.

So until we can repeat it again next year we have a fair amount of work to do. In the weeks following the holidays we'll start the long methodical process of stripping the kart down to a bare frame and rebuilding it. And hopefully several weeks and a handsome amount of money later, we'll be able to do it once more.

Happy Holidays to everyone.

The "Old Guy's" turn at the wheel

All year I wrench on my son's kart and envy him for having the opportunity to do this at his age. Ever since I can remember I wanted to have something to do with racing. And when an uncle of mine purchased a kart and began competing with it back in the 70's I knew where I wanted to be.

So I pestered my father and saved my money but nothing ever came of it. Whether it was a lack of money, a lack of time, or my inability to stay focused on one thing and one thing only, the plan never came together. I had to wait until I was much older to pursue this dream.

Most of you who know me know that I gave up driving about 14 years ago after a luke warm career racing Formula Fords in the SCCA. Just before Sam was born, I sold everything I had and put it into our first house in preparation for a new life as a family and with it, the terrifying thought of being someone's father. There was no way we could afford to continue in the sport and more importantly, we couldn't afford to have one of us going out and risking our neck on the weekends. So with that, I hung up the driving suit for good. And even though I can honestly say that I don't for one minute regret the decision I made, there's not a day that goes by that I don't miss it. Flash ahead 14 years and an opportunity just presented itself.

The annual Backwards Enduro at Badger Raceway is an event that we've had the unfortunate luck of not being able to attend in the past three years. It sounded like a blast. At the end of every race season the club puts on a fun only event where drivers take to the track in the opposite direction of how it's normally run. There's a Powder Puff class that we always thought my daughter would do well in, and an Enduro where my son could share his seat with one of his friends. And what about this Mechanics Race I thought? A quick talk with the troops about who wanted to race in what class and we quickly discovered that even though we could finally attend it, no one really wanted to compete. It looks like the kart is all my own!


Now again, anyone who knows me knows that even though the key word in this event is "fun" I was taking it much more seriously than that. I knew I had to find a seat to fit me but I didn't stop at that. I had to find out all the set-up specs for someone my size and I had to track down a larger pipe that would be less restrictive and be able to handle it's new payload. I dug my old safety equipment out of storage and dragged my family to the track to show them how it's done.

The biggest mistake anyone can make when getting into one of these things is assuming that driving a much smaller and lesser powered kart over a race car is going to be a walk in the park. On the contrary it's the exact opposite. It demands much more of your strength, which was apparent in my inability to hold my neck straight through corners, and the variety of deep painful bruising in my ribs and arms. Without suspension, karts are a handful when it comes to keeping them steady. It took me nearly the entire day to find my stride and work up the strength to pilot this thing along something resembling the racing line. Although the entire day I would come off the last turn onto the front straight with one side in the grass I'm pretty proud in how far I came. I would eventually finish 5th with a personal best lap time of 42.02



The student is now the teacher "Your not going flat out through turn one Pop!" "You're all over the place in the sweeper, you need to work on it!" he's telling me. Man is that how I sound every weekend? That kid of mine was busting my chops from the moment I set foot in the thing. And no matter what type of progress I made he would always have some smack talk to back up how much quicker he was than me. I'll give him that. With a 38 second lap compared to my 42 he reserves the right to be a little cocky. What he doesn't realize is that I was going in the wrong direction on the track (which he never drove before) and I'm taking along about 50 extra pounds for the ride. I know, excuses, excuses, but he better pray that we never go head to head on the same track. If I ever get a kart of my own I have no doubt in my mind that I'll show him my backside and hand him his in the process.

So what did I come away with after this experience? Oh where to start. I think the biggest thing that hit me while I was out there is that I couldn't believe I was making my son drive at speeds like this. I was doing everything I could to keep the thing pointed in the right direction and I was expecting my 13 year old to do the same? The rate at which you come up on things is so quick that if you snooze for just one second you can easily find yourself in a world of trouble. Those hay bales come up real quick on you.

Another thing that's become very obvious is that I'm not twenty years old anymore and I take longer to recover than I used to. Two weeks after the race and I'm still nursing wounds from that day. Now I know why some bright individual introduced a rib protector in this market. I just started taking full breaths again without pain.


And the last thing I came away with is the fact that the bug is still with me and now more than ever I'd like to get back into it again. Probably not auto racing though. Unless someone with very deep pockets would like to take a chance on me I'll stick to karting. How else can I prove to my son that his old man is still king?

The sun sets on yet another season

The 2007 racing season is in the books with Sam finishing first in points and earning himself his first class Championship in HPV Junior.

This year was his third year in karting. It was also his third different chassis in karting. And to top it all off this was the third different powerplant sitting behind him so the learning curve had to be repeated every season. Just when he would get comfortable with the 4-cycle, we moved to 2-stroke. And just when he got acclimated to the powercurve of a 2-stroke, we moved into a much quicker class. He literally had to start over every year!

Out of all the transitions that he's had to make, this year had to be the toughest. we spent a lot of time trying to get up to speed with the new engine and just being able to trust his equipment at these higher speeds was a hard pill to swallow. In the end though we bettered our times by two full seconds and enjoyed the 2007 fast time of 38.90 seconds in our class. Even if it was for a very brief three week period. Another driver eventually bettered it by two tenths of a second and knocked us off our roost. It was to be expected as a lot of talented kids compete in this class, but no one can take away the fact that we were there with the best of them.

There will be people who will challenge the validity of a class championship when declining entries hampered us for most of the season. But in my mind, and anyone who knows Sam and knows how hard he's worked to come this far, it's no less of an accomplishment than if we had dozens of competitors show up every weekend. The real issue here that makes him a champion is the fact that he made the effort to go out and better himself every time he set foot on the track. Being within two tenths of a second of drivers who have much more experience than him is a strong testiment to what he has done and what he has yet to accomplish. This is worthy of noteriety all in itself and I myself as well as all of his friends and family are very proud of the accomplishment. Congratulations Sam!


Of course every year we can't forget to thank all of the individuals who've made this possible for us. First and foremost, Chris and Carla Heitman and everyone at Pegasus Auto Racing Supplies. Without their help we couldn't have done half of what we did. And I mention everyone else at the shop because if it wasn't for my co-workers who pull together and fill in for me while I'm away at the track then a lot of this would not have been possible.

OMP USA, and Gabriele Pedone and Danilo Oliveira. This is just the start. We have so much more we can accomplish and we hope you're on board every step of the way. Your equipment is head and shoulders above the rest and we're going to do everything we can to make everyone aware of this.

Margay Racing, and Keith Freber and Brandon Atkins. You've both put up with my silly questions all year and have been a fountain of knowledge for us. I'll be the first to admit that in all my years of racing I've never claimed to know much about chassis set up. You both are helping me overcome this.

Kent Laukaitis of Laukaitis Racing in Decatur Illinois. Thanks again for a good strong engine, your constant advice, and the patience with us when we needed it.

And none of this would have been any fun without the friends and family who joined us from week to week. Their support was very much appreciated. We are especially thankful to the other competitors and their families who were more or less on this circus tour with us. Being kind of your second family, these individuals were always there for a laugh or a hand when it was needed.

So now the not-so-long rebuild season is upon us. Like in years past we'll put together a list of wants and needs, (slowly whittling the wants away as the money is gone), and begin rebuilding for next year. I can promise everyone that we will be returning to HPV Junior next season. We do have an interest in this class and unlike before when my family would charge me alone with being the only one committed to it, I can say that Sam is excited to return as well. It appears that the entrants will more than double next year as we have firm committments from several individuals who will be joining us.

The caliber of competition will be going up as well. Another class champ will be joining us along with several other quick individuals from their respected groups. We will have our work cut out for us but as always, we welcome the challenge.

Thank you again to everyone and anyone who I may have missed. We'll see you all in 2008!

Bridgestone Championship Series Round 15

Only one event left to go and this past Sunday in the books! Second place was ours again but in the hunt for the championship it all adds up. Any way we can get it we'll take it.

There really isn't a lot to report other than it was another average day at the track. It usually starts out with me chasing my tail for the first couple of sessions and slowly comes together, or somewhat together, by the time of our first race. That's where "average" ends since the temperatures loomed in the high 80's making everyone feel abnormally hot for this time of the season. We still haven't experienced the fast times that we achieved a couple of weeks back and really can't chalk it up to anything other than our above average temps combined with an engine that's about as ready for the end of this busy season as we are.

One of the things I don't share with our more seasoned competitors is the budget to have several motors at my disposal. I also don't freshen the one I have as much as I should. It's common sense to know that anything spinning in excess of 14,000 rpm should be looked at once in a while. Since most of the big ticket items have been obtained already this season I'm hoping to focus some of our time and finances on this area next season. With Sam learning so much and coming as far as he did this year we owe it to ourselves to pay much better attention to what our engine is telling us.

We're also going to need to pay more attention to this because next year we're expecting the class to grow a bit as well. Attendance should be up from this year as it appears there's going to be an exodus from another similar class who are all willing to participate in ours. We welcome the competition, but on the other hand we definitely want to show them that they'll be in our house now and nothing is going to come to them easily. It sure will make for more exciting times though. I know that's what Sam has been wanting all the while now.

This just in!

Just in time for christmas and for 2008. We've now added a calendar to our online store with team photos spanning our first three years in this sport. Check it out at the Inch-Hi Motorsports Online Store.

Tough to get back in the swing of things

photo courtesy Mike Weaver

Three weeks is far too long to be off. We shared a half day of testing back in August with a coach to help us get our times down and to polish up our act. The day was very useful to both of us, but when you're out of the seat for over three weeks you become a bit rusty.

Actually I was far worse off than Sam. I couldn't remember settings, I forgot the usual set of tools I take out, and tire pressures were all lost in the fog. I finally got my head straight by about our third time out on the track and things began to feel more routine for me. Unfortunately our lap times that I had anticipated for this weekend didn't culminate either. Up until Sunday we held the fast time record for our class. We were bound and determined to lower that and hopefully challenge the track record. Nice cool temperatures, one set of new tires, and a chassis that was laser straight and I felt we had the right combination to do just that. Too bad for us as two drivers from our class had the same idea and put an end to our record fast.

No disrespect to Sam. Although he had little to no sleep the night prior, he found his stride relatively quick but it just wasn't enough. The two front runners left us in their paths by the tune of almost a half second! Usually we're right there with at least Travis but not this time. He was on rails and nipping at Tommy Anderson's tail for most of the event. Third place was the best we could muster and the unofficial (at the time of this writing) fast time of 38.7 is now awarded to Tommy Anderson. I have a feeling it won't stay there for long though, he has gone quicker.

It goes without saying that both Tommy and Travis have far more experience than us at this game. But on the other hand Sam has come a long way this year and he's proved that he's no slouch. Having said that I can't chalk this disappointment up to anything other than a motor that could be getting tired. After all I haven't even put a new ring in it this season so it's probably crying for help. It did sound noticeably different than the others but that could also have been a gearing issue. Whatever it was we didn't share the same crisp sound of the two ahead of us.

With two races left on the season I think we're going to just stick it out. It makes no sense to work on anything at this point. I don't share the luxury that our competitors have in owning multiple engines. Some day I hope to but at this time I have only one. When it goes in for a rebuild we're down and I can't chance not getting it back in time for the next race. Our lead in the points is pretty safe as long as we compete in the next two events. We'd be smart in focusing our attention on that and making the dash for the track record next year.

Our next event is at Badger Raceway on Sunday October 7th. The season is quickly coming to a close so if you haven't had the chance to get out there we'd be happy to see you.