Fun race with a different kart

After the win the week before, it was no rest for the weary crew chief who worked to assemble a kart for the next season early enough to get Lian on the track for the fun race.  This is a non-points race where the drivers that are planning to run the next class-up are allowed to do so.  There is also no weigh-in or tech inspection. Lian wants to run Senior Animal class next year so here was her chance to try it out.

Arrow chassis with bodywork.  Lots of work to do!

We purchased a used Arrow chassis without engine, hubs or wheels but with bodywork, seat and fuel tank.  I decided to add brand new parts to this kart for the next season, including a new engine.  There was much to do.  My good friend Doug and Rocketech Motorsports not only gave me a good price on all that I needed but also did some short-fused machine work and gave lots of advice on setting up this new-to-me kart.

Unfortunately, due to my work schedule and the delivery date of the engine, most of the work had to be done in two days.  With Diana's help and support, I made it and got the engine properly broken-in and track ready in time.

Engine installed - finally.

While loading the trailer, we discovered the door opening is too narrow for the kart!  Not wanting to tilt the heavy kart to load it, we opted to remove the rear bumper, one rear wheel and a side pod to get it in.  Anyone know a good deal on an enclosed trailer?

I was rather nervous to send Lian on the track the first time with a kart that had been assembled entirely by me in a mad rush.  Not only that, she was running with no restrictor plate and with a older crowd of competitors.  I needn't have worried because aside from some minor adjustments, she was mostly ready to go and go hard.

Lian (third place) mixing it up with the fast guys in the Senior Animal class.

The race format was adjusted to make it fun and different this week.  There was a chicane added to the long straight and the turn entry on another turn was altered with some more cones.  Additionally, instead of a rolling start the race director set-up a shifter kart style start (standing start from your grid position).  You can hear them rev against the clutch lockup rpm in anticipation!

Lian kept up with the quickest in the group and really showed what she was made of.  The kart was not scaled properly, nor was the front end set-up.  She and the kart weighed 325 lbs. with the weights I had initially installed. I added about 15 more pounds at the track between practices.  This puts her close to the required 345 lbs. for her new class but it was placed without the benefit of scales.  She also did this without the larger tire size most are running.

Enjoy this helmet camera footage of the Feature race.

Long story short, Lian finished second in her very first feature!  She was complemented by many at the track for her confidence and skill.  She kept her cool in some tight situations and passed some spinning karts in the grass to get to that place so - I'm very proud!  Shouldn't have worried, eh?

Pretty high on the podium for a rookie in Senior Animal!

2014 Season Wrap-up of Points Races

Okay, you regular readers know that I have not been regular at writing.  The last post was for a race in mid August and I just got it out in late October.  No excuses, just been more intent on other things and kinda busy with work.  We were able to fix the issues I found with the kart in race 10.  I repaired the header threads and sent the head to a engine builder to fix the intake valve leak.  Unfortunately, the head was beyond repair and I ended-up buying a new one (it comes with valves installed).

Later on, we decided to have the kart scaled again to ensure it was not tweaked after she backed into the tire barrier during a wet track condition.  Her times were way down and I was not sure why.  Turns out her chassis had a cracked weld near the seat mount and that allowed it to flex too much and not transfer weight properly in the corners.  That has also been repaired and we re-scaled it before race 14.

Through it all we been able to continue racing all the club races so I'll recap briefly races 11-16:

Race 11 - placed 2nd

Race 12 - placed 2nd

Race 13 - placed 5th

Race 14 - placed 3rd

Race 15 - placed 7th

Race 16 - placed 6th

Race 17 was the final points race of the season and Lian was really hoping to end on a high note.  Races 15 and 16 saw circumstances conspire against her so she was hungry to get a finish that reflected her true speed out there.

Lian started 5th in Heat 1 and finished 3rd.  She started 3rd in Heat 2 and finished second.  This put her 3rd for the start of the Feature.  She was feeling confident because she had beaten both the first and second place starters in the past.  Likewise, both of those drivers wanted a win to cap their season so the start was going to be interesting.

This is probably my favorite helmet camera footage ever.  I purposely added no music so you could hear her voice (though it was breaking up from a recent cold).  Click here and you will see why.

Lian managed to take her first Feature win!  Can you tell it she was happy?!?

Here is a very proud mom and dad at the start/finish line where Lian got her checkered flag for a parade lap.

Getting the checkers for her first Feature win.  Notice the "stitched" nose bodywork after hard contact in Race 15

The celebration continued most of the drive home until her voice gave out.  Lian made me promise to keep the battered nose bodywork on display in our garage.  Now she feels like she has really accomplished something in this sport and is looking forward to the challenge of next season.

Thanks for reading and sharing the fun with us!

Race #10

The week leading-up to this race revealed some issues that I had to take care of.  Some big, some small.

A small issue was a crack in the bodywork.  It was about 7 inches long.  The impact loosened the edge of the old patch so I had some work to do to fix it.  Because the graphic decal was in such bad shape, I decided to peel it back and patch the outer part as well as the inside.  Here it is after my patch (before trimming).

Another issue that was a little bigger deal was that one of the header bolts snapped off just before the feature race.  I couldn't do anything to fix it at the track.  There was no way I was going to keep her off the track for the feature.  So she ran 16 intense laps with the header pipe rattling and banging, making the other bolt looser and eventually stripping the threads in the engine head.  The fix is one you can look up from an earlier post in this blog and a common job for Animal engine users.  In a word - Helicoil.  This replaced the damaged aluminum metric thread with a steel insert with American threads (1/4-20 size).

Third issue - I had to put off for another race.  I bought a compression tester to check the condition of the engine.  It seemed to make good numbers (around 47 psi) but I was still suspicious.  I bought some plumbing parts and converted the compression tester into a leakdown tester (sort-of).  This allowed me to pressurize the cylinder and investigate where any leaks might be.  The results of the test: intake valve leak.  Yeah, air was hissing out of the carburetor during the test so it needed to be re-machined to seal.  I'll put this off until next week when I can get it to an engine builder with the right tools.

Anyway, race conditions were a little warmer than average but nothing extreme.  Lian started fourth out of seven in Heat 1 and finished second.  She started fourth in Heat 2 and finished third.  This was a great effort and allowed her to start second in the feature!

In the Feature, Lian really had a shot at the lead on the start but was going to have to run hard for the first lap to stay next to the pole sitter to the right-hander.  Then, maybe, she could pass and get clear.  As it played-out, she just couldn't hold on the outside that long and had to concede the position.  Here is a video of the first lap of the race.  She finished in second going away from third but falling away from the winner.

Still proud of her because she had to work hard in the heats to start on the front row.