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Post by jrm88 on May 31, 2010 21:47:24 GMT -5
We are home.....actually, we've been home from that, but had to take TC to the hospital.......
anyhoo, to make the long story short - for tonight - Travis came home with 7th place in the A-main after running 4th much of the race; Trevor came home with 4th in the A-main and kept up with the 'big boys' for quite some time....
The track was a 1/10th mile - twice the size of most QM tracks - it was fast and slick and we were given some seriously bad advice about the tires to use there (can you say 'set-up' to fail?)
Anyway, going to go say hi in the other section and then go try to get TC back to sleep......
More of a report tomorrow.....
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Post by jrm88 on Jun 1, 2010 6:21:46 GMT -5
hmmmmmm....guess I'll start with the trip......uneventful - something good for us! But we didn't get in until after 11 on Friday night - which meant no practice for a track we had never been to before. The track was HUGE by our track's standards (and the standards of any other track we, or the drivers we race with, had been to)....
Saturday morning arrives bright with beautiful blue skies (while east of us, at Region 1 States where other members of our club went so they could get ready for Mini-Indy as that track is more like there, it was raining)....we get signed-in, safetied, and mount our new (later proven to be worthless) tires and get the boys down to get fueled in.....we watch timers to get an idea of the two to three fast lines around the track....and our fellow club drivers get in their timers and don't do too badly - though the youngest two time into the C-main while the oldest of those three times into the D-main....the boys go out and, unfortunately, both get slow time for the A-main - but they both know the line and are complimented by a few handlers from the host club that they, incredibly, understood the line quite well for not even practicing.....both are very loose and need to be tightened up for the A-mains the next day....
the remainder of the day was spent watching more timers and then watching our three young fans race their lower mains.....Kyle was scared out of his mind racing and just wouldn't even attempt to race the other cars.....he finished about 8th and was done for the weekend....Dylan and Ryan went out and raced their way into the B-mains for their Junior Honda group - they looked good.....unfortunately, they finished 5th and 6th in their B-mains - and that was the end of their weekend as well - this turns out well for our boys, as Dyl and Kyle's dad spent Sunday helping us out....
....back with more laters....
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Post by 71fan on Jun 1, 2010 10:31:13 GMT -5
Skeered?
Get an old mattress and put it next to the car. Strap the kid in. Turn the car over. Do it a few times and make is a faster flip as ya go along. Shucks, I bet after a bit the kid is going to start thinking it's fun.
Glad to hear the trip was uneventful....bout time!!!!
Bummer about the tires. Hope you can use them down the road
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Post by jrm88 on Jun 1, 2010 12:33:21 GMT -5
This track should never have been sanctioned.....the walls are supposed to be right next to the outside of the track....and, instead, they had GRASS - not just infield grass but grass outside of the two stretches and all of turn 1 and 2.....yes, grass.....you know, the stuff they are getting RID OF at the tracks the pros race because it isn't safe? Who could blame the kid? He's not 'skeered' to race anywhere else....but that place was unsafe - several members of the QMA board and Region board made some serious 'suggestions' to this club about what needed to be improved for safety reasons....
the tires are a wash - we are out the $$$ we spent for them and they are junk already - we get weeks of racing out of the other brands we use.....
I'll do the A-main report later - and the grass will come into play when I do that
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Post by jrm88 on Jun 1, 2010 20:29:30 GMT -5
A-mains were the game of the day on Sunday.....but they were lllllllllllooooooooooonnnnnnnnngggggggg....most 40 lappers taking about 30-40 minutes due to spins, wrecks, etc. The Junior Novice race - only a 30 lapper - took over an HOUR! Normally there are time limits - but since it was Grands Format - there is no limit.
Travis was the first of our 2 A-mains in Heavy Honda. He started 9th out of 10 drivers and quickly moved up to 7th.....before getting spun out and heading to the pits to get tightened up with a round in the shocks (no clue if they went up or down - lol)....came back out 10th and again passed up to 7th before the next caution.....he moved up to around 5th and then spun again......in again for a round in the shocks, back out in 9th as one car had dropped out by then.....he got himself up to 4th, though he was lapped by the leader - and the 2nd and 3rd place cars were coming - but he held them off for about 8 laps.....just as they were passing him, he went out wide and hit the grass in turn 2 - spinning out for a third time - an automatic DQ....so he was relegate to a 7th place finish with just 7 laps left to run........he was extremely disappointed but also realized that he had hung with the 'big dogs' from this unique track....
Trevor went out two races later and was on the pole......he actually led for 2 laps!! This, as many of you know, is a big deal for my 'big' boy - as he outweighs most of his competitors by at least 70-80 pounds - usually more. He was running well but over drove into turn 4 and spun out....he came in for adjustments....but the Daddy had no help in the pits and the flagger decided that the field didn't need to be bunched up with the start......so the leaders were coming into turn 3 when he was just exiting the pits in turn 4. He spun again about 5 laps later - we think on purpose so he didn't get lapped.....this would have been a great ploy - if the next thing that happened didn't go the way it did.........he was in 4th and the guy in third spun.....Trevor spun to avoid him......and a young lady behind him ran through the grass in order to not t-bone either of the other two that were stopped on the track......a rule has been put in place this year that the judges can decide to just give all drivers involved in spins (no matter what causes them) a DOT (dead on track) if they feel they can't 'determine' what happened........so they called a DOT on the first driver, Trevor and the third driver who drove off the track since it wasn't clear...........that eliminated all 3 drivers from other tracks with about 10 laps to go.....and left the host track's TWO drivers to decide it all.....I was a bit peeved over Trevor's call - but could understand it....but they 'broke the camel's back' and made me lose my mind with the call on Allison......
So, Trevor ended up 4th in his A-main....and was a very unhappy camper who actually cried to me because he has finally realized that, no matter what we do, he may not be able to compete because of his weight.....(guess we'll be working on that diet and working out this summer)....he told us at one point he didn't want to race anywhere but Wall now (of course, a few nights of sleep later, he has changed his ming)....Me? I went to the camper to rant and rave and then hubby came and made it worse by accusing me of yelling at the judges - not true and fortunately confirmed by 3 witnesses....the judge yelled at me while I was speaking to Travis after the call.......but Karma is b(&(& and the judge that did it got hit twice with an open door as he was trying to leave the judges' stand (no, it wasn't me!)
So, anyway....that's how the boys ended up for the weekend.......they weren't last....and considering they started the A-main with only a total of 6 laps ever run before on that track, they did pretty well...
Travis is trying to talk us into going to an invitational this weekend while Trevor is down in Disney....
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Post by mrcritter on Jun 2, 2010 18:30:18 GMT -5
It sounds like they did Ok! But why is travis in heavy honda? I thought trevor went there due to his weight. Or is that an age-experience thing?
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Post by jrm88 on Jun 2, 2010 19:00:17 GMT -5
Weight....
Travis is over 100 pounds (finally) and so he has moved up to the next class - as one of the lightest, he'll have an advantage as we get the car dialed in....Also, there are less cars in that group - and the kids that drive in it are more SANE!! LOL
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Post by 71fan on Jun 3, 2010 13:39:17 GMT -5
Have you thought at all about when or if you are going to can the Midgets and maybe go to Legends or some other larger car? Maybe a junkyard/bomber stock class? With the extra power, the weight will not be as a big a factor, and Bomber Stocks might even be cheaper to run than Midgets.
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Post by jrm88 on Jun 3, 2010 21:56:04 GMT -5
we are looking at a world formula or maybe a half for the club we are in now
legends are a bit out of our league for $$$$
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Post by mrcritter on Jun 3, 2010 23:04:02 GMT -5
Ok, so what is a world formula, and what is a half? Take your time on making any switch, they are still learning where they are and there is such a thing as moving too quickly. If anything see if you can get them to the track more often, seat time is valuable.
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Post by jrm88 on Jun 4, 2010 5:20:31 GMT -5
a WF and a half are both cars like what they have - with different engines....well, okay, not exactly.....
a WR uses the same exact cars they have - and uses a Briggs and Stratton engine that is faster. ...a half is a 1/2 midget car - so it's the next size up - this also has a bigger engine and is the one car that the kids can race until 17 instead of 16.....
they do run legends at the 'big' track next to us - also on Sunday's.....so it would require, IF we were to move Trevor up there, that we get to run back and forth between the two tracks and hope and pray that the schedules work out to run both
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Post by mrcritter on Jun 4, 2010 21:50:34 GMT -5
I would concentrate on more seat time where they are, and more tracks if there are places you can run.
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Post by jrm88 on Jun 5, 2010 8:34:02 GMT -5
trying to do that......
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Post by 71fan on Jun 5, 2010 13:04:39 GMT -5
Yup....seat time....and throttle control. Kinda like the Busch cars on some tracks and (ahem) plate racing.....no lifting...
There's these little bodied go-kart things they run for kids at the Bullring down in Vegas. Seems absolutely senseless to me. Mat the throttle and steer. Why bother?
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Post by mrcritter on Jun 6, 2010 10:12:12 GMT -5
Even them can be good sperience 71, learning where to steer it to, and when, can make a difference. I like them on a road course type track!
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