August 10th, Barberton Regular Show
Results
Sunday we travelled to Barberton for one of their regular shows, and to
see if even more changes that we made from the previous time there,
helped out at all. They changed things up a little and gave us only two
hot laps sessions. We able to tweak the kart closer than we had it, but
we also noticed that the engine was running hot. We made the necessary
changes though, ready to see how the heats shook out. In the first
heat, we started 3rd, and had a really great start. However, the pole
sitter, Mary Middaugh, did not get off of the second turn very well, and
the outside pole sitter, Shaun Middaugh, was able to grab the lead as I
settled into 3rd. On the next lap, I was able to get around Mary coming
off of the 4th turn. Once I got around, it was time to try and run down
Shaun who had built up a pretty big lead. About half-way into the race,
the kart's handling started to go away a little. The right rear was getting
a little too much grip, and the engine was starting to run hot again. I
had very slightly closed the gap to Shaun by the end of the race, but not
even close to challenge him. For the second heat race, we started 3rd
again. This time, Bobby Gindlesperger was on the pole. He brought the field
down extremely slow, and I ended up pushing him down most of the front-stretch.
The outside pole-sitter grabbed the lead out of the second turn, but Bobby
and I quickly got in-line on the inside of him. Going into the 3, the outside
pole-sitter went high, as Bobby and I went low. Coming off the turn, the guy on
the outside was still there as I was able to put a nose under Bobby. I let him
down in-front of me though, as we passed the other guy. Bobby and I came out of
2 nose to tail, but the yellow had come out. A kart had spun in the 4th turn, and
since not all the karts had completed a lap, it was a complete restart. The restart
was somewhat like the first, but Shaun was able to get up in the mix. Shaun was
able to get around me at the start, and all three of us went around the outside pole-sitter. Shaun passed Bobby down the backstretch, and this time, I was able
to keep my nose under Bobby coming off of 4 putting me into 2nd. I ran with Shaun
for the next couple laps until I messed up going into 1. I was so close to him, that
I bumped him down the front-stretch, but again, being so close, I was concentrating
more on him, then turning into the first turn. So, I ended up missing my mark, and
he pulled out to a 2 or 3 kart lead. I wasn't able to make the distance up though
because again, the engine was running hot, and I was more concerned about that and
finishing. Well, our 2nd place finishes in the heats put us in 2nd starting position
for the feature. We had again made changes to cool the engine, and a slight chassis
adjustment to loosen the kart on entry. We had a very even and clean start, and Shaun
got the lead off of 2 as I fell in behind him. We ran nose to tail for 7 or 8 laps
before that pesky right rear tire decided it wanted to most of the gripping again. I
started to fall back a little, and I noticed that the engine was really starting to get
hot again. I just wanted to make it to the end though. With about 3 laps to go, Bobby
was able to get a nose under me going into 1. We've been in the position before, so I
thought, no problem, I'll just take the high line and use the momentum. Nothin' doin'
this time though because the right rear just took me right towards the wall. I had to
let out, and Bobby took the position. Not much happened after that, except just trying
to get the motor home in one piece. Everything stayed together though, and we were able
to bring in home in 3rd. We did learn a lot yesterday with the chassis, but the engine
running hot still has a little baffled. Our next racing action was supposed to be this
Saturday at Toledo for the PKA 300. Unfortunately, I found out this morning that this
big event has been cancelled! I have to thank everyone who said they would come out to
help and watch though. I feel just as bad for you guys. So, it looks like we'll just
be heading to Archbold on Sunday, the 17th, for the Archbold Grand Prix. We really had
some fun there last year on the temporary, short-track oval. You just gotta look out
for those straw-bales!
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