Race #9 - Summer Shootout

This race was in low to mid 80s and very light wind.  It made this crew chief pretty hot!  Lian is sporting some lighter weight pants that have removable legs so she can cool off between sessions on the track.  She also was sporting her brand new chrome lens on her helmet.  Very cool look, don't you think?

If you look closely at her right rear tire, you can see the sidewall flex these racing tires endure on the track.  No wonder they get so hot!

Lian drew a very low number at registration so she started on the pole of the first heat.  Between the GoPro on her helmet and some video I shot trackside, I was able to put together a decent record of her first lap, while she held off a very quick number 25 kart.  Again, Lian picked the music for this video.

Unfortunately, the second place kart did eventually get past her and while she was off the ideal line, the third and fourth place kart got around her too.  She was passed by the last place kart later but got that position back right away and held on to finish fourth.  By the way, she recorded her fastest lap ever at 21.31 sec.  That is over a tenth quicker than her previous best!

In Heat 2, she started in the back (fifth) and finished there.  Afterwards she complained to me that the kart was too tight in the hairpin and asked me to adjust it to help the kart rotate there.  I think it was the first time she asked for a specific adjustment.  I moved the rear hubs out 0.25" each to loosen the kart a little.

In the Feature, Lian started in the back and got a great start.  She got the inside line on fourth and was able to make the pass coming out of the sweeper as you can see here.  Unfortunately, the change I made went too far and made the kart too loose.  The yellow number 12 kart passed her again and we had another frustrating finish.

Still enjoying the family time at the track.  A bad day racing is better than a good day at work!

Race #8 - Saturday Night!

This was the first race of the season run on Saturday night instead of Sunday afternoon.  These races start the heats in the early evening and the features start around sunset, under the lights.  It was also the first  race that I couldn't attend because of work.  I was scheduled for night shift so I was able to get the trailer to the track and help for a few practices before I headed to work and left the racing to Lian and her Mom.  Fortunately, there were plenty of helpful parents there aware of our situation and gave Mom help when she needed it.

Lian was ready to step-up and contribute more to the work in the pits.  So after I made a toe adjustment, she re-installed the wheels and tightened the lugs.  An important thing about the wheels, they can sometimes get a little crooked on the hubs and it may seem like they lug nuts are tight but when the wheel settles onto the hub properly, the lugs become loose.  I believe that is what happened in the second practice because she kicked the left rear wheel off and it bounced about 20 feet in the air before landing in the infield.

Dad loaded the kart and recovered the wheel from the EMS worker nearby.  Walking back to the pits with a sheepish young driver who remembered Dad asking "are you sure you got the lugs tight?"  Aside from her pride, the only damage was to the studs and the wheel.  They were junk.  Fortunately, I was able to get the damaged studs out of the hub without too much problem.  The wheel was a complete mess as you can see by the elongated holes:

After Dad was out of the picture, Lian finished 3rd and 4th in the heats.  This put her in 4th for the Feature race and she was excited to show off her lights.  In addition to some of the blue LEDs we had last year, I installed some green LED strips under the clear plastic sticker protectors on the sides and they really get your attention.  Here is a picture her Mom took on the starting grid:

Mom got the GoPro going for the Feature and so you get to watch what happened to her at the drop of the green flag here at this youtube link.  Lian chose the music to go with and wanted it loud to drown out her exclamations.  She needs to anticipate starts better but Dad is also looking at throttle response.  It was another frustrating feature for her but overall, she enjoyed the day and really appreciated the temperature drop after sundown.

Race #7

Mixed weather at the track this time.  We saw a shower blow-in just before the first heat and got the race director to panic and stop Lian's class from taking the track.  The club officers made it clear that with this club, rain does not stop the racing during the months of June, July and August.  By the time the corner workers made their way back out to their positions, the rain had stopped and the wind had the track mostly dry.  I think she was more concerned with the dampness in her pants after sitting in her seat.  Here she is after climbing in:

"I just sat in a puddle!"

We started looking over the kart to make sure we were ready to go and discovered a broken seat mount!  This was a real surprise.  When did it happen?  Who knows.  Presumably late in the feature last week because I would hope Lian would have noticed something amiss.  Anyway,  I quickly started to dismantle and remove it.  As soon as I had the long arm removed, I handed it to Lian and told her to run to the Rocketech Motorsports trailer and see if they had a replacement.

Fortunately, they had another in stock and after setting the proper length, we were back in business before the first practice.

The practices went fairly well with a best of 21:82 sec and a small air pressure adjustment promising even better traction in the Heats and Feature.  When the rains came, advice was flying around the pits on how to manage the limited traction situation.  We listened intently as we did not have the option of putting rain tires on (haven't invested in those... yet).  I was relieved when Lian didn't have to use any of that advice.

In Heat 1, Lian started 6th out of 6 and was very frustrated that she couldn't make any passes because of how the 5th place driver kept closing the door on her.  I calmed her reminding her that she would be starting from the pole position in Heat 2 so it would be her turn to hold back others.

Heat 2 was her start to control but she started slow and the outside row started hard.  Entering the first turn, she was side-by-side with the kart that started 4th.  The driver that started behind her was very aggressive and bumped her in most of the turns in the first lap.  Lian was so angry, she turned her fastest lap ever at 21:55 sec.!  She got out a 5th place finish from that and she came off the track very upset that the roughness she experienced didn't bring even a warning from the officials.

Because she drew such a high number at registration, she started in the back of the Feature.  I told her that she can't wait for the blue flag to be displayed for her.  Her blue flag is her front bumper.  Becoming more aggressive will be an adjustment for her but I think that at some point her frustration will be too much for her to hold back.

Lian sporting the GoPro camera during the Feature race.

The start proved interesting.  Lian actually moved up to 5th very quickly when one unfortunate racer had a flat from a leaky valve stem. Before the field spread too much, she closed in on the 4th place kart but then he surprised her and caused her to move off the edge of the track - spinning in the grass.  With a quick boost by a corner worker back on the track, she didn't get passed.  Try this link to see Lian's First lap from Race #7 on 6-30-13

The rest of the race was a downer for her, getting lapped by the leaders while her tires dried, then passing her friend for 4th place when her friend lost a neck brace on the track.  Here she is with the rest of the leaders.

I've got a few small things I'd like to do to Lian's ride before next race.  It will be a night race on the 13th so lights are on the list too.  Until next time...