June 8th, WKA Ohio Speedway Pavement Divisional Series at Circleville
Results
Briggs Lite (3 entries): Quailfied-3rd, Finished-3rd
Animal Medium (2 entries): Qualified-2nd, Finished-2nd
Pro Lite (4 entries): Qualified-3rd, Finished-4th
This week we raced at Circleville for the second race of the WKA-OSPDS. We
actually headed down on Saturday to get about 100 laps of practice in, once
the rain moved out. And aside from the Animal vibrating the sprocket bolts
loose, and ripping a gear guard to shreds nothing much happened. When we
got to the track on Sunday, we wanted to make a few changes and checks on
the Animal before going out for any practice time. Having all the practice
data for the day before though, we felt comfortable only taking one practice
session for each kart. We only decided to run 3 classes this time because
that 4 class stuff last time was just outrageous! Three was hard enough
since two of them run back-to-back. Anyway, this week we'll start with the
much more exciting Animal action.
Animal:
Well, after the one practice, the kart seemed to be handling really well,
but we had a little too much gear in it. Meaning, we were turning a little
higher RPMs than we wanted too. And seeing that we just got this motor back
from the grave (it was the one we blew the other week), we really didn't
want to blow it up again. So, we went down a tooth or two on the rear
sprocket and went out for qualifying. Now, if you look at the overhead of
this track, the oval looks like a nice, properly shaped and designed
oval......wrong!! The first and second turns are bumpier than hell, and the
third and fourth turn had two different bankings to them. That's right,
from the inside to about a kart-and-a-half width the turn is banked as you
would expect. Well, from there out it flattens out, and even goes a little
off-camber or negative banking. Not to mention that you're going down-hill
during all of this. That turn was just a head-ache to get through, and hit
the same everytime. Anyway, the qualifying lap wasn't too bad, but it
wasn't good enough for fast-time. We missed that by less than a 10th of a
second to the other guy, Jeff Leeke. So, we started on the outside for the
feature, and I was able to get a great start. I could still see Jeff there
though, and gave him room through the first and second turns. Being on the
outside, I just fell in behind him down the back stretch. I stayed there
for the first lap, and saw that I was able to get off the turns much better
then him. Coming off of 4 on the second lap I was able to get underneath
him. Well, I led the next lap or so, before he made a move going into 3. I
let him go, but stayed with right on his back bumper. I made a little
higher entry into 1 then, and was able to pull of underneath him taking the
lead back. That lasted for about another lap or two before he got another
good run into 3. Jeff led the next lap until he made dropped the left-side
tires of the 4th turn and got a little sideways. I was able to drive right
around him then and take the lead. I led for the next couple laps, and then
the caution came out. I guess Jeff hooked the left side tires in 4 again,
and it spun him right around. During the caution, I wondered how many laps
were left since they weren't really signalled to us. We took the green
though and kept the lead. A couple laps later, I was wondering how many
laps were to go becasue I was getting tired, and my ribs were starting to
bother me. Well, loosing my focus for that split second, I got a little too
loose in 3 and 4. I knew Jeff would be there, and he was up next to me by
the flagstand. He had the low line going into 3 and we was able to keep me
beside him through the turn. This prevented me from pull back underneath
him and passing him off the turn. So, was had to stay in the high-line and
lost ground. The next time by the stand was the white flag, and I wasn't
able to get by to him by the checkers. It was a great race though swapping
the lead so many times, with some nice, close racing. Everything stayed in
one piece this time too! The race was just as tiring as it was exciting
though. It definitely took a lot out of me.
Flathead:
Well, the flathead wasn't quite so exciting. We decided from practice, that
we really needed to change the gearing. The problem was, we didn't have a
rear gear to go with the front gear we wanted. And of course, there were no
parts guys there. So, we just stayed with the gearing for qualifying.
Actually, the most exciting part was during qualifying for the Lite class.
We were the first out considering the Animal Medium class qualified right
after Lites. That gave us a little time to get all the data we needed. I
had recieved the green flag and was going into three for my first lap. All
of sudden the motor RPMs sky-rocketed, and I thought I threw the chain.
Well, I let off, got back on it, and the kart still moved so I completed the
run, albeit cautiously. I got out of that kart, took our readings, and
jumped right into the Animal. When we got everything back to pits,
everything seemed to function fine. We had a little time though before the
Pro Lite qualifications. We kept checking everything over, and finally dad
pulled on the clutch and it came out. The bolt and washers that held in on
were gone! Looking closer, you could see where the clutch had come out and
hit the seat. Evidently, after it contact the seat, it went right back to
where it was supposed to be. With a new bolt and washers on we went out for
Pro Lite Qualifying. The kart handled my line pretty well, but the clutch
still felt a little weird. After the run, we decided to make sure the key
was still in the clutch/crank keyway, which is was. Ultimately, we decided
to change the clutch since we were gonna change gearing anyway. It came
down to the wire making those changes though considering both karts had to
be ready for the features right away. Now, here comes the pivotal portion
of the day. Being in a hurry, I forgot to grab the extra padding I was
using for my ribs all day. I thought of it just as we were starting the
motors. I thought I would be able to make it through ok. Well, we started
third and had a pretty good start. We were able to keep up with the leader,
who was un-Godly fast by the way, for a couple laps. Soon thereafter, the
bumps started to take there toll on me, and I started to fall back. I
actually had notions of pulling off, but I didn't because there weren't many
laps left. Finally, the race ended, and I quickly asked my friend Brian to
get that extra pad for me before I jumped into that Animal. We didn't make
any adjustments to the flathead for the Pro Lite feature. I was just going
to try and drive a little different than I had been. Hopefully, more along
the line of the faster guys. Well, we had another good start, but the
change didn't work as well as we hoped. We ended up coming home in 4th, the
whole time trying different entries, throttle action, anything that would
hopefully get faster times. What we really needed was that gearing, and an
overhead view of the track to see what type of line the fast guys were
running. Luckily, my brother-in-law did record the race though, so
hopefully we'll get some insight there.
Well, that about wraps it up for the WKA-Divisional race from Circleville.
I have to thank Brian and Sarah Schimmoeller for coming out and supporting
us, and helping us however they could. Also, a huge thank you to my sister,
Shelley, and Brother-in-law, Darren, for coming out getting some much needed
video footage, pictures, and of course lunch!! And, I also have to mention
for my young nephew, Cody, who got his first taste of live racing at the age
of.....7 1/2 months. Don't worry, he'll probably be in a kart sooner than
we know it. He really took to that Animal. Also, gotta thank Dover Power
for the awesome engines, and Chuck's Custom for helping us out with
everything this year. Our next race with be this Sunday, June 15th, at
Barberton Speedway for the the 3rd race of the Northern Ohio Burris Series.
I'm not sure if an Animal class will be offered yet, but the flathead will
definitely be there.
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