Taking things to the next level

JUST IN TIME FOR CHRISTMAS!



We are very excited to let everyone know that we've just launched the Inch-Hi Motorports online store. And now as of 11/20/2006 it's up and fully functional.

Check out the apparel and other items that have been customized with team logos and pictures and remember, all proceeds from the sale of these goods benefit two very deserving causes. One being the Help Sam secure an Indy Car ride Foundation as well as the Help Sam's dad retire with the shirt on his back Fund

To access the site go to

Inch-Hi Motorsports Online Store

2006 Awards Banquet

  

The Badger Kart Club held it's annual awards banquet on Nov. 11 at Olympia Village Resort in Oconomowoc, WI this past weekend. This year was quite special for us for several reasons.

First was the fact that Sam finished second in points in both the HPV Jr. Sportsman class and in the Junior Summer Series. The runner-up trophy is a monster. Sam was barely taller than it! The Junior Summer Series, as always, had great things to give away to all participants this year. Terry Thomas and everyone who put together this program deserve to take a bow. They really go out of their way to assure that the drivers in this series are always well taken care of.

 My wife and many others were recognized for all of their hard work and dedication to the club this past year. These were all individuals who went above and beyond what is asked of us as members. Shirley Howard is a great gal and rarely is there a case where she has all the help that she needs at any of our events. A core group of ladies has always been available to her to lend a hand when needed, and this night was Shirley's way of saying thanks to all of them. Everyone here at Inch-Hi Motorsports would like to say thanks to her as well for all that she's done for us this year and for keeping our club one of the most affordable ways to go racing in the country. We're going to be sad to leave them in '07 but we'll stop back from time to time to run with old friends.

 
 
    
The final reason that this year was so special for us, and definitely the most important, was the fact that we got to celebrate this night with other family members as well. We had a packed table this year. Both my wife's, and my parents were on hand as well as my sister and two aunts. The food was good and the awards ceremony was long but all of us had a good time being together to celebrate the end of another season. Like I've mentioned before we'll miss this next year as our plan now is to try our hand on the national level. Who knows, if the WKA brings back kart week at Daytona International Speedway between Christmas and New Years we might manage to get everyone down there together for that. Christmas in Florida? I'm in!

And now a final look at Badger Kart Club's 2006 HPV Jr. Sportsman runner-up, Sam Marmurowicz.   

Another season comes to a close

  

That's it, we're done, there is no more!

We've officially ended our 2006 season 1 race before the club calls it quits. Prior committments that I have personally are forcing us to miss the last race scheduled for next weekend but all of that aside, I think it's still the right time for us to hang it up for the year. We've been going almost non stop since April and it really takes a toll on you fast. We've secured our spot as the runner-up in the championship for HPV Jr. Sportsman anyway so it's now time for a collective sigh of relief. One last time we'll head back to the track on the 22nd for the Fun Race and Backwards Enduro but then it's off to a long deserved break for all.

These past two weekends saw beautiful weather and relatively easy days for us at the track. After competing there so much you start to figure out what set-up works and you just stick with it. We were lucky enough not to break anything, Sam consistently reduced his lap times to a personal best 42.14, and even managed his first 1st place finish that he actually took to the track for. It's too bad that this all had to happen on the last two days of the season. It sure would have been nice to experience this a little more frequently this year.

Unlike last season's lengthy year end speech on lesson's learned, I can honestly say this one will be shorter,(I'll wait for the roar of your applause to subside) and much more to the point.

Being that this was our second full year of racing we already knew alot of the things that were new to us last year making the anxiety level much lower at the beginning of the season. We knew there were still going to be people that seem to take it all way too seriously and make fools of themselves. And we knew there were going to be plenty of people that we were eager to see again and race with. My son and I both have a much better understanding of how a track changes during the day which will ultimately judge when you'll find quick times and when you won't. He's learned that 2-cycle engines can be felt much more through the chassis and steering wheel than his 4-stroker did from last season. And we learned that no matter how good of a time we're having, we're just not going to be really happy until we can keep up with the Jones's and afford a monster RV with a nice big trailer that I can't crack my forehead open on every weekend. My wife has actually been trying to talk me into it. She says that hotel rooms cost money, and we all know they do. She also said we need to drive there anyway so why not drive our hotel to the track with us! Well why didn't I think of that! It's brilliant! And I want to make it clear that I'm not being facetious. We already have the fuel costs factored into pulling the trailer there in the first place so in theory it sounds great. But this theory comes crashing straight down to earth when you find out how much one of these things cost and you figure you might get your money's worth if he's still living at home and racing with us when he's 30 years old. Don't count on this one happening any time soon.

Our long list of thank you's starts with Margay Race Products and Keith Freber, Brandon and Bonnie. All of whom listened to my silly questions all year long as we were making our transition from last year's chassis to the new Margay. We still have some work to do but came a long way with your help. I also want to thank them for completing our kart and shipping it to us literally ready to go. Unlike the erector set that most people have to deal with when they buy a new kart, ours just needed the wheels thrown on and off we went.

Kent Laukaitis of Laukaitis Racing Engines provided a good strong motor for us this season. And being racers on a budget, we didn't even send it in for a mid season refresh but managed to better our times every weekend we raced. A testament to a good package and a fine builder. Thanks Ken.

Jim Bennett. For his help on and off the track. We learned an awful lot from you this season, both myself and my son. Joe Hewitt. Who started this season with his son Ben as the only other Margay pilot in our class. He was more than willing to divulge any of his secrets to help us give the Birel camp a run for their money. And Willie Kootstra for continuously reminding me that we showed up to the grid with only half a motor!

Sam and I would like to give a very big thanks to Chris and Carla Heitman of Pegasus Auto Racing Supplies. Again your generosity and kindness continues to overwhelm us. When we started racing 2 years ago we never dreamed that we would ever compete in new equipment with top of the line products at our fingertips. This was something that we believed to be reserved only for factory drivers or the fortunate few. Working with, and knowing both of you has now made it possible for us to be in this group. Without your help this year none of this would have ever been possible.

And of course we saved the best for last. I especially would like to thank my wife Lori for all of her help this season and for weathering the occasional attitude problem from Sam and/or myself. She played a pivotal role in securing all of our work days required of us to be eligible for our class points. Not one time did I nor Sam have to volunteer ourselves to do some type of work that neither of us particularily wanted to do. She did them all and then some! And if anyone from Badger is reading this, I want it to be known that some sort of recognition should come to her for this. She has gone above and beyond what was asked of her and never once asked for anything in return. There were times when no one even asked if she wanted something to eat or drink while she was working! I say this not out of spite but because there are people in this great club of ours who do very little by contrast, but are very vocal about how much they want you to believe they do. These are the people who are always first in line for the accolades whether it's a much publicized pat on the back or a free meal. Don't worry dear. Like confucious said, "A superior man is modest in his speech but exceeds in his actions". You've definitely done that.

And to Abi. The best tire cleaner a team could have. And for having to give up most of her summer weekends so her brother (and dad) could go play. For all of her work we're going to give her a chance at driving in two weeks in the powder puff race with Sam's kart. I know she'll do well and god help anyone on the track with her. I've seen how competitive she can be.

I know that I may have missed a few. The relatives that stopped out at the track, the friends who always have time to ask how he was doing, and everyone who comes to this site week after week to read up on our journey. Thank you all. I know this was originally intended to be his words recounting our efforts but I think I may have overestimated what a child of his age can really be expected to do. Although I hope the day finally comes when he can take over the task of writing these columns, I have no problem filling in until that happens. I hope you've enjoyed reading it as much as I have writing them.

Cheers

Follow the Leader

  Points race #14 was held at the Briggs and Stratton Motorplex nestled inside the confines of Road America Raceway in Elkhart Lake Wisconsin. To anyone who hasn't seen this facility you are missing an absolutely beautiful place to enjoy a race. To those of you who have you'll agree when I say this is by far the best race track in the country.

A big plus for us was the fact that the Elkhart Lake Vintage Festival was going on at the same time as our event. All day you would be entertained with the sights and sounds of race cars of a bygone era streaming by at break-neck speeds. Everything from old Formula One and Indy Cars to Bugattis and Bug Eyes were there. And as valuable as the cars were you could count the number of driver's who pampered them on one hand. For the most part they were all driving these things the way they were meant to be driven - flat out! Case in point. A magnificent Group C car with a Judd V10 was just screaming around the track on Saturday when he blew a tire and vaporized most of his bodywork. Rumor had it he Duct taped what was left back together and continued on. But enough about the fortunate few and on to what the lower budgeted little guys do on the weekend.

Follow the leader. We all do it from time to time. I used to get a chuckle out of messing with our competition when I worked for a race team years ago. When you are fortunate enough to be running up front, your cars (or karts) are closely scrutinized by everyone. When you have a particular part or set-up that's in plain sight, chances are someone will mimick it real fast. We used to put absolutely stupid things on our cars to see who at the next race would be sporting this new item that must be helping us go so fast. They may never have known just what advantage we were getting out of it if any, just that if it worked for us it must work for them. I bring this up because this weekend a couple of situations were based on following someone's lead. One example was a good lesson in not always trusting what your competition is doing, and the other is keeping your head in the game and not developing tunnel vision.

This weekend we had the rare chance of having the WKA Manufacturers Cup National Champion in HPV Jr. Sportsman at the track competing against us. He's number one, numero uno, the big cheese, there's no one better than him in the entire country, and he's all of 10 years old! Man, if I thought that our points leader was hard to chase down then you could imagine that this driver was impossible to catch. From the drop of the flag he pulled away from the field so easily you couldn't help but wonder what a "national" motor had in it that ours didn't. I can't speak for anyone else's equipment, but ours has about 12 races on it, no rebuild, not even a refreshening, and is anticipating a nice winter's nap. I would assume anyone running nationals has their equipment gone through every few races but even so, you couldn't take away the fact that this kid could drive.

Where it gets silly is when some of the competition (myself included) started noticing different tricks on his kart and thought we might gain from them. A very wide stance on the rear end, a seat that was barely bolted to the chassis, and so on. These things probably all worked for him and his kart but could they work for us or was I falling for the placebo effect that we had placed on our competition so many years ago? We all returned to the grid an hour later with a variety of his tricks incorporated and not one of us gained a thing from it. One of the fathers in our class even said he was almost a half second slower with the new set up. The moral of this story: never follow the leader and just stick to what works for you. I'm still asking myself How I could have given in to that!

The second example is alot funnier and before I tell you let me explain the B&S Motorplex. This track can be configured in about 10 different ways. If you look at the track map it looks like an airport with taxiway and runways everywhere. Where you are going to go is dictated by bright orange pylons that they'll set out to change the track for any given weekend. We've competed there three times already in the past year and every time we've gone the track has been different.

With the champ well out in front of Sam and our closest rival James, the only race was really for second and third. James was about 6 kart lengths ahead of Sam but in a truly amazing show of effort Sam kept him pretty much in his sights all weekend. He really was doing well and like other races in the past, he consistently brought his times down every session and became more comfortable with drifting the kart through corners verses steering it. It really appeared that he brought his A-Game this weekend until about 5 laps into the race when James takes a wrong turn. I don't know what happened but James decided to leave out about two corners of the track and go through some pylons and wouldn't you know it Sam followed right behind him. He later told me that he was concentrating so hard on the back end of James' kart that he followed him right off course! The flag man was immediately drawn to this and before he looked like he was going to impose some sort of penalty to either of them, he just threw his arms up and let it go. No one really benefited from it, and the leader of the race was about 20 kart lengths ahead of both of us so what did it matter if we now were only 19 kart lengths away.

All in all I thought it was a great weekend. My wife and I love to come to this track any time we can. There's alot of memories here from when I used to drive, and this track was always our favorite. The weather held out nicely unlike what the forecasters were saying (what a surprise) and with the fine show going on out on the big track there was plenty to watch during your down time. As for our daughter, well she loves traveling period. Put her in a hotel down the street from our house and she'll think she's on vacation. Living out of a suitcase gets old for some folks but I can't see that happening with her anytime soon.

Points Race #12

Another day, another lesson learned. Loose is fast! Tight is not.

It's not that I never knew this. I mean it's more or less the mantra of karting. It's just that I thought we had the kart as loose as we were ever going to be. What I learned this weekend is what I learn any other time that I become complacent and feel I know what I'm doing and that is, I'm wrong again.

My son and I were just talking this weekend about how he misunderstood me when we got into this sport. He thought that I said since I had 12 years of auto racing experience under my belt, this kart thing was going to be a breeze. For the record I never said that in those exact words. I think it may have been more along the lines of me feeling that with less equipment to have to dial-in this would be simpler than anything I had worked on in the past. On the contrary karting is much more complex and challenging than anything my Formula Ford could have thrown at me. And I mean no disrespect to the Ford guys. It's not like you just show up at the track and throw fuel in your car and race. There is plenty for you to do as well. It's just a different animal. Someone once told me something along the lines of this: If you only have three things to do verses sixteen, those three things being done right are going to be that much more crucial in the outcome of your efforts. The less you have to do, the more you have to be absolutely perfect at each one of them. I think we were actually talking about drivers in road racing verses drag racing, but I think you could apply this theory to the guys turning the wrenches as well. The less you have to work with, the harder it is to get the results you're looking for.

Up until recently I thought that I had my end of things sealed up for this season. I believed that everything I could do to give Sam the best kart possible had already been done and now it was time for him to step-up his game and show me something. All the fine tuning was going to come from him in getting our lap times down further. Wrong yet again!

Jim Bennett, father of James (who is leading our class in points), comes up to me in practice and says we need to do something to loosen our kart up and get Sam through the corners easier. He noticed Sam was holding the steering wheel in a constant position through the corner and that the kart was never "pitching" into the corner. It was more like plowing. Shorter hubs and a track adjustment then back out we go but not before making Sam realize that the kart was now going to slide around a bit more than he may be used to. And slide it did, but through all of this we still managed to consistently lower our lap times. Now that the first plan of attack is complete it's on to Phase II.

With the back end taken care of we now had to narrow up the front track in an attempt to get it to slide around just a bit more. It looked really good in the last session but we thought there were still gains to be made. We sent him out on his final run of the day and noticed a big difference. He now just had to flick the steering wheel slightly into the corner then bring it back straight, allowing the kart to drift through the turns instead of being steered through them. This was no easy task for him and in one occassion it sent him looping off course with his eyes as big as saucers in his helmet! He managed to keep it running and finish the race but the most important thing for me was the fact that now the attitude of our kart was looking more like what I was so used to seeing with James.

For the most part we actually have a new kart. One that doesn't act like the kart of old at all. That one was too safe, too comfortable, and slow at best. With this new set up we have a kart that is going to require a little more work to drive right and a little more guts to accept. Sam almost has to teach himself to drive all over again but I'm not really worried about it though. Through all of this he still managed to keep his times fairly consistent and low. We never beat our personal best that we set out to do today, but I feel what we got instead is far more valuable. With a little more work and the time to get comfortable with it again, he'll be well on his way to the 41's that we felt we'd never get.

Points Race #11

All I can say is that it's good to get back to some kind of normalcy. Even if it was a bittersweet weekend of sorts.

In our usual fashion we finished second in our feature and managed to consistently bring our lap times down session after session. This, combined with the fact that we had relatives in attendance who flew in from out of town for our family reunion, made for the sweeter portion of our day.

Sam was definitely on his mark all day, posting lap times in the mid 42 second range. Not to take anything away from his efforts but for the first time this season they started the faster class behind us for a change. In HPV Jr. Sportsman there are so few entries that the club has been combining other classes in with us. Until this weekend they were doing split starts with the faster group out front. Now having changed that, Sam was faced with faster and older drivers bearing down on him at a very rapid rate. This must have been just the motivation that he needed to perform as well as he did. You could tell he really didn't want this bunch to catch him. This change just may have been what the doctor ordered to light a fire under him and get us going faster.

On the bitter end of things we found out that our frame is indeed bent. We'd been speculating on it since his crash at Blackhawk but weren't absolutely sure until this weekend when we had the kart on a flat pad and scales. It's very minor but just enough to have thrown the front end out of alignment, leaving Regan Vehring of 4-Cycle Central to come up with an alternate way to straighten everything back to as close to normal as possible. Mission accomplished though as the kart never appeared to be sluggish or darty and Sam never complained of feeling anything out of the ordinary. It never fails though. Last season we had an 8 year old well used chassis and ran it into a variety of things. Never once did it appear to be bent. This season with a brand spankin' new chassis we run into someone just once and the outcome is totally different. It's kind of like not being able to pay someone to crash into your $100 beater car but the moment you pony up the 30 grand for a new one, a rogue shopping kart finds your shiny new passenger door.

Anyway Sam and I want to thank everyone in our family who showed up this weekend, especially Frank Jr. who helped out all day in the pits and back at our trailer. I think we're safe to say that he enjoyed himself as much as we enjoyed having him. And I think I can recall hearing him mutter the words "I'd like to get me one of these" a few times so maybe, just maybe, some day there will be another Marmurowicz blazing a trail at an Atlanta area kart track sometime soon.

Murphy's Law couldn't have been more prevalent!

Anyone who has ever been involved in any form of motorsport will read this post and immediately relate to it. Resting on the old adage: "That's racing".

In no way was I myself or my son ever promised that anything in this life comes easy. We've never expected it to be but it would just be nice to catch a break every now and then. I've written about bad times before but nothing compares to this last event at Blackhawk Farms Raceway. We've had bad days before but never three consecutive days in a row! Were the gods angry at me? And if I did something to deserve this why punish my entire family for it? It really started to look like someone upstairs had it in for us or was trying to test us in some way.

We decided to leave for the track on Thursday night to get an early start on Friday's all day practice session. That night we spent sleeping on the floor of the trailer and it should have been some indication of things to come but how comfortable can one be in a trailer anyway? We woke to what looked like a fine day of practice. A little warm, but sunny and not a cloud in the sky. The only tiny drawback was that all of us were a bit sore, under rested, and in need of a shower.

Sam took to the track in his first session of the day but never came around for his first lap. I hunted down an official and he told me there was a report of a driver off in turn three and that he was out of the kart and OK. What could have gone wrong? Everything was checked and double checked before he went out so it must have spun on cold tires I thought. I wouldn't get to really know until the end of the session so the important thing for now was the fact that he's fine.

The truck and trailer came down the track carrying back to us one filthy Margay kart and one dejected driver. On the outside it looked like what took place was a simple spin off course into a really wet area. I mean there was grass and mud on every square inch of the thing. On the contrary, what had happened he said was that another driver much further up the track from him had spun off course and then right back on in front of him. Sam didn't have alot of room to get by him and eventually made contact with his right rear, almost kicking himself clear out of the seat. Hearing this I attempted to spin the rear wheels and confirmed my worst expectations - the axle was indeed bent, 4 teeth were ground off of the sprocket, and we had a severely deformed brake rotor. Pretty much the entire back end was broken or bent in some way.

I walked what seemed like the entire paddock and eventually found all of the parts we needed. In the process I also managed to consume all of the cash that we had with us for the weekend! What was equally bad was the fact that what had originally been thought of as being a quick fix took almost four hours of our day to correct. The axle I found was not for a Margay and the keyways didn't line up properly. This forced us to become creative with how we had to offset it to make everything else line up. With this done we returned to the track for only two short practice sessions that were left in the day but never really reached our stride. We decided to toss in the towel, check in to our hotel, and get some much needed rest.

Our bad luck continued on Saturday when we failed to get to the track in time for our first of two scheduled practice sessions. When the second session finally came we never even made it out of the pits with what was thought to be a suspected fuel delivery problem. No need for panic, we're just going to have to fix it and hope that our intended set-up is going to work for our race today. Unfortunately for us the disappointment wouldn't stop there. When the green flag finally flew on our race Sam managed to drive the kart about 100 feet before it coughed and died on him again. With the help of several individuals along pit row we repeatedly tried to start it and get him back on the track but to no avail, it just wouldn't stay running.

Sick with the thought that I finally had something wrong with the kart that I couldn't diagnose, I took the carb off and brought it to Don from L.A.D. Specialties. He spent nearly the entire afternoon helping us out and answering all of our questions while we tried time after time to put it together and pull it apart in our quest to make this engine run again. I can't thank him enough for his knowledge and all of his help because by 5pm when the track closed for the day we finally had a kart that would move again under it's own power. We all went back to the hotel very optimistic in our chances for tomorrow's race.

Now it's one thing to experience bad luck at the track, but it's totally another issue when it seeps into your personal life as well. It's about 3am and we're all awakened by a drunken lover's spat in the hotel room next to us. After about an hour of listening to their shouting and banging I decide to skip my intended idea of strangling them myself and call the front desk instead. Problem solved. At least for an hour until they chimed up again but I think we were all so beat we were finally able to sleep right through it.

The alarm at 6am came way too soon. We all got up, showered, and got ready to check out when my son noticed how dark it was for 6:30 in the morning. It did seem strange to me at the time but I just discounted it as overcast skies and continued to pack the truck to get to the track. It wasn't until my wife looked at her watch and noticed that it was 5:30am that we truly knew why it was so dark. Now I remember. Before we went to sleep the night before I had a problem with the alarm clock in the room and mistakenly set the time ahead by an hour. Yesterday we were late, and now today we have more than enough time. This all wouldn't matter anyway as the rain began to fall just as we got to the track and eventually washed out all racing for the day.

So there you have it. Several hundred dollars later and only two sessions out on the track. The only thing that we learned from this weekend is that it's going to take a lot more than this to break us. And do you want to know the biggest farce of it all? For making it just barely past the timing and scoring tower in our race on Saturday, Sam was awarded with his very first win. It seems that in our race group of about 6 classes Sam was the only one registered in HPV Jr. Sportsman. All he had to do was take the green flag to receive a first place finish and a nice plaque to show for it. I would have rather looked back on this as a nail-biting back and forth fight to the finish with him being the ultimate winner but when you think of it, this isn't all that bad of a story either.

July 23rd, Points Race #10

What originally looked like an average day at the races turned into yet another personal best for Sam today. He had a lap time of 42.71 in practice and a pretty good dog fight with a new driver to the track. We thought we finally had someone that we could race with a little more closely but that all fizzled quickly once the feature came. This driver ran away at the start and just about took the win from the class points leader leaving us to occupy the third place spot. Still not bad for a day's work but it would have been a lot more fun to see him further up in the fight.

Now it's off to Blackhawk Farms Raceway in two weeks. This is Sam's favorite track to date and we're all really looking forward to it. Even our dog who get's the rare opportunity to come with us to the track as well as the hotel.

Blackhawk Farms is a 1.9 mile track built for automobile racing and is much wider, longer, and faster than what he's used to seeing in your average kart track. Last year when we ran a Briggs engine he could literally stand on the gas all the way around the track. Even though the speeds we'll reach this year are much higher in our current class, I have to think he'll still be flat-footin' it around the place. If my calculations are right he should be averaging around 79 MPH and that's pretty spectacular for a twelve year old. I don't know who should be more spooked? Me for letting him do this or him for doing it. Like I said, when I was his age I still had a playing card in my spokes and only went as fast around the block as my two feet would take me. A far cry from where he's at today. The other nice thing about this event is it's part of the Championship Enduro Series which brings a whole new and different crop of young drivers to compete against. He's always saying that he wants more people to drive with and this is just the weekend for that.

June 25th, Points Race #8

What a relief! What once looked like another rain out for us turned out to be a pretty good day. Our first 2nd place finish, a personal best lap time, and a world of lessons learned.

In our last post I explained that I was struggling to get this kart working for him, and that I had talked to everyone and read everything that I could. Well I was wrong. This weekend we had the luxury of having Jim Bennett coach both myself and and my son on everything from carb set-ups to where he should be putting the kart on crucial corners. Jim is the father of James who is the current points leader in our class. Let's just say aside from the fact that they are a virtual runaway in the points, both Jim and his son have seen more than their share of laps around this track.

He started by straightening out our carb. I didn't realize that the adjustments on these things are so minute, that a hairline turn on a metering screw can make the difference between running strong and falling flat on your face. After that, just some basic things like plug gap and index was checked, then off for our second practice session of the day. For what little was done it literally breathed new life into that engine. It sounded better and our temps were much closer to where they needed to be. Jim also taught me how to more effectively read my MyChron dash to find out every little thing that's happening to that engine on any given lap. Something I will be paying much closer attention to from now on.

Once that was done we moved on to Sam. Jim pointed to certain areas on the track that he wanted Sam to hit and after about 6 laps of practice he lowered his times by nearly 2 full seconds! Although still a little reluctant to do it, he was going almost full throttle through turn one which has been an on going obstacle for us all season now. I think he's learned a valuable lesson too which I've been trying to tell him for the past two years. "Slow in the cockpit = fast on the track." It's a hard thing to explain to a 12 year old. That the fastest lap times usually come when you work the least, but after he finished the feature I think the point sunk in somewhat. "I'm sorry Pop but I think we were a little slower this round" he said to me. It had been raining lightly and he complained that the kart was pretty unstable and a little harder to control. But on the contrary when we checked his gauge it recalled a fast lap time of 42.86 seconds. The fastest we had gone all day, and in less than perfect conditions I might add.

We were all very proud of him and he was beaming from ear to ear as well but we all know we still have a lot of work cut out for us. To get anywhere near the front we have to knock another 2 full seconds off his times. It sounds like an eternity but look how far we came in what little we did this weekend! Once he can get used to driving the kart at it's limits all of the time, not just through turn one, the times will fall steadily. He's going to have to be comfortable in jumping curbs and sliding around a bit before we'll see that happen but I know he's got it in him. It's just a matter of time.

This weekend was the first in a long time that we didn't have anyone from Sam's fan club present. Previous obligations by all meant that this weekend was just to be for the four of us. One person in particular who won't be joining us anymore is our niece Aaliyah. My Sister and Brother-in-law had been her foster parents for years now and she's been quite the character since day one. No matter how bad of a day we were having at the track she'd say or do something to put a smile on your face and put everything back into perspective again. Both of my kids loved her as we all did and she will be sorely missed. We were truly blessed to have her as a part of our lives if even for a short period of time. All we can hope and pray for is that her biological mother gives her all the love and care that she needs, and that she had when she was with us. Good luck Kiddo, we love you.

Point Race #6, June 4th

Oh well, another third.

What makes this one different from the other third place finishes is that we are a little bit closer to second, and alot better on lap times.

At the sake of saving face, I'm not going to go into detail about how I've managed to be sending us in the wrong direction over the past few weeks. Let's just say I was told one thing and instead of checking to see if it was correct, I just believed the individual(s) and continued on. That was until this weekend when we took an entire day to practice and found out we were wrong. WAY WRONG!

Having renewed enthusiasm we returned to the track on Sunday hoping for better gains. Although we still feel we are not quite in the league with the top two drivers, we are making progress. A reliable source informed me of a couple of different chassis tweeks that would show us some benefit. Out came the wrenches and after all was done we reduced our lap times by almost 7 tenths of a second! For the most part we are almost identical in chassis set-up and engine tuning to the other Margay driver in our class. With the exception of this driver having about 3 more years of experience on us, we should be up there relatively soon. That is if Sam polishes his driving skills a bit more. There's still a night and day difference between his lines and exit speeds verses the others. Then again we still have to realize that we're now in a class that easily runs 5-7 seconds faster per lap than what we were used to.

Since school is out we're going to make it a point to try and get to the track at least one if not two days a week to practice. The little way that we have to go is only going to happen with seat time. I know for a fact that if he could overcome one or two of his problem spots on the track, he would be amazed at how much quicker he would be, and that he then could become a little more of a worry to the others as well.

One last thing. With school being out you may be glad to know that starting with the next race, most if not all of the posts will be done mainly by Sam. I'm going to have him become more involved in this and paint the picture more in his words verses mine.

Points Race #5, May 21st

Remember the popular old fishing bumper sticker, "A bad day of fishing.....? Well you can pretty much insert any hobby or past time into that phrase and it carries the same impact. But in my case I can honestly say that a bad day of racing is certainly not better than a good day at work. At least not last Sunday the 21st. That day I wished to god I was back at the office.

It was a colder than usual morning so we were plagued with a slick track for both practice sessions. Sam looped the thing in both sessions leaving him so far behind the other guys that he never really had anything or anyone to chase and learn from. The first spin was pretty harmless. No contact with anything so he just continued on. The second spin on the other hand sent him over the rumble strip and into the grass. He was trying to get himself back onto the track when an official ran up to him and grabbed his seat to stop him. He was concerned with the traffic that was near and wanted to send him off after they passed. The problem is the goofball pushed him back onto the track back over the rumble strip! This hairbrain move tore 4 teeth off a new sprocket and threw the chain, eventually binding it in our clutch. Since we were one of the last groups to practice and one of the first groups to race, we had to miss our first heat while we fixed the kart. Things didn't change much for the second heat or the feature for that matter. I was running around like a crazy man trying to widen that, and lean out this, that I wasn't quite sure what was working and what was not. Cardinal sin number one. Do not change more than one thing at a time. It's common sense and I know it. It's just that desperate men do desperate things and sometimes they're not the right things.

It was a bit frustrating for my son as well. He wants to be in the thick of things and 9 times out of 10 we are kart lengths behind anyone. Can't really blame the chassis since we have another driver in our class with the exact same kart and he's doing great. Can't blame the engine really. Although there are many builders out there, this class is pretty much spec. No adjusting of anything other than the high and low jet settings. The principle of this class is to keep it even so driver talent shines. Could Sam have more experience? Sure he could, but I truly believe he's about 95% there. There's still a learning curve but even though he jumped into a class this year that runs on average over 4 seconds quicker per lap, he's still quite smooth and shows real maturity out there. We'll still continue to practice every chance we get, that goes without saying. Which brings me to ME. Do I really know what I'm doing? If I don't I'd like to know which book I didn't read or which individual I didn't talk to because I'm about certain that I've referenced every bit of information that is out there for me. I'll never say that I know everything but I have to believe that I'm in the right ballpark at least. It can just get a little disheartening when you think that you've done all that you can do yet there's a distinct difference in your engine tone verses the others. Is it down on power? A wrong line out of a crucial turn? Bad gear selection? Puts you right back to square one all over again.

It's basically going to come down to practice, practice, and more practice. Nothing else is going to help us find the answers to all of our questions. And not just for his driving but for my tuning as well. You can only ask so many people how they do it before you realize that you have to take what's said with a grain of salt. It works for them but should just be a guideline for you. At the time of writing this piece I just received word from the engine builder about a set-up that looked promising on an engine he just had on the dyno. A light at the end of the tunnel? In one week you'll find out.

Sunday May 7th

A pretty uneventful weekend in general. I learned that the slew of sprockets that I purchased and brought to the track were not the right ones for our application. Knowing this we had to forge ahead with basically the same set-up as last week. Sam was not very happy with the fact that he'd be chasing his tail again this weekend. Aside from experimenting with tire pressures we had nothing in our arsenal to help us get further up with the top two runners in our class.

Well 3rd place always sounds good on paper but when you factor in that no one else showed up other than the three of us, it paints a totally different picture. We'll take it though. I promised him we'd pick up the correct parts and head out to practice this weekend before our next race and hopefully we'll have a little more exciting news to report next week. Beating the top running driver may be a stretch, but once I understand this new kart a little more I have all the faith in the world in him and his ability to compete more closely with them.

First Rain-out

This past Sunday was our first rain-out. Frankly Sam and I didn't want to go to the track this weekend anyway so it worked out fine for us. Allergy attacks made life miserable for me so the rain was a welcomed contributor to this cancellation.

We got first place points though! Unfortunately so did everyone else. How, you may ask? Well the club has a rule where if a race is cancelled and you do not compete in at least two heat races, all PAYING drivers will recieve 200 points each. So when I called the track to make sure everything was off for the day, the young lady on the end of the line confirmed it, then went on to tell me to get myself to the track and pay to enter my driver if we wanted to receive his points for the day. And by the way, do it within the next 45 minutes because the track is closing soon. I'm in my pajamas and more than 45 minutes away, so jacket on, in the truck, and a quarter of a tank later I'm paying to enter Sam in a race that's never going to take place.

Now I don't quite agree with this procedure but I guess it's the best compromise that the club can come up with for people who are there already. I can understand the volunteers who show up and have to wait until they call it a day to leave. I can also understand the guys who drive long distances to get here for the weekend only to turn around and go home. What I can't understand is why we couldn't compensate them in some other way as to not inconvenience the rest of us who choose not to embark in the first place. Why can't we give everyone a big fat zero for the day and credit those who paid already. It can't be that big of an administrative nightmare to note individuals who paid but didn't race and just give them a freebie next week could it?

Anyway I learned a lesson here. If we want to stay in the points chase, my big lazy rump cannot stay firmly planted in a chair or in bed on days when it could be rained out. I'll have to go to the track like everyone else and pay my dues. Literally showing that in one form or another, we're all just racing with our wallets.

1st race of the season, not bad for the new guy.

Sunday April 23rd was the first points race in our 17 race season. Although we find ourselves not only in a relatively small class, the few who run it are light years ahead of us. Aside from the fact that we are only in our second season, and the fact that we are 4-cycle transplants, we have a lot of learning to do. This kart and the class we run in are much faster than anything we're used to. And the driver's who we are up against have a lot more seat time than us and it shows. Not to steal any of Sam's thunder. He's adapting pretty quick and I think we can be in the thick of things some time soon.

We showed up knowing that we could still be underweight for our class. 250lbs for the kart and driver are the rules. Up 25 pounds from last year. I thought I purchased enough weight to get us close and I could rely on filling the fuel tank more or less should I need to compensate. No such luck! After hanging 22lbs of scuba diving weight to the seat we weighed in about 5 lbs light in practice. I found some more weight and we got ourselves close, I mean real close. With a half of a tank of fuel at the end of the feature race we weighed 250 on the nose. Too close for my liking so I'm adding another 2lbs next week.

Being our first time in competition with the new kart and engine we found nothing to really be disappointed with. The kart is very forgiving and accepts changes well. The engine and clutch are pretty much a spec package so there's no real science to tuning or adjusting it. One low speed adjustment, one high speed adjustment, thats' it! And the engine builder pretty much told us where to set it and leave it. You really can't get any easier than that. SHAMELESS PLUG As a matter of fact I don't know why more people aren't getting involved in racing HPV classes. Once the initial investment is made in your engine you can graduate from class to class by just changing the carb and your pipe. The engines from what I hear are very robust so freshening and rebuilds are not done as frequently as one might think. And having a spec clutch, spec tires, and the constant scrutiny that tech officials give to it, makes for a more driver oriented series. Cheaters Beware! You truly have to be a good smooth driver to walk away with anything in this class.

And walk away they did. Once the heat races began we found out what seat time and all around smooth driving can get you. I want to point out that all of the youngsters in this class are good including Sam, but two boys in particular have what it takes to really seperate themselves from the pack in a hurry. This is where it gets hard to explain to my son that I can't pull a rabbit out of my hat, or build him more of an engine to get him closer to them. He needs seat time. Lap after lap, day after day, just plain seat time. The driver who is leading our series, and will most likely remain in the lead of our series, has been driving for at least 5 years now. It also helps that they are probably one of the higher funded teams that we're up against. This combination is lethal to anyone competing against them. You see an awful lot of people in racing that have one or the other. Unfortunately they tend to fail somewhere down the line. But when you have both, the world is your oyster.


As for the races, everything was pretty much uneventful for the most part. Sam diced with another Margay driver all morning trading places during the heat races but managed to stay ahead of him in the feature netting him 3rd place. Like I mentioned before, the top two drivers started their seperation from us almost immediately. Sam had the fourth place driver on his tail literally for the whole race and I was paying more attention to the flagman than the race at times just waiting to see that white flag in his hand. Once out you would think I'd be relieved but I was far from it. The fourth place driver had much better gearing for the long straights and was easily catching Sam through out the race when they came out of the tight stuff. If Sam bobbled one bit on the last corner the race would be lost. I don't know how he did it. When I raced cars pressure like that usually cost me something, but he stayed calm, kept plenty of speed through that corner, and easily beat him to the checkered. Not bad for the new kid in town.

It's finally here!

Sorry about the long wait everyone, but we finally got the new chassis and engine delivered to us about two weeks ago. We made time to go out and shake everything down to see how it works and are pleased to say how very happy we are with how it handles. Everyone at Margay who had their hand in building this kart, as well as Kent Laukitis of Laukitis Racing engines has done a marvelous job. Our lap times are almost 4 full seconds quicker than we ever went before, and Sam doesn't appear to be struggling or showing any signs of being in over his head. I'm really amazed at how fast he's adapting to this new kart.

I've got some learning to do as well. We've now crossed over from 4-cycle to 2-cycle which is a much different world of it's own. I'm not yet comfortable with the amount of oily residue that's getting blown across everything in the back of the kart when we run this thing. After every session I find myself cleaning the whole kart for 20 minutes before a wrench ever sees the thing. Blame my slight case of OCD but I'm not letting my investment turn into a living breathing example of the Exxon Valdez wreck. I have to have my equipment clean! Now if I could apply that same thought process to my lawn, or the basement, I'd be as happy as that guy named Bob in the Enzyte commercials.


I also have to learn to use the new data aquisition equipment that we have. MyChron makes an unbelievable dash system for karting as well as auto racing. It's light and compact, and just like any data aquisition system, comes with a fairly large amount of things it can monitor. But, if the user has no clue as to what he's reading, it ends up being just another pretty light show to impress your friends with.

This is our year for new things you might say. We just purchased an enclosed trailer as well to haul all of this equipment. No more trying to fit everything in and on my truck, forcing us to take two vehicles to the track. With gas being over 3 bucks a gallon, this came at just the right time. In addition to the financial end of it, now we can all sit comfortably in one vehicle and have everything we need stored where it belongs. What once seemed like an unneccesary "want", is now looked at as an over due "need". We might be able to outfit it with any creature comforts we might need so we can camp right at the track and avoid expensive hotel bills when we're out of town. This all sounds like a lot of fun to everyone in the family but I'm sure it'll grow old soon when it's realized that a hot shower and a flush toilet are not always going to be at your fingertips.

Mike's E-mail Address

I've had an overwhelming amount of requests by people who are looking to contact me directly. Just for the record, my e-mail address is mjm@pegasusautoracing.com

Feel free to contact me at your leisure. On any subject, whether it's race related or not. Keep me in line too. I'd like to think that when my son allows me to ramble on, I'm being as unbiased and unopinionated as I can. If I offend anyone, let me know.

Although this is my son's site, I have not yet given him an e-mail address of his own. Any and all questions for him should be directed to me and I will forward them on to him.

Thanks,

Mike Marmurowicz

On a totally different subject!

My son and I are pretty much gearheads by nature. He likes building things and tinkering with stuff about as much as I do. Our tastes in all things mechanical are very similar. We both like Hot Rods, Choppers, Semi Trucks, and Airplanes. We both enjoy racing on many different levels as well. We obviously love Karting, and we rarely miss a chance to watch F1 and European Rallying when it comes to the Speed Channel.

The difference between us is in our views on Drag Racing. I'm a freak when it comes to IHRA and NHRA Drag Racing. I've been so pretty much all my life. He's just kind of so-so on it. I've gone to countless amateur races at a local track but until recently, never to an NHRA event. I even competed once on a motorcycle but that came to a crashing end when I lined up on the oil strip, came out of the box sideways at the green light, and got myself thrown 25 feet through the air. That pro event drought all changed last year when I took him to the Chicagoland Speedway. Aside from the weather being lousy (a high of about 50) I had a blast. I couldn't sleep for about a week knowing that I was finally going to experience the sounds, the smells, and the whole circus that is the NHRA Powerade Drag Racing series.

I plucked him out of bed at 4:30am and off we drove. Well, I drove. He slept all the way there. We arrived early enough to watch a few teams set up their equipment, build engines, and basically get themselves ready for the day. Shortly after, we took our seats high up in the grandstand and sat through a mind numbing assortment of amateur and low end bracket racing. As my luck is, The first Top Fuel Dragster started up and took to it's first burn-out
as we were both standing in line for the bathroom. Just the sound of that thing alone made the hair on the back of my neck stand straight up. I've attended many different types of auto, cycle, and boat racing events in my life and nothing has ever had that effect on me. That engine meant business! We returned to our seats to watch the rest of the T/F guys and could not believe what we were seeing. TV does no justice to just how fast and how powerful these things are. They would do their burn-out, which was pretty loud even with earplugs or headsets on, but the real feeling comes from the run. Remember the phrase "The calm before the storm"? That's what happens in a T/F FC or Dragster run. I never found out if they lean or richen the thing out, but just as they get the car staged, the engine tone goes down a notch. But once that light turns green, and before you really hear this thing scream, there's a compression that forces out from that car so hard that it made the grandstand actually sway! Your chest literally feels like someone is pushing on you. Picture the old tv footage of that house blowing over in a nuclear bomb strike and you'll get the idea.


I obviously walked away from that day with a new found respect for the technical end of things. How teams like that can build these things to make so much power, blow itself to pieces, and be rebuilt before the next run, is completely amazing. I've also collected some technical aspects of Top Fuel racing that is mind boggling that I'd like to share with you. Don't get me wrong, I'm still a Road Racer at heart. With stats like these I wish there was a way I could strap myself to one of these things just once.

FUN FACTS REGARDING FUEL CARS

• One Top Fuel Dragster’s 500 cubic inch Hemi engine makes more horsepower than the first 4 rows of the Daytona 500.
• Under full throttle, a dragster engine consumes 1 gallon of nitro methane per second; a fully loaded 747 consumes jet fuel at the same rate with 25% less energy being produced.
• A stock Dodge Hemi V8 engine cannot produce enough power to drive the dragster’s supercharger alone. It takes nearly 1500 horsepower to do this!
• With 3000cfm of air being rammed into the dragster’s engine by the supercharger on overdrive, the fuel mixture is compressed into a near-solid form before ignition. Cylinders run on the verge of hydraulic lock at full throttle. At the stoichiometric 1.7:1 air/fuel mixture for nitro methane, the flame front temperature measures 7050 degrees F.
• Nitro methane burns yellow. The spectacular white flame seen above the stacks at night is raw burning hydrogen, dissociated from atmospheric water vapor by the searing exhaust gases.
• Dual Magnetos supply 44 amps to each spark plug. This is the output of an Arc Welder in each cylinder.
• Spark Plug electrodes are totally consumed during a pass. After about ½ way, the engine is dieseling from compression plus the glow of exhaust valves at 1400 degrees F. The engine can only be shut down by cutting the fuel flow.
• A dragster can reach 300 mph before you have completed reading this sentence.
• The engine’s redline is quite high at 9500 RPM.
• In order to exceed 300 mph in 4.5 seconds dragsters must accelerate at an average of 4Gs. In order to reach 200 mph well before half track, the launch acceleration approaches 8Gs.
• If spark momentarily fails early in the run, unburned Nitro Builds up in the affected cylinder(s) and then explodes with sufficient force to blow cylinder heads off the block in pieces or split the block in half.
• The pressure coming out of the headers can provide as much as 1000 lbs of down force. When a cylinder is lost it can actually steer the car due to the loss of down force on one side.
• There is so much torsional twist in the crankshaft (up to 20 degrees) that sometimes cam lobes are ground offset from front to rear to try and re-phase the valve timing closer to synchronization with the pistons.
• A Top Fuel Dragster can reach over 60 mph before the rear wheels cross the start line (300 inches).
• Assuming all equipment is paid for, the crew worked for free, and for once NOTHING BREAKS, each run costs an estimated $3000 per second.

PUTTING ALL OF THIS INTO PERSPECTIVE:

There you are, driving your $140,000 Lingenfelter twin-turbo powered Corvette Z06, (or your blown Viper). Over a mile up the road ahead of you, a Top Fuel Dragster is staged and ready to launch down a quarter mile strip as you pass.

You run your car hard through the gears and blast across the starting line at an honest 200 mph, and the “tree” goes green for the dragster and he launches at that same moment. You keep your foot down hard, but you hear an incredibly brutal whine that hurts your ears and, within 3 seconds the dragster catches and passes you. He beats you to the finish line, a quarter of a mile away from where you just passed him going 200 mph.

Think about it! From a standing start, the dragster has spotted you 200 mph and not only caught you but nearly blew you off the road when it passed you within a mere 1320 feet!

2006 Tentative Race Schedule

Well it was just released! The tentative '06 racing schedule. We're looking at combining a couple of series this year, so we might have to juggle the Badger Kart Club Bridgestone Point Series with some others. We are also very excited about possibly competing at the Rock Island Grand Prix this year as well. It's become quite apparent that it's going to be one busy season for us. If you're looking to join us at any of these venues, the list below will give you an idea of where we'll be at.

• April 9th BKC Non-Points Race, Dousman
• April 23rd BKC Points Race #1, Dousman
• April 30th BKC Points Race #2, Dousman
• May 7th BKC Points Race #3, Dousman
• May 14th BKC Points Race #4, Dousman
• May 21st BKC Points Race #5, Dousman
• June 4th BKC Points Race #6, Dousman
• June 18th BKC Points Race #7, Dousman
• June 25th BKC Points Race #8, Dousman
• July 2nd BKC Points Race #9, Dousman
• July 23rd BKC Points Race #10, Dousman
• July 28-30 MWSS @ Dousman
• Aug 11-13 WKA Mfr's Cup @ Dousman
• Aug 20th BKC Points Race #11, Dousman
• Aug 27th BKC Points Race #12, Dousman
• Sept 2-3 Rock Island Grand Prix ?
• Sept 10th BKC Points Race #13, Dousman
• Sept 17th BKC Points Race #14, Dousman
• Oct 1st BKC Points Race #15, Dousman
• Oct 8th BKC Points Race #16, Dousman
• Oct 15th BKC Points Race #17, Dousman

There is one last date at Dousman on Oct. 22nd which is their Backwards Race/ Fun Day. This has sometimes coincided with a race at Shawano that we have wanted to attend. The track there really looks like a nice facility and if there is the annual year-end event there in '06, we'll be there.

Until Then............

Happy Holidays

From all of us to all of you, we wish you and your family a Merry Christmas and fantastic New Year. The holiday season gives us time to reflect on all that we have and the people that we share this with. It gives us a chance to put down the wrenches and be thankful for the things that really matter in our lives: our family and friends. If just for one brief moment, we stop brainstorming over set-ups and the newest trick part that MUST be on the kart for next season and focus on others.

And a brief moment it was.

Moving on to other things, the '06 schedule hasn't been printed yet and we're counting the days to the next race season. I figure around 160 more days until it will be safe to get out and practice without the fear of frostbite. Leaving the track at a high rate of speed in cold weather is another concern of ours, so it goes without saying that it could be longer.

We're almost certain that we will be going with a brand new Margay chassis next year for Sam. Pegasus Auto Racing Supplies was in negotiations with several manufacturers for some time now but couldn't ink a deal with any of them for assorted reasons. Margay was always on our minds, but certain restrictions from the manufacturer made it nearly impossible for us to become a dealer with them for several years. I'm proud to say that these obstacles are no longer a concern since I had a lengthy discussion with Keith Freber at the Performance Racing Industry trade show in Orlando this year. We've pretty much sewn up a deal of becoming one of the newest Margay dealers in the country, and can't express how proud we are to be a part of their family. Absolutely everyone that represented that company was extremely professional, and just plain easy to talk to. Their level of knowledge combined with their enthusiasm for this sport assures me that this was the right decision to make.

That leaves one used CRG chassis to ponder. Do we sell it? or do I roll the dice on my daughter taking over the driving duties with this one? We've put her behind the wheel a couple of times last year on Dousman's practice track and have mixed emotions on what we've seen. Yeah, Sam was dirt slow the first few times in it himself. I can remember when he was scared stiff to finally go on the big track and drive with other people around him. No more than a couple of times out and he was right in the groove of things. My Daughter on the other hand is telling me that she needs a larger track to drive on so she can "stretch her legs" a bit. Pretty reassuring, but I told her it's a whole different ballgame when there's other people out there with you from many different classes. All we can do is try her out. If she does well and wants to do it, she gets the seat. If not, I sell it and I also get my tire person back for the season.

Well, unless something earth shattering happens with us like me getting a call from the Renault F1 team looking for a test driver, or my son signs on as the youngest driver in history to race for a Formula BMW team, this should be my last post for a while. Thank you again, goes out to everyone who has helped us and showed up at the track to lend support in this first season. We can't wait to see you all again in '06.

The sum of it all... a recap of our first season and what we've learned

God I'm glad it's over! Something that a self-proclaimed race fanatic like myself would never dream of saying. It's just been a long season and I'm happy that it's finally finished. My lawn and my house, (both being in sad states of disrepair) are more than thankful too.

With 18 championship point races and 1 race outside of the series, we've spent a lot of time at the track this past summer and have met a lot of great people along the way. We've had some frustration in our first few times out, and worked very hard to get to where we finished today. Without the help of people like Willie and Pete Kootstra we would have never excelled as quickly as we did. And the days were a lot more fun when you had people like Tom and Alex Rosenquist, and Brian and Kathya Lundy racing with you. Being involved in this sport, as well as spending time with these people and others, have taught us a few valuable lessons.

You can't take anything for granted. That's what my son and I did as we were reeling in the 5th place driver in points and pulling away from 7th. We knew that fifth was going to be a stretch, but we also knew that at the pace we were going, and the fact that we were beating him easily over the past few weeks, it would only be a matter of time before we'd catch him. It ended up being too little, too late. All it took was one bad finish on our end and one great weekend for them to drop us out of contention.

We also felt pretty confident in our 6th place spot. Our lead was mounting on his friend Kathya and with all of the bad luck they had been experiencing we pretty much thought it was in the bag. Well it was, that was until the last race when they pulled a rabbit out of their hat and were running like they were on rails. Nothing that we could do would allow us to catch them. With 30 points between the two of them, all she had to do was finish 3 karts ahead of us and the championship spot was hers. Seeing that she had done that easily in the two heat races before the feature we knew we had some work, and good old fashioned praying to do. Lady luck was on our side as she did finish ahead of us but Sam managed to only allow 1 kart to get between them. She finished fourth with us in sixth place giving us 6th spot in the points out of 16 total drivers. Not bad for his first time behind the wheel. I truly couldn't be more proud of him.

A good time is what you make of it. It's alright to be very competitive, but at this level with this young of a driver you can't expect everything from them. And in this day and age of people being as busy as they are and never being able to find time to do anything as a family, Isn't just being involved in something that brings all of you together enough? Some people that I've come to know this season either didn't know this, or lost all comprehension of it. I've got an axe to grind on this one and will explain more of this later.

I've always loved racing. Everything about it. The thing that I love the most about it now is that at this level there is something for everyone to do. It can be something as small as cleaning tires after every session out on the track. A job my 9 year-old daughter has taken very seriously. You don't find this type of value in Soccer, Baseball, or Football. Like I've said before, if you're not part of the coaching staff you'll sit on the sidelines with no real involvement. While this may be perfectly fine with some parents, it doesn't sit well with me. I've always been a hands-on person, and I want to have an active role in my kids interests. I say that tongue-in-cheek because I know there's probably never going to be a day when you see me execute a perfect back handspring, or Tap Dance my way into the history books with my daughter. She's voiced her interest in driving, and I'll have plenty of help and support for her should she want to race. I just think that multiple cartwheels at my age is not such a good idea.

Getting back to the fun part. Years of racing on my own has given us an advantage in this first year. It's helped us avoid a lot of the learning curve problems that are normally associated with being new to the sport. This I feel has saved us a lot of anguish, allowing us more time to just have a blast. We set out this year to just have fun. Anything else was gravy as they say. With the exception of a few tough moments, there were never any times that he got out of the kart without a smile on his face. And regardless of how he did on the track, I was usually beaming myself. There's a 2-cycle class that usually races a few classes before us that I watched almost every chance I'd get. The kids ranged in age from about 12 to 15 years old. Before every race they ALL would knock fists or shake each other's hand, wishing each other good luck. A little friendly smack talk would occur sometimes too. After each race they would come in and be smiling from ear to ear, laughing it up and shaking hands in congratulation with each other. It did'nt matter if you were first or last, they ALL got together and did this. Race after race. Weekend after weekend. I had as much fun watching this as they had doing it. I can only hope that my son is involved with a group like this, and can show this type of sportsmanship as he gets a little older.

For the most part, everyone is willing to help. The racing community as a whole is made up of many different types of people. There are people that have money and all the right equipment, and there are others scraping by with what little they have. Regardless of what demographic they fall into, the one thing that they have in common is a love for the sport and a willingness to help anyone who needs it. If you would break down or crash, there would most likely be someone there to help you get it back together or loan you the parts to do it. This is something that I came to realize years ago when I drove Formula Ford and had my share of teething problems. It was also apparent when my son had his big crash this season. I was overwhelmed with the outpouring of generosity from people in his own class that volunteered their help, parts, and even an entire kart! That's right, one of the fathers of a driver in our class actually offered to have his child sit out the day so we could drive their kart and chase after the points. How's that for generosity?

This looks like too much fun to be on this side of the fence! I thought I had it out of me, but the bug must still be there. I thought that wrenching on Sam's kart was going to be enough for me but it just isn't. I gotta' get back in this thing myself. Dont get me wrong, I learned a lot. Had a ton of fun doing it. But a return to the driver's seat would be nice. I don't know how I'd do it. Aside from the financial commitment, the time needed to prepare two if not three karts could make it impossible. The only shot I may have is that Pegasus Auto Racing Supplies is close to inking a distributorship deal with Reynard Karts. If this happens, I might just have to get one. I mean, how can we succesfully market and sell something if you don't have first hand knowledge of it. I'd be taking one for the team here. I'd be the sole person in the newly formed R&D department conducting crucial information gathering sessions to determine the viability of this chassis' success. Or at least that's what I need my wife to believe!

Whatever you do, never live through your children. You'll just flat out look like a fool when things don't go your way and you have one of your hissy fits! Yes, hissy fit. A childish phrase for childish people.

If you got the snot kicked out of you as a kid. If you finished in last place in everything you did. Don't be a drill sargeant and get up in your kid's grille every time they don't live up to YOUR standards. This is the section about those people that I told you I would explain more about. I'm firmly planted on my soap box and some of this may not be pretty, so have the kids leave the room and if you can't handle brutal honesty, hit the escape button. This is also the time when I must say the opinions expressed here are my own and in no way reflect the opinions of my son, my family, Pegasus Auto Racing Supplies, or any Firefighter or Fire Department in the country.

We've all seen it. Mothers and Fathers at little league games getting way too into things. A hockey dad kicking the teeth out of the coach because he benched his kid. Soccer parents attacking the referee for a bad call. These are all real good ways to teach your kid that it's ok to just go up and floor someone who you feel did you wrong. And we blame video games for this?. What get's real disturbing to me is when the aggression is directed at your own child for not performing to YOUR standards. I had very high hopes for Sam this year, and I'm proud to say he met them. But I never forced him into it. We had many occassions when he did'nt perform as we'd expected. And I knew that he was dissappointed enough himself so what would I gain by riding him? I'm not implying that I'm a psychologist or anything. It's just common sense to think that if someone comes down on their kid time after time, regardless of how well or poor they did, in due time they'll just give up! I mean if you're getting crucified either way, why try? I hope this doesn't happen to one driver from our class who seems to go through this more than usual. He's a great kid. all the other kid's seem to like him too. I just get the idea that his dad is all business and doesn't allow him to horse around with any of the others. You know, just being a kid. And look out if something goes wrong for them! It doesn't even have to be his son's fault. He could be a product of circumstance and have no real way to avoid it and the guy would literally bring his son to tears. I've seen it week in and week out. Most of what this guy did this season really angered me and drove me to this tangent.

I remember one time his son had gotten tagged on the start of a race and spun the kart. This relegated him to last place and he never really could recover. I had been one of the first people down pit road when the race ended and noticed that he was crying before his dad even got there! He knew what was coming, and I didn't catch everything, but his father's first words were "What the hell did you do!" Not, what happened? or anything like that. What did YOU do. This happened all too often. It all culminated into one event last weekend where for the first time I had a hard time minding my own business and not wanting to just break this guy's jaw. His son tangled with another kart that was pretty much off the pace of the rest of us. A backmarker if you will. I'm standing on the infield at turn one when I heard the contact and went running to see if they were ok. His son's kart had a seriously bent spindle which prohibited his turning the wheels so nonetheless his session was over. When Mr. Personality arrived he proceeded to verbally assault the other father shouting profanity right in front of both kids! He was screaming so loud I was sure the people down pit road could hear him over the karts. In his own charming way he was telling them that if they couldn't drive faster they should get the #U@! off the track. This is the kind of stuff that real men and strong families are made of. A definite role model I'm sure.

Aside from his obvious chemical imbalance, the other thing that bothered me was the fact that he had worn a "Proud to be a Firefighter" T-shirt once or twice to the track. Not a "Proud to know a..." or "Proud to be related to..." But suggesting that he was proud to be one. I don't know. With a personality like that I feel moved to paraphrase Senator Lloyd Bentsen's comment to Dan Quayle when I say "I know Firefighters. I serve with Firefighters. You sir, are no Firefighter." Yeah we aren't perfect either. I've known a few who lack some moral fiber but for the most part they're real good people. None of the guys in my house would ever treat people, much less their own kids that way. And yes we talk like sailors but never in front of children. I just bring this up because I take this job and this lifestyle very seriously and I hate to see shmucks like him screw it up. What he does to his family is his business. I'll give him that. It's when he's a bad representation of something important to me that he really rubs me the wrong way.

He's just a bad sport. A rotten individual who is obviously more concerned with what he's getting out of this than his son. I've been involved in racing for over 20 years now and never have I met a person who embodies the lack of sportsmanship and integrity that this guy has. He's kind of like the Bill Romanowski of the karting world.

I've wasted enough breath on this topic. I've now stepped down, My rant is over.

In Closing. The biggest lesson I've learned is you never really have any control over the outcome. The best of set-ups can be washed away in a bad start. As smooth as your driver is, there's always an erratic driver who could take him out. You just have to let the chips lay where they fall. Some days you're on, some you're off. If you can't always finish the day saying you had a good time, maybe it's time to move on.

What I want and don't want? I want us to do better next year in whatever class we decide to run in. I think Sam has earned it and deserves it. He's definitely proven that he can run with kids who have been driving much longer than him. I really think he has the talent to go further and can't wait to see what next season brings. What I don't want is to ever be so consumed with winning that I turn into Mr. Personality or anything resembling him. If anyone ever sees a trace of that emerging in me just beat me with a brick. I'll forgive you.

I want to thank alot of people for this season. Mainly my wife Lori who reluctantly went ahead with this idea. At first it was the investment, then safety issues, but ultimately she agreed to allow us to give it a try. She was also my timer, bookkeeper, scheduler, and the only person I could rely on to help me get the kart on and off the stand. My daughter Abi who put up with Sam, Sam, Sam, and karting, karting, karting, for 7 months. She also did a great job of cleaning the tires after every session and truly showed interest in learning how to work on other ends of the kart as well. Chris and Carla Heitman and Pegasus Auto Racing Supplies for helping us do this and do it right. John Haydon Jr. for his insight into many technical issues as well as his help in driver development. Reagan Vehring of 4-Cycle Central for his engines and all of the little things that he takes for granted that were of such value to us. And to all my friends and family who have shown their support by stopping by and cheering him on. This really motivated him. We hope to see you all again next year.

Mike Marmurowicz