June 16th, FRP Points Race #5 - Double Points
Results
We competed in our first Fremont Raceway Park points race for the year. The
kart count was a little low, possibly due to Father's Day, but my dad and I
still wanted to go racing. Most of the karts were in the oval classes, but
we only had 3 in the mediums again. We're still trying to figure out these
new Burris tires, along with everyone else, but it does make things a little
more frustrating. We went over to the track on Saturday, for the open practice, to try and get more time on them. We figured out some things about the tires,
but we found more out about our exhaust pipes and how the exhaust rotators
liked to vibrate loose from the block. So, we thought of many different ways
to fix it Saturday night, and hoped they would work on Sunday. With the pipe
on and rotator secured, we went out for a practice run. The kart handled
pretty well, but by the end of 10 laps the rotator had vibrated loose again.
Seth and Stan had showed up just to watch some racing, so they offered to go
home and get a couple pipes so we wouldn't have to use the rotator.
Unfortunately, none of their pipes would work either due to angles and diameters. Anyway, we tried fixing it again and went out for a 2nd hot laps session.
The kart got quicker, since there was some heat in the track now, but the
rotator vibrated loose again. We put it back together again and lined-up last
for the first heat race. With our new set-up, the kart pushes huge for the
first couple laps, then loosens up. So, I fell in line 3rd off the start.
I didn't have too much trouble with the 2nd place kart, except I think he was a
new racer, and I don't think he saw or was looking for me a few times. I
passed him on the second lap, but luckily he spun shortly after. So, we got a
caution taking away the lead Rex had. Off the re-start Rex and I stayed pretty
even though and we finished 2nd. Oh yeah, the rotator had vibrated loose again.
For the second heat, we lined-up on the pole and wired that exhaust pipe to the
motor. We stayed in front for about 5 laps before Rex showed his nose and
passed. So, we ended up 2nd again, but the exhaust pretty much stayed put.
We were getting beat at the end of the straights, so we had to drop some teeth
on the gear, and we added more wire/support to the pipe for the feature. We
started 2nd, and that's where we ended up. Like I said before, the kart has a
horrific push entering the turns the first couple laps, then it goes away.
Well, late in the 20 lap feature it became loose on entry, and would push off.
We still have some work to do with these tires, but we're getting closer. For
most of the feature, we were turning laps in the 10.8s. Slower than last year
with the Dunlops, but now at least in the ball-park.
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