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Jordan,
There will be a Club Race at The Track this coming Sunday. Please come out and you will see the different teams, and track support offered by both CRG and Arrow. Team Dog House has plenty of Birel karts and track support as well. You just need to be able to consume lot’s of adult beverages after the race to keep up with those boys and girls 😀Now that’s irony, he has been a pain in the neck to so many other F1 drivers, now he has a pain in his neck. Motorcycles are simply no good for anyone.
42:683 is very impressive for a Stock Moto Jeff. Fastest time of the weekend :clap: :clap:
42:361 is not that far off from Ben’s Pepsi Center Track Record. :clap: :clap: :clap:
That was not an easy circuit to get around in those times. Alan was at 43:189 in the DD2. Plus, did you see Dale Kistler Collin’s time in the TAG Sr main??? WOW Cuz, you laid down some very impressive laps as well. 43:723 Rocked!!!!
Jim,
Is there anyway possible to move the Tag Senior rotation farther apart from the shifters? This would help the drivers get through scales and allow for some hydration between their double duty.Any consideration would be appreciated.
Thanks,
Curt@Mike Jansen wrote:
I guess another reason to date someone with an Iphone or get one yourself!
Hey Ricky,
What are you doing Saturday night ❓ 😉 😳Nice job Tony, and cudos to you and your mom for coming over the hill.
Some day Rick and I will explian those jokes to you. 😳
We had a blast helping you out and I soon realized you are pretty funny as well.
Hang in there and great things will happen. Don’t change a thing, your passion for racing will pay off very soon.
CurtGreat seeing you all out there Angie. Too bad Chris had shifter probs on Saturday, but he kicked some butt on Sunday. Nice facility with tons of growth potential.
How many times did you and Ken hear: Are we there yet, are we there yet……?
@Rick Schmidt wrote:
Curt Kistler
BTW, whatever fell off Cory’s kart at 4:27 seconds in the first vid should have cost his tuner $20.00 and (3) spots. :mic
We’ll get him next time.
Penalty seems a little stiff for running over a piece of orange tape Curt.
Great video and race Jeff and Cory!
Looked more like a tac strip to me Rick. I know how Brian tunes.
We ended up running over it with our right front on lap 3 of the main.Nice stuff Jeff as usual.
BTW, whatever fell off Cory’s kart at 4:27 seconds in the first vid should have cost his tuner $20.00 and (3) spots. :micWe’ll get him next time.
We had major clutch problems on the primary motor, Vampire, and our back up motor did not want to play. Scott, Tim, Chris, JP, Aaron, Cole, and Matt all drove their butts off keeping the program up front, but in the end the karting god’s just were not with us.
No contact was had, on or off The Track. We had a blast.The following is a post by Wayne MacGregor, look at the date it was posted.
Wayne was/is a karting dad, and his son Colin grew up right in front of all of us. Just like Roman, Greg, Jeff, Matt, Ben, Dale, Ronnie, David, Jesse, Cole, Kyle, and on, and on the list goes…… You know who you are, even if you choose to stay silent.
The reality is, karting really has not changed much in the 9 years my family has been around it. Obviously it has not changed much since September 19, 2003. There has always been problems of one kind or another throughout the years. My old friend Wayne, who I personally miss very much at the track, hit the nail right on the head as he posted this message on his way out of the sport. It was his way of making observations, and suggestions to us when he saw the end coming as they to moved onto other things in life. I hope all is well Wayne and Colin, and please come share a beer with all of us soon.
Bottom line folks, it’s just kart racing. Please do not get too wrapped up into what is going on with the political side of things. Unless you have a cool million stashed in your mattress, you need to live in the track owners world. It’s their track, their insurance and their liability on the line. They will work it out, and we will be racing in 120 kart events again. It’s all part of the cycle. Matt will be back behind the wheel again of something, when the economy turns and the construction market gets out of this cut throat situation we are in. It’s not a perfect world, and it’s simply just karting with friends on Sunday. And we to have made many life long friends that we would have never known had it not been for karting.
My suggestion at this time would be to talk with the track owners and get their opinions of the situation. You think they are happy? Not so much. Talk with other karting families and get to know them. Find out just how many think their family fortune is going to come by way of their kid karting. Talk to the shop owners, team owners, manufactures and tuners and find out how many of them are making tangible money.
It’s just karting.
Now for Wayne’s post. Please tell me what has changed over the past 5 years, or what you think you can change today.
Wayne MacGregor
Joined: Fri Sep 19, 2003 2:21 pm
Posts: 67I?ve been watching this forum over the past few weeks, and as usual for this time of year, the conversation is focused on what to do in the season ahead. Since I don?t have a ?vested? interest anymore (i.e. a kid I?m ?sponsoring?) and having been around the sport for over 5 years perhaps I can offer some “food for thought:”
At a macro level, I believe that karting continues to experience some significant problems. The ?national? karting business model (if there ever was one) is broken. True, Colorado has had success locally with the CSC racing series, but on a national level, participation is down overall except at a few key events. Statistics indicate that the average karter hangs it up after 3 seasons. Why? Let me offer some possible factors that the CSC may be well advised to take into consideration when setting up your ?05 competition season:
1. There are too many so-called national “sanctioning” bodies (IKF, WKA, SKUSA, STARS, TAGUSA etc etc), and if you don’t like the way these guys run things, a new one comes along about every couple of years. All are controlled by either internal politics, supplier economics or even worse by both. All too, are competing against each other for what is for a number of reasons, a limited number of participants.
If anyone thinks that these alphabet soup organizations have the best interest of karters at heart ? as an example, just look at the “wise” decisions SKUSA has made during the past three seasons. They?re trying to re-engineer themselves in ?05, but only time will tell if that is a ?success.? And always remember success to them, of course, is defined as ?increased revenue.? The message here is to be wary of whose ?club? you align yourselves to. Keep in mind that ?good ideas? can also be developed locally.
2. There are too many classes. Even the “little” CSC is proposing a total of 14 classes in 2005 which is far too many. This doesn’t “enhance” competition, it waters it down. Instead of designing new classes, karters should be coming up with innovative ways to enlarge the fields at races. Isn?t it more rewarding to finish 5th in a heat of 30 karts rather than 1st in a race with only two others?
Why must there always be extra classes for ?old,? or ?heavy? or every other possible permutation of personal and motor characteristics? Remember, you?re only racing for plastic trophies???.not an F1 seat. Think outside the box and come up with ways to run fewer heats with more karts.
3. Race days are way too long. It shouldn’t be getting dark when the final race is run, especially during the summer! Racing should be winding down by 3:00 in the afternoon, not 7:30 in the evening. Either pea-picking the preliminary grids or qualifying NASCAR (two laps and off) style would greatly reduce the time (usually the entire morning or more) needed to qualify and maybe get home before dark. Don?t hold up starting a race to wait for a competitor (no matter ?who? they are) ? If they cannot make the grid when it?s called, too bad ? that?s part of racing too.
4. The cost of karting is pretty much out of control at least in the ?top? classes. This is a grassroots sport, period. Success in karting does not and will not provide a magic ?ladder” to other forms of motorsports. ?Moving up? is something that simply cannot be done without big time financial backing. With that said, it is completely insane, in my opinion, to spend over $100,000 per year to run a shifter and yet it happens all the time. A lot more, if you’re going to “seriously” contend for one of the ?so-called? (wink, wink) national championships. A full sized car can be raced for that kind of money. Karters who can afford the dough won?t stick around very long when they do the math ? those who can?t are forced out of the sport.
5. The rules are too complicated. And, BTW, whose rules do you use? IKF, WKA, STARS, SKUSA? A little of each? Take some, modify some? Make up your own? Complicated rules encourage cheating and make tech extremely problematic and time consuming. The rules for the safety and health of competitors should be uncompromising and absolute. Fuel went unchecked in the CSC in 2004, for example. Doped fuel is a serious health issue, and is unfortunately, the easiest way to get enhanced performance. Competitors who knowingly add carcinogenic compounds to their fuel should face immediate suspension.
Mechanical rules should be as broad as possible, yet clear and just as uncompromising when violations are discovered. Ignorance should not be allowed as an excuse for rules violations.
And then there is the ?stability? factor. It seems everyone wants to ?tinker? with the rules every year. Why can?t there be stability for a fixed amount of time so that the karter doesn?t necessarily have to buy new ?stuff? on a yearly basis? The various class / rules structures are daunting enough for seasoned competitors. They are more than often totally incomprehensible to most newbies.
By all means written rules must be required. Tech inspections should be automatic for podium finishers ? DQs and/or suspensions should be handed out for violators with no exceptions what so ever.
6. Beware of ?new ideas? or formulas. Every time a ?new? concept comes along purporting to be the ?sliced bread? of karting, it seems to devolve into complication, added expense and contentiousness. Be especially wary when someone says that the ?new doodad? will control your costs. Remember these wonderful ?ideas? are coming from the fertile minds of those who will ultimately profit from them.
Example: ICC motors when first introduced, were ?sold? to karters as an affordable, reliable, fully developed alternative to the expensive, unreliable, modified moto engines because they didn?t have to be blueprinted to be competitive. Yeah right! Fast forward three years and now, if you don?t have a $7,000 Swedetech, Paul Leary, or ?fill in the blank? ?pro- built? ICC on your kart and a spare (or two) in the trailer, you can forget about being competitive.
TAG, a super idea when initiated, is supposed to offer an ?affordable? way to compete, but people (being human) can?t seem to leave well enough alone. If you look at other discussion boards, the TAG community is already showing the inevitable signs of division and fracture. In some venues, there are already limits on which motors are deemed ?acceptable.? Blueprinting is allowed in others (Norcal) and there is serious talk of completely excluding some motors such as 4-strokes. Don?t let this happen in the CSC. Buyers of a ?certain? engine package (Biland) should not be punished for inappropriate actions by the manufacturer, yet this is happening.
7. Sell your sport. Make race days more accommodating for spectators: After all, they are the primary source for new participants. Race days should be a pleasurable experience, not an ordeal. Good food, clean (dare I say ?real?) restrooms, shorter, smoother racing schedules, and other amenities would all help make race days a positive experience for them. Start by making admission free. I?ve seen an awful lot of U-turns at the money changer?s table. Get the spectators in the gate put on a good show and treat them ?right? when there. They?ll come back.
Finally as you move forward into 2005?.. Remember a ?reality? check: 99.9% of karters are hobbyists – The reason they race is for family, friendship, competition and fun. So don?t let decisions limit rather than enhance what you are really here for. Every single time rules, classes or other changes are proposed they should be designed to broaden competition rather than limiting it. More classes, excessively complicated rules and escalating costs are all limiting factors. Think about it?..none of these are really necessary to have more ?fun.?
You?ve got a good thing going. It would be a shame to screw it up.
As always, opinions expressed are my own……I’ll see you this year when I come to “visit” a race.
Wayne MacGregor
Hey Mike and Rick. I think I finally topped one of your long winded posts. Now I feel better.
Curt@Kirk Deason wrote:
Oh Ricky, nice creative editing there. That was pretty funny.
I wonder where he learned that ❓
@Brian Robson wrote:
Jim made me race with a “C” license. That was an ego killer!BR
Does that make you a “C” Holder? Sounds better than an “A” Holder to me. 😆
@Mike Jansen wrote:
practice in on Friday while its unregulated since Saturdays are always a zoo.
I thought GJ was a two day race with practice on Friday? Am I wrong again? It looks like all of the “Race The Rockies” races are 2 day events.
Just wondering here, really don’t matter since we will be there Wednesday anyway. Someone throw me a frickin bone here….
Thanks,
