JULY 20th Race
Well race fans, this Tuesday nite could have been awesome. Could being the operative word!
It started off a little tense. Last week we were racing well in the feature race. Caleb was passing and moving up when he started to lose power and speed falling back in the ranks. When we were cleaning the kart we noticed that we had blown the gasket AGAIN by the restricter plate. We started removing the gas tank with much difficulty becasue it is a very tight space to work in. You only can turn the allan key 1/8th of a turn at a time. It was taking forever to remove. Then just as it finally came off the @#$% gasket feel into the engine. So we started to take the side plate off to get at the thing out. By the time we went to the track we were in bits and pieces. We borrowed some better tools and got some parts from Chris Long and in no time we were back together. The warm up heat the kart was running good so we thought AWESOME we finally have everything dialed in and we are going to kick some butt. The second heat Caleb actually finished 3rd and got to scale. YEAH! we were all set for the feature race. Caleb started 8th out of 15 so I was hoping he could move up and finish in the top 5 for the nite. UNFORTUNATELY Fate had other ideas. He was racing well and moving up when he got bumped and ended up turned around in the tires. Everyone else avoided the problem and kept racing. The yellow flag did NOT come out. Caleb waited for the race to go to caution because he was backwards but NOOO. So he pushed himself and got back onto the track. The problem was now he was 3/4 of the way around the track and he was so far behind he had not a chance in hell of finishing anywhere but last. I don't know whether to be mad at the flagmen for not stopping the race or Caleb for getting back onto the track! OH WELL that is something I am just going to have to suck it up over. It just really hurts the point standings when every place you finish is 2 points. 8th to 15th is 14 points lost. What a nite! we went from running great to sitting backwards in the tires while the race passes it us by! So much like life I guess just when you think you have it all figured out life throws you a curve. So race fans, keep your head up and watch out for the curves!
Wednesday, July 21, 2010
Tuesday, July 6, 2010
Tuesday July 6th Stuck in the Middle
The first item of business is to say thank you to our new sponsor HARTZEL AUTO AND MARINE on Ormond Street in Thorold. If you need a reasonable priced oil change or someone to work on your car or boat give him a call. Dave is great and will give you awesome freindly service.
Well after a quick clean up after Sundays AWESOME race we are ready for another nite of racing. Monday after work we quickly cleaned and prepared the kart. I hate to say it was very hot and we may have missed a few important things. Caleb called me at 5 pm on my way home from work to inform me we forgot to clean the air filters. Not good since most nites we switch after all 3 races. He quickly cleaned them and left them outside in the oven that is called summer to dry. And guess what....they were dry by the time we needed them. Wow eh!
The nite started off ok but we were not running as well as Sunday. We were keeping up with the other karts but we were not able to pass as well as i would have liked. For whatever reason we just did not seem to have the power tonite. The engine i thought would have been hot enough considering the hot weather but maybe we should have taped it up. The first heat we started 4 out of 6 and finished 5th. the second heat we started 3rd out of 6 and finished 4th. That put us in 9th to start the feature. Crap! As soon as the race started he was lagging and battling with kart #37 but just could not move up. We went around in a circle and finished where we started in 9th BLAH! No money tonight and so much for trying to gain extra points. We are about in the middle of the point standings and I was hoping that we would have a good nite to move up a bit more. It would be nice to be in the top 5. Oh well. I am going to clean the clutch really good and not rush things this time so we can do better next week. oh well heres to being stuck in the middle!
Well after a quick clean up after Sundays AWESOME race we are ready for another nite of racing. Monday after work we quickly cleaned and prepared the kart. I hate to say it was very hot and we may have missed a few important things. Caleb called me at 5 pm on my way home from work to inform me we forgot to clean the air filters. Not good since most nites we switch after all 3 races. He quickly cleaned them and left them outside in the oven that is called summer to dry. And guess what....they were dry by the time we needed them. Wow eh!
The nite started off ok but we were not running as well as Sunday. We were keeping up with the other karts but we were not able to pass as well as i would have liked. For whatever reason we just did not seem to have the power tonite. The engine i thought would have been hot enough considering the hot weather but maybe we should have taped it up. The first heat we started 4 out of 6 and finished 5th. the second heat we started 3rd out of 6 and finished 4th. That put us in 9th to start the feature. Crap! As soon as the race started he was lagging and battling with kart #37 but just could not move up. We went around in a circle and finished where we started in 9th BLAH! No money tonight and so much for trying to gain extra points. We are about in the middle of the point standings and I was hoping that we would have a good nite to move up a bit more. It would be nice to be in the top 5. Oh well. I am going to clean the clutch really good and not rush things this time so we can do better next week. oh well heres to being stuck in the middle!
Sunday July 4th
To day is the BIG day of the annual Burris money races! For Caleb to win this race would mean $200 for a payout. WOW!! We were all psyched for the day and headed out to the track for 5 PM. Let me tell you it was a hot one. The track was as dry as the brownies SOMEBODY who we will not meantion, no not me, made the other day. Everyone was having a rough time trying to stay on the track. Everyone was sliding everywhere. After the first heat we went over to our freindly track guy Chris Long that we buy stuff from and had him scale and reset up out kart. It made a bit of a different in the next heat. Caleb was overdriving the course which lead to most of the slipping. Chris and i both talked him into letting up on the gas going into the corners and got him all pep talked for his feature race. Due to our so so first and second heats we started 9th out of 12 racers. hmmm i thought. This could be a problem since you needed to finish 7th or better to get any money. Off they go racing and WOW Caleb must have listened to our pep talk cuz he was actually doing what we said. He drove awesome battling him way thru the pack all the way up to 4th then after an accident and restart ended back near the end of the pack again. He faught his way back up to the front and finished 5th! YEAHHH so he got to take home some money after all. What a great night!
Wednesday, June 9, 2010
Bumper Cars On A Tuesday Nite
Well Race Fans;
If anyone is following I have been a tad busy and not updated for 3 weeks. Sorry. I will have to try harder to keep everyone updated. With us being in the Junior Restricted Division this year we are racing a bit later and by the time we pack up and my social butterfly driver gets in the truck we are late out. That and then we need to stop for our now traditional Subway snack on the way home. Gotta keep the boy feed eh! He is growning like a weed.
The last two weeks have been good for us. Last week after a hard fought battle Caleb finished 5th and for the first time in racing history got to scale after a feature race and WON MONEY! We were very excited and numerous people at the race track came over and congratulated him on him acheivement. His freind Courtland finished in front of him in 4th. What a great nite
This week on Tuesday did not start off as good. The track was badly chewed up and very bumpy. Caleb was sliding and jumping everywhere. We made some adjustments, just to make it worse. I made adjustments in the opposite direction to try to fix my fix. His first heat was 7th out of 7 and his second heat was 4th out of 7. Due to our great showing we placed a pathetic 11th out of 14 to start our big feature race. I was not optomistic. Oh thee of little faith as they say. Paul the director of karting is trying to crack down on the rough driving and purpose crashing that is happening. During the race there were numerous wipe outs and yellow flags. After each, the bad boy was sent to the back of the pack to run tail. Caleb kept his head about him and avoided all the spills and crashes and was not the cause of any either. He kept moving up the pack as people were pulled from the front of the pack and shoved tail. finally with 2 laps left of the race he had moved from 11th up to 7th. As the end of the race was underway again the leaders were fighting for positions and another wipe out happened, no yellow flags and Caleb finished 5th! For the second week in a row he got to scale and earned some money! Not a great win since it was due to an accident and from rough bumping but i guess that is racing. Not as rewarding feeling though let me tell you. i felt horrible when i found out that Caleb's freind Court who was leading the race was the one who was bumped out and thus lost. i would have hated to be in their truck on the way home. I am sure they were livid!
I have some pics that i am trying to get uploaded so hopefully soon you can see the graphics for this year. computer is not reading the camera chip right for some stupid reason.
If anyone is following I have been a tad busy and not updated for 3 weeks. Sorry. I will have to try harder to keep everyone updated. With us being in the Junior Restricted Division this year we are racing a bit later and by the time we pack up and my social butterfly driver gets in the truck we are late out. That and then we need to stop for our now traditional Subway snack on the way home. Gotta keep the boy feed eh! He is growning like a weed.
The last two weeks have been good for us. Last week after a hard fought battle Caleb finished 5th and for the first time in racing history got to scale after a feature race and WON MONEY! We were very excited and numerous people at the race track came over and congratulated him on him acheivement. His freind Courtland finished in front of him in 4th. What a great nite
This week on Tuesday did not start off as good. The track was badly chewed up and very bumpy. Caleb was sliding and jumping everywhere. We made some adjustments, just to make it worse. I made adjustments in the opposite direction to try to fix my fix. His first heat was 7th out of 7 and his second heat was 4th out of 7. Due to our great showing we placed a pathetic 11th out of 14 to start our big feature race. I was not optomistic. Oh thee of little faith as they say. Paul the director of karting is trying to crack down on the rough driving and purpose crashing that is happening. During the race there were numerous wipe outs and yellow flags. After each, the bad boy was sent to the back of the pack to run tail. Caleb kept his head about him and avoided all the spills and crashes and was not the cause of any either. He kept moving up the pack as people were pulled from the front of the pack and shoved tail. finally with 2 laps left of the race he had moved from 11th up to 7th. As the end of the race was underway again the leaders were fighting for positions and another wipe out happened, no yellow flags and Caleb finished 5th! For the second week in a row he got to scale and earned some money! Not a great win since it was due to an accident and from rough bumping but i guess that is racing. Not as rewarding feeling though let me tell you. i felt horrible when i found out that Caleb's freind Court who was leading the race was the one who was bumped out and thus lost. i would have hated to be in their truck on the way home. I am sure they were livid!
I have some pics that i am trying to get uploaded so hopefully soon you can see the graphics for this year. computer is not reading the camera chip right for some stupid reason.
Tuesday, May 4, 2010
First Nite of Official Racing
OMG RACE FANS! If you were not there you missed the most awesomest nite EVER of racing from Beyond Chaos Racing! We actually were in the top 3 for our warm-up heat and BOTH yes BOTH I DIDN'T STUDDER Qualifying heats! We crossed the scales more times tonite than All of last year. The Caleb AKA Crash ( soon to change I hope) AKA K-MAN was absolutely amazing. He was passing and drafting and moving his way thru the pack toward the front and turning some heads. People were saying Hey what is going on with that black kart this year, what did his pit crew do to make him so good this year compared to last. Well let me tell you. Oh wait if i do i will have to torture you first Hee hee.
OK now about the actual race. K started off 6th beside his friend Courtland and James Moll. The green flag waved and they were off, rounding the curves and racing down the straight away when some jerk pushed him to the top of the track and with nowhere to go slide off the bank! BUT he did not let off the gas and came back up onto the track but in last or 14th place behind the pack now. With tremendous skill ( this is Caleb's wording) he wove his way thru the pack up to 8th place. He stayed there for the rest of the race after a yellow caution. Not bad for our first nite of actual racing. It is going to be a big group again this year with 14 karts out tonite. I am very proud that we finished middle of the pack and only due to errors not lack of power or ability. Hopefully this is a sign that this year will be a good year for us, unlike last year which was BRUUTAL! I was biting my nails all race waiting for the crashes of last year which luckily did not happen. This group are older, more experienced drivers and do less stupid things to cause accidents.
So for all our race fans out there keep your eye on the black #10 we are anything but plain even if our kart has no graphics yet!
OK now about the actual race. K started off 6th beside his friend Courtland and James Moll. The green flag waved and they were off, rounding the curves and racing down the straight away when some jerk pushed him to the top of the track and with nowhere to go slide off the bank! BUT he did not let off the gas and came back up onto the track but in last or 14th place behind the pack now. With tremendous skill ( this is Caleb's wording) he wove his way thru the pack up to 8th place. He stayed there for the rest of the race after a yellow caution. Not bad for our first nite of actual racing. It is going to be a big group again this year with 14 karts out tonite. I am very proud that we finished middle of the pack and only due to errors not lack of power or ability. Hopefully this is a sign that this year will be a good year for us, unlike last year which was BRUUTAL! I was biting my nails all race waiting for the crashes of last year which luckily did not happen. This group are older, more experienced drivers and do less stupid things to cause accidents.
So for all our race fans out there keep your eye on the black #10 we are anything but plain even if our kart has no graphics yet!
Sunday, April 18, 2010
Well it begins ....
Yes it begins for another year! Today Sunday April 18th was our first practice of the season out on the good old dirt track. It is time now for me to get off my a@* and get organized for the season. I can procrastinate no longer i guess. I need to get some sponsors. Any offers let me know Hee Hee. After our first day on the track we have racked up a bit of a bill. Engine rebuild for the new division we are going into. We will now be racing junior restricted with about 6 other kids it looks like. Plus we got a new chain, bushings, clutch rebuild, nerf bar on the side, get some ethanol to race with AND we are looking at new safety equipment since Caleb seems to have outgrown that and him racing shoes. the list goes on but you get the idea.
The weather was great. Sunny but cool. There were about 15 karts out for the practise so we had a fair bit of track time and a chance to get our kart scaled and adjusted. Caleb did well with the new power and we just have to work on tightening up the kart a bit and him finding his line on the track. Not bad for a first day out anyways. Next practise in the following Sunday so I will keep everyone out there updated and post new pictures once the graphics are on when we get some f..n sponsors. Until then practise makes perfect and keep your eyes on the curves in the road.
The weather was great. Sunny but cool. There were about 15 karts out for the practise so we had a fair bit of track time and a chance to get our kart scaled and adjusted. Caleb did well with the new power and we just have to work on tightening up the kart a bit and him finding his line on the track. Not bad for a first day out anyways. Next practise in the following Sunday so I will keep everyone out there updated and post new pictures once the graphics are on when we get some f..n sponsors. Until then practise makes perfect and keep your eyes on the curves in the road.
Wednesday, September 9, 2009
Sept 8, 2009 Racing
It was a Gorgeous nite for racing! Our results were consistent for the season. We started at the end of the pack and we finished there. We had a good nite thought for my last night as Caleb's Pit Crew Chief. Next week I am back to school and he will need to find someone else. Hopefully he will do already. We made some changes to the height adjuster on the axel and played around with the rear tire width and stagger. We had a guest pit crew assistant last nite as well. Little Miss Sarah helped with the tire washing, tool holding and upkeep of pit moral. She was a great help and Caleb was the ONLY boy with an all female pit crew this year! What more can a boy ask for except that the girls were more his age and not his mother i guess.
Caleb had a bit of an attitude problem last week but was much more receptive to his pit crews assistance this week. Sponsorship threats to pull funding may have contributed to this but my resignation could also have been a factor. Depending on how he does next week without me maybe this will have been my last race. The best results i managed to help him towards were 4th last. If he places better next week maybe i should just accept defeat and step aside. Take my gold watch and go home.
This could be my last blog of the season depending on situations. September 27th and October 4th there is potential racing in Tillsonburg. It is a different type of track being an arena filled with dirt and has walls. The track is smaller and we will need to change our gears around and hopefully not roll and kill ourselves on the walls. Caleb is the king of crashes! I don't need to find out where the hospital is in Tillsonburg let me tell you. Anyways THANKS TO ALL OUR FANS! That have been checking out our blog this year. All your support is greatly appreciated and I love you for that. Caleb is already planning his graphics for next years kart. I will have to post information after the banquet on November 29th to let you know how that went. Until next time that we blog again remember -It is not just about the torque of your engine but how you handle the curves and obstacles!
Caleb had a bit of an attitude problem last week but was much more receptive to his pit crews assistance this week. Sponsorship threats to pull funding may have contributed to this but my resignation could also have been a factor. Depending on how he does next week without me maybe this will have been my last race. The best results i managed to help him towards were 4th last. If he places better next week maybe i should just accept defeat and step aside. Take my gold watch and go home.
This could be my last blog of the season depending on situations. September 27th and October 4th there is potential racing in Tillsonburg. It is a different type of track being an arena filled with dirt and has walls. The track is smaller and we will need to change our gears around and hopefully not roll and kill ourselves on the walls. Caleb is the king of crashes! I don't need to find out where the hospital is in Tillsonburg let me tell you. Anyways THANKS TO ALL OUR FANS! That have been checking out our blog this year. All your support is greatly appreciated and I love you for that. Caleb is already planning his graphics for next years kart. I will have to post information after the banquet on November 29th to let you know how that went. Until next time that we blog again remember -It is not just about the torque of your engine but how you handle the curves and obstacles!
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