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Maxville Money Maxville Motor Speedway, Maxville, FL
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Race Report
Maxville! Just a couple years ago this place was finished. Now do they have a track!. Maxville is about as short a track as we have been too. Add to that very little banking and fresh clay and you are in for a race!
We called ahead for reserved parking but the track owner said that he had sold all the reserved parking and all that was left was free parking. That meant that if we didn't get to the track early on Friday we would probably have to park in the new area that they had cleared which has no grass only dirt. To make maters worse it was supposed to rain on Friday morning so that dirt would be mud. We got on the road early Friday afternoon and made it to the track by 2:00 pm. We were one of the first to get there so we got a pretty good spot for free! We were lucky that it didn't rain either so the parking turned out to be fine,
They watered the track and put down calcium before practice. Since practice didn't start until after the sun set the track was slick and never really came in much. Still, we had a pretty good practice session. We got down below what had previously been our best time at this track and the kart was nice and free. We packed it in and went to bed.
We had been looking over our notes from last year about the tires and decided to go back to the prep that we had been using that seemed to give us grip but not lock the chassis down and still last for the entire race. There were a couple other things that we wanted to try. We had heard that some of the guys on the new Twister chassis were running a lot more cross and left side camber than we were so that was on our list to try on Saturday morning practice too.
Saturday morning came with a little surprise from the officials. Instead of running controlled practice by class they split the practice into 2 open sessions, one for seniors and then one for juniors. That meant that we would get a track that would already be run in and that we could take the time we needed to make changes instead of chasing around to make sure we were at the grid when our class was called. This worked out great and we were able to try a couple things and decide on what to do for qualifying. The sun never came out so the track never really got fast but it was fast enough. We found that the changes didn't really seem to make a difference. The good thing was that with the old prep we never got tight, in fact we were a little lose so we thought we would be good for when qualifying started.
We were the second class out and I was the first in my group. I was a little lose in the first couple laps and finally on the last 2 laps I was able to hold down the gas and glide around the turns almost effortlessly. When they told me I had to go to tech I though maybe I had got the pole but I came up a little short and qualified 4th. That's really better for me though because I do better if I can follow someone for a few laps in the beginning of the race.
SInce we were the second class out it turned out that we would still have some sunshine when we raced so that's good. We wouldn't have to worry about the track going away before the race began. We lined up and my crew chief reminded me about protecting the inside and being patient so I would be there at the end of the race. I just keep thinking about hitting the right spot in the turns so I could come off just right and keep the other kart behind me.
The race started on the first attempt and I tried to to get down behind the pole sitter but there was no room. We made it through the first turn side by side but fell in line on the back stretch and I was in 4th as we went by the flag stand. I sat in line and waited for my tires to grip and by the 3rd turn they were there. Then the 2nd place kart went high and the 3rd place kart and I went under. A few laps later the leader slipped up and the second place kart went by. I tried to follow behind him and take second but the old leader turned down on me. We rubbed a little and that slowed me down and let the new leader get away while I finished the pass. We ran several lap after that and the leader and I were pretty much equal but I think that I was catching him a little each lap. Then the caution came out and I thought this would be my lucky break. On the restart I tried to stay with the leader but I slipped a little going into turn 2 and he got a big jump on me. I gave it all I had but there was only 4 laps left and he was so fast that there was no way that I could catch him so I finished in 2nd place.
I'm not going to complain about 2nd. As far as I'm concerned that's great! We won $117.and I think that the my crew chief has got the new chassis and tires working pretty good so we should start off the points races next month pretty strong.
One thing about money races though, they are not like points racing. When they are over you just go on to the next race. It's less pressure and more fun, especially when I get to keep some of the money!
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