August to October, 2009
I'll Play These Cards
ProKart Challenge, LAKC, & Street of Lancaster Grand Prix
I get my Tony Kart EVXX ready to do battle
In the last chapter, we threw the "ON Switch" for the Streets of Willow Gatorz race. For the beginning of this chapter, Jeff and I decided to throw the ON Switch one more time, and gear up for the SuperKartsUSA SuperNationals XIII at the Rio Hotel, November 18-22, 2009. Wayne was tempted to throw the ON switch for this, but after seeing his tax bill, and considering he has another newborn to take care of and no nanny in sight to watch/transport the other two kids, he decided he would sit out the SuperNationals.
Once you throw the ON switch for the Supernationals, suddenly your life doesn't become the same. You realize that you need seat time, you need training, you need competition, you need to expend a lot of sweat and effort. This year it is a five day event: two days of practice, then qualifying and a heat race, then two more heat races, and then on Super Sunday it is a 25 lap (probably 20 minutes) main race against 39 other drivers for glory. It's kinda like trying to date an unattainable ultra hot chick: you have to put in a lot of time, effort, money, and groundwork in for 20 minutes of "potential glory". Here's the story:
After Jeff and I decided to start prepping for
the SuperNationals, we thought about our hardware. We decided that due to
the economy, new kart chassis is not in either of our budgets, so we'll run the
same karts we ran last year. Jeff's neck is still hurting from his crash
in practice 18 months ago, so he wasn't interested in too much seat time at
tracks that are hard on the neck. The Supernationals track isn't as hard
on your neck compared to local tracks like CalSpeedway, Willow Kart Track, or
Grange, so Jeff is happy about that. I figure I need seat time to sharpen
up my driving, and see where I stand.
Jason Toft's kart
ProKart Challenge August 29, 2009
I figure I should enter the final
Pro Kart Challenge race in September to see
how I stack up, and to see how my conditioning is coming along. They are
racing at Cal Speedway, which can be murderous on the body due to grippy
conditions. After getting some tips from the Select Shifter team owner Mike Robbins and
driver Patrick Cushenberry in the last chapter, I do better than expected. I'm 8/10ths
off of Cushenberry's pole time, which is better than I am used to. For a
while there, I was a full second a lap off of the pace. I screwed up in
qualifying, so if I could have run a bit faster, I woulda had a shot at maybe
6th on the grid, but instead I'm 11th. Considering that the first 6 guys
all have the potential to win this race, I'm not doing too bad. At least
in my mind....
Clinton Schoombee and Bobby Legate, ready to duke it out for the S3 podium
Pos | No. | Name | Best time | In lap | Best speed | Diff | Gap | Laps |
1 | 27u | Patrick Cushenberry | 47.773 | 3 | 56.517 | 4 | ||
2 | 33k | Jacob Neal | 47.787 | 4 | 56.501 | 0.014 | 0.014 | 4 |
3 | 1y | Jason Toft | 47.927 | 4 | 56.336 | 0.154 | 0.140 | 4 |
4 | 111c | Clinton Schoombee | 48.091 | 3 | 56.144 | 0.318 | 0.164 | 4 |
5 | 34c | Race Liberante | 48.241 | 4 | 55.969 | 0.468 | 0.150 | 4 |
6 | 51c | Bobby Legate | 48.313 | 8 | 55.886 | 0.540 | 0.072 | 8 |
7 | 73b | Brad Dunford | 48.328 | 6 | 55.868 | 0.555 | 0.015 | 7 |
8 | 41c | Vivek Tandon | 48.342 | 4 | 55.852 | 0.569 | 0.014 | 5 |
9 | 69c | Peter Abba | 48.394 | 6 | 55.792 | 0.621 | 0.052 | 6 |
10 | 35y | Brett Felkins | 48.484 | 7 | 55.688 | 0.711 | 0.090 | 9 |
11 | 55c | Doug Hayashi | 48.485 | 3 | 55.687 | 0.712 | 0.001 | 4 |
12 | 24x | Harley Owen | 48.723 | 3 | 55.415 | 0.950 | 0.238 | 7 |
13 | 24k | Kyle Hathcox | 48.826 | 5 | 55.298 | 1.053 | 0.103 | 5 |
14 | 422c | Willy Musgrave | 49.922 | 4 | 54.084 | 2.149 | 1.096 | 9 |
Heat Race 1:
I finish 10th, fast lap is 7/10ths off of Neal/Schoombee/Toft's
laptime. 6th through 11th is only separated by 3/10ths, so at least I feel like
I'm doing some racing with pretty fast guys. None of these guys are
running S4 Old Guy class at the Supernats, since these guys are probably around
25 to 32 years younger than me. I wish I could blame youth for kicking my
ass. Instead, I have to admit they are just better drivers.
Pos | No. | Name | Laps | Total time | Diff | Best time | In lap | Best speed |
1 | 33k | Jacob Neal | 10 | 7:14.826 | 48.017 | 8 | 56.230 | |
2 | 111c | Clinton Schoombee | 10 | 7:15.267 | 0.441 | 48.059 | 10 | 56.181 |
3 | 1y | Jason Toft | 10 | 7:15.582 | 0.756 | 48.082 | 9 | 56.154 |
4 | 27u | Patrick Cushenberry | 10 | 7:16.539 | 1.713 | 48.124 | 6 | 56.105 |
5 | 51c | Bobby Legate | 10 | 7:18.711 | 3.885 | 48.341 | 7 | 55.853 |
6 | 34c | Race Liberante | 10 | 7:19.643 | 4.817 | 48.445 | 9 | 55.733 |
7 | 69c | Peter Abba | 10 | 7:20.262 | 5.436 | 48.515 | 4 | 55.653 |
8 | 41c | Vivek Tandon | 10 | 7:22.094 | 7.268 | 48.596 | 6 | 55.560 |
9 | 35y | Brett Felkins | 10 | 7:24.180 | 9.354 | 48.488 | 9 | 55.684 |
10 | 55c | Doug Hayashi | 10 | 7:25.680 | 10.854 | 48.694 | 5 | 55.448 |
11 | 24k | Kyle Hathcox | 10 | 7:25.802 | 10.976 | 48.725 | 6 | 55.413 |
12 | 73b | Brad Dunford | 10 | 7:28.129 | 13.303 | 48.293 | 5 | 55.909 |
13 | 24x | Harley Owen | 10 | 7:30.273 | 15.447 | 48.705 | 4 | 55.436 |
14 | 422c | Willy Musgrave | 10 | 7:56.780 | 41.954 | 51.253 | 9 | 52.680 |
Vivek Tandon's brand new CRG kart
Heat Race 2:
On the warmup lap, suddenly my kart won't steer. WTF? I slow down,
wave some people by. I'm thinking...hummm....did a tie rod end come loose?
What fell off my kart? I have to pull over and get off the track.
The frame cracked right where the steering column connects to the frame, so when
I turned the steering wheel, nothing happens. AAARGH!
Major DNF. I'm done for the day, and possibly the kart is now a junker.
It could be hard to re-weld the steering column back in place. At least it
broke in the warmup lap. If it would have broken at the end of an 80 mph
straightaway going into a hairpin turn, that would been ugly.
Even uglier if it broke at the Supernats.
Notice crack in middle of picture
Pos | No. | Name | Laps | Total time | Diff | Best time | In lap | Best speed |
1 | 1y | Jason Toft | 20 | 15:20.008 | 48.048 | 7 | 56.194 | |
2 | 69c | Peter Abba | 20 | 15:27.060 | 7.052 | 48.191 | 6 | 56.027 |
3 | 34c | Race Liberante | 20 | 15:28.286 | 8.278 | 48.372 | 10 | 55.817 |
4 | 35y | Brett Felkins | 20 | 15:30.513 | 10.505 | 48.280 | 19 | 55.924 |
5 | 51c | Bobby Legate | 20 | 15:34.296 | 14.288 | 48.244 | 5 | 55.966 |
6 | 73b | Brad Dunford | 20 | 15:35.886 | 15.878 | 48.300 | 5 | 55.901 |
7 | 24k | Kyle Hathcox | 20 | 15:36.053 | 16.045 | 48.565 | 20 | 55.596 |
8 | 24x | Harley Owen | 20 | 15:39.799 | 19.791 | 48.797 | 4 | 55.331 |
9 | 33k | Jacob Neal | 20 | 15:43.242 | 23.234 | 48.030 | 7 | 56.215 |
10 | 422c | Willy Musgrave | 19 | 15:24.928 | 1 Lap | 49.667 | 4 | 54.362 |
DNF | 111c | Clinton Schoombee | 11 | 8:04.556 | 9 Laps | 48.027 | 10 | 56.218 |
DNF | 41c | Vivek Tandon | 8 | 5:47.964 | 12 Laps | 48.886 | 6 | 55.231 |
Not classified () | ||||||||
DNS | 55c | Doug Hayashi | 0 | --:--:--.--- | --:--:--.--- | 0 | - | |
DQ |
Crack on both side of steering column
Mike Goebel, Team ARG WunderDriver, takes 3rd place in S4, and salutes his kart
and his shadow
The next week, I drop the kart off to the fabricator that works next door to the PhoneGuys. He looks at it and goes hummmm....yeah I can fix that. I explain that he can't reinforce it like he did last time with the "wings" on it that screwed up the handling, but I need it welded strong enough so that it won't break off in my hands while going 90 mph. He said no problem.
Cool looking El Camino that is getting some work done at the fabricator's shop
He has a bunch of fabrication clamps that puts on the frame,
measures meticulously, and welds it up. Wayne goes to the paint store and
has them mix up some spray cans of Tony Kart Green to cover up the weld job.
Looks like I'm ready to test it out to see if it works.
Brake upgrade includes parachute
I decide to enter the LAKC race at CalSpeedway, running the same backwards configuration as ProKart ran a few weeks earlier. The shifter kart field isn't as stout as a ProKart Race, but there are guys there that I can measure up to.
Testing to see if welds to steering column will hold
Los Angeles Karting Club, September 2009
The fastest Father and Son shifter kart team that I know of, Billy and Willy
Musgrave are here today, and I miss qualifying on the front row by 2/1000ths of
a second. Hey now, my kart seems like it is okay! A few of the other
drivers are running used tires, so their times aren't really indicative of how
fast they are. But Billy and Willy take their racing seriously, qualifying
on new tires like me. If I am
close to them, I'm happy.
Who would win in a cage fight: Elbert Thompson or Rhod Beachner?
Qualifying
Pos | No. | Name | Best time | In lap | Best speed | Diff | Gap | Laps |
1 | 32 | Billy Musgrave | 49.105 | 4 | 54.984 | 4 | ||
2 | 42 | Willy Musgrave | 49.675 | 3 | 54.353 | 0.570 | 0.570 | 4 |
3 | 55 | Doug Hayashi | 49.677 | 4 | 54.351 | 0.572 | 0.002 | 4 |
4 | 3 | Bryce Miller | 49.914 | 2 | 54.093 | 0.809 | 0.237 | 4 |
5 | 89 | Paul Russell | 50.131 | 3 | 53.859 | 1.026 | 0.217 | 4 |
6 | 49 | Rob Whitley | 50.428 | 4 | 53.542 | 1.323 | 0.297 | 4 |
7 | 25 | Sean Bond | 51.125 | 2 | 52.812 | 2.020 | 0.697 | 4 |
8 | 41 | Jeff Armant | 51.644 | 2 | 52.281 | 2.539 | 0.519 | 3 |
9 | 07 | Tim Hepburn | 51.918 | 4 | 52.005 | 2.813 | 0.274 | 4 |
10 | 62 | Steve Berg | 52.046 | 3 | 51.877 | 2.941 | 0.128 | 4 |
11 | 52 | Ray Pisarski | 53.161 | 2 | 50.789 | 4.056 | 1.115 | 4 |
12 | 12 | Elbert Thompson | --:--:--.--- | 0 | - | 0.000 | 0 | |
Not classified | ||||||||
DQ | 21 | Steve Murray | 51.885 | 2 | 52.038 | 0.000 |
Heat Race 1:
Bryce Miller gets by me on the start, and he's duking it out with Willy
Musgrave. I'm right behind them, watching the action, hoping if they make a
mistake, I can slip by. I don't have enough speed to bomb in on them.
I take 4th, feel like I am a podium contender in the main racing coming up.
Billy Musgrave has been whupping on everyone in LAKC shifter class this year
Pos | No. | Name | Laps | Total time | Diff | Best time | In lap | Best speed |
1 | 32 | Billy Musgrave | 8 | 6:29.059 | 48.857 | 5 | 55.263 | |
2 | 3 | Bryce Miller | 8 | 6:32.441 | 3.382 | 49.003 | 3 | 55.099 |
3 | 42 | Willy Musgrave | 8 | 6:32.816 | 3.757 | 49.090 | 3 | 55.001 |
4 | 55 | Doug Hayashi | 8 | 6:33.146 | 4.087 | 49.176 | 4 | 54.905 |
5 | 49 | Rob Whitley | 8 | 6:39.783 | 10.724 | 49.919 | 3 | 54.088 |
6 | 25 | Sean Bond | 8 | 6:47.968 | 18.909 | 50.832 | 4 | 53.116 |
7 | 62 | Steve Berg | 8 | 6:55.369 | 26.310 | 51.349 | 3 | 52.581 |
8 | 21 | Steve Murray | 8 | 6:56.133 | 27.074 | 51.417 | 6 | 52.512 |
9 | 41 | Jeff Armant | 8 | 6:56.247 | 27.188 | 51.009 | 4 | 52.932 |
10 | 07 | Tim Hepburn | 8 | 6:57.092 | 28.033 | 51.243 | 6 | 52.690 |
11 | 52 | Ray Pisarski | 8 | 7:00.275 | 31.216 | 52.152 | 5 | 51.772 |
12 | 12 | Elbert Thompson | 8 | 7:27.352 | 58.293 | 54.596 | 2 | 49.454 |
13 | 89 | Paul Russell | 7 | 5:49.493 | 1 Lap | 49.956 | 3 | 54.048 |
Billy sleeping before the main, waiting for some competition to appear from
somewhere
The Main Race
Okay, I haven't been on the podium in quite some time. At this smaller
race, it's looking like I have a great chance. Green flag drops, and the
first three guys are driving more consistent than me. Damn!
I'm looking like a solid 4th place, with no chance of 3rd unless someone
crashes.
I will not DNF. Raceaflais will not defeat me again.
And then with 2 laps left in the race, my kart starts dying and bogging. WTF? Another DNF? It continues to severely die in turns. I'm forced to pull off with 1.5 laps left in the race with a DNF. Apparently my elbow was hitting a fuel line, and the fuel line cracked, so I'm getting no fuel to the motor.....ARRRRGH! Billy Musgrave takes the win, and the overall LAKC shifter title for 2009.
Pos | No. | Name | Laps | Total time | Diff | Best time | In lap | Best speed |
1 | 32 | Billy Musgrave | 16 | 12:54.404 | 48.678 | 2 | 55.467 | |
2 | 3 | Bryce Miller | 16 | 12:59.663 | 5.259 | 48.812 | 3 | 55.314 |
3 | 42 | Willy Musgrave | 16 | 13:01.713 | 7.309 | 49.026 | 3 | 55.073 |
4 | 49 | Rob Whitley | 16 | 13:18.880 | 24.476 | 50.033 | 5 | 53.964 |
5 | 25 | Sean Bond | 16 | 13:45.048 | 50.644 | 50.442 | 13 | 53.527 |
6 | 52 | Ray Pisarski | 15 | 13:05.535 | 1 Lap | 51.709 | 5 | 52.215 |
7 | 62 | Steve Berg | 15 | 13:06.078 | 0.543 | 52.292 | 4 | 51.633 |
8 | 07 | Tim Hepburn | 15 | 13:06.416 | 0.881 | 51.761 | 4 | 52.163 |
9 | 21 | Steve Murray | 15 | 13:17.749 | 12.214 | 51.484 | 3 | 52.443 |
10 | 55 | Doug Hayashi | 14 | 11:26.466 | 2 Laps | 49.141 | 7 | 54.944 |
11 | 89 | Paul Russell | 9 | 7:26.781 | 7 Laps | 49.455 | 3 | 54.595 |
12 | 41 | Jeff Armant | 9 | 7:50.255 | 23.474 | 50.852 | 5 | 53.095 |
13 | 12 | Elbert Thompson | 7 | 6:12.545 | 9 Laps | 53.446 | 3 | 50.518 |
Streets of Lancaster Grand Prix
Mike Robbins was lobbying the Pulp Racing team to
come out and race at the Tri-C Streets of Lancaster Grand Prix. The City
of Lancaster decided that having a karting event right in the "downtown" area of
Lancaster Boulevard would be a cool thing. They planned to fence off the
area just like a mini-Long Beach Grand Prix, have vendors selling food, having a
car show on Saturday night, etc. I told Mike that a temporary street course would be a
good tune-up for the Supernats to see where we stand in terms of the competition.
In the days leading up to the event, it became evident that there would be a
good number of shifters at the event.
Lancaster Blvd, 6:00 a.m., Saturday morning
Friday, October 8, 2009
Mike said I could park my trailer in the
Atwood and Son's automotive repair shop at 4 p.m., which would work out
perfectly. I cruise into Lancaster around noon, planning on going straight
to Diamond Jim's Casino and wiping out the locals playing some No Limit Hold'em.
After three hours of playing, I'm down $120. Grrrr....got absolutely no
good
cards. After parking the trailer and registering, I hope on our pit
bicycle and check out the course. It looks awesome! At 6 p.m., they
shut down Lancaster Blvd and starting putting the fencing, barriers, and hay
bales up. I hang around for bit, go to the Happy Hour for drivers, and
then head back to Diamond Jim's. I promptly lose another $50.
Damn....I lost to the locals.
Lancaster Blvd, Friday, 6:00 p.m. Street blocked off, no traffic on the
main drag
Saturday
I get there at my usual super early
time to check out the track. They are still working on moving barriers and
stuff. It looks like there are about 30 Stock Honda shifter karts, and
about 13 open shifter karts (built moto/ICC).
We setup at the Atwood and Son automotive shop
Jeff is running his "B Kart", deciding that he is going to save his good kart for the Supernats. Late Saturday, right before qualifying, Mike Robbins thinks that there are too many shifters in the stock Honda class, as the track is pretty tight. He's afraid that the real fast guys are going to catch up to the real slow guys, and there could be carnage as some of the passing zones are tight. He then says that he'll break out Stock shifters into two classes, S3 (385 lbs) and S4 drivers (400 lbs for this race), and move the S4 drivers into the Open Shifter class (400 lbs), and then he'll make the S3 class the finale for the event. He figures that this should break the groups into two groups of about 22 each, instead of 30 and 13. Just about everyone agrees, as this isn't a points event, it is more of a "Hey, let's put on a good show for karting and get more people interested in the sport".
Mike Robbin's Select Shifter Team karts ready to roll
Jeff, Wayne, and other people assume that we will run the S3 class, as that is normally what we run at the ProKart Challenge race. I start arguing that we should enter the S4 class, and run with the Open Shifters. Jeff and Wayne say that why wimp out and not run with the fast guys in S3 like we normally do? I argue back that:
1. I'm trying to get the kart ready for Supernats S4 class. I want to run at S4 weight against S4 drivers. I won't be racing S3 drivers at the Supernats.
2. Looking at the S3 class, I tell them that what will happen is that all the slower drivers will drop out and move to S4. The only people left in S3 will be the REALLY fast guys like Jacob Neal, Jason Toft, Mike's slew of fast guys (Cushenberry/Schoombee/Legate), and a bunch of other fast guys that we haven't beaten all year. I mean, four of the top 11 rated Stock Honda drivers in the world are entered in the S3 race. (although no one else in the world races stock Honda shifters except for us USA drivers) Which uh....means that Wayne, Jeff and I will be fighting to see who will not come in LAST PLACE(13th place or so) in front of thousands of people. I get humiliated enough at at PKC S3 race in front of 50 spectators.
3. If we run S4, according to posted practice times we can beat all but five of the Open Shifter drivers despite their extra 3-5 more HP, and if any of the front runners break, we have a chance to be ON THE PODIUM with the umbrella girls, in front of hundreds of people.
4. Everyone knows we are Cheating Bastards, and this would be the proper Cheating Bastard move to make, given the above circumstances. It would be expected of us.
Start/Finish at 6 a.m. Saturday morning
After about 30 minutes of debate, we decide to throw our hats into the S4 class. Podium, here we come! I tell Mike that we are declaring ourselves be drivers in the S4 class, not the S3 class. He kinda looks at me funny, and then says, "Okay". We strap our weight on, and go to qualifying at 400 lbs. To keep the confusion down, it is decided that qualifying will be keep in the same groups as before (Stock Honda and Open Shifters), and then after qualifying they will merge the declared S4 drivers into the Open Shifter class.
Bobby Legate comes out of retirement and throws the kart into P1!
Out of 29 Stock Honda shifter drivers, Jeff and I qualifying 11th and 12th (running at 400 lbs), and Wayne is at 19th. Bobby Legate, after skipping a few races in previous months, throws his kart with controlled recklessness into the turns during qualifying, misses hitting any barriers, and throws down a SPECTACULAR 37.12 and takes pole over people that were arguably favored to win pole position. He beats Jeff and I by a full second (but we did have another 15 lbs on our karts because we ran at the 400 S4 weight instead of the 385 lbs S3 weight) We look at the Open Shifter qualifying list, and after the merge, it looks like we will be 9th and 10th, only 6/10ths off of pole with the built motor guys, and only 2/10ths from the front of the "S4 pole leader" Casey Scherer. Heh....the plan is working so far. Ross Brawn would be proud of my pre-race strategies! I could certainly help the Renault F1 team with their pre-race strategies....
Pos | No. | Name | Best time | In lap | Best speed | Diff | Gap | Laps |
1 | 51c | Bobby Legate | 37.128 | 7 | 63.025 | 7 | ||
2 | 33 | Jacob Neal | 37.334 | 5 | 62.677 | 0.206 | 0.206 | 5 |
3 | 111C | Clinton Schoombee | 37.486 | 6 | 62.423 | 0.358 | 0.152 | 6 |
4 | 52 | Jason Toft | 37.760 | 2 | 61.970 | 0.632 | 0.274 | 2 |
5 | 17 | Vivek Tandon | 37.866 | 7 | 61.797 | 0.738 | 0.106 | 7 |
6 | 27 | Patrick Cushenberry | 37.884 | 6 | 61.768 | 0.756 | 0.018 | 7 |
7 | 46 | Slava Prikhodko | 37.908 | 7 | 61.728 | 0.780 | 0.024 | 7 |
8 | 422 | Willy Musgrave | 37.970 | 4 | 61.628 | 0.842 | 0.062 | 7 |
9 | 60 | Casey Scherer | 38.032 | 6 | 61.527 | 0.904 | 0.062 | 7 |
10 | 89 | Paul Russell | 38.176 | 7 | 61.295 | 1.048 | 0.144 | 8 |
11 | 4 | Jeff Littrell | 38.194 | 5 | 61.266 | 1.066 | 0.018 | 7 |
12 | 55 | Doug Hayashi | 38.226 | 7 | 61.215 | 1.098 | 0.032 | 7 |
13 | 322 | Billy Musgrave | 38.271 | 2 | 61.143 | 1.143 | 0.045 | 6 |
14 | 123 | Randy McKee | 38.329 | 6 | 61.050 | 1.201 | 0.058 | 7 |
15 | 24K | Kyle Hathcox | 38.361 | 4 | 60.999 | 1.233 | 0.032 | 5 |
16 | 69 | Peter Abba | 38.521 | 7 | 60.746 | 1.393 | 0.160 | 7 |
17 | 24 | Harley Owen | 38.619 | 7 | 60.592 | 1.491 | 0.098 | 9 |
18 | 21 | Ken Schilling | 38.826 | 10 | 60.269 | 1.698 | 0.207 | 10 |
19 | 800 | Wayne Mello | 39.109 | 2 | 59.833 | 1.981 | 0.283 | 2 |
20 | 222 | Greg Nelson | 39.266 | 6 | 59.594 | 2.138 | 0.157 | 7 |
21 | 11 | Jason Attwood | 39.472 | 2 | 59.283 | 2.344 | 0.206 | 2 |
22 | 50 | Mark Sundberg | 39.822 | 7 | 58.761 | 2.694 | 0.350 | 9 |
23 | 66 | Todd Scholta | 39.857 | 7 | 58.710 | 2.729 | 0.035 | 9 |
24 | 622 | Steve Berg | 39.961 | 6 | 58.557 | 2.833 | 0.104 | 8 |
25 | 6 | Kevin Meacham | 40.160 | 7 | 58.267 | 3.032 | 0.199 | 9 |
26 | 07 | Tim Hepburn | 40.442 | 7 | 57.861 | 3.314 | 0.282 | 9 |
27 | 139 | Michael Young | 41.011 | 7 | 57.058 | 3.883 | 0.569 | 9 |
28 | 14K | Jonathon Allen | --:--:--.--- | 0 | - | 0.000 | 0 | |
Not Classified | ||||||||
DQ | 78 | Austin Countryman | 39.802 | 8 | 58.791 | 0.000 |
Neil, Toft, Legate, Schoombee, Cushenberry......pretty hard crack into this
group
Sunday Morning
The next day, the grid positions are posted.
If we would have stayed in S3, the Pulp Guys would be bringing up rear of the
grid. And it looks like most of the Stock Honda field figured out the same
thing that we did, meaning that cracking the
Neal/Toft/Cushenberry/Schoombee/Legate wall of speed at the front of the group
would be tough. About 17 out of the 30 Stock Honda
drivers move over to the Open Shifter class in an attempt to get to the podium.
So now the OTHER class has too many drivers. Oh well, but that plays into
our favor. After Mike sees that most of the older drivers moved to the S4 class, he
proposes that S4 will have their own podium since there are so many of them.
Mike says that if we want, he'll buy trophies for S4 out of his own pocket
(first place gets a custom painted helmet). The S4 guys respond that we
don't want Mike to put money out of his own pocket, as the S4 drivers were not
expecting to get a trophy anyways because we were entered in the class with all
the S3 fast guys. One of the S4 drivers said that's good idea, but at
least let us take
a picture with the trophies if we make it to the podium so it looks like we won
something, and everyone agrees
that will be a good deal.
Fans lining the streets
Wayne comes up to me, and says that his seat developed a hole in yesterday during qualifying, and now he has a big bruise/welt on his right butt cheek as it was rubbing on the ground. He shows me picture he took of it with his phone in the miror, just like you see on those "personal advertisements" on craigslist. Uuughh. He suggests that maybe I should put the picture in the next NSX-Files chapter, so I'd have some material to get off my ass and update the chapter. I tell him I don't want to get the site tagged as a gay porn site. There could be PTA moms reading this page.
Heat Race 1, Open Shifter, 30 drivers.
I'm gridded 9th. On the start, I go to the inside, Jeff goes to the
outside. One of the open shifter guys spins in turn 1, moves right into
Jeff's path who is charging on the outside, and they collide. Jeff's kart frame is
pretty much destroyed, so he's out of the race. All of a sudden, my right
butt cheek is on fire. Damn.....I think I have a small hole in my seat. The track is kinda bumpy, and every time I go over
a manhole in a couple of the turns, my ass can tell the manhole cover is about 1/16th an inch higher than the
surrounding ground, as it slams my butt. I also know where the bumps are
on the straightaway, every damn one. I start to slightly lift myself out
of my seat when I know a bump is coming, to relieve some of the pain. But dammit, I ain't DNFing
like I did in my last two events.
I stay clean, suck up the pain, and finish 7th. Wayne finishes 10th. I check my seat after
the race, and I have a bit of a problem with the seat. Damn!
Luckily, I have and older seat, re-enforced with carbon fiber, that I swap out.
Seat blew out by hitting the ground. Which means my ass was hitting the
ground
Heat 1
os | No. | Name | Laps | Total time | Diff | Best time | In lap | Best speed |
1 | 44 | Peter Mastro | 10 | 5:46.522 | 38.030 | 7 | 61.530 | |
2 | 321 | Imran Husain | 10 | 5:47.931 | 1.409 | 37.731 | 6 | 62.018 |
3 | 172 | Troy Butts | 10 | 5:48.054 | 1.532 | 37.992 | 8 | 61.592 |
4 | 18 | Robert Marks | 10 | 5:54.550 | 8.028 | 37.953 | 10 | 61.655 |
5 | 60 | Casey Scherer | 10 | 5:56.010 | 9.488 | 38.284 | 9 | 61.122 |
6 | 89 | Paul Russell | 10 | 5:57.000 | 10.478 | --:--:--.--- | 0 | - |
7 | 55 | Doug Hayashi | 10 | 5:58.544 | 12.022 | 38.168 | 9 | 61.308 |
8 | 222 | Greg Nelson | 10 | 6:05.668 | 19.146 | 39.230 | 9 | 59.648 |
9 | 24K | Kyle Hathcox | 10 | 6:06.942 | 20.420 | 38.142 | 9 | 61.350 |
10 | 800 | Wayne Mello | 10 | 6:09.276 | 22.754 | 39.237 | 10 | 59.638 |
11 | 622 | Steve Berg | 10 | 6:09.719 | 23.197 | 39.240 | 10 | 59.633 |
12 | 9 | Mark Helms | 10 | 6:10.802 | 24.280 | 39.141 | 10 | 59.784 |
13 | 07 | Tim Hepburn | 10 | 6:11.691 | 25.169 | 39.492 | 5 | 59.253 |
14 | 50 | Mark Sundberg | 10 | 6:13.385 | 26.863 | 39.504 | 5 | 59.235 |
15 | 14K | Jonathon Allen | 10 | 6:13.530 | 27.008 | 39.608 | 5 | 59.079 |
16 | 66 | Todd Scholta | 10 | 6:15.530 | 29.008 | 39.514 | 9 | 59.220 |
17 | 21 | Ken Schilling | 10 | 6:17.712 | 31.190 | 38.214 | 8 | 61.234 |
18 | 43 | Austin Countryman | 10 | 6:21.831 | 35.309 | 39.581 | 10 | 59.119 |
19 | 14C | Alan Lusk | 10 | 6:23.535 | 37.013 | 39.834 | 8 | 58.744 |
20 | 11 | Jason Attwood | 10 | 6:25.765 | 39.243 | 39.975 | 9 | 58.537 |
21 | 91 | Kyle Lewis | 9 | 5:55.771 | 1 Lap | 38.893 | 6 | 60.165 |
22 | 11B | Craig Cutler | 9 | 12:05.526 | 6:09.755 | 40.609 | 9 | 57.623 |
23 | 6 | Kevin Meacham | 8 | 5:28.022 | 2 Laps | 39.626 | 4 | 59.052 |
24 | 911 | Tim Wyatt | 7 | 4:10.611 | 3 Laps | 40.071 | 4 | 58.396 |
25 | 41 | Darrell Tunnell | 6 | 3:27.953 | 4 Laps | 39.875 | 5 | 58.683 |
26 | 65 | David Ayotte | 2 | 1:02.520 | 8 Laps | 45.810 | 2 | 51.081 |
27 | 55 | Roy Montgomery | 0 | --:--:--.--- | --:--:--.--- | 0 | - | |
28 | 123 | Randy McKee | 0 | --:--:--.--- | --:--:--.--- | 0 | - | |
29 | 139 | Michael Young | 0 | --:--:--.--- | --:--:--.--- | 0 | - | |
30 | 7 | Matt Treglia | 0 | --:--:--.--- | --:--:--.--- | 0 |
The Main Event
I get my seat swapped out with an older seat that is more "reinforced" with
carbon fiber and extra fiber glass. Makes the chassis more stiff, but my
butt should be okay. Jeff has his Supernats kart in the trailer, but he
thinks if he starts from the back of the pack on a tight track like this, he
could take a chance at crashing his good kart. He decides to bow out of
the race.
Looking at the grid, I'm in 7th over all, and in terms of S4 drivers, I'm gridded 3rd behind Casey Scherer and Paul Russell. Right behind me are Greg Nelson, Kyle Hathcox and Wayne Mello, and we all think we belong on the podium. I had the 2nd fastest lap time of all the S4 guys in Heat Race 1, with Kyle Hathcox beating me by .02. I Figure that my butt was dragging on the ground, so I coulda been a little faster. I think I'm ready for the main, and more importantly, I think I am ready for the Supernats!
Legate and Cushenberry
We are lined up on Lancaster Blvd, motors revving, two stroke exhaust smoke everywhere, sound blaring off the buildings, and people lined up along the fences watching what's gonna happen in turn 1. This is the moment that drivers live for! Al Pacino would scream, "Because that's what LIVING is!"
Green flag drops, and I get an uncharacteristic bad start. I take the inside, and Nelson, Wayne, and Hathcox get by me on the outside. ARRRRGH! Now I'm behind Wayne, and it takes me a couple of laps to get by him. Then I chase down Nelson, and it takes a good 6 laps to get cleanly by him. About a 100 yards up I see Paul Russell's kart, and I start the chase. With two laps left, I get right behind Russell, but I can't make a run on him to make a pass. The checker comes out. No one really knows who finished where. We come off the track, and talk to a track worker, and he's on the radio trying to find out the results. The people that make it to the podium for S4 and Open Shifter get to do one more victory lap in front of the crowd and park their karts next to the podium by turn 1 on the track. The course worker gets ahold of race control and Russell takes 3rd in S4. I miss the podium by 3/10th of a second in a 24 lap race. ARRRGH! Kyle Hathcox, who was behind me at the start, wins S4, with Scherer taking 2nd. I beat all but two of the Open Shifter guys. Peter Mastro, Robert Marks, and Kyle Lewis make it to the podium in the Open Shifter class.
Clinton was hauling ass in Turn 2 in the main event
In the S3 class, Toft and Neal duke it out until Toft hits a barrier. The S3 guys finish Neal, Legate, Cushenberry, and Willy Musgrave challenges the S3 youngsters and takes a very, very respectable 4th place. It was great watching the S3 guys come flying around some of those turns.
Main Race, Open Shifters + S4 Stock Honda
Pos | No. | Name | Laps | Total time | Diff | Best time | In lap | Best speed |
1 | 44 | Peter Mastro | 24 | 14:47.755 | 37.503 | 15 | 62.395 | |
2 | 18 | Robert Marks | 24 | 14:52.316 | 4.561 | 37.515 | 8 | 62.375 |
3 | 24K | Kyle Hathcox | 24 | 14:56.103 | 8.348 | 37.582 | 8 | 62.264 |
4 | 60 | Casey Scherer | 24 | 14:57.803 | 10.048 | 37.792 | 18 | 61.918 |
5 | 89 | Paul Russell | 24 | 15:08.156 | 20.401 | 37.759 | 9 | 61.972 |
6 | 55 | Doug Hayashi | 24 | 15:08.470 | 20.715 | 38.008 | 23 | 61.566 |
7 | 21 | Ken Schilling | 24 | 15:17.231 | 29.476 | 38.280 | 21 | 61.129 |
8 | 222 | Greg Nelson | 24 | 15:20.814 | 33.059 | 38.723 | 11 | 60.429 |
9 | 800 | Wayne Mello | 24 | 15:25.598 | 37.843 | 38.691 | 22 | 60.479 |
10 | 91 | Kyle Lewis | 24 | 15:25.830 | 38.075 | 38.055 | 21 | 61.490 |
11 | 55 | Roy Montgomery | 24 | 15:25.960 | 38.205 | 37.951 | 20 | 61.658 |
12 | 9 | Mark Helms | 23 | 14:48.614 | 1 Lap | 38.514 | 20 | 60.757 |
13 | 622 | Steve Berg | 23 | 14:48.632 | 0.018 | 38.825 | 21 | 60.270 |
14 | 14K | Jonathon Allen | 23 | 14:48.871 | 0.257 | 38.532 | 21 | 60.729 |
15 | 911 | Tim Wyatt | 23 | 14:55.672 | 7.058 | 38.809 | 22 | 60.295 |
16 | 123 | Randy McKee | 23 | 15:00.945 | 12.331 | 38.402 | 21 | 60.934 |
17 | 11 | Jason Attwood | 23 | 15:11.965 | 23.351 | 39.679 | 19 | 58.973 |
18 | 43 | Austin Countryman | 23 | 15:16.960 | 28.346 | 39.028 | 22 | 59.957 |
19 | 14C | Alan Lusk | 23 | 15:18.646 | 30.032 | 39.336 | 22 | 59.487 |
20 | 07 | Tim Hepburn | 22 | 15:27.005 | 2 Laps | 39.614 | 18 | 59.070 |
21 | 66 | Todd Scholta | 21 | 14:00.737 | 3 Laps | 39.745 | 11 | 58.875 |
22 | 50 | Mark Sundberg | 21 | 15:04.164 | 1:03.427 | 38.987 | 18 | 60.020 |
23 | 65 | David Ayotte | 21 | 15:05.506 | 1:04.769 | 42.090 | 11 | 55.595 |
24 | 41 | Darrell Tunnell | 20 | 12:58.306 | 4 Laps | 38.031 | 10 | 61.529 |
25 | 172 | Troy Butts | 15 | 16:12.760 | 9 Laps | 37.410 | 11 | 62.550 |
26 | 321 | Imran Husain | 12 | 7:05.914 | 12 Laps | 37.727 | 10 | 62.025 |
27 | 6 | Kevin Meacham | 11 | 7:05.246 | 13 Laps | 39.525 | 11 | 59.203 |
28 | 139 | Michael Young | 10 | 6:34.897 | 14 Laps | 40.848 | 7 | 57.286 |
29 | 11B | Craig Cutler | 3 | 1:38.932 | 21 Laps | 41.707 | 2 | 56.106 |
30 | 7 | Matt Treglia | 0 | --:--:--.--- | --:--:--.--- | 0 |
Final Race, S3 hot shoes: (Jeff, Wayne and I haven't beat any of the guys below in a long time...)
Pos | No. | Name | Laps | Total time | Diff | Best time | In lap | Best speed |
1 | 33 | Jacob Neal | 24 | 14:43.702 | 36.148 | 19 | 64.734 | |
2 | 51c | Bobby Legate | 24 | 14:48.670 | 4.968 | 36.775 | 8 | 63.630 |
3 | 27 | Patrick Cushenberry | 24 | 14:56.245 | 12.543 | 36.995 | 16 | 63.252 |
4 | 422 | Willy Musgrave | 24 | 14:59.944 | 16.242 | 37.200 | 12 | 62.903 |
5 | 69 | Peter Abba | 24 | 15:00.205 | 16.503 | 37.096 | 23 | 63.080 |
6 | 111C | Clinton Schoombee | 24 | 15:04.673 | 20.971 | 36.330 | 20 | 64.410 |
7 | 17 | Vivek Tandon | 24 | 15:07.558 | 23.856 | 37.403 | 16 | 62.562 |
8 | 322 | Billy Musgrave | 23 | 14:48.812 | 1 Lap | 36.822 | 13 | 63.549 |
9 | 46 | Slava Prikhodko | 23 | 15:07.088 | 18.276 | 36.946 | 18 | 63.336 |
10 | 52 | Jason Toft | 20 | 12:11.257 | 4 Laps | 36.266 | 13 | 64.523 |
11 | 24 | Harley Owen | 0 | --:--:--.--- | --:--:--.--- | 0 | - |
I'd have to say that next to the Supernats, the Lancaster Grand Prix is one of the best events around because:
1. Lots of spectators
Saturday night after practice, Streets of Lancaster filled with people
2. Racing in the City Streets
3. Track layout was exciting: One small mistake and you crash into a barrier. But like the Virginia City Hill Climb, if you can get through a race without crashing, you feel like you climbed Mount Everest or cheated Death, and suddenly you are super human.
4. Huge group of shifters in your class. When was the last time you saw 30 shifters in race except for maybe the Supernationals?
5. Mike Robbins did a great job rallying the shifter drivers to attend, and to be our interface with the Tri-C Kart club, as Tri-C doesn't run any shifters in their normal race day program.
I get home, take a look at my butt in the mirror, and my ENTIRE right butt cheek looks like it is a combination of bruised purple and bright red like a big ass plum. I think about taking a picture of my injury, and then comparing my picture with Wayne's picture to see who's is uuhhh...bigger. I decide against it.
Helmet camera video - 180 meg Windows Media file do a right click save target as. After you see the video, you'll be there next year with your shifter kart!
Other Miscellaneous Stuff
So I get this Federal Subpoena
Here's a weird story for you. I'm number one on Google if you click on
Google's "Images" search tab, and type in "blank marriage certificate". People
pay big bucks to be number one on Google. Not sure how I got there....but
that's where the story gets too weird to even fathom. If you have 30
minutes for a story, read this link:
http://corner-carvers.com/forums/showthread.php?t=41993&highlight=subpoena
Or, if you have time for a 5 minute Youtube video explaining the story, go to:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pSDuWY-uvkg
That blank marriage certificate from my
minister kit got me subpoenaed
Cholesterol Update
From the last chapter, my total cholesterol level
Total was 204 (LDL+HDL + (.2 x Triglycerides)). Wayne's was 236.
Both sorta bad numbers, as you want to definitely be below 200. We took
two different approaches to getting the cholesterol down to "normal" numbers.
I stopped eating my usual 3 cheese pizzas and 3 steaks a week, and substituted
more stuff like soup and sandwiches, and took a couple of those Costco fish oil
tablets a day. After 3.5 months, my total cholesterol number is now 187.
Wayne continues eating the same crap he always eats, which basically means he
goes to a restaurant/fast food for all meals. He chooses to take the
statin pills to lower his cholesterol, (since he already takes about 20 other
"supplement pills", so why not just take a couple more), and he gets to 177.
He declares himself the winner....but I think that is like taking steroids and
then saying you can hit the ball farther than someone else!
My streak of 125 days with no steak or pizza is helping my cholesterol get down
Bruce Springsteen Tour ending
Springsteen and the E Street Band is running on all cylinders. They become
the "house band" on the first night of the 25 Anniversary of the Rock and Roll
Hall of Fame at
Madison Square Garden. A couple of days later, my sister flies out see him
at two nights at the Garden, playing the entire "Wild Innocent, and E Street Shuffle" album
one night, and the entire "River" album on night two. Most of the
attendees agree it was two of the best performances they have ever seen.
Damn! I shoulda went. I'm an idiot.
Gogol Bordello
The Gypsy punks came into town, and put on another great live show.
Other reviews from this tour:
1. http://www.nodepression.com/profiles/blogs/live-review-gogol-bordello
2.
http://blogs.phoenixnewtimes.com/uponsun/2009/10/concert_review_gogol_bordello.php
3.
http://clubnotes.pmpblogs.com/concert-reviews/concert-review-gogol-bordello-rocks-the-fox-in-boulder-colorado/
4. http://www.guttersnipenews.com/2009/10/10/gogol-bordello/
Get off thy ass and see something out of your comfort zone. You might be amazed at what is out there.
Multi-Cultural Gypsy Punk Celebration
Poker
On August 9, 2009, I was down to my last $30 in my internet poker account. I then
went on a good run, and ran it up to $500. I am a genius. For THREE MONTHS, I played in
about five or six of the 9 person Sit N Go tournaments each day, for total of 518
tournaments, probably 180 hours of poker, comprised of about 22,000 hands of poker. And then my
luck/skill ran out.....and I went busto. I'm a moron. I'm giving up online poker for a
while, I refuse to make another deposit. I thought for sure I would be able to run up my account to about
$3000. So much for that. Interestingly enough, I did good in
the low entry fee games, and the high entry fee games. My weakness seems
to be in the middle entry fee games. Hummm...must re-evaluate.
PokerTracker 3
statistics are here.
Softball
We ended the season a miserable 3-7-2, taking 4th out of 5 teams in our
division, which is the second highest division in Huntington Beach. A good
way of thinking about it is we are the 9th best team out of about 64 coed teams
that play in Huntington Beach. The bad news is that anytime you go 3-7-2,
you feel like a loser! Our outfield is having problem seeing the ball at
night, probably because the average age is around 43 years old. The seem
to need night vision glasses. Our
shortstop (me) kicked a lot of balls the last two games. The girls are
starting to hit good again....we'll do better in the next season starting in
January.
Onbase percentage chart.
Al (our softball pitcher) standing next to Gary Carlton, possibly the USA's best
shifter driver
Housing still crashing, but stock market up
I can't figure it out. Can you? Everyone says the economy is on
the upswing.
1. US Foreclosure Filings
Surpass 300,000 for 8th Straight month
2. Orange County Foreclosure Notices
Hit Record 8000 (for the MONTH). There's a lot of people not paying
their mortgages, and the banks ain't foreclosing on them fast enough nor are
they selling any REO properties cheap enough. It seems like they are still
stockpiling REOs, and trying to dribble them out slowly so they don't cause
prices to crash anymore.
3. Since late 2006, 371 major lending operations have imploded. NSX-Files/Pulp Racing has been tracking this since April 2007, when it 30 more lenders went belly up making the total 67 at that time.
4. Jason works as a yacht mechanic/tech. He said things were still okay in the luxury market until last month, and then all repair maintenance work just grinded to a halt.
Supernats Prep
Well.....our karts seem to be running good. We do two practice sessions at
Perris, with Alex Barron giving us adult supervision to make sure our karts are
mechanically sound, and for some driving tips. I run 39.1 on old tires,
which means I should be in the 38.x range on new tires. I throw on some
new tires.....crap, no 38's for me. Crap. Alex says that the kart is
over stuck and has too much grip, and if the kart feels like this at the
Supernats, start taking grip out of the kart by changing axles, seat position,
etc. Alex then hops in my kart and in two laps burns a 38.6. I won't
be getting a day job providing kart driving lessons to people.
So ten days before the Supernats, our karts are pretty much ready to go. Usually we are scrambling until the very last minute. Perhaps Raceaflais will give us a break this year.
F1 drivers Nelson Piquet Jr., Sebastian Buemi, and Michael Schumacher racing
with us at The Rio
A couple of weeks ago, SuperKartUSA confirmed that Red Bull F1
drivers Buemi and Alguersuari were confirmed for Super Pro class:
http://www.superkartsusa.com/superna...-superpro.html
On Monday, November 9th, SKUSA announces that seven time Formula One World
Champion Michael Schumacher is racing in the SuperPro class.
http://www.superkartsusa.com/superna...nals-xiii.html
Algueruari drops out, but Nelson Piquet Jr. enters also. The SuperPro
racing will now have 3 Formula One drivers, the best factory drivers from Europe
for Tony Kart, CRG, GP, Intrepid, etc, and top American kart drivers like Gary
Carlton.
How does Pulp Racing handicap the S4 race? Look below.
Ekartingnews.com publishes their S4 preview for the Supernats, and mentions Jeff's name and my name. If I have to handicap the field from what I know right now, without seeing anyone in practice or the heat races, I'd probably say it looks like a real tight field, and go with this assessment:
S4 Driver | Odds to Win |
Comments |
Jeff Littrell | 3-2 | Has won S4 class in 2006 and 2007. Can his neck hold out? |
Mike Jones | 5-2 | Took 2nd last year, but doesn't have sidekick Chris Jennings in same class. |
Doug Hayashi | 3-1 | Took 3rd in 2007. Raceaflais usually enters the picture, spoiling 2006 and 2008 podium runs. |
Paul Russell | 3-1 | Always real close to top 3 finish, took 4th in 2007. 2009 SCCA Autocross Karting Champ. |
Craig Sender | 3-1 | 4th in 2006 and 4th in 2008. Could be his year to move up |
Kyle Hathcox | 3-1 | Runs PKC S3. Took S4 win at Lancaster Grand Prix. Probably 20+ years younger than most of the drivers. Could surprise people. |
Steve Perdue | 3-1 | Took 5th last year, after starting from near the back of the pack due to DQ in qualifying. |
John Espinor | 4-1 | Took 3rd in 2006, but didn't run last two Supernats. Hasn't run on existing track config. |
That's it for now. I think I'm holding pocket Queens, will my pair hold up after all the heat races and main race are flopped? EKN live streaming commentary on races here. Competition schedule here.
S4 Supernats title: Everyone is "ALL IN", and we are waiting for the flop.
Can someone hit trips and beat Littrell?
Thursday, November 12
Cooper comes down with H1N1.
Saturday, November 14
The wife comes down with H1N1. Crap......can I make it to Vegas without
being another H1N1 victim?