61 Kartway Race #4 Report

It was one of those days. I had the chassis sticking fairly well in practice. And then I threw the chain in the last practice session. I scrambled back to the garage to get everything put back together for qualifying. In a fit of cussing I crawled around on the garage floor and kart chanting "honka honka, I'm a Tonka. Meep, meep, I'm a Jeep" to get everything buttoned up and appease the karting gods.

I had a pretty nice gouge in my front left tire. Must have ran over something on track? Changed tires and went 1.5 seconds slower in qualifying, but I was on pole!

Rock on! I jumped out to the lead in the pre-final and was cruising to the victory. Then with 3 laps left, ZING! The chain went flying off again! WTH, I coasted back to the pits in dejection. Repeat what I went through before qualifying to start dead freaking last in the final. I got everything put back together in the pits and went out for the final. Starting from last place, I made it up to first within 4 laps! Again, I was in the lead cruising to take the checkered flag. ZING! With 3 or 4 laps left the chain decided it wasn’t up for winning today and went flying for the 3rd and final time. This time I was cussing out loud inside my helmet!

DNF! Did not finish, dead last. F me! I was apparently riding the fail boat all day. The chain and 2 rear gears went in the trash, I’ll be rocking new parts for the next race.

No racing this weekend, we’ll get back at it in a couple weeks. Then June 11-13 is the Pan American Challenge at New Castle Motorsports Park in New Castle, Indiana.

Pixxors from the last race. Sorry about the quality, I had to scan them in old school:

The video did work this time but it was pointed right at my steering wheel. All you can see are my hands and front of the kart. So no video again, but I did LOL when my chain came off and I was dropping F-bombs over Baghdad.

Your friend and my favorite,

Morgan

61 Kartway Race #2 Report

I guess a miserable day at the track is better than doing most anything else on a Saturday. 50° with 15-20 mph winds made for a long day. Remember high school track meets when it was cold and windy? You had to sit outside all afternoon and night. Nobody wanted to be there, not even the coaches. It sucked. But you stepped your game up and killed it when you had to. That’s how it was Saturday. Turnout was so-so but pretty good considering the weather. 7 total in TAG. After 2 or 3 practice sessions I had the chassis hooked up for once and was actually confident going into qualifying. I jacked up the air pressure in the tires and mentally prepared to hold it WFO whenever possible.

Qualified 3rd. Less than a tenth of a second split the top three. When I saw my time on the gauge I thought I had a chance at stealing the pole. Just missed it!

For the pre-final I totally missed the setup and was off pace before the halfway point. Got a terrible start anyway and banged side pods with Dave for the first couple turns. I rode around in 3rd by myself waiting for the race to end. Back in the pits I went through some adjustments and stressed about what air pressures to run for the final. Pressures set, last minute check, and off we went for the final. I got a great start this time behind Kyle and the three of us up front checked out. It was great to finally be back on the track doing battle and being competitive.

I hit the podium coming home 3rd. Fun, fun race. Second fastest time in the final! If I would keep all four wheels on the track (I might have done a little lawn mowing excursion) and be more consistent I could be contending for the win. More seat time and racing will cure that. Hopefully.

No pictures. Hey it was too freaking cold, I was hiding in my garage most of the day. No video. I am pissed about that. That video would have been way cool. Not sure what happened but nothing even recorded. With any luck it works next weekend. Then a week off and back at it last weekend in May.

Your friend and my favorite,
Morgan