At the Track

Championship Enduro Series, Blackhawk Farms Raceway (August 1 - 3)

Thursday night/Friday: We had an uneventful trip to Blackhawk, stopping off in Camanche along the way to drop the dogs off with Grandma. We left early this morning and arrived at the track around 7 am. We checked in, unloaded the trailer, completed our safety inspections, and received our registration information, then headed out for practice. Tristan and Wyatt were up first, and as Tristan went through Turn 1 Wyatt had to pull off the track with a motor problem. Tristan worked up in speed throughout the day, as did Wyatt. By the end of the day, Wyatt was faster than he was last year, just as fast as the fast times from the previous year. Tristan was a little behind and got tired by the end of the day. Remnants from having his tonsils out, I gather - not to mention it's hotter than heck and very humid. It was clear that our guys were the class of the field (at least at this point). 

Sebastian had practice as well, and since this is our first year in TAG Jr. we always compare ourselves to the fast times from past years. Sebastian eclipsed that time in his first session and then proceeded to take off another 2 seconds as we worked through the day. I'm not sure how we found it, but we certainly have a strong package for TAG Jr. road racing. I don't think the driver hurts us, either.

Anyway, we were pretty satisfied and actually left early to save some for the racing. 

Championship Enduro Series, Grattan Raceway (June 13 - 15)

Back on the road Thursday night for the long trip to Grattan, we were in a race against time as we knew that I-80 was going to be closed between Iowa City and Davenport sometime that evening due to the flooding in Iowa. Apparently we just made it through; we went over the I-80 bridge across the Mississippi in a nasty thunderstorm just before 8pm, which was supposedly when the interstate was closed. 

Other than that little drama, the trip was fairly uneventful. We arrived at the track around 3:30 local time and I moved to the back to try to get some sleep.

Friday was practice day as always, and the weather was just about perfect. Tristan had a conservative first session, but raised the ante in his second session, ripping off a lap within .5 second of the fast laps from last year. Sebastian, already knowing the track, was quick from the beginning, although he wasn't very happy with his kart. It pretty much took us all day to get it comfortable for him - the good news was that I learned a lot in the process and we both felt good about things as we put our things away for the evening. Tristan and Sebastian were both consistent and we spent much of the day verifying where we were and having a good time playing in the pond.

Saturday was race day, and Tristan took off and never looked back. He drove a strong race and won going away. Sebastian's race was similar and we fired up the grill with two first place finishes.

Sunday was much of the same. Things were quickened in case rain came, but we were able to get all the races in without any problem. We were able to leave for home early with four first place trophies in the back of the Suburban.

TAG Shootout, 61 Kartway (May 24-25)

 

Wyatt on the far left with Tristan to his left.

 

 

Saturday: Having practiced here the weekend before, this was one of those rare events in which we didn't practice on Friday. It's also one of those rare events that didn't have us driving all Thursday night to get there. So, we arrived around noon on Saturday and got set up for practice. We continued to work getting Tristan comfortable sprint racing and getting Sebastian used to a new chassis and sprint racing in the TAG Jr. class. This event would be Sebastian's second sprint race at this horsepower level and Tristan's fourth sprint race overall.

We were pretty consistent throughout the day, and Tristan's time dropped quite dramatically then plateaued towards late afternoon. While it was impossible to know for sure, I felt like we'd be somewhere in the middle of the pack. Sebastian's times kept dropping, too, as we worked on the kart, but it seemed like we were going in the wrong direction (even though he was getting faster). We ended up the day with him not really being very comfortable in the kart but he still looked to be running towards the front. In fact, Sebastian was so frustrated we brought out the Monza to try it before deciding to stay with the Birel.

With that, we cleaned up and headed out for dinner with a group of tired drivers in tow.

Sunday: Sunday dawned looking like rain. We were able to get one round of practice in, then it began raining during the drivers' meeting. We sat out a brief spell, then right before the track came back to us it rained again. After that shower, we were finally able to get the event underway.

The TAG-60 group was up second to qualify and as they left the grid, our friend Wyatt looked to be experiencing some serious engine troubles. It simply wouldn't run much beyond a walking pace, and Wyatt finally pulled off. Later, Matt found a tiny little piece of plastic in the main jet - almost hard to believe something like that could find its way in there.

That stunk - one of our two in the class already experiencing troubles. The way the order was set up, Tristan and Wyatt ran immediately before Sebastian, so it was hard for me to watch what was going on with those two. Tristan looked to be running pretty strong, and the results were there as well as he qualified in the third spot. This was quite a difference from just a few weeks ago when he struggled in the HPV Jr. Sportsman class at the same track.

So, the 60's came in and the Jr's went out. Sebastian looked fast and both he and BJ Bates put up their fastest laps on their final lap - BJ on pole with a 45.229 and Sebastian sitting second with a 45.323, both comfortably under BJ's track record (with Sebastian only 0.094 back). We were pretty pumped - Sebastian ran about .6 faster than his previous fast lap, but since he was still fighting the kart we knew there was more time to be found.

We moved on the pre-finals. Tristan started 3rd and was running 4th after the first lap. He went off on the back of the course in the second lap, dropping him to the 8th position, but he fought and drove strong to claw his way back to 5th at the end.

Sebastian started outside pole, and ran 2nd the first half of the race. He seemed to be fighting the kart, and was dropped to third on lap 6. That's where he finished, and we headed to the pits to work on the kart.

Tristan was first up for the finals, and he got a good starting, moving from 5th to 3rd in the first lap. He was running very strong and moved to 2nd on lap 4. He stayed consistent and finished on the podium on 2nd place, winning an iPod Nano for his efforts. One of the most exciting things about the race was Tristan's quickness - he picked up over a second from qualifying to the final. It's fun watching him get the hang of this.

Sebastian was up next, starting 3rd. The kart still wasn't right, and Sebastian looked like a conductor out there with his hands moving all over the place. It looked evil, if I can use DW's term. He ran 3rd until lap 5 when the leader lost his chain - which was too bad, because BJ appeared to have the race well in hand - and was dropped to 3rd on lap 13 as the kart continued to get tighter and tighter. We still have some things to figure out with this chassis. Sebastian was very disappointed, but I frankly was amazed at his pace with a kart that was just horrible.

 

Championship Enduro Series, GingerMan Raceway (May 9 - 11)

 

Friday: We arrived at the track right before the gates opened after leaving home around 9:00. Sebastian, Tristan, and Wyatt were fast all day. Sebastian, once again, was running with the TAG Sr. group. I guess it's beginning to dawn on us that the TAG Jr. and TAG Sr. classes are fairly equal from a lap time perspective - at least when Sebastian's at the wheel :-). From what I could tell, he was running 2-4 seconds a lap faster than the other juniors and was in the top 5 of the entire TAG group. 

Saturday: Saturday dawned as pretty nice day - a little cool in the morning but it warmed up quickly. We were excited to be racing, especially after missing Sunday due to rain at Gateway - and the fact that it looked like it was going to race once again on Sunday. We got in our practice rounds without too much trouble then got ready to race.

The TAG-60 group was first up, and we got Tristan, Wyatt, and Wyatt's brother Garrett ready to race. Everyone got away clean, and Tristan and Wyatt ran in the front group of 5 for the first part of the race. It was fun watching the slicing and dicing, with everyone driving well. Then, somewhere around halfway, Tristan got halfway through Turn 3 then decided that he needed to look back to see who was behind him - promptly running off the track. He skillfully avoided a stalled kart just off the course surface, pulled himself together, and got back on track. Alas, he had dropped to the fifth position, but he went off hunting the leaders. 

A couple laps later, Wyatt developed a handling problem (which later turned about to be a weird tire out-of-round condition) that really dropped his times. It looked like it was a handful to drive and he was doing a good job just to get through the corners at speed. Tristan caught him, but was unable to catch the top 3. And that's how they finished, with Kyle, Clayton, and Charlie finishing in a tight pack with Kyle being pushed to the win over his brother Clayton by Charlie; Tristan 4th, Wyatt 5th, and Garrett 7th. The winning margin was less than a tenth of a second, the 2nd close finish for the TAG-60's this year. These guys can race!!

Sebastian was in the 7th, or second to last race of the day. He didn't get a great start for a change and was running second through the first part of the opening lap. When they disappeared from my view he was second, but when he reappeared he had the lead. It was basically over at that point. He had a couple seconds on the field at the end of lap one and proceeded to lap everyone in the race except the second place finisher, who finished about half a lap back, over the next 28 minutes. We did have one close call - he was lapping a couple backmarkers going into the final turn and ran wide onto the grass. He was able to get it back on track but he almost threw it away.

With the day's finishes, Tristan is leading the TAG-60 points with Kyle 10 points back. Wyatt is 4th, just 35 off the lead, and Garrett is 7th. Sebastian is leading his championship as well.

Sunday: Sunday came looking like rain. We were given one practice session for everyone to try to get things going as quickly as possible. Wyatt was experiencing some carburetor problems, and he went out to make sure things were running OK. They weren't, and Matt, Greg from PG Racing, and others quickly worked to fixed the problem. The Cadets were lined up to race, and they were able to get Wyatt down and away just a few seconds after the green flag fell. 

Tristan took off, even though a few raindrops were falling. He had a huge lead coming to the final turn, but the track was damp over there and he went straight off, spun around, and hit the sand with a huge poof of sand. He was OK, although upset. The kart was fine except for about 30 pounds of sand that had to be removed. The race continued for a couple laps, then was red flagged. This was the only on-track action for the CES racers, and all classes were given rain points.

Two Sundays in a row rained out. Hopefully we'll get a second race in at Grattan or the Sunday championship is going to be very interesting.

 

Championship Enduro Series, Gateway International Raceway (April 11-13)

 Sebastian and Tristan prior to Friday practice (with clean karts).

Friday: We arrived at the track right after the gates opened after leaving home around midnight. Sebastian was fast all day, clocking a fast time of just under a minute and 13 seconds. Even though he's running TAG Jr., he's been running with (and beating) some of the TAG Sr. group.

Tristan and Wyatt have been running and drafting together, running mainly 1:31's and 1:32's, with a few 1:30's thrown in, which is 2-3 seconds faster than everyone ran last year in the TAG-60 race. Garrett got down to a 1:33, which is very solid time and would have been very competitive in the race last year. Garrett's running a Gazelle while Tristan and Wyatt are running Mini-Swifts, so his time is actually awesome. Everyone's in high spirits as we've had no major issues, no off track excursions, and they're all running well.

Weather-wise, it was in the low 50's and very windy. It was sunny most of the day but became overcast over the noon hour, cooling things off a bit.

Saturday: Saturday dawned cool and overcast, but it didn't really look like rain. We lucked out with the weather; except for cold and windy, we only saw a few sprinkles throughout the day and were never hindered by the weather.

Practice started with the Sprint Novice group, and Tristan got loose on cold tires and slid into Wyatt on the very first practice lap. Tristan bent an axle and Wyatt got a bent tie rod that actually pinned his foot to the accelerator, making it difficult to stop. In fact, he only stopped after he hit a tire wall, flipped forward out of the kart, and hit the tire wall himself. Wyatt's tougher than most, and while he was very sore he was able to gut it out and race.

We had time to fix the karts before the race, with Matt getting done with Wyatt's kart soon enough to help me out with Tristan. At the start of the TAG-60 race, four drivers immediately moved out from the pack, with Kyle in the lead, followed by Tristan, Wyatt, and Charlie. ( Here are two good pictures by Joe Brittin from Gateway - one of Tristan (in blue) and one of Wyatt (in black).) Garrett was back in the pack and running strong with the Gazelle. There was a gap between Kyle and Tristan, and Tristan and Wyatt/Charlie. Over the next couple laps, Wyatt and Charlie drafted up to catch Tristan, then those three drafted up to catch Kyle. It then became a four-way fight for the lead over the next several laps with lots of good racing. The race promoter was saying over the PA system that all the senior drivers should come watch to see the good, clean racing.

With about two or three laps to go, Tristan and Wyatt came into view without the other two karts. Kyle and Charlie had briefly gone off track avoiding a stalled kart, and became separated. It was now a two-way fight for the victory. Garrett, unfortunately, had an issue on the back side of the course and was no longer in the running.

Coming to the line with a lap to go, Wyatt was in the lead with Tristan close behind. Since we couldn't seen anything after Turn One, we had to wait until they came back around to see anything... and when they came into view, out of the final turn (NASCAR Turn Four), they were side by side but we couldn't tell who was in the lead. When they went by us (standing before the line), Tristan was ahead by less than a foot with Wyatt charging. Going across the start/finish line, it was too close to call except for Kelly "The Man" Read, who told the crowd that number 104 won (Tristan). We had to wait for the official results, and heard in Tech that Tristan won by 0.015 second!! Wow! Almost a dead heat! It's pretty unbelievable that after 20 minutes of racing, the top two were separated by 0.015 second.

Tristan's second road race and he brought it home first. He was pretty cool about it, but you could tell he was excited. It was also the first race and first victory for Morgan-Peters Racing with one of our new Arrow chassis. It's a shame that someone had to finish second, but Wyatt handled it very professionally. He's going to get his share of wins this year, I'm sure.

Wow - what a race! Click here for a short movie of the finish.

Tristan and Wyatt with their awards 

  

The Finish

 

 Sebastian ran in the last race and won driving away. He's very comfortable in the kart and loves the additional horsepower over what he had last year. It was pretty uneventful and we're hopeful for some more exciting races in the future.

So, in the Saturday championships, Morgan-Peters Racing has two top spots - Tristan in TAG-60 and Sebastian in TAG Junior.

Sunday: We were hoping to get another race day in, but Mother Nature was against us. Rain with some sleet & snow meant we were heading home early. We took the opportunity to visit the Thomas Jefferson Memorial & Gateway Arch just across the river, then headed home.

US Kart Grand Prix, Virginia International Raceway (Dec 14 - 16) 

 

Tuesday night: We thought we were done for 2007, but we have decided to go to Virginia for the US Kart Grand Prix. The weather isn't 100% promising but we're game anyway. At least we aren't the guys who are coming from Portland. We're leaving tomorrow morning (Wednesday) in the midst of a sleet/freezing rain/snow storm. Thankfully, Mother Nature took a break earlier this afternoon and we're hopeful that we'll be able to get out of town OK.

The good news is we have family (my parents and three sisters) that live in North Carolina and Virginia, so we're going to be able to see some family this weekend. If the weather doesn't cooperate at least Sebastian and I will be able to spend some time with them.

Thursday: We've made it to Virginia. The weather's very nice for now. Spent some time at Hendrick Motorsports today. That was pretty cool! Tomorrow's a practice day for us, with qualifying during our last practice session. Our buddy Wyatt has his first race tomorrow as well.

 

Friday: Today was a great day weather-wise - 70's or higher and sunny, just perfect. We started out slowly with Sebastian getting adjusted to the new kart. He'd only had about 15 or 20 minutes in the kart (TaG Jr.) before we got here. We started out loose and very slow - fully 30 seconds off the pace around the 4.2 mile circuit. We worked on getting the kart tightened up and spent some time with Sebastian getting him comfortable. After some kart, engine, and gearing adjustments we picked up 23 seconds in our last practice session, finishing practice about 4 seconds per lap faster than our competition. 

Qualifying came next. Sebastian came around to complete his first timed lap, and when he came into my view - I was standing 100 feet or so before the start/finish line - there was no fire. He coasted across the line to complete one lap and actually qualified 3rd; however, in the process we pretty much blew the motor up. A pretty good top-end failure with some bottom-end issues as well. We spent the rest of the afternoon trying to find a lender motor and ended up with one from one of the PG Racing guys (Gary Stray). Huge thanks to Gary for letting Sebastian run his motor for the rest of the weekend.

Wyatt had his first race today and finished in the 4th position. He ran strong in the lead pack all race and set the fastest lap of the race. 

Saturday: Saturday dawned with quite a different weather story. Cold and overcast. I don't know if it ever got above 40 degrees, but we were able to get one full round of practice in, then one more quick round before the racing began. We actually had another problem with the kart and didn't make the second round of practice. It sprinkled sporadically throughout the day, and when it came time for our race the track was damp, but not wet, so we pushed to the grid with slicks on and wets on the kart tray. While we were waiting to begin, it began to rain in earnest and we quickly put the wets on. Our class ran with the Spec 125 class (essentially TaG Senior) and we started 37th on the grid. 

Everyone started up and went off for the pace lap behind the Nissan Altima pace vehicle. I was pretty worried and watched the start of the race from up on the hill, where I could see the roller-coaster turn, most of the front stretch, Turn 1, and some of the initial esses. At the start, from what I could tell Sebastian was pretty careful as we had discussed. A couple karts went off in front of him after Turn 1, and when they reappeared in my view coming down the hill via the roller-coaster set of turns, Sebastian had already made up several places. I ran down to the start/finish line to watch the rest of the race.

For the next couple of laps, Sebastian worked his way up the field, taking advantage of some spins in front of him while also making some passes on track. By the 4th or 5th lap or so, Sebastian was running strongly in the 7th overall position, first in class, which is where he finished. He will be starting on class pole for the feature race tomorrow afternoon.

The forecast for tomorrow is cold (high 30's) and windy, with rain early that should clear up throughout the day. Our race is at 4:15 - should be dry, but cold.

Sunday: Sunday was as advertised, cold and wet in the morning but drying throughout the day. The wind came up strong to help dry the track, and by the time we raced just after 4:00, the sun was out, the track was dry, but it was certainly cold. Sebastian started 7th overall, as they started where you finished Saturday's B Final regardless of class. This was the first race with the borrowed motor where we would be able to push it - since we raced in the rain yesterday - and once again the engine tuner hurt us (that'd be me). Seb got a poor start and it took him a while to get the thing running where we wanted it, but once he got it tuned he was fast. His fastest race lap was 2 seconds faster than the next fastest guy in our class. He dropped back, then regained the lead before being bumped off track by one of the junior drivers on the back side of the course. He ultimately finished 2nd.

 

Championship Enduro Series, Blackhawk Farms Raceway, South Beloit, Wisconsin (Aug 3-5)

 

From Kip: Back to road racing... Jodi and I were out of town on a vacation all week, but Matt and Jill were gracious enough to bring the boys to Blackhawk Thursday night and put Sebastian through the paces in practice on Friday. Sebastian kept to form and pretty much learned the track in four laps, then began fine tuning his laps to bring his lap times down. At the end of the day, he was quicker than the rest of the field. The real good news was that our good friend Wyatt was finally back to running the way he knows how and was second quick. This I found out talking to Sebastian and Matt from the airport in Minneapolis (our thoughts and prayers go out to all those affected by the bridge collapse in Minneapolis).

Jodi and I made it to the track early Saturday morning, just prior to the driver's meeting. Sebastian was uncharacteristically nervous - I wasn't sure why as he was very quick. Everyone went out for their single round of practice and everyone seemed to slow down a little bit. We were ready to race.

The race began a little different than we were used to - we had been getting very good jumps on the competition but this time Sebastian was running second (of 15) when the group reached Turn 1. When the field came around to complete the first lap, Sebastian already had a commanding lead of over a second and then went to work increasing his lead. He was never challenged, led every lap, and won the race handily. 

Wyatt started the race near the back of the pack and was running around the 10th position at the completion of lap one. He steadily worked his way through the pack and after several laps was leading the pack, running in second position. He, too, was never challenged from that point and finished the race in second place for a 1-2 sweep from the racers from Central Iowa. Wyatt ran a fantastic race, worked traffic very well, was consistent, and was both patient and aggressive when he needed to be. He ran a quality race and should be proud of his efforts. 

Sunday will most likely prove to be a tougher race, as Sebastian, Wyatt, and the rest of the faster racers were running very similar lap times by the end of the race. I think Sebastian and Wyatt will have their hands full. As this is Saturday night as I write this, I will provide an update of Sunday hopefully Sunday night.

Sunday update... today was tougher, as we anticipated. Sebastian lead early but was tracked down by the karts in the 2nd through 4th place, who were hooked up pretty good and used the draft to catch him. These four stayed together for a couple laps, then Sebastian and Kyle separated themselves from the rest after Wyatt went off after some contact with another kart. Kyle, with his Mini Swift, drafted by Sebastian with his Gazelle and although Sebastian stayed hooked to his bumper, that's how they finished. It was a good second place and a good race by both pilots. 

Even though the points aren't posted, by my calculations Sebastian is leading the Saturday points and is second, 6 points back, in Sunday points.

Central States Super Series, Iowa International Raceway, Marshalltown, Iowa (July 14-15)

From Kip: IIR is our "home" track so it's nice to be able to race in a regional event there. It also means no long drive for a change!

The weather was perfect and we started practice on Saturday with our TAG package. I normally feel like we have the Gazelle figured out but we were pretty slow and had trouble coming up to speed. Finally, in the last practice session, we found the right combination. Sebastian came in and said, "It's perfect. Don't change a thing!" That proved to be the case, in a way, and the next session out Sebastian put it on pole by about .2. In the Yamaha we were fast, too, but Chris Barngrover was faster and we qualified second from him.

Sunday was another perfect day weather-wise. Sebastian ran 3rd in the Yamaha pre-final and 1st in the TAG. Everyone found additional speed in the TAG class (almost half a second faster than qualifying times) but the Yamaha class held firm, at least at the front. Several drivers found additional speed to bring them up towards the front but the front three were running about where they were in qualifying.

In the finals, Sebastian fought an ill-handling kart in the Yamaha race and finished second. Chris ran an excellent race and put up times I didn't think we'd ever see at that track. We were a tick off, about .2 - .3 per lap back. My hat's off to Chris and his crew - they sure ran well. To put it in perspective, Chris' pole time was half a second faster than the pole time the year before, and he was running laps at a minimum .6 faster than they ran last year.

In the TAG, Sebastian led early but gave up the lead on a nice pass by Justin Stiffler at the end of the straightaway. Sebastian pushed back and nearly obtained the lead a couple laps later, but Justin drove well and we finished second. All in all, a good weekend.

Midwest Sprint Series, Badger Raceway, Dousman, Wisconsin (July 6-8)

From Kip: It's become very evident that we do better when we come back to a racetrack the second time. Keeping that in mind, we decided to get to Dousman a day early and spend that entire day practicing. This we were able to do, and spent the night at Sebastian's grandmother's house Wednesday night and made the fairly short drive to Dousman Thursday morning. It seemed strange to get to a racetrack after a full night's sleep - or any sleep at all.

Practice Thursday went very well. We started with the HPV and soon were running as fast as anyone. Sebastian, even though it was an open practice, drove aggressively and made a lot of passes throughout the day. I think this was very good for him and I thought we'd be very competitive when the racing came.

When I sent Sebastian out in his Yamaha package, he came back in after just a couple laps and said the kart was very difficult to drive. He seemed fairly fast, but it just didn't want to turn left. That's when we discovered that it was bent. At that point we realized why he had been so uncompetitive with the Yamaha over the past few race weekends. We also realized that we'd have to use just one chassis this weekend.

Friday practice was uneventful; we practiced with the HPV in the morning then swapped motors over to the Yamaha at the lunch break. We practiced the remainder of the day with the Yamaha in preparation for Saturday's race.

Saturday started very well. Sebastian qualified 6th of 25. At the start of the pre-final, Sebastian came through the sweeper and out of the first slower left-hander in 5th place. He moved up to 4th on lap 4 when the 3rd place kart spun in The Boot, was moved back to 5th again a couple laps later, then moved up to 4th again at the end of the race. Sebastian was one of only three karts that got down into the 41 second timeframe for the race.

We both felt that we were finally running where we belonged. Sebastian was driving strong, with a high level of confidence. He was also being aggressive when he needed to be and patient when he needed to be. So, we were ready for the feature to begin.

At the start, Sebastian emerged from the initial, slow left-hander in second place after starting 4th. Over the next several laps, Josh Holz, Sebastian, and Jake Cole ran 1-2-3 and left the rest of the pack behind. They were easily several seconds ahead of the 4th place kart; however, just short of halfway a red flag brought the field back together. Thankfully, everyone was OK. Following a single file re-start, Sebastian was still running second. He ran there until lap 12 when he was moved to third. At the white flag, Sebastian was still running third. The second place kart took the lead going through the Sweeper, and as they breaked hard into the first slow left-hander, Sebastian passed the top two and took the lead. The first two were side by side through the hairpin and the next corner, and entered The Boot still side by side. At that point, they came together and both slid off the track. After letting some traffic by they made it back onto the track and Sebastian ended up finishing 11th with the other driver 12th.

Whew. Easily our best race. Sebastian ran awesome and never really made a mistake. He ran the second fastest lap of the race and ran in the top three (top two, actually) almost the entire race. It's impossible to know for sure what happened in The Boot, and everyone except the other driver's father (and maybe some others, I'll admit) thought it was a racing incident. The race director and corner workers certainly thought so as they denied a protest to put Sebastian at the end of the field. It was too bad that it happened as both drivers ran great races to that point. They both wanted that win!

Sunday arrived and we were ready to race. We felt Sebastian was even stronger in the HPV, and it proved to be so as he qualified in the fourth spot. We prepared for the pre-final and went optimistically to the grid. But, once again, the engine tuner made a mistake. Just as in the HPV pre-final at the ManCup event in Shawano, the motor didn't run at the start. It wasn't as bad as then and it started going better after a full lap, but by then Sebastian had dropped to ninth, which is where he finished the race.

Yeah, he was mad. It was actually kind of nice to see him get that way - nice to see that competitiveness. He's so quiet that sometimes it's hard to tell what he's thinking. I didn't have any problems knowing what he was thinking after that particular pre-final.

So, we started the final in ninth. Sebastian got another nice start and was running sixth by lap 5. He moved up to fifth and that's where he ended up on track. We found out later that the winner, who just happened to be the kart we went off-track with in the Yamaha final, was DQ'd, so we ended up officially fourth.

Our first good weekend with the Midwest Sprint Series. I finally felt like we had performed to our capabilities. Even in the HPV, after starting 9th, Sebastian was obviously quick and was really pushing the karts in front of him (sometimes literally), but Badger can be a difficult place to pass. I know everyone wondered just who the heck the black 27 was. I had several people stop by and say things like "You guys came out of nowhere." I'm sure that's what it looked like, but we were always there, lurking. Next time, maybe we can even have the HPV start strong at the start of the pre-final.

Championship Enduro Series, Grattan Raceway, Belding, Michigan (June 29-July 1)

From Kip: We're back to road racing. Sebastian really likes it and I think it helps his driving. It's fairly relaxing and we have a great time doing it. And, of course, Sebastian has had quite a bit of success this year in this discipline.

The trip was, yet again, another late nighter. We hit traffic east of Chicago - specifically, construction - that stopped traffic for over 2 hours beginning around midnight. The end result was that we arrived at the track around 6:30. No sleep this time - drove in, set up, and got ready for practice.

Sebastian was quick early and was clearly the class of the field. Even in his Gazelle he was taking it to the guys in the Mini Swifts. We were optimistic about the racing.

Saturday came and Sebastian and the rest of the TAG-60s were the first race. Sebastian got a great start and had about a 6 second lead over the rest of the field after the first couple laps. At this point, he was running almost 2 seconds a lap faster than everyone else. After two laps, though, he caught an 80 shifter who wasn't getting through the corners anywhere near as well as Sebastian was. Sebastian would work his way around him through the corners and the shifter would pass him again on the straights. It dropped his lap times almost 5 seconds a lap and the rest of the field caught him. From that point on, it became a race again. Over the remainder of the race, the top three distanced themselves from the rest of the pack and the top two, Sebastian and Clayton, swapped the lead several times. On the last lap, it was 1-2-3 with Sebastian in the middle; coming to the line, Kyle made an excellent pass and drafted past Sebastian for second spot.

At the scale house, the 80 shifter driver, who weighed in after Sebastian, took his helmet off and said, "Dude! You're awesome! You drive faster than I do!" I don't think it helped Sebastian's spirits any, as he had a pretty poor attitude following his third place finish. I don't expect him to be happy about third, but I do expect a better attitude - especially when the racing is good. Once he was joined by Clayton and Kyle the racing was awesome - fun to watch, anyway. Maybe it's different in the kart...

On Sunday, the race began much the same. Sebastian got a good start but was caught by the pack as they worked together in the draft. This time, the top 3 didn't really separate themselves and a lead pack of around 6 karts ran together most of the race. Once again, Sebastian and Clayton kept swapping the lead back and forth. Clayton would draft by on the front stretch, Sebastian would pass him through the corners, and Clayton would pass him again on the back stretch. It was a great race and both drivers drove very, very well. Nearing the end, the two drove away from the rest of the field and made it a race between the two of them. Coming to the line with two to go, Sebastian had dropped to maybe 6 kart lengths back and I thought the race was over; however, when they came to the "one to go" indication, Clayton had the lead but Sebastian was now trailing closely behind. Sebastian was able to use the draft to stay close down the front stretch and he made a pass for the lead coming down the Off-camber Downhill. Heading down the short chute leading to the esses, it looked like Clayton was going to take the lead again as he was gaining on Sebastian when they disappeared from our sight. We found out later that he did indeed make the pass, but Sebastian passed him back in the esses and through the Bowl. When they came into our sight again coming up the hill towards the line, Sebastian had a several kart length lead and crossed the line for the victory. 

I thought it was a fantastic race and it was really too bad that there was only one winner.

Manufacturer's Cup, USA International Raceway, Shawano, Wisconsin (June 15-17)

From Kip: Yet another late night sprint to the track, although we arrived a little sooner (around 3 am). It was nice to get a little more sleep.

This would prove to be a better weekend, although we certainly had our share of frustration (yet again). Friday practice went very well, and it was nice to be at a track we'd seen before for a change. Sebastian seemed to be struggling in the Yamaha (we didn't know it at the time but the chassis was pretty well bent up) but was fast in the HPV. Saturday arrived and so did the rain. We qualified the Yamaha in the wet and ended up 19 out of 29. We continued to struggle in the pre-final. Our inexperience showed as we continued to try to wrestle with a chassis that we would find out later to be bent. Sebastian finished 23rd in the pre-final.

At the start of the feature, a bunch of karts got together on the oval right after the green - we were in it. Sebastian got going again, but later in the lap, in the same place that he got t-boned the weekend before, he was rear-ended hard enough to not only shove him off the track but bend his rear bumper a good 7 inches. We didn't finish and ended up last, or 29th.

Note from after Badger: Once again, Sebastian caught the brunt of it. Yep, the adults had to eat crow when we finally did our part and realized the chassis was bent. The only thing I can figure is that it really didn't manifest itself on a track like USAIR. Longer, not as tight - faster. I don't know, but I do know Sebastian didn't say anything about it at the time. Once we got to Badger, however, he said something right away. He didn't get three laps in before he came in and said the kart wasn't driveable. Nothing happened to the kart in the meantime, so it had to be the weekend at Shawano. We also found out that our Yamaha wasn't putting out the power - so it was sent off to be rebuilt.

Sunday was perfect weather-wise, and we were optimistic for our chances in the HPV. Sebastian was quick and qualified 6th - that's where we knew we could be. I thought we could have qualified in the top 3, as we were held up after our first hot lap. Regardless, we went into the pre-final liking our chances.

It was not to be. The engine tuner (that would be me) made a mistake and Sebastian didn't take the green flag for the pre-final. The motor was too lean and couldn't keep up with the field even on the pace lap; Sebastian tried to fix it but went the wrong way and the motor quit. We went from a high to an all-time low. And Sebastian was pretty mad, too. He was finally becoming a driver :-). Oh, yes - we were last again - 27th.

We spent some time talking him up - he was still fast, the track was long, and the feature was 15 laps. We told him to go out, have fun, and practice his passing. That's exactly what he did. In a national field he started 27th and finished 13th. He made passes, by my count, in 7 different corners, which shows how versatile he can be when his crew gives him good equipment. The weekend, and this race in particular, sure didn't live up to our expectations, but we did leave on a positive note. Sebastian looked great, drove well, and exhibited an aggressiveness that we hadn't seen much of before. 

Midwest Sprint Series, USA International Raceway, Shawano, Wisconsin (June 8-10) 

From Kip: These late night sprints to the race weekends are getting old... We got a late start Thursday night and arrived at the track around 5am Friday morning. After grabbing a few winks we found our pit spot and got everything set up. We were able to practice all day Friday, which we needed at a track that was not only new to us but very technical as well.

Practice went well, although I think we wore Sebastian out. We hit every session in both the Yamaha and HPV. I thought things were going fairly well and was pretty optimistic about our chances. We weren't looking for the win, but we definitely were looking to be competitive. Going by my stopwatch, I thought we certainly were in the top 10 in times in both classes.

Saturday arrived - Yamaha Jr. Sportsman race day. According to MyLaps, Sebastian was 9th fastest in the morning practice. We qualified 12th and got ready for the pre-final. At the start, Sebastian dropped a couple spots and then on lap 5 was t-boned on the left side while entering turn 5. Our race was over and we finished 22nd, or last.

We started the feature 22nd and finished 18th. It appeared to the adults that Sebastian wasn't driving very hard and he took some flack over the race. Our third MWSS race and we hadn't shown anyone what we were capable of doing. Everyone was frustrated and Sebastian, unfortunately, seemed to take the brunt of it. Kind of hard for a 12 year old.

Sunday we ran in the HPV Jr. Sportsman class. We didn't outshine anyone and had an uneventful day, qualifying 12th, finishing 13th in the pre-final, and 14th in the feature.

(Note: It took until our MWSS race at Dousman to figure out that Sebastian's chassis he uses with the Yamaha was pretty well bent up from the pre-final accident on Saturday. On a shorter, tighter track like Badger, it was undriveable.)

Concept Haulers Motor Speedway, Norway, Illinois (May 27)

From Kip: Since we'll be running at Norway in the Midwest Sprint Series, we decided to run in the Central States Super Series event this weekend. Sebastian ran in the Yamaha Jr. Sportsman (called Yamaha Rookie in this series) and the TAG-60 Expert classes. 

We arrived Saturday around noon for practice, but it rained all the rest of the day and so we were unable to practice. Sunday was a much nicer day. Sebastian qualified fourth in the Yamaha and fifth in the TAG, running 4th in the Yamaha pre-final and 3rd in the TAG pre-final. Sebastian ran very strong in the Yamaha final and looked to be the fastest kart on the track. He was held up by the second place kart and was unable to get past, despite 3 tries at the high-speed Monza. He ultimately finished 3rd but was pushing the entire race.

In the TAG final, Sebastian was running 3rd early and an altercation with another kart put him off. He was pushed back on-track and eventually caught the pack, but his race was finished. I thought the weekend, overall, was very positive as Sebastian ran harder, and fought harder, than I've ever seen before. It makes me very excited about going to USAIR.

Championship Enduro Series, Gingerman Raceway, South Haven, Michigan (May 11-13)

From Kip: We got a late start Thursday night and arrived at the track around 5:15 or so Friday morning, local time. The track opened at 6am so after 45 minutes of sleep, we were able to get into the track and get our paddock area set up. Sebastian was running in the TAG-60 class this weekend, in road racing configuration. Practice went very well and Sebastian was up to full speed in only the second practice session. The day was uneventful and spirits were high. Following practice we enjoyed some of Jill's cooking and relaxed next to Matt and Jill's motorhome.

Saturday was a fantastic day. Sebastian continued to be quick and led Saturday's race from start to finish, ultimately finishing 38.5 seconds ahead of the rest of the field with his Gazelle and Birel combination. This was quite fantastic as many of the other racers were running Parilla's Mini Swift TAG-60 motor, which out-powers the Gazelle quite easily. Sebastian, needless to say, was on a high.

Sunday was expected to be more of the same. We had some things Sebastian wanted to work on to try to get even faster, but we were late getting out in the first practice session so Sebastian hustled down pit road to get on track. The combination of cool track, cold tires, and 58mph down pit lane meant disaster was imminent, and Sebastian didn't make the corner coming out of the pits. He was aware enough to spin the kart so that he backed into the wall, but the 10+ G impact on the right rear corner bent the axle, folded the right sidepod, stretched the chain, and severed the EGT line. That was the good news. The bad news was that Sebastian was being pulled out by the time I got there, with a neck brace and strapped to a backboard. His back was very sore and I was able to see just the slightest tear in the corner of his eye. An ambulance ride later, we were at the emergency room waiting to see the doctor. 

It all turned out fairly well - no major injuries, just some soreness in Sebastian's right kidney area. A couple tests later we were on our way back to the track. While we missed practice, Sebastian said he was ready to race so Matt and I set about fixing the kart. The race didn't go as well this day - Sebastian was about a second slower than his race pace on Saturday, but most of the Mini Swift's picked up 2-3 seconds. The result was a 5th place.

Ultimately, Sebastian was just as fast as the fastest Mini Swift drivers - but only for a few laps over the weekend. His three fastest laps during the weekend were faster than the fastest lap in race two, but he was unable to sustain that pace. We do know why, but we're not going to tell :-).

Midwest Sprint Series, MRP, South Bend, Indiana (April 27-29) 

From Kip: We arrived at our first Midwest Sprint Series event Friday morning to a wet racetrack - with more rain on the way. This being a new track to us, we had hoped to have all day Friday for practice. As it turned out, we were able to get 2 hours of practice in consisting of about 4 runs. Things seemed to be going fairly well at this point,  but that was soon to change. 

Saturday was a fantastic day weather-wise, and we hit the track with the Yamaha bright and early for our only practice session of the day. A couple laps into the session, Sebastian pulled off into the pits, complaining that the engine wasn't running right. We went back to our paddock area and found out that the carburetor was coming off the motor. We fixed that then got ready for the qualifying session. Qualifying didn't go very well and we ended up at the back of the field. I thought at the time that Sebastian wasn't running very hard, and it got worse in the pre-final. He continued to hang around the back and ultimately hit someone who slowed down suddenly in front of him. The hit knocked the fuel line off Sebastian's kart and his race was over.

In the final, we started last because of our pre-final result. Sebastian ran the entire race but was several seconds slower than the field. I was still thinking that he wasn't pushing very hard, but by the end of the race it became clear that the motor just wasn't running right. After the race, we worked on the motor and found out that it was running extremely lean, robbing the engine of power. 

Sunday was more of the same. Practice seemed to go OK with the HPV, but Sebastian just wasn't up to steam. He qualified 14th and we were fairly optimistic for the pre-final; however, once again the motor just wouldn't run right. It smoked quite a bit indicating that it was running rich - which was surprising because we thought we had it tuned right on the stand. Sebastian fought it to the end but ended up finishing last.

Prior to the final, we worked with Sebastian on how to adjust the carb himself while on the track. He was pretty comfortable with it going into the final, and once again we thought the carb settings were where they should be. Under load in the race it became apparent immediately that it was still running too rich, so we needed to have Sebastian work on it. Before that could happen, though, Sebastian's neck brace came off, ending his race and a very frustrating weekend.

It wasn't totally over, however. We packed up and drove over to Norway, IL to do some testing at Concept Haulers Motor Speedway with the HPV. We wanted to figure out with the current conditions and equipment what the problem was. Once we unloaded, we put Sebastian out and after a little while discovered that we had a bad spark plug. It almost seemed fitting after the way the weekend went. 

Championship Enduro Series, Gateway International, East St. Louis (April 13-15) 

 

From Kip: Got to East St. Louis late on Thursday night - too late to drop off the trailer at the track. Got to the hotel and went to bed immediately before getting up early for a 6:30 departure to the track. Once at the track, we unloaded the trailer, got our entries in, and then got the karts ready for practice. We planned on five 10 minute practice sessions, but ended up with six which was kind of nice. Seb went out for his first run at a little after 10:00 and ran 8 laps with a best time of 1:34:24. We made a few adjustments for his next few runs and ended up gaining quite a bit of time later in the day. Practice was relatively uneventful and Sebastian had fun running on a big road course and playing in the draft. 

Saturday arrived cold and wet, and it didn't take very long for us to realize that we weren't going to race that day. So, we spent most of the day at the hotel - Sebastian caught up on homework, we watched some F1, NASCAR, and NHRA action, and we saw a movie that night. Fairly relaxing although everyone would have preferred to be racing.

Sunday was just about perfect - a little cool, but some sun and clear skies. We ran two practice sessions and were running a good deal slower than what we expected after Friday. The weather had changed, obviously, and the track was green, but we just didn't seem to be getting the power we had on Friday. We adjusted some on the carb but never really got it running to Sebastian's satisfaction. In the race Sebastian had a nice battle with several other drivers, led most of the race, and in the end came home second. While we would have liked to have had the win, we were all happy with the way things went, especially with this being Sebastian's first road race. We can't wait for the next one!

Our big Aha! for the weekend is that we need to teach Sebastian how to adjust the carb while on the track. He knows immediately when the power's down, and if he can reach down for an adjustment then he can ensure he's getting the power he needs. That will be a focus for the next few weeks.

Next up: a club race at Marshalltown then the Midwest Sprint Series at MRP. We have a lot to do to get ready - the Yamaha hasn't seen the track and we don't even have the HPV yet. The good news is Sebastian's still very smooth and consistent - right where he left off.