This weekend was the seventh and final race on the WKA's (World Karting Association) Road Racing calender. It was also the fourth race on the WKC (Woodbridge Kart Club) schedule. This being my first season in this series, I'd never been to the Summit Point Raceway before. I did race earlier in the year at the Summit Point Shendandoah Course, but never on the full two mile track.
The track begins as a long straightway, terminating at a tricky, increasing radius right hander, followed by an incredibly bumpy full speed left hander up to the highest point on the track. The third bend is a full speed right, followed by the braking zone for turn four, a tight left hander, which takes you into the carousel. This consists of another increasing radius right-hander. You keep left, around a gradual turn into some gentle esses, followed by another full speed right. The final turn on the track is a foot-to-the-floor right onto the front straight.
This weekend was especially important for me, as I went into it with a lead in the championship. I had to win both of my races to clinch the championship in the respective classes (Jr. Sprint Lite on Saturday and Jr. Sprint Heavy on Sunday). Friday is always the practice day in WKA events, and we used the same setup we had at the previous race at the VIRginia International Raceway. After I learned the track, we changed gears, up two teeth. Other than that, not much occured on practice day. What's nice about practicing with a variety of different karts and drivers, from four-cycle animals to two-cycle Stock Leopards, is that after a faster kart passes you, you can duck in behind and learn about the racing line from them. For instance, during one of my practice session, a two-cycle sprint kart driven by Walter Troup went by me on the front straight. I ducked in behind him to see what sort of line he was taking into turn one. I discovered that he swung really wide, and dove in at the last second to get the straightest line possible. And later that evening, Don Guilbeault told me more about the line around the entire track. That's whats nice, everybody is willing to help you have fun and do well. Don's son Tyler ran my kart a few years ago, special thanks to Don for all the help this season. I'd also like to send special thanks to Mike Hines (Support on Everything), Keith Buffo(Support on Everything), Brian Fisher (Engine Tuner), and John Fisher (On-track support). All of these people, including my parents of course, helped to make this season special.
But at this point in the article, the season isn't over yet.
Saturday brought another hot day to northern West Virginia. My first race of the weekend wasn't due to start until 12:45, the phrase "hurry up and wait", was used frequently. I'll admit I was nervous, but that always goes down once you get in the seat and the engine fires up, which fortunately, it did. The sensation when you see the green flag come out, yet to be unfurled is, well, indescribable, but suffice to say, adrenaline was up. Because we do standing starts in road racing, there are several waves of the flag. There can be up to 40 karts on track, with huge speed differences. This meant I was to start on the third flag. The kart started at the wave of the first. Then the second flag dropped. Rev the engine. Keep revving. Wait, waiiiiiit.....Green! And my race had begun. even before i had exited onto the track i ran into traffic. But it seemed as though I was in the lead. But as I came around the final turn for the first time, the nose of the second place kart came into view. This meant I had to take the outside line around the last turn, but we managed to stay side by side for a drag race down the main straight. Relief settled in when the nose of the other kart disappeared from view as we entered the first turn.
I didn't see second place for a while, so I just banged in consistent laps, focusing on driving the track. And suffice to say I never saw him again. As I passed under the flagger tower, with the chequered flag waving, I, well, didn't do much really. I had won my first WKA championship. I don't really like to make a big deal about it, but a championship is a championship. I had met my goal for the weekend, win one of my two races, and in turn clinch a championship. Check.
To be continued.........*ominous music*..............Tune in at some point in the near future.........
Wednesday, September 18, 2013
Monday, September 2, 2013
2013 International Classic at Oswego Speedway
On Saturday night my dad and I drove up to Oswego Speedway in Oswego, NY for the Saturday night races for the 57th Budweiser International Classic. Four different types of cars participated on Saturday night. These being, Classic Midgets, Three-Quarter Midgets, Small-Block Supermodifieds and the ISMA Supermodifieds. By far the loudest would have been the Supermodifieds, which can hit speeds around the half-mile oval, known as the Supermodified capital of the world, of 150 MPH.
We arrived during one of the ISMA practices, and just in time to watch the qualifying time trials. The previous lap record was held at just over 15 seconds by Mike Lichty. However, toward the end of the session, DJ Schullik in his #94 car set at blistering time of 14.972 seconds at a top speed of 150.281 MPH. As soon as "14.972" appeared on the lap board the crows went berserk. It was genuinely exciting. Second in time trials was previous lap record holder Mike Lichty, with a time of 15.054, third was Chris Perley at 15.145, fourth was Ray Graham at 15.296, and fifth was Lou Cicconi at 15.372 seconds.
The first feature of the race was the American Three-Quarter Midget Racing Association's 25-lap race. It was a relatively short race, but with lots of racing action around the shortened track, which cut through the infield between corners three and four. First place was the #33 Frank Fischer, second was #1B Ryan Tidman, Matt Roselli came third in #98, fourth was Ian Cummins in the #29, and fifth was #02 Joey Bailey.
Next up was the longest and most exciting race of the night, the 75 lap feature for the Small-Block Supermodifieds. The race started out clean enough, with the first caution being brought out by the #44 of Zach Amo for spinning in turn 1. Early on in the race, the leader were single file, until they came up on the lap traffic of the Greg O'Conner in the #90. The leaders, namely the #93 of JJ Andrews, the #18 of Andrew Scharnter, and the #11 of Jason Simmons. O'Conner spun on his own in turn two, collecting Andrews and tapping Schartner. This ended O'Conner's race and put a damper on Andrews'. This occurred after the blue flag was given to O'Conner numerous times. (The blue flag basically means that the leader are going to lap you, get the heck out of the way) I felt that O'Conner probably could have given the leaders more room, but after all, racing is racing.
The race continued, with Schartner leading, and the #13 of Russ Brown close behind. Another caution came out after the #44 of Zach Amo spun again out of turn four and hitting the inside wall, ending his race. Schartner led the rest of the race, despite the hard charging Brown, and the #04 of Kraig Heroth coming from third. Schartner won the race, with Russ Brown coming in close second, and Heroth took third. Fourth place was the #9 of Jack Patrick, and fifth was the #11 of Jason Simmons.
The third and final event of the night was the 60 lap feature for the ISMA Supermodifieds. By far the loudest and fastest cars of the night. This was a very fast paced race. The event started out with a significant caution after Tim Ice, Bobby Magner, and Danny Shirey got together at the exit of turn two. Lap Record holder DJ Schullick started way back in the field, but made the race very exciting by charging up through the pack into second. However, by then, previous lap record holder Mike Lichty had checked out from the field and went on the the win. Second was Schullick, third was the #71 Lou Cicconi, fourth was #38 Alison Cumens, and fifth was #74 Rob Summers. Good racing from the front to the back, hard chargers coming through the field, and exciting incidents made for a great evening at the race track.
We arrived during one of the ISMA practices, and just in time to watch the qualifying time trials. The previous lap record was held at just over 15 seconds by Mike Lichty. However, toward the end of the session, DJ Schullik in his #94 car set at blistering time of 14.972 seconds at a top speed of 150.281 MPH. As soon as "14.972" appeared on the lap board the crows went berserk. It was genuinely exciting. Second in time trials was previous lap record holder Mike Lichty, with a time of 15.054, third was Chris Perley at 15.145, fourth was Ray Graham at 15.296, and fifth was Lou Cicconi at 15.372 seconds.
The first feature of the race was the American Three-Quarter Midget Racing Association's 25-lap race. It was a relatively short race, but with lots of racing action around the shortened track, which cut through the infield between corners three and four. First place was the #33 Frank Fischer, second was #1B Ryan Tidman, Matt Roselli came third in #98, fourth was Ian Cummins in the #29, and fifth was #02 Joey Bailey.
Next up was the longest and most exciting race of the night, the 75 lap feature for the Small-Block Supermodifieds. The race started out clean enough, with the first caution being brought out by the #44 of Zach Amo for spinning in turn 1. Early on in the race, the leader were single file, until they came up on the lap traffic of the Greg O'Conner in the #90. The leaders, namely the #93 of JJ Andrews, the #18 of Andrew Scharnter, and the #11 of Jason Simmons. O'Conner spun on his own in turn two, collecting Andrews and tapping Schartner. This ended O'Conner's race and put a damper on Andrews'. This occurred after the blue flag was given to O'Conner numerous times. (The blue flag basically means that the leader are going to lap you, get the heck out of the way) I felt that O'Conner probably could have given the leaders more room, but after all, racing is racing.
The race continued, with Schartner leading, and the #13 of Russ Brown close behind. Another caution came out after the #44 of Zach Amo spun again out of turn four and hitting the inside wall, ending his race. Schartner led the rest of the race, despite the hard charging Brown, and the #04 of Kraig Heroth coming from third. Schartner won the race, with Russ Brown coming in close second, and Heroth took third. Fourth place was the #9 of Jack Patrick, and fifth was the #11 of Jason Simmons.
The third and final event of the night was the 60 lap feature for the ISMA Supermodifieds. By far the loudest and fastest cars of the night. This was a very fast paced race. The event started out with a significant caution after Tim Ice, Bobby Magner, and Danny Shirey got together at the exit of turn two. Lap Record holder DJ Schullick started way back in the field, but made the race very exciting by charging up through the pack into second. However, by then, previous lap record holder Mike Lichty had checked out from the field and went on the the win. Second was Schullick, third was the #71 Lou Cicconi, fourth was #38 Alison Cumens, and fifth was #74 Rob Summers. Good racing from the front to the back, hard chargers coming through the field, and exciting incidents made for a great evening at the race track.
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