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CFK Race #3 St. Lucie Speedway, Ft. Pierce, FL
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Race Report
And now for something completely different... St. Lucie Speedway. We haven't been here for over 2 years but the track was pretty much the same as it was the last time we were here, fast and sandy. The big story was the bumps. I don't know why it was so bumpy but what everybody was talking about was where to drive to avoid the bumps. The truth was, there wasn't any way to avoid them. They were everywhere!
We got our work done early on Friday so we could leave at about noon and get to the track a little early. The last time we ran here was in a purple plate, Sportsman I race so we thought we may have to make several changes to our set up to adjust to the faster gokart. Once they opened the track for practice they had pretty much run the surface in with a truck and a tractor dragging some tires so we were able to see what the kart needed right from the start. This track is a lot more banked in the corners than the other tracks we have been racing so we didn't think we would need as much cross but I had trouble getting up off the corners again so we put the cross back in and put on a little more rubber and the kart hooked right up. We probably would have practiced all night if they would have let us but they shut things down at 10 pm so we covered up all of our stuff and went to bed.
On Saturday morning we got up and put on our race tires right away. The track looked like it had enough bite in it that we wouldn't have to mess around with prepped tires. I like to do that if I can because I can see what the kart will do and feel the track coming in. It easier for me to tell my crew chief what the kart is doing that way. By the time we finished up our 2nd round of practice I was really fast and the karts felt great but the track was starting to get bumpy all over in the corners and on the straights.
My first class to qualify was the Champ kart. The kart felt good and we thought maybe we would have a shot at the pole but then the timing equipment failed and the karts that qualified in the second group behind us couldn't get a reading. They tried a few times to get the scoring equipment to read the transponders but by the time they got it working again it was almost an hour later. Some of the crew chiefs thought that gave the second group an advantage so they decided to have us all re-qualify after all the other classes were done. In Sportsman II Heavy I messed up and hit the bumps wrong going into turn 3. By the time I got the kart back in the groove I was in the wrong place and wound up sliding off the track into the tire barrier. I got the kart going again pretty quickly but they only give you 3 laps to qualify in this series and I just lost my second and third lap so the only lap that they counted was the first which was only good enough for 11th fastest. In Lite I got things right and turned a pretty fast lap qualifying in 6th position. In the Champ we changed the gear and went back out thinking we would pick up a few tenths but ironically we ran the exact same time as before. That was good enough for the 3rd starting spot which was just fine with me.
In the Champ race I got a good start and came out in 2nd place but it wasn't long until I had a few karts on my tail. I just wasn't very fast and I lost 2nd position to the outside pole sitter and and then the kart that started outside me was coming up along side me in turn 3 and 4. I just let the kart drift up a little and he spun up in the marbles leaving me comfortably in 3rd place. The rest of the race was pretty bland until the 4th place kart caught me and we swapped places a time or 2 and then he drove off and left me to finish in 4th place.
In Heavy I was pretty pumped up. My crew chief told me the night before that he didn't think I could drive a race car so I had to show him he was wrong. I was really focused and I made up a few spots right away. Before I knew it I was in 6th place. Then, after only 7 laps, the caution and red flag came out for a bad wreck in turn 3. Just before that happened, the 2nd and 3rd place karts spun right in front of me in turn one. Once the drivers were all found to be alright and their karts were pushed to the pits the officials decided to call the race because it had taken us so long to get the race started and we were now over the 20 minute time limit, We weren't sure if the yellow came out before the leaders spun so we didn't know if we finished in 6th or 4th. When the officials results came out they put the second place kart to the end of the lead lap but they let the 3rd place kart keep his position so we finished in 5th.
The last race was the best! I drove with the same desire that I had in the first race and I was in 3rd place in one lap. I had a fast gokart and it felt really good. I was pushing and shoving my way to the front as best that I could. The next thing I knew the leaders went high and I was in the lead. Then they passed me back, and then I passed them back, and then we swapped positions again. In all I lead 4 different times but on the last lap I was in 3rd about 30 feet behind the leaders. As we came around turn 3 to take the checkered flag the second place kart made a desperate attempt to pass the leader only to spin off the track in turn 4 and give me the second position but the race was not yet over! There were 2 karts just behind me and coming off turn 4 we were 3 wide. There was no way that I wasn't going to give up a second place finish so I drove down hard to block the 3rd place kart and held onto 2nd place by just a foot at the line.
I imagine a few of my racing buddies are a little surprised at the way I drove but that's the way everybody drives me and I want to win too! In gokart racing you can't leave anything on the track or they will take it away from you. Well, we are sending back our Champ motor to be refreshed and one of our other motors is already on its way back from the motor builder too so we will be back up to speed for the nationals next week. My crew chief has found what these new karts like on the set up and the tires and I'm charged up to show him I CAN drive a real race car so maybe, just maybe, next week will be my chance to prove it!
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