The long tracks are where it's at



Last minute preparations



A couple of weekends ago we found ourselves at Blackhawk Farms Raceway for what could be the last time of our career. And boy did we miss it.

It was over eight years since our last go round of this place, and after the first practice session we couldn't help but wonder why it took so long to get back. Two miles of flat out (and wide) track that most karts don't get to see too often. And although some areas could have used a layer or three of pavement where the cars dug it up, an altered line or two solved what ever issue we thought we'd have for the weekend.

When we last visited the track Sam was barely ten years old. The kart he was in; a flathead Briggs powered full body kart that propelled him to somewhere around 60 miles per hour. Both his mother and I wondered just what in the heck we were doing letting our son play at those speeds.

Now nearly eighteen years old, and behind the wheel of a 125cc water-cooled kart, he averaged 93 miles per hour a lap and found trap speeds in excess of 110 mph on the front straight.

Why in the world was I worried back then when today he has his license? And my car. And girls to impress...

A father can only hope his lessons didn't fall on deaf ears.

Considering we originally had the wrong clutch in the kart, burned through tires at break neck speeds, and chased our tail for the better part of one afternoon trying to find the right gear, we didn't do all that bad.

Saturday's race found us in fifth place at the checker and Sunday we had to settle for a sixth place finish. But the big prize came in the form of the fastest lap time in our class at a 1.19.56. Not too shabby for being a few years away from the track and having a kart that we still felt had a lot left in it when we were done.

So we're off to Badger again for this upcoming weekend and a relaxing trip back to our roots at the local scene. There's something to be said about no pressure and just going out to have fun. Everyone is in a much better mood and the trip back after all is over is a lot livelier. I think we can all use a little of that.



Around for the summer

Looks like the European vagabond is going to be staying in the states this summer so our racing season is on.  I don't think he totally realizes it yet but unless he comes up with a part time job that pays him twenty bucks an hour I can't honestly say that I'll have the money for him to go.

We just received our notice from the university about just how much we can expect to receive in aid this year, and what we can expect to come flying out of our savings account like a bullet train.  Let me tell you it ain't a pretty story.  Middle class america does truly take it up the backside but I'll leave this rant for another time.

Right now I am cautiously optimistic in saying that something resembling a racing season will go on for 2012.  I've even managed to get myself believing that I will return to the track on the days that my son is not.  And why shouldn't I?  I've been the team owner, principle, chief mechanic, driver coach, and sugar daddy of all things billable for the last ten years!  I should get to play once in a while.

But it's not about me.  It's about him, and the class that is beginning to really take shape this year and promise to offer us many new competitors to race against.  We both welcome the new blood and look forward to a great season.  We hope you can be a part of it.

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

Thank you 2010

The sun goes down on another summer and with it, our racing season too.  It's hard to imagine that all of the work and countless weekends away from home are just another memory now as we head into our long winter hibernation from the track.

For the past five years we've been saying to ourselves that we are going to head down to Daytona in December for the Winter Classic but I feel pretty confident in my saying that this year isn't going to be the one either.  One week of racing in the middle of winter AND IN FLORIDA!  What's there to think about right?  But all financial reasons aside, I can never get myself to bring our trailer out of storage, load it all back up, drive 23 hours with the beast and end up having to put it all back in mothballs once we get home again.  One of these years I'm going to have to light a really big fire under my rear end to do it.  We're running out of time seeing that we could be retiring from the sport, if not suspending it, once Sam goes to college in a couple of years.  The clock is ticking, and quite loudly I might add, so for now we'll have to set our sights on next winter and look forward to another busy off season re-build in the meantime.

We finished quite well for our first season in the US Rotax Max Challenge.  It would have been nice to see a few more entries in our region but gaining an invite to the US Nationals was exciting for us and brought more competition than we could have imagined.  It just would have been nice if we could have put in a solid effort once we got there.  Regardless, we finished first in our tiny region and we'll take it.  Nine tenths of this whole game is mental.  And having another championship under our belt can go a long way in the confidence area.  With the right attitude and proper preparation for next year, this will definitely provide the perfect spring board to our 2011 season.

TaG also proved to be a viable option for us next year after our few times out on the track this past season showed plenty of promise.  Sam was undeniably the fastest driver at Road America this year as well as one of the quickest at Badger Raceway at the club events.  And we like the fact that we can count on a whole group of individuals who've already made the commitment to be back in this class next year.  The progression is is all but confirmed at this time.  Once we can secure our business partners for 2011 and find ourselves a quick and durable engine package we'll have to leave it at just that.

So once again we must say thank you so much to those who've made this season possible for us.  With our economy being in a total tailspin for months now, it's hard to think anyone has disposable income anymore, especially when it's funneled into the world of motorsports.  We've seen a fair decline in the number of entries at certain events, and the fact that some people are stretching their equipment out a bit longer than they may have in the past has us thanking the powers that be for what we have.  Although this single season cost us more than the past two combined, we looked and performed as good, if not better, than most people we met and it was because of the generosity of people like:

Chris and Carla Heitman of Pegasus Auto Racing Supplies.  Part of the decision to switch from Margay to Merlin this year was due to the fact that they became the newest dealer in the network.  This move proved to be a large part in our success this year and we can't thank you both enough.  We look forward to equalling our successes in 2011 with your help.

Gabriele Pedone and Danilo Oliveira of OMP.  Simply the best safety equipment in the industry and we're proud to have been a partner of yours for the past five years.  And like I've said before, nine tenths of this game is mental, and when you show up on the grid wearing nothing but the finest, people wonder.  Deep pockets translate into speed in most minds and when you show up looking like a million bucks you're already in their heads and ahead of the game.  We've tried just about all the equipment on the market today and can honestly say that nothing compares to OMP.  We can't imagine competing without it so we thank you for all that you've done and hope you'll remain on board for years to come.

Jamie and George Sieracki of Franklin Motorsports/Dream Works Karting Supply.  A real class act led by two of the most helpful and generous people in the business.  This past season in Rotax could have been a train wreck had it not been for their guidance and technical help.  And to be parked under the big tent at the Nationals and have access to the minds of some of the best tuners in the business really upped our game.  For years we've heard all the accolades poured on them from satisfied customers and now that we've joined the "Merlin Nation" we know why.  Regardless of what time of day or what they were doing, neither one of them would hesitate to stop and give a hand to someone who needed it.  And we were that "someone" on several occasions this past season and we thank you for it.

And what would a team be without a ring leader, lost item finder, trailer straightener-upper, cook, and the ever important voice of reason.  It's also nice to have your wife, mother, and number one fan in the stands supporting you.  To Lori, we may be ships passing in the night on race weekends but your son and I appreciate everything that you do for us.  And to Abi who unselfishly gives up nearly her entire summer for our habit, we thank you as well.  Although one particular driver who had your attention this season made things much easier on you, we all know there were other places you would have liked to be.

So at the time of this writing we've already hauled all of our gear into the basement and began tearing things down.  The trailer is put to rest and for the first time in months we've got weekends where we don't know what to do with ourselves.  Free time is a precious commodity in this sport and in no time we'll be back to having none at all.  We'll try and enjoy it while it lasts.

Thanks again to everyone for a very successful 2010.  We look forward to seeing all of you again next season!

Sore

It's hard to say what was tougher on us heading into series race number thirteen at the Badger Kart Club this past weekend in Dousman Wisconsin.  Sam having his wisdom teeth pulled just two days before we got there, or the fact that our race season would come to an end after this event.

As previously mentioned, the Rotax Max series ended for us in late July and with our switch to the Leopard TaG motor we thought we had a combination that would take us to the end of the season.  The problem is we didn't account for a bye week in August and the fact that our leased engine would find a new home in another kart for the month of September.  We'll most likely get it back for the backwards enduro in October but for now this was going to be our last opportunity at competing in this class and we really wanted to make it count.

Entries were up a bit over previous events and perfect weather promised a lot of good racing action for all.  Sam struggled with some comfort issues and even missed one of the morning heat races to catch up on much needed sleep.  If it wasn't enough that his mouth was extremely sore, an infestation of mosquitoes in our trailer kept him up for most of the night.  By day break we were all a bit weary but it was obvious that he suffered the most.

Before we go any further, allow me this moment to make it clear that it was his decision to drive this weekend and his only.  I still remember getting my wisdom teeth pulled about 30 years ago and I believe I was down for the count for days.  I didn't get off the couch much less get behind the wheel of a kart!  I have to admit this kid has brass tacks and more than most people that I know.  I myself would not be able to pull off what he did.  So the ball was always in his court and we even suggested throwing in the towel after our sleepless night but he chose to continue.  It was decided that we would re-evaluate the situation after his few moments of shut eye and take it from there.

I can say with all honesty that we are both glad that his decision in the end was to continue on.  Another stellar performance from him and our trusty Merlin found us at the head of the pack for the second week in a row.  This time the battle was strictly fought in the early stages of the race to afford plenty of time to either stay with or overtake the two drivers who find themselves up front quickest.  Sam stayed within reach of them but in the end third place was going to be as far as we would get.  Or was it?

With any race at any track, the top three finishers are usually detained in tech for either a specified period of time, the inspection of certain equipment, or both.  Our scrutineer was particularly interested in our Reed Valves.  A certain basket of pieces that sits directly between the carburetor and the engine and which regulates the fuel/air mixture going to the combustion chamber.  A quick measurement of ours showed we were legal, but one of the other individuals had a tear in his.  Unfortunately for him this infraction is an automatic equipment DQ and one that awarded us the second place position.  Not our way of wanting to finish in this fashion but nonetheless an every day occurrence in the racing world.  Like they say, to finish first you first have to finish.  And finish legally too I might add.

So here we find ourselves once again at the end of another season.  New challenges for us this year in the form of our Rotax Max bid was bittersweet.  We did well in our division and loved the package, It's just a sin that more people don't realize the benefits of this class, and it's also heartbreaking for us in our lackluster performance at the US Grand Nationals.  In hindsight it was a bit too much too soon, and unfortunately if we don't see a healthy increase in teams for 2011 we are going to reluctantly abandon the class for TaG.  And that's not all that bad of a thing considering how well we took to it once we switched.

Again it's with much appreciation that we thank everyone who contributed to our success on and off the track this season.  Without the thoughtfullness and generosity of all of you, this sport would be something that we just watched on tv on any given Sunday.

Pegasus Auto Racing Supplies.  And not only Chris and Carla Heitman but to all the employees who cover for me when we go off and play nearly every weekend for seven months straight.  To just have a job in this economy is a miracle much less have someone who gladly cuts you loose whenever you want to get out to the track.

To everyone at OMP, not only in Miami but to the people who build the suits, shoes, and gloves in their Italian factory.  Thank you for providing us with by far the best safety equipment money can buy.  The entire package is never complete until you can stroll down pit lane in some of the best looking, safe, and comfortable gear in the industry and having piece of mind that my driver will be safe at all times is priceless.  We look forward to working with you again in 2011.

Jamie and George of Franklin Motorsports, as well as their entire staff has been a godsend this year for us and we thank you so much for it.  Coming into Rotax blind, they've opened our eyes on many occasions and helped us shorten the learning curve and actually begin to compete in the series.  Cale, Scott, Shawn and Wes all helped us at the drop of a hat and made even our darkest weekends all that much more manageable.  I'm now convinced that our move to Merlin was based much more than just on the chassis.  Your customer service is unsurpassed by anyone that we've dealt with in our seven years in this sport and we'd follow you regardless of what you sold.

Aside from the Backwards Enduro in October, we're pretty much going to be packing it up for the season and focusing on rebuilding everything, securing sponsorships, and putting together some sort of schedule for next year.  We're positive we'll be contesting another season in our Merlin, but as far as the engine and class goes we are still undecided.  We promise to bring the news to you as it becomes available and want to thank you again for following us and we look forward to seeing you at the track again soon.

Never been so proud of damage

Happy doesn't even begin to describe how we were after our final this past Sunday. As we sat there eyeing up the side pod on our LM30 and the remnants left behind from contact between a few of the drivers I couldn't have been more proud. We finally finished a race with what looked like a kart that had gone through battle. And it didn't just look that way, it actually did this time.

I've been telling Sam for a while now that if there's one thing that we're missing it's a bit more aggression. We have great equipment, a fair amount of knowledge of this whole sport, skill to go with it, but no fangs! When someone pushes their way through the field we let them. We don't guard our spot with tenacity, nor do we go in and take from others when a few inches of daylight are shown. Up until this past weekend we just sat back and waited for the right opportunities to come to us but now we barge in and create them for ourselves. In this sport you have to. Most of the time there aren't enough laps in the race to sit back and construct a way around others, you have to take what little opportunity you see and run with it. And if incidental contact occurs you have to be ready for it.

For years now we've had the cleanest kart in the series and it's partly because of our apprehension to put ourselves in the thick of things.  Nine times out of ten it meant we finished behind opponents that we were clearly faster than but could not find a way around.  I'm hoping habits like this are all a thing of the past now.  I'll trade the trailer queen look for a beaten and battered winner any day.

Our second TaG event of the season this past weekend at the Badger Kart Club found us gridded in 4th spot for the final. Pre-race strategies were discussed and I told him to feel free to tear the graphics off the thing if he had to. Be safe in doing so, just don't give anyone an inch. The drivers along side and behind him today proved to be a bit physical on the starts and I just wanted him to know what to expect and be prepared for anything.

As planned, at the start several drivers made the entry into turn one very slim but there we were smack dab in the middle of it and holding our own. Unfortunately when the dust settled we found ourselves back in 5th with a guy who let's just say makes his kart very wide when he has to. This went on for several laps while the leaders continued to distance themselves from our pack. Then just as I had begun to think that there was no way out of this spot for us, he stuck his nose in at the entrance to five and muscled his way past. Not a moment later and he had the third place spot sealed up, he was on a mission and he didn't look back. Although we didn't catch the leaders who were by now almost seven seconds ahead of us, we finished three and a half seconds ahead of the fourth place finisher.

Granted the "damage" I speak of is nothing compared to what you could really tear up in most cases of this type of physical play. It was mainly cheap plastic and vinyl graphics, both of which can be affordably replaced. But anyone who knows me knows that having a race vehicle in any state less than show quality is not an option. When I worked for a professional race team years ago we would clean and polish our cars completely before tearing them down and rebuilding them. Not this time though, I might just leave it on for next week.

TaG, we're it!

So our Hiatus from racing lasted two weeks.  Did anyone really think we were going to stay away from it longer?  I mean c'mon, most people need food and oxygen to survive, all I need is rubber and racing fuel.

With our Rotax schedule being sealed up for the season we switched our attention to what could be next for us.  We knew we couldn't continue with our current power plant seeing that most of the competitors have hung it up since the Grand Nationals in July, going back to HPV was not all that enticing, and then it came to us - TaG!  For those unfamiliar with the lingo, TaG stands for Touch and Go.  Really not much difference from our old set up other than the fact that rumor has it our trusted Rotax is a more resilient package than the widely used IAME Leopard engine.

Either way you look at it, they're both centered around a 125cc water cooled engine with an on board battery and starter.  Hence the acronym TaG, you just push a button and away you go.  Most people claim that the only real difference between the Leopard engine and the Rotax is where the power bands come in.  The Rotax likes long tracks to stretch its legs where the Leopard has a little more low end grunt, aiding in its strong preference for shorter tracks.  And with the end of our season comprised mainly of our local track, or others like it, we thought this would be the logical direction for us to go.

Like anything we do, the time frame from moment of idea to concept was a little under three days, leaving no one much time to regroup.  The engine builder still had to build the thing, we had to tear our old one out, and literally the day of practice at the Road America Motorplex this past weekend was when we found ourselves installing it.  Close to eight hours later the last bolt was tightened and we managed to get out on the track for a total of twelve laps before the day ended on us.  Not a whole lot of time to see where we were or to make any crucial adjustments but Sam liked it and he proved to be relatively fast right out of the box.

In Sunday morning's warm up we were indisputably the fastest in our class.  Two tenths of a second over the next quickest driver (who happens to be in second place in class points) had us optimistic that we were on the right track with our set up.  It's beginning to look like all those books on chassis alignment, the new tools in our box, and tutoring from Cody Elliott are all paying off.  We turned that into a pole position for the prefinal and another three tenths of a second over P2.

The club combined us with the shifter karts for our race and it made for quite the spectacle.  Let me tell you that starting two classes simultaneously, one with a standing start and one rolling, proved to be very tricky.  Once the flag man figured it out we jumped out to an early lead over the field and with the exception of one 4-Stroke pilot in our class that gave us anything to worry about, this was the first time I can honestly say that I stood there watching a race knowing that without a doubt we were going to win.  Not much of a fight was given and we eventually cruised to the checkered flag with a four second lead over the runner up.  And the gap would have been much wider had we not been stuck behind a back marker in the shifter kart class for more than a lap.

One thing I can say I enjoy about being fast (and out in front) is the reduced amount of thrashing that goes on between rounds.  We would return to our pit to clean and refuel the kart, make sure everything was still where it belonged, and basically waited until we were called up again.  One thing I've learned in this sport is that you don't have to be busy all the time to be fast.  Stick with what works and don't over analyze the situation, and if it's winning leave it alone!

A win in the prefinal means pole position in the final and that's where we found ourselves once again.  The thought of a sweep was beginning to fill both of us with a high level of anxiety.  After all, this type of situation which we found ourselves in was totally new to both of us.  We were now the team to beat, the guys with the target on their back.  Basic words of encouragement were spoken, one last check of the tire pressures, our secret handshake, and away old number 98 went down pit road.

At the start, Sam brought the field to the green at a bit higher clip of speed than what would have normally been allowed.  But with the shifter class already receiving its green just ahead of them there was no way that the flagman was going to wave them off.  It turned out to be a nice strategy as our Leopard needed to be closer to its power band if we were ever going to fend off the charge of the lone 4-stroke driver.  To our surprise he was also stuck behind two other drivers which made his catching us that more difficult.  Sam was clearly faster than everyone and was separating himself from the pack by more than a kart length per lap.  But then in one shockingly slow motion episode it all came to an end.  A slip through turn seven turned him around and over the curb.  With his hands in the air as he looked over his right shoulder, I realized that the resulting contact popped the chain from its gear and our race was over.  That had to be one of the longest walks back to the pit that he ever took.

One thing I've always said about us is that we may never be the fastest out there but we've always proved to be the most reliable.  Reliable in the fact that our equipment stays together during a race and also in the fact that Sam makes very few mistakes behind the wheel.  Like they say, "To finish first, you first have to finish" and we've been paying our dues for some time now in doing just that.  Sunday could have been the day when everything finally came together for us but sadly it didn't.  Most people would see the big picture and be content on a job well done but to a racer, you're only as good as your last lap.  Brutal you must think, but we ourselves are our worst critics sometimes.

So we can do one of two things here.  We can let this episode consume us or we can dust ourselves off and try again.  Option two is the obvious way to go but man when you get that close and could have literally touched it, it's tough to put it behind you.  But there's another saying that I subscribe to totally and that's "What doesn't kill us makes us stronger".  We had a little taste of what it's like to be up front and we like it.  Next time my friend, next time.

Rotax Max US Grand Nationals

Many different emotions are conjured up when we reflect on our past week in Indiana at the Rotax Max US Grand Nationals.  If I was to sum it up in a single word, Wow! is the most fitting G-rated thing I can say.

Unfortunately for us the lows far outweighed the highs for the better part of our stay but some very positive things that I can say about the whole experience is that Mark Dismore has one first class facility in his New Castle Motorsports Park. And the competitors and families- regardless of nationality, talent level, or depth of pocket, were some of the nicest people we've ever met.  It didn't matter whether they were under the factory tent or a privateer in a modest (ahem) triple axle trailer, everyone was very kind and helpful to us.  And being the greenest of the green in this series we needed all the help we could get.

In hindsight what we really could have used was a couple of extra weeks to prepare for the event.  With the caliber of competition that showed up I believe we still would have finished well back in the pack, but being a bit more prepared could have saved us a lot of anguish and senseless running around that really didn't need to happen.  And it would have eliminated a lot of the new track jitters that a driver can sometimes have.  Understand that we came to this event without ever turning a wheel on this course and that forced us to play catch up in a big way.

Our week started out with a late arrival to the track and a near miss in even getting our equipment checked in for the event.  It slipped my mind that tech inspection was only going to be open until 5pm on Tuesday and if you missed it you were out.  Plain and simple and clearly stated in our literature so I had only myself to blame for this.  But what I couldn't understand is why they closed tech at 4:15 and then it dawned on me, I didn't account for the time zone change and my wristwatch was still an hour behind.  A few kind words in my defense from one of the Franklin Motorsports guys and I was given literally two minutes to present my equipment or pack it up and go home.  This was not the start to the exciting week that I imagined.  We had just driven five and a half hours, lost our original pit spot, and had a hundred bucks extorted from us for our electricity and we faced being turned around and sent home.  A bit of a sour taste in my mouth would be an understatement but we smiled nicely, spoke kindly, obliged their every whim and were cleared for competition in ten minutes.

So here's where our once perceived bad luck became somewhat of a blessing.  Our pit spot that we lost was the first space at the beginning of the paddock.  A beautiful space with an easy in/out right on the corner next to restrooms, the grid, and just about everything else we may have needed.  I was clearly the first person to reserve my spot over two months ago and it was just my luck that they conveniently lost my name and gave the spot away to someone else.  So they had two options for me.  One was to park on the opposing end and the other option was to snake my truck and trailer through a labrynth of passages to an inside spot that was more level and had electricity that would be closer to my trailer.  I opted for choice number two and twenty nail biting minutes later we were settled in.  Almost immediately there after we had a severe storm roll through and dump several inches of rain on us in a very short period of time.  That pit spot from option number one was now three feet under water!  Cars were nearly floating, and most of the buses and trailers were now flooded past their doors!  A sign of better things to come?

Ehhhhh, wrong answer!  What luck we had in dodging the floods didn't follow us out on to the track, I can tell you that.  We fought chassis issues, driver issues, and basic newbie faults which relegated us to the back of the pack for most of our time out on the course.  We were nearly four seconds off the pace and not even a track walk with a national champion nor advice from well respected tuners could put us on the fast track.  Our lack of seat time at this track combined with the fact that we've never driven on a surface as "rubbered up" as this one was showing in our efforts.  Very little progress was being made in any of our practice sessions so by the end of the day all we had was the hope that a new day and a new set of tires would redeem us.


Thursday came and how frustrating it was for us to find that somehow with a new set of rubber we found it in ourselves to go almost four tenths SLOWER than we did with our older tires from the day prior.  At this point I'm just about out of ideas and Sam was losing motivation and enthusiasm quick.  Conversations with tuners and people who had seen him out on the track proved that we were carrying far too little speed into the corners and spending a tad too much time between being off and back on the throttle.  It was made clear that the chassis was set properly and now all we had to do was literally drive the wheels off the thing to get it to react.  Easier said than done and something that eventually led to our demise in the Friday morning warm-up session.

Armed with another set of new tires, a chassis that was assured quick, and the mind set that every corner had to be driven deeper, we set out for our session early Friday morning.  Lap times of the front runners weren't far off the quick times from yesterday so we had our work cut out for us.  Sam was driving as deep as he could into the corners but something just wasn't right since it always resulted in a trip through the dirt.  By about the fifth lap it all would end in a cloud of dust as the kart left the track at turn two and backed into the barriers hard, ending his session and eventually our week.

So here we are at the event we've been looking forward to competing in all year and we're faced with this dilemna.  Could we have finished the event?  Maybe so.  We could have dusted ourselves off, straightened the kart, and returned to the track for another go but it was painfully and reluctantly decided that we were going to throw in the towel.  Our lack of experience at this track (and at this level) posed several concerns in my mind.  What happens if we go for broke and he or anyone else on the track gets hurt?  And what happens if through our shortcomings we take away someone else's chance at making Team USA and going to the World Finals?  Neither one of us could live with that so to step back was the only rational decision that could be made.  I know I'll beat myself up over this one for years to come since quitting at anything has never been in my vernacular and more importantly, something that I don't want to instill in the minds of my children.  This one is just going to have to be chalked up as one of those "live to fight another day" episodes.

But even in light of our situation a very big thank you is owed to Wes and Jason of the Franklin Motorsports team.  Their guidance was a godsend to a couple of rookies like ourselves, and if it wasn't for Wes helping us get through tech I wouldn't even be telling this story to you.  He also taught me plenty about chassis set up and he was always willing to loan any parts to me that I didn't have handy.  And thank you Jim Sharkey for letting me borrow him from time to time.

While we're at it, George and Jamie Sieracki of Dreamworks/Franklin were pivotal in getting us set up in this series to begin with.  Their generosity in getting us the guidance and the right equipment to make a go at this has saved us in many occasions.  We both can't thank you enough.

And to Shawn Sharkey for his tutoring.  Not many drivers in his position divulge a lot of information to people they just met, but he took Sam aside and explained a lot about the course and what the chassis and driver need to do to be fast.  I know we didn't turn it into anything this weekend Shawn, but he will definitely remember everything you taught him.  I'll make certain of it.

So with the Grand Nationals a memory, Rotax for the most part is over for us this year.  But I may be a bit hasty in my words as we still don't know exactly what to do with our free time for now.  We could throw some Bridgestone tires on the kart and race it in TaG, or we could continue on for the two remaining Midwest Sprint Series races in Rotax but I think that regardless of what we might feel like doing, we're going to first downshift a gear or two and take a short break from things.  This series was physically, mentally, and financially exhausting for us and a little hiatus from the track might not be so bad right now.  If I know us it's not going to last long so stay tuned and we'll let you know when and where we decide to have our comeback.

Cheers

We'll take it!

Road America has always held a dear spot in my heart as one of my most favorite places on the planet.  The vast size of the place, the food, the scenery, and the sounds generated in some areas of the course make this a first class facility in many enthusiast's book.

I raced on the road course over two decades ago when I was a young formula ford pilot with F1 aspirations.  Now we find ourselves back there at least once a year for karting and we couldn't be happier.  Well maybe if someone had, say a Formula Mazda that they needed to shake down and I was their guy.... Alright, back to earth we come.

The Briggs and Stratton Kartplex offers a high paced twisting challenge for our smaller counterparts right inside the confines of the big track.  And I'm certain there isn't a person alive who can say that they don't like driving there.  Aside from my personal feelings for the facility, we enjoy it because for the most part we've been quite lucky there.

Rounds five and six of the Midwest Sprint Series rolled into town this past weekend and the promise of a larger Rotax Max field was the buzz.  With the WKA Manufacturers Cup scheduled for the following weekend we believed the caliber and amount of competition would be high.  Although we did have fellow Merlin driver Shinya Michimi on board, there were only two others on the docket with one a no-show and the other cursed with mechanical problems.


Round five on Saturday started with high hopes of breaking our personal fast time of 50.01 set in practice on Friday.  New tires have shown a decrease of times as large as a half second and we had our "stickers" on and ready for qualifying.  On the contrary, we went slower by nearly a half second and had to settle for an outside front row position.  At the start Sam pulled into the lead and held it quite effortlessly until lap six when Shinya pulled his kart down pit road with technical difficulties.  This left Sam as the sole running competitor in our class so in an attempt to save our equipment, I decided to have the official throw a black flag and bring him in.  The look on his face was priceless when he came down pit road wondering why he received this penalty but it immediately turned to smiles when I informed him of his win by attrition.  Sunday would turn out to be a different story though, with Shinya bringing a more sound kart and an appetite for redemption.

Straight off his Komet Throwdown win from the night before, Shinya qualified on Pole (again) on Sunday but this time he virtually ran away from us in the race.  Second place was all that was in the cards for us as the checkered fell.  Obviously any mechanical demons they were fighting just a day ago were a distant memory seeing that the gap between the leader and runner-up was almost five seconds!

All in all a good weekend and one which we learned a lot.  From carburetor tuning to chassis set-up, I came away with a few pointers and both of us came away with new friends.  If every weekend could net us these little perks it all might be worth the effort regardless of how we fall in the standings.  And it might take the sting out of the realization of what we spent in a season when we review it at the end of the year.

Next up: New Castle Indiana and the Rotax Max Nationals.  The best of the best in North America will be there so I don't think we'll have to worry about a field of less than fifty.  Our objective in this freshman year is just to hang with them.  The chances of us being one of the three representing the USA in Italy at the World Finals in October will be slim to impossible.  But if we can learn something from these hot shoes and stay remotely close to them, I for one would consider that a success and I believe Sam would feel the same.

We'll keep you updated.

What happened to our momentum?

Things can certainly change fast in this business.  One day you're hot, the next day you're not.  And boy how prevalent this was yesterday when we visited the Badger Kart club in Dousman Wisconsin.

In an attempt to get some much needed seat time we decided to throw a set of Bridgestone tires on the Pegasus Auto Racing/OMP Merlin and jump in with the Tag Senior boys for a day.  But in hindsight I guess when the skies open up and literally pour on you all day, preventing not one single tire to touch the track for practice, you can't really expect to be at the head of the field come race day.

In a nutshell that's how it panned out for us.  We arrived late at the track on Saturday afternoon and didn't get a moment of practice in before the storms arrived.  Eventually we spent most of Sunday playing catch up but never really felt we were on our mark to begin with.  Sam qualified 5th for the pre-final and that had us somewhat encouraged but throughout the day the kart's performance began to dwindle.  Regardless of our best efforts a 7th place finish was all we could manage.

The silver lining to this is that not much sleep was lost over our showing since the weekend was aimed at testing only.  It just would have been nice to find some extra speed.  No, our concern lies in the fact that we certainly had something wrong with us and despite all of our tweaks and adjustments we could not find nor erradicate the problem.  It was later speculated that a cracked exhaust core could have been the cause of our downward spiral.  Not chancing anything, the entire engine and pipe were pulled instantly from the chassis and are now in the builder's hands.

We now have three weeks until Road America and all of us are keeping our fingers crossed that whatever gremlins we had will be a distant memory by then.  This event will also be our last Rotax Max race before the Grand Nationals in Indy, and the place where everything has to work perfectly for us.  Nothing less than 110% needs to come from driver, crew, and equipment if we're ever going to stand a chance against the others.  After all, these drivers are the ones that people everywhere talk about, and only three from our class are going to Italy for the World Finals.  This could be a long stretch for us but even if we're not one of the chosen few, to really compete alongside these individuals and possibly have our name on their lips for a change would be a success in our book.