September 28th and 29th, Barberton Final Shows
Results
This week-end we traveled to Barberton for the final time this year. Saturday, the show consisted of only 1, 15 lap heat race and a 20 lap feature to do the cool and damp conditions that would persist later in the night. We got a couple of practice sessions on the track, and luckily after the 2nd session we found that the right rear tire was flat due to a cut in the sidewall. So, we changed the tire for the heat race where we started 7th out of 9. I laid back a little on the start, and had a pretty goodt run down to the flag. The start was a little hairy with karts everywhere. The kart stuck really well on the bottom though, and I was able to hold position out of 2. Somehow, I ended up on the top of the track, and going into 3 I chose the high line. I was able to keep my momentum around the high side and passed 2 karts off of 4. In a couple laps, I caught the 4th place kart and passed him out of 2. I had to enter 3 rather low, and I guess he wanted to try and get even lower. We ended up rubbing coming out of 4, but I had a little more forward bite to hold the position. From there, we tried to run down the leaders, but couldn't. For the feature, we started 4th and the track was damp and cold. The first part of the race was really edgy with karts sliding everywhere. Everyone stayed in control though. On the start, we were able to get up to 3rd by the end of the first lap. We hung there for awhile. You probably could have threw a blanket over the first 3 karts. About half way through the race, I was really close to the 2nd place kart going into 3. For the first time, I experienced an aero push because the kart did NOT turn when we got to the turn. I lost some ground there, and allowed the kart behind to catch up. That kart passed a lap or two later because I was still getting trying to settle back in. We hung with the front runners until about 5 to go when the motor started to hiccup again. I was able to get it home in 4th place though.
We returned to the track early Sunday morning to try some things we thought of over the night. When we took to the track, the kart reacted well and was fast. We tried some other things during practice and did get faster as the track got some heat. For the first 10 lap heat, we started 8th out of 8. I took advantage of the last starting position and laid way back. I had quite a bit of steam coming to the flag and went around 3 karts on the outside going into 1. A few laps later, we disposed of the 4th place kart and went after the leaders. I was able to gain a little, but couldn't catch them. For the 2nd heat, we started on the pole. On the start, I got a pretty good head-snapper (bump) from the kart behind me. I took off, but didn't get a great start. The 2nd place starter made it to 1 first for the early lead. I wasn't able to pass him until the 2nd lap, out of the 2nd turn. The next lap, another kart stuck he nose under me in 1 and 2, but couldn't muster a run. I was able to hold on for the heat win, even though the kart was tightening up a little near the end. So, we started 2nd for the feature. Again, I got a pretty good lick on the start, but I was able to grab the early lead out of the 2nd turn. I led the first couple laps, until Mumaw got a run out of 2. The kart behind him followed causing me to enter a little higher into 3. I kept my momentum, but the other kart was able to get infront of me. I bumped him a little off the turn which hurt my momentum then. Those two pulled away a little, but I was holding my own. About halfway, the kart tightened up just a small amount. It got slightly worse, but nothing too bad. I was able to hold on to finish 3rd.
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