WKA FDDS Race #1 Crossroads Motorplex Jasper, FL February 8th, 2003     Photos load one after the other. Depending on your modem speed, there maybe a short delay between images.

Race Report

Man! It seemed like it had been months since we last raced. We watched the weather all week and it looked like we would get rained out for sure. On Saturday morning we left home at 4:30 am and headed for the track. it rained a little as we drove but when we got to the track it hadn't rained there at all. The clouds threatened all day (it even hailed a little!) but the rain held off and we got to race.

We went out to practice and things were as expected. The track was wet and slick and the kart wouldn't turn. The champ kart was perfect but the sprint kart seemed to have a mind of it's own. By second practice the track had come in but we were slow as a turtle and the kart still wouldn't turn. We changed gears and changed tires but nothing seemed to work.

We had a couple sets of tires that were soft with lots of rubber on them and a set that were hard with no rubber but what we needed was something in the middle. A friend of ours came to the rescue and loaned us a set that was just right. We went out for a last practice and the kart felt pretty good.

As usual, there is a 40 minute break between the end of practice and qualifying and the track usually gets faster. The sun tried to shine a little which helped the track too. Then we went to qualify for Sportsman II Lite. I did my best but the kart just wouldn't turn and I was over a second slower than the pole. I qualified 18th out of 20. Then, I jumped into the champ kart and went out for a 4th fastest time. Next was Sportsman II Heavy and I was still awful. I was the slowest kart out there qualifying 20th and to make maters worse, my crew chief forgot to tighten my air filter so it fell off and I got DQ'd! Guess it didn't mater, I start last anyway.

When the races started we changed the gear back to and I did my best to race to the front. The kart still wouldn't turn but I gave it all I had and I managed to move up to 9th by the end of the race.

The champ race was really cool! I just love that kart. I started 4th and was really fast. On lap 2, I passed the 3rd place kart and on lap 4 I had a chance to get under the second place kart when he and the leader went high coming out of turn 2. I pulled under and was moving up when the second place kart pulled down on me and knocked me half sideways. That slowed me down a little and I lost ground to the leaders. I ran them back down but couldn't pass them so I finished 3rd.

Then my crew chief was talking to another racing buddy and he suggested we move the left rear wheel a bit to loosen the sprint kart up. We check the rear track and then checked our notes and found out what was the problem. Seemed we had moved the left rear tire out in our last race at the Stadium in Daytona and never moved it back when we set the kart up for Jasper. We moved it back in a 1/4 inch and went out to run the last race.

I started dead last and wasted no time. On the first lap of the first start I was already up to 11th but there was a spin and after 2 attempts they lined us up again in single file. We finally got the race started and the kart was perfect! I was passing 1 or 2 karts a lap. At about half way a caution came out and that bunched us up again. I got a good start and ran down a few more karts until I found myself in 3rd with 4 laps to go and 30 feet between me and the second place kart. Now the kid in second was the same kid who tried to knock me out in the champ race so I really wanted to catch and pass him! I tried a little too hard and slipped up coming out of turn 2. That let the 4th and 5th place karts get around me. I passed the 4th place kart back and on the white flag lap I pulled off a slingshot move in turn 4 and beat the 3rd place kart across the line by mere inches to grab 3rd. What a race!

When we got home we checked our notes from last year and we're not in too bad a shape. We finished 3rd and 6th in the first race last year. Considering we have moved up a class and many of these kids have more experience than me, I think I'm off to a pretty good start.

On Sunday I had a little talk with my crew chief about the tires and the other stuff he messed up and he promised to be a little more diligent next race. Then, he said we could race an extra race at Baker next month so I think we are back on the right track!

By the way, sorry about the lack of pictures from this race. My crew chief also forgot to bring the camera too. We stopped and bought one of those disposable ones but the pictures didn't turn out like the digtal camera's do. Oh well, he'll get it back together. Everybody has a tough race once in a while!