Race 14 - A Tribute

On the night before we were to race,  the father of one of Lian's good friends passed away.  Patrick Clancy was 51 and was suffering from complications following surgery.  If curious, you can see his obituary here.

Lian wanted to dedicate this race to his family.  Having gotten to know the them over the years, we all shared the pain of his loss.  I was proud that Lian not only came up with the idea but made a sign to attach to her kart for the race.

We unloaded in blustery but warm conditions.  Significant rain had fallen the day before so the track had no rubber in it and was slightly damp.  Practice was a little slippery and her times were down about 6 to 8 tenths but she only complained it was slightly loose.  I made a track width adjustment and put her race tires on for the first heat.  The Heats and the Feature were very fast, Lian set her personal best!

Lian was starting second in Heat 1 and third in Heat 2.  There were only 4 racing this week but they were the toughest of the class.  In the first heat, the third place kart got into the back of the first place kart and got him loose.  This gave Lian a chance to take the lead - which she did.  She held off the second place driver for her first Heat win ever.  We were very excited!  I'm just a little bummed I didn't get it on video.

In Heat 2, Lian fell back at the start a little and ended up fourth.  As you can see in this video, the second lap had a gift for her in the form of a spun-out kart.  This allowed her to move to third and that is where she finished.

With a first and a 3rd place finish, she tied for the best average with one other driver.  Fortunately, she picked a very low pill at registration's random draw and ended up starting on the pole.  She didn't want to mess up this opportunity and she felt strongly that the helmet camera would slow her down so I filmed from trackside.  She lost the lead to the second place starter in the first turn.  The video footage is not as good but you can see her getting passed for second.  See what you think of this.  She was particularly angry about this as she bounced out of her seat and the seat edge hit her below the rib protector.



When she calmed, we told her how proud we were for fighting hard out there and being so thoughtful of her friend.  Third place is still respectable with this competitive group.

Track expansion plans for the club have been set.  We will have one more regular points race which will also be our halloween trick-or-treat at the trailers.  The following day, the paving company will begin and a whole new track will emerge for next season.  Lian has said that she is planning to run again next year so, I guess you will be reading this blog for a while...