May 25th, Barberton Night Show, Bob Nervo Memorial Race
Results
Stock Medium-6 entries
Heat 1: Started-5th, Finished 2nd
Heat 2: Started-2nd, Finished 2nd
Feature: Started-2nd, Finished-2nd
This week we headed back to Barberton Speedway for the Inaugural Bob Nervo Memorial Race with the features being run under the lights. Only the Flathead class was offered, so we only took one kart with us this week. We arrived at the track around 11:30am, and got set for practice because we made some pretty big changes to the Flathead kart during the week. Throughout practice, we tweaked a little here and a little there trying to fine-tune the changes. We did have a little spark plug during practice too. The motor was running a little hot, so we decided to go to a little cooler plug. Well, when we put the new one in, we cut-off the factory spacer washer. This caused the plug to be "deeper" in the combustion camber and ultimately be hit by the in-take valve, closing the plug gap. Without a gap, there is no spark, so the motor really didn't run too well. However, we didn't realize there was no gap until later. We thought the plug wasn't making a hot enough spark, so we went back to our original plug. Anyway, for the first heat we started 5th. Now, the track instituted a new starting procedure where they placed a cone at the start-finish line, and you couldn't pass underneath that cone. Well, we came down for the start very slow, and when the green flag was thrown, the kart ahead of me didn't come up to speed very fast. Luckily, the 6th place starter, Bobby Gindlesperger, left a little space that I was able to jump up into the high-line. Then, I was able to move get past the next kart coming out of the second turn, and settled into 3rd. The number of laps for the heats was bumped up to 15 for the night, so I wasn't in a big hurry to move up. Bobby had settled in behind me as the top four started to pull away a little. We were definitely faster than the 2nd place kart though, and I started to figure out a good place to pass. The other kart had a LOT of power down the stretches though, and it was pretty hard to get a good run to make the pass. About 5 laps in, Bobby decided he wanted to pass, so I let him go and was going to follow him through. He had a little trouble with the 2nd place kart as well, but that kart bobbled a little off of the second turn. He quickly capitalized, and I went right along with him. We started to run-down the leader, and were up to him by the next lap. Bobby made a move on the second turn, which opened the door for me in the third turn. We came out of the fourth turn in 1st and 2nd. He had about 3 kart lengths on me, and that's about how we finished up. For the second heat, Bobby started on the pole, and we started on the outside. Off the start, we rubbed a little in the first and second turn with him coming out on top. We were able to stick with him, but about 5 laps in, the kart wasn't handling quite like I wanted it too. Bobby started to pull away a little as I adjusted my line. Once I found figured out a line the kart liked, his lead stabilized, but I wasn't able to run him down either. Again, we finished 1st and 2nd. So, the feature line-up would be Bobby on the pole and me outside. The trouble was, the feature probably wouldn't be run until almost 4 hours after the 2nd heat race. See, we had to wait until it got dark enough to use the lights. Of course, it had been overcast all day, so I though it was plenty dark enough about an hour before they thought. Anyway, by the time we got on the track for the feature, it was about 9:30 and the track temperature had dropped about 30 degrees. We really didn't change the set-up because we had been bitten by that before. We had a very clean start, and the kart stuck very well in the first and second turn giving me a great run down the backstretch. Bobby poked his nose beside me going into 3, but I was able to hold the lead coming off turn. Problem was, there was a little mishap behind us, and the caution came out. Well, since a full lap wasn't complete, it was a complete restart. The restart went pretty much the same as the first, but Bobby wasn't there on the entry into 3 this time, and I was able to drive a line I was more comfortable with. Most of the race was pretty uneventful. Throughout, I was tuning the fuel mixture, trying to get motor to run at its optimum level. However, just past halfway, I could start to hear Bobby getting closer. When we came down with 5 to go though, I really couldn't hear him. About that time though, the right-rear tire of the kart was starting to grip a little too much, and I was loosing corner speed. With 2 to go, Bobby was able to get back up to me, and get under me going into 1. My plan was to stay in the higher line, so I could use the momentum to stay with him. Unfortunately, the front-end of the kart didn't want to do that, and it felt like it was heading for the wall. I flick the wheel quick to get it to turn that caused the back-end to wiggle a little. So that let Bobby pull out about 3 kart lengths. I thought maybe I could run him back down, but coming down with 1 lap to go I didn't have enough time. So, we ended up 2nd after leading 18 laps of the feature. I think it was only fitting that Bobby was able to win the Inaugural Bob Nervo Memorial Race considering he did know Mr. Nervo. I was very happy with how the kart raced and ran all day/night. We were right there for the win, and we'll get one there yet. I have to thank Chuck's Custom for their support, and Justin Kilgore and his dad for keeping us sane throughout the almost 12 hrs we were at the track. Also, congratulations to Kilgore Racing for their great run in the Heavy feature, coming in 2nd, but right there battling for the win. Well, our next race will be this Saturday, May 31st at the Toledo Speedway. It will be the second race of the Northern Ohio Burris Speedway Series where we currently are 5th in points.
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