North Texas Kartway held its first race of the 2012 season this past Saturday. I had just gotten back from Georgia the day before and did not feel up to racing so my dad decided to take the kart out and make his racing debut.
As soon as I returned home from Georgia on Friday, my dad and I began working on the kart to get it prepared for the first race of the year. We had the damage from the finale last year fixed but still had not fired the motor in over a month and had a few items on the list to finish up before the kart would be able to race.
On Saturday morning we loaded the kart up and headed on out to the track so my dad could get some practice in before the first qualifying session. My dad has only driven my kart twice before so he needed every second of seat time he could get. The track was very slick that day where the veterans were even saying it was a tough track to race on, let alone a rookie that has next to no seat time. My dad held on the best he could and was only a few seconds off the pace. (we are still running the old engine which takes off about one to two seconds alone) I cant remember his fastest lap of any of the sessions off the top of my head but I will update this post when I can get a copy of the times.
While my dad was back in the pits working on the kart I went to the infield and took pictures so I do not have any updates from the pits as to how the kart felt to my dad, I can only guess that he would have said “loose, loose, loose!”.
The field was light in all classes on Saturday with Yamaha SR having the most entries at five and Chonda Heavy (my dads class) having four entries. With the small field the racing went by in a hurry, only taking four hours to complete all heats for each class.
Moving on to the second heat my dad would start on the outside of row two. I was on the opposite end of the race track for the start but was able to barely see the start. My dad somehow got below the chonda light driver or the chonda light driver made a move to the outside and my dad lost grip, most likely from cold tires, and spun out while the light driver went to avoid my dad and ended up going off track and spinning out in to the dirt. There was no damage to either kart but this was not the way either driver wanted to start the pre final. My dad was able to keep the kart pointed the right direction for most of the heat after that with only a couple of spins and also managed to bring his fastest time down by a few tenths. Again, I do not have the times with me but will update the post once I have a copy.
During the break before the final heat races of the day I went over to the pits to hang out with my dad and the other drivers. By this point I was wishing I was racing but today was my dads race day so I bit my tongue and kept on smiling and taking pictures! My dad did not have much to say about the kart although it was still snapping loose when he got on the gas.
During the final races I was back in the infield and my dad was doing his thing in the pits. My dad started in the same place as the pre final, outside on the second row, but decided to hang back this time just in case he spun out again. I was between the start/finish line and turn one for the start of this race and turn one looked good for everyone. Turn two gave my dad problems though, the second he got on the gas the kart came around on him but he got it back up and going again fairly quickly. He had a good clean race once again and ultimately came home fourth.
I am very proud of my dad and his efforts put into the race this past Saturday. He kept the kart clean but more importantly he had fun which is the most important thing to be doing while racing!
That was the end of the controlled racing and it was time for me to jump back into my kart for the first time in two months! Leaving the pits and going through, attempting that is, to go through turn three, I had zero grip then touched the gas and around I went! I was laughing as hard as possible with a helmet as I looked back and saw my dad laughing at me. So I brought the kart back into the pits and while my dad was away I widened the front track width without him knowing. With the adjustment I had more grip on turn in and the kart didn’t snap as hard as it had been when getting back into the throttle. The track was still slick but as the tires warmed up the kart began to get more and more grip. The motor was struggling to make any power and I was only able to manage a 48.0 I believe. (track record is a 44.0) It was a rough session for myself to see such slow speeds but it is what it is now and all I can do is work on finding more speed in my driving then hope the new motor is all I need to be competitive by the time the spring series rolls around. My dad made one last run before we packed the kart up and headed home. His fastest time during his last session was a 51.0 lap which is not bad at all for a rookie driver who also weighs quite a bit more than me.
All in all the first race of the season was a success because of the fun my dad and I had. The next race for me will be Tuesday night when I head over to Pole Position Raceway with a few of my friends and see who the best driver is out of us! The next kart race for me has not been figured out yet. The next Winter Series race will be on the 23rd.
As soon as I returned home from Georgia on Friday, my dad and I began working on the kart to get it prepared for the first race of the year. We had the damage from the finale last year fixed but still had not fired the motor in over a month and had a few items on the list to finish up before the kart would be able to race.
On Saturday morning we loaded the kart up and headed on out to the track so my dad could get some practice in before the first qualifying session. My dad has only driven my kart twice before so he needed every second of seat time he could get. The track was very slick that day where the veterans were even saying it was a tough track to race on, let alone a rookie that has next to no seat time. My dad held on the best he could and was only a few seconds off the pace. (we are still running the old engine which takes off about one to two seconds alone) I cant remember his fastest lap of any of the sessions off the top of my head but I will update this post when I can get a copy of the times.
While my dad was back in the pits working on the kart I went to the infield and took pictures so I do not have any updates from the pits as to how the kart felt to my dad, I can only guess that he would have said “loose, loose, loose!”.
The field was light in all classes on Saturday with Yamaha SR having the most entries at five and Chonda Heavy (my dads class) having four entries. With the small field the racing went by in a hurry, only taking four hours to complete all heats for each class.
Moving on to the second heat my dad would start on the outside of row two. I was on the opposite end of the race track for the start but was able to barely see the start. My dad somehow got below the chonda light driver or the chonda light driver made a move to the outside and my dad lost grip, most likely from cold tires, and spun out while the light driver went to avoid my dad and ended up going off track and spinning out in to the dirt. There was no damage to either kart but this was not the way either driver wanted to start the pre final. My dad was able to keep the kart pointed the right direction for most of the heat after that with only a couple of spins and also managed to bring his fastest time down by a few tenths. Again, I do not have the times with me but will update the post once I have a copy.
During the break before the final heat races of the day I went over to the pits to hang out with my dad and the other drivers. By this point I was wishing I was racing but today was my dads race day so I bit my tongue and kept on smiling and taking pictures! My dad did not have much to say about the kart although it was still snapping loose when he got on the gas.
During the final races I was back in the infield and my dad was doing his thing in the pits. My dad started in the same place as the pre final, outside on the second row, but decided to hang back this time just in case he spun out again. I was between the start/finish line and turn one for the start of this race and turn one looked good for everyone. Turn two gave my dad problems though, the second he got on the gas the kart came around on him but he got it back up and going again fairly quickly. He had a good clean race once again and ultimately came home fourth.
I am very proud of my dad and his efforts put into the race this past Saturday. He kept the kart clean but more importantly he had fun which is the most important thing to be doing while racing!
That was the end of the controlled racing and it was time for me to jump back into my kart for the first time in two months! Leaving the pits and going through, attempting that is, to go through turn three, I had zero grip then touched the gas and around I went! I was laughing as hard as possible with a helmet as I looked back and saw my dad laughing at me. So I brought the kart back into the pits and while my dad was away I widened the front track width without him knowing. With the adjustment I had more grip on turn in and the kart didn’t snap as hard as it had been when getting back into the throttle. The track was still slick but as the tires warmed up the kart began to get more and more grip. The motor was struggling to make any power and I was only able to manage a 48.0 I believe. (track record is a 44.0) It was a rough session for myself to see such slow speeds but it is what it is now and all I can do is work on finding more speed in my driving then hope the new motor is all I need to be competitive by the time the spring series rolls around. My dad made one last run before we packed the kart up and headed home. His fastest time during his last session was a 51.0 lap which is not bad at all for a rookie driver who also weighs quite a bit more than me.
All in all the first race of the season was a success because of the fun my dad and I had. The next race for me will be Tuesday night when I head over to Pole Position Raceway with a few of my friends and see who the best driver is out of us! The next kart race for me has not been figured out yet. The next Winter Series race will be on the 23rd.