"Rain Drops"
October 3, 2002
GingerMan Raceway, the home of sandy runoffs and lake effect rain storms. Friday morning the mysterious Gooseman (?) and I pulled into the GingerMan paddock and got down to business unloading and going through tech inspection before the usual rainstorm began. During the lull in the action I had the opportunity to speak at length with Dave Larson about 2003. The illustrious and I dare say dedicated Mr. Larson and I seem to be in full agreement in regards to the fact that unification of the various different road racing series in the Midwest is the only way that the sport will grow and/or prosper. Clearly the writing is on the wall and the various different clubs and promoters must put aside their differences and work together for the common good of the sport. If this requires that some of the events be co-hosted then so be it. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to see that splitting the proceeds from a successful co-hosted event beats the tar out of breaking even or (horrors!) taking a loss on a poorly attended race weekend. All the various groups including CES, Mid States, Michigan Kart Club, Indy Kart Club, River Valley, Dart Kart ad infinitum must get on the same page. The time is now!!!
OK, off soapbox. Mid-afternoon it suddenly stopped raining and after a bit of time the track was dry enough to at least scuff in some tires and maybe learn something even if it is wrong. The ever faithful Gooseman (?) and I went to work on "Lucille", our Tony Mitox, fueling up and setting tire pressures. As I began to get into my uniform, you guessed it; the rains returned washing out the rest of the day. Bummer!
Saturday morning dawned dry and sunny to everyone's surprise and the race was on. Two quick rounds of practice were used scuffing tires and trying to settle on a setup. Just as quickly SK-125 qualifying came and went. Frankly, we just were not ready and qualified a disgusting eleventh. With just enough time to refuel and throw another setup at "Lucille" the Gooseman (?) and I lined up for the start.
After the F1 style warm-up lap, Earl Clement waved the green and I managed a pretty decent start but it was soon apparent that the gear ratio was not quite right and the jetting, well, it wasn't quite right either. "Lucille" quickly moved into seventh and there we stayed. I finished the race pondering the needed changes the whole time.
After the race we made wholesale changes in the setup and to give credit where credit is due the mysterious Gooseman (?) did most of the work while I sat in a lawn chair and complained. I consider myself very lucky to have as good a crewman as the Gooseman (?) and must give him his due.
Later in the afternoon the SSC Racing Shifter Kart Pro Series race gridded up and while we did not enter "Lucille" we were there to support teammate Larry Nagy Jr. and chat with our many friends. The warm-up lap featured one of the most bizarre incidents that I have ever seen with both of Clayton Prater Jr.'s front tires coming off the bead. The enthusiastic Gooseman (?) sprinted the length of pit lane to give Clayton Sr. a hand changing the offending tires, but alas, Clayton missed the green flag and started the race from pit lane over a lap down. In an amazing display of speed Clayton ran with the leaders all race backing out late in the race so as not to affect the outcome. Teammate Larry Nagy Jr. came through with a win after a great battle with Jonathon Kettlewell.
Sunday dawned dry and the mysterious Gooseman (?) and I had breakfast with Big Denny Hoffman only to watch the inevitable rainstorm begin over a cup of coffee. The rain lasted until just after noon and the practice sessions were full wet. We elected to not participate and to our dismay the track seemed to dry suddenly right before the SK-125 race. Grumbling over what seemed like a bad decision we watched what would have been our race take off only to see the rains return again in less than five laps. Maybe the decision wasn't so bad after all.
All was not a waste as we logged some good setup information for our next trip to GingerMan and "Lucille" was in one piece.
Our next race will be Mid Ohio on October 12th and 13th and we plan to be more than ready. Now if the weatherman will just cooperate.
Until next time, Race Hard, Race Safe and God Bless America!
|
