- This topic has 9 replies, 7 voices, and was last updated 17 years ago by
.
- Posts
Well since no one else is commenting on The Grands I guess I’ll take a shot…
The dust has settled-for myself anyway. WOW what an event. I must first say that I personally cant imagine even attempting to pull off an event like that.
The logistics have got to be insane-but hey-this whole go-karting thing is a little insane, don’t we all agree? So great work to Jim and crew. How cool to have an event of that caliber in our own backyard.I also must say that I’m glad I didnt race. These guys are F____ Good! Watching the precise passing in the sweeper was eye opening for my rookie A___! I am re-inspired to keep learning and trying to hone my passing skills.
This track will penalize you hard if you get out of line (or off line) and we saw plenty of that. I give applause to all of the CO boys out there. It seems that most of the CO contingent had some bad luck-it just shows you how little it takes to go backwards at this level. The time diffs. were mind boggling. Watching Jack in the DD2 class on slicks when everyone else was on rains was quite impressive. Jim, Roman, Rod, Seth, David, JD, all the kids, Charles, Greg and all the others I’m forgetting-Great Job. I know you guys might not be all happy but I’m impressed-OK so I’m easy to impress. I give you credit for being there period!Maverick from Wyoming was blistering quick in Masters and has all of my respect for wearing a pink helmet-you better be quick to pull that off. No one could catch him-He should have won.
Brad Smith in our trailer set new track record for Masters-good job Bradlaayyyy!
Parc Ferme was a new level of organization and focus. Races can be won and lost there. I can now change tires!
As a hired mechanic for a Florida team I learned a ton and met some GREAT folks. Thank You Eric and Allie for letting me help. We got Eric up to 16th in the Main but didnt git urr dunn. However I think it is great that we finished all of our races. To me just being a part of it all was very rewarding as a rookie. Brad Smith and Keith Karr are like a professional comedy routine not to mention blistering quick on the track! Nick Weil was a big help in sharing his professional advise and mechanical know-how. Thanks again guys for a great week. I’m still trying to get rid of my suuthernnn acccent!
That might have been the hardest I’ve ever worked and the most fun I ever had. I cant wait to see it on TV. I’m sure Jesse Placky with the POV cameras and Altitude did a great job.
Cheers to the Grands!
Joe,
It’s been a busy morning so here’s my comments about the whole event:1) I am amazed how many mechanics and drivers don’t know the rules. It stinks knowing the time, effort, energy and sacrifice involved getting to this event was negated by not following the rules. I saw way too many DQ’s caused by kids working on their karts on the track when the rules say you had to bring the kart off track, fix it, then rejoin.
2) Wow, that’s the most karters I’ve ever seen anywhere!
3) I have a newfound respect for cornerworkers and officials, there is a lot of work going on behind the scenes and I understand that now.
4) Colorado boys did great! It was hard for me as a worker not to show bias towards the local talent. It was all I could do to not cheer Kyle on to victory and all the others.
5) Thank God Little League dad lives on at a National level too. I saw a few examples that made me shake my head.
6) I was amazed at how focused drivers and mechanics were to the task at hand. It made me realize that physical preparation is an important part of a racers makeup but the laser like focus by the top echelon is something to be emulated for success. Mentally they were sharp.
7) The single most inspiring person I met was a racer by the name of Eric Lazar. By himself he drove 19 hours straight to make the race only to show up at George’s doorstep at CRE (oops wrong track gotta get ONSTAR or GPS!) He got to Centennial having never driven here the day of qualifying and heat races and finished. When I asked him what was wrong with the kart he said “a lot of things but my goal was to finish, had I had more time to prepare the kart and practice I’d have done much better.” He had the biggest smile on his face each and every time he got out of the kart. Oh did I tell you that his goal is to make it to the next Grand National race and improve his results? All this from a guy who’s paralyzed from a motocross accident and has to strap his legs in so they don’t spasm and hit his hand controlled brake and gas lever. Kudos to George at CRE for pointing him in the right direction and to let him pit under your tent. George, you have my respect with such a simple gesture. I wish you all could have met and talked to this gentlemen. What an inspiration.
ALSO: I enjoyed meeting after the days events new people who I’ve only heard about, the Seesman’s, Cooksey’s, Howdens to name a few. I am thankful that even though I might be old in numbers I still have the ablilty to jump when needed (graceful or not!) and avoid serious carnage when a kart goes off track flying towards me. I couldn’t have pulled that one off if given 10 more tries I think. And the applause for catching a beer single handed was just plain fun. Jim, can I ask how many bottles of Jaeger you went through for the whole event. I called the sports books in Las Vegas and they said the over under was 130 bottles… 8) I’m not telling you which way I bet!
It was a fun experience and I am looking forward to the same type racing at the TaG Worlds here in a few months. We really are lucky to be living here. Several tracks all within an hour and two National Caliber events in the same calendar year. Perhaps with the lessons learned and a little luck our way we’ll take home even better results.
Mike:
Kudos to you for helping and I’ll second your comments on Eric Lazar! I found him in pit lane to shake his hand and tell him how inspiring it is to watch him drive. He was a pleasure to speak with and a true racer & gentleman.
Talk about the human spirit and sheer will!
I only had a chance to be at the Track on Saturday and WOW that was something else what a Display.
The Track at Centennial and all of the staff put a great setup for an amazing show.
:cheers: Kudos to Jim…. “You have change the History of Karting in Colorado”Bravo!!!! The Track
PS: I have some good pictures to share later on with all of you.
I did think the CO contingent did well-we would have done even better without some of the bad luck. I did forget to mention Kyle Ray-great racing Kyle!
Also thanks to Barry for letting our team come last minute to the shop and dyno our engines for break in. We stuck 2 DD2 motors in the first days of practice and needed either a parking lot or dyno and Barry came through for us-cheers.
great event.
@joescal wrote:
Maverick from Wyoming was blistering quick in Masters and has all of my respect for wearing a pink helmet-you better be quick to pull that off. No one could catch him-He should have won.
Up on the hill, we were rooting for “Pepto Bismol Guy” in the final. Good stuff.
I was only there for the finals up thru the rain delay (didn’t want to mess with lightning 😯 so I listened to the last few laps online… Wish I’d stayed!), but what little I saw was an awesome show. What’s more, I finally have some Rotax T-shirts! 8)
@Mike Jansen wrote:
7) The single most inspiring person I met was a racer by the name of Eric Lazar. By himself he drove 19 hours straight to make the race only to show up at George’s doorstep at CRE (oops wrong track gotta get ONSTAR or GPS!) He got to Centennial having never driven here the day of qualifying and heat races and finished. When I asked him what was wrong with the kart he said “a lot of things but my goal was to finish, had I had more time to prepare the kart and practice I’d have done much better.” He had the biggest smile on his face each and every time he got out of the kart. Oh did I tell you that his goal is to make it to the next Grand National race and improve his results? All this from a guy who’s paralyzed from a motocross accident and has to strap his legs in so they don’t spasm and hit his hand controlled brake and gas lever. Kudos to George at CRE for pointing him in the right direction and to let him pit under your tent. George, you have my respect with such a simple gesture. I wish you all could have met and talked to this gentlemen. What an inspiration.
Check out Eric’s website … http://www.gimpspeed.com
Ok, so this might be a little late, but better late than never, right? 🙂
AWESOME event! Jim and everyone at the track, big kudos to what you pulled off to put this event on, it’s something i’ll remember for a very long time (hope you took a nice long day off after the dust settled). This was my first national event, and i came away just blown away by the grandeur, the spectacle of the entire thing. I was very impressed by the coverage and effort put into this….the live racefanradio.com coverage, bringing in the fantastic Ken Walker to call the race, and TV coverage on Altitude! Wow! Seemed everyone i talked to from out of state really enjoyed the event, liked the track, and the state. Also, the level of competition at this level was just crazy…makes our CSC races seem cute. I was really impressed by the caliber of drivers that showed up…and our CO boys did great! :cheers:
Just makes me love this sport all the much more. I was on a karting-induced high for the next week….and i didnt even drive. Hopefully at the next grand nats….i’ll be driving. 8)
- You must be logged in to reply to this topic.