swhannum

[swhannum]

We’re in with a Cadet team if you run a cadet class?

[swhannum]

Due to some computer kinks Rusty?s post went out before he had finalized a few things and he has asked me to make a follow-up post:

Primarily, What happened to Saturday? The plan is to have the track portion completed and secured by noon on Saturday. This would allow for some early testing of the track configuration incase adjustments are desired. With a very limited area to work with the size and shape has already been optimized on paper but you never know until you actually run on it. Those interested may have a few opportunities then to run on the track Saturday sometime after 12:00 noon. The plan is also to secure Centennial Ave. at noon on Saturday allowing for the pits to be set up and open to those wanting to park trailers getting a jump on the Sunday morning craziness. Please note however that although there are a number of bordering businesses and communities that have security patrols and we understand that the Littleton Police regularly cruse the area, there will not be security specifically hired to patrol our trailers. Trailers only will be parallel parked heading west bound on Centennial Ave. along the south curb and he asks that we pit off the rear of the trailers with any canopies allowing room for pedestrian, cold pit lane and grid area in the adjacent lane.

We have also just learned that in addition to the Indy 500 record holding ?94 Penske, C-4 Hot Rods will host a specialty car display with a number of newly completed award winning Street Rods, Street Machines, Customs and a Special Edition 2007 Ford GT40!

[swhannum]

Kartique makes a transporting kart stand that slides onto a receiver hitch. The wheels fold up and you put the kart on top, when you get to the track or home you pull it off the hitch fold the wheels down and you have your kart stand! Small trailers are great but you still need a kart stand ounce you get there, this does both. They are available at Action Karting (Bandimere) or CRE for $379.95 and come with the hitch adapter.

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Count one for us. (Blake Hannum)

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Mike,
Welcome to the club.

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Oh, I forgot one thing, Coke or Pepsi?

[swhannum]

Actually it was not aimed at you, sorry.

But thanks for all the advertising!

Scott

[swhannum]

Normally I wouldn?t even think of writing a post in regard to any TAG class. Primarily because I wouldn?t have a clue what I was talking about, (obviously this principal has not been adopted by everyone in regard to the other classes). However, in this case I feel that over the past three years I and we, in Colorado have been enlightened about the natural future of Karting, (even if the rest of the country is in the dark) and, that the answer to that future is obvious including the TAG class. What seems surprising is that proponents of this solution, (already implemented in other classes) have not already applied it to the TAG class. Particularly with the constant discussion of varying motor packages and endless weight jockeying. The very same advantages and benefits enjoyed by other classes could now benefit the TAG class. So here?s the obvious choice: 1. It?s a four stroke (?the wave of the future? anyway). 2. It has 24 reliable hp. 3. It has 12 volt electric start. 4. It has a wide power range so it will simplify gearing for the newbie?s. 5. Its EPA friendly. 6. You can buy one (or more), get parts and service at dealers world wide. 7. It measures 16?x18.5?x18?. 8. It only weighs 94.8 lbs. 9. And the very best thing is that you can buy them all day long (and will probably have to) for under $1,300. 10. Its even manufactured by one of the largest most respected engine manufacturers in the world and has a long history of reliability. I?m telling you, this is the answer to all of our TAG issues. Only one engine, you could even seal them making tech easy, one weight so no problems at the scales. True, you couldn?t race it anywhere else in the country but we all know that so few of us actually travel anyway that we can?t really consider that as an issue. Just because the rest of the country has a relatively consistent and successful TAG program doesn?t mean that Colorado can?t pioneer a new direction, go off on its own exclusive path! The answer has been right in front of us the whole time?.the Honda GX 670! The key here is to be ahead of the curve. Don?t wait until you have to have one, get one now. Be prepared. Reconfigure your chassis tubing ahead of time making for an easy transition. Driving tip: Practice every so often with your seat half way over the left frame rail so that you will be used to that. I?ve heard that an elliptical steering wheel works well with this package and that an elevator shoe worn on the right foot makes it feel almost like normal when trying to reach the throttle pedal. Some may have trouble getting used to that while walking around in the pits but I guess we could dig a narrow trench around the pits and designate a set direction for foot traffic. That would all have to be worth it, wouldn?t it?

Scott Hannum

[swhannum]

Update & Further Clarification
Wow, where do we begin? First, I am just the messenger. This information, the meetings, the conversations, emails, phone calls, etc have all gone into this statement of unification. I was just foolish enough to volunteer to organize and publish it. Let me update those of you that are interested because we have had a lot happen over the past few months with this topic and even a lot since this post went up. I do apologize for the stuffy formal way in which the original post was written, our intension was to be very clear. As the significant Dennis Prager says ?I prefer clarity to agreement?. It?s ok to disagree but let?s not disagree because one is talking about apples and the other oranges. Although I thought it was pretty straight forward, let me try and further simplify the information and add some addition things that may help fill in some of the gaps, misunderstandings, perceptions, etc. that were brought up.

A. As of 9:pm on 11-16-06 here is how the lists break down in their simplest form:
The following names have directly responded with a ?YES? position.
1. Nial Irwin
2. Takoda Chaney
3. Rick Draudt
4. Luc Freiburg
5. Taylor Clifton
6. Colby Meek
7. Brandon Moore
8. Landon Smith
9. Anthony Jacobellis
10. Evan Hannum
11. Lindsey Freier
12. Jake Graser
13. Alexis Charette
14. Brian Robson

The following additional names represent racers that already own & race Jr-1 K-80?s
within our market area. If provided with an opportunity to race in an organized and
structured class, they may choose to participate?
15. Pete Rosse
16. Grant Copple
17. James M. Sullivan
18. Tynnette Lowe
19. Colby Yardley
20. Maria Yardley
21. Austin Schimmel
22. Sena Kline
23. Vinny Cucuzza
24. Angie Cucuzza
25. Tommy Hensley
26. Others we may not know of?

The following names represent racers that are, or will be within the age range of the Jr-1 class in ?07 and may have raced in Jr-1 in the past, (possibly with a different motor) who could participate if they so chose to do so?
27. Wyatt MacEwen
28. Courtney MacEwen
29. Flinn Lazier
30. Connor Wogrin
31. Colin Wogrin
32. Cameron Wogrin
33. Conner New
34. Xavier Romero
35. Others we may not know of?

Last but not least, the following names have responded with a ?no? for the K-80.
36. Tyler Prins
37. Taylor Bezanson

There?s no smoke and mirrors. This does not mean that there will be a guaranteed 25 to 35 entries at every race but it does illustrate the realistic potential of this class right now let alone future growth encouraged by a unified class under a consistent set of rules.

B. Were all of the people polled K-80 owners? No. A mater of fact there was a variety of engine owners represented as well as industry consultants both within our market and outside our market. Please read the criteria again, it should help explain much of the questions and curiosities . For Example, ?Participation? was part of the criteria, meaning how many of each package already exists within our geographic area? If the greatest number of existing engines in our area would have been Singer, that would have had a big effect on our outcome.
C. The meetings were public. The first was held on July 12th. Approx. 12 or more were present. The group was very diverse, the meeting was an open discussion of pros and cons and general ?principle based? concerns regarding the class over all. Although there may have been bias within the group, there was no bias of the group. The second meeting was even posted by Kurt Freiburg on the Karter on Oct. 1st and took place Oct. 5th. Anyone interested in attending and sharing ideas about this class was invited. Free pizza and beer were also provided. Not all interested parties could attend in person to either meeting so many called, emailed, etc. their opinions and ideas to Kurt and me.
D. The following engines were discussed and evaluated using the already mentioned criteria throughout the process.
1. Animal
2. K-80
3. Micro-Max
4. Gazelle
5. HPV
6. Honda GX160
7. World Formula
8. KT 100
9. Comer 60, WTP, Swift TAGs

Obviously not all of the criteria was weighted the same. For example: ?Cost? factors carried more weight than ?Starting Methods?. A few of the choices were so far outside the important, heavily weighted criteria that they were almost immediately eliminated i.e. the Gazelle, Micro Max and Comer 60 TAG due to excessive cost. Some of the others looked very good initially but after further research with organizations and racers that use them, they lost their surface appeal i.e. the Honda for example. This motor is raced in Canada, the UK and even her in the U.S. in ? midgets for example. A couple of major issues came up. True, good initial cost but very limited reliability in a true racing environment without blueprinting and the addition of stronger valve train components on a regular basis. We have over twenty pages of research on the Honda. Another was the sustained competition RPM range and track size of our tracks. For example the ? midgets run on 1/10 mile oval. The New Brunswick Kart Club in Toronto, Canada runs the Honda with modifications but on a 2/10 of a mile track not 9/10 with 900 ft straight-a-ways. Personally I am a huge Honda Motor Co. fan. However, the research would suggest that we are making a huge false assumption. That being that the same quality, engineering and control measures that go into their Cars and Motorcycles also go into their 5.5 hp generator motors. They are of excellent quality for their given purpose and price point. How good could a 4-stoke be (with all of it?s components) for a retail price of $364.95 (from the latest Northern Tool & Equip. catalog). You can find a lot of info online regarding the Honda motors. Here are just a few of them: http://www.nr-racing.com. http://www.ukpollards.com http://www.gx160parts.com http://www.karting.co.uk/notice/ One of the major issues you will find is fitting it on a European chassis, cutting, relocating frame-rails, seat strut location, etc. all seem to be common when you really check into it. You can also just Google (Honda GX160 Karting) and come up with a weeks worth of reading material.

The point is that anyone and everyone that was interested in contributing were notified, invited and welcome. The process has already occurred, the debate has already happened. Furthermore, our group started talking prior to any plans for a town hall meeting. We are all in favor of the meeting by the way and ounce the town hall meeting was brought up, we did not feel like it would be productive to force everyone else to listen to our issues. Better then to focus among those effected, come to a consensus and simply present our united and/or majorities recommendations.

E. Let?s be truthful about the cost issue. ?Could? someone spend a fortune on any engine, of course they ?could?. Must they, no. Here are the actual numbers, lets stop scaring everybody by saying that you can?t be competitive without a $2500 motor. You can call any shop or go on line and see for yourself.
– Used stock K-80 $ 150.- 500.
– New stock K-80 795.
– Used blueprinted K-80 600.-1100.
– New blueprinted K-80 1200.-1500. (Includes motor)

Additional FYI?s. Personally we paid $150 for our stock K-80 and put a piston, ring and a spark plug in it, ($85. total) we ran it all year qualifying on occasion in the middle of the field, (even among the animals) have not had any maintenance issues and have no hang-ups running against blueprinted motors. Until my son can get everything out of that motor & chassis as a driver he can and I can get every bit out of it as a tuner, I have no reason to invest in a blueprint. I got the rolling chassis for $500. Right now you can buy this year?s WKA State Champion?s JR-1 Arrow with a blueprinted K-80 for a little over $2000 complete and ready to race. My friend just bought a complete Cadet for $1100. including a stock K-80. There?s a stock K-80 on line right now, it?s new and was raced three times for $550. Doug will tell you, he has a customer that runs ?off the shelf? Fleming motors, ($1500) and runs in the top 4-5 in STARS. It seems odd that for a bunch of drivers nobody wants to give the driver any credit. Many of you sat next to me at Doug?s excellent chassis seminar and either you didn?t believe him or you?ve just forgotten what we learned?

F. Regarding ?Most of the people in this class do not even know about the engine choices?. Is there a choice that was missed in the list? We have never heard that the purpose of this meeting is to ?Introduce all of the possibilities? and if, ?The discussion has just begun? for any of them, then they are way behind the curve.
G. This strikes at the heart of what frustrates a lot of the participants, (all classes). No planning, no communication, no dialog and then two weeks before the season opener ?somebody? manufactures the rules. Our group started talking in July about this and we?ve had a steady dialog ever since. We understand this to be an open forum and a way by which to suggest, share, test and give constructive feedback to ideas and opportunities to advance the sport of Karting. Our group doesn?t have a monopoly on opportunities to suggest and consider creative ideas. Yet when any of our Karting community suggests an idea, an alternate approach or asks for some leadership they are beaten with a stick? The untapped resources within our community are staggering! Constructive criticism is encouraged but it should be followed by an intellectually honest alternative idea. Publicly we have seen none.

[swhannum]

Just what Karting needs, more classes and a race car you have to take back to the dealer to work on?

[swhannum]

Kirk, good point, I’m real interested to hear what people say about this one. We personally have not had an issue with this, (yet) and what you basically said is what I have told my driver but I know someone that was black flaged at Bandi for not pulling over to the side and opening a lemonaid stand? Same thing for this question: The yellow? how far before and after a yellow flag is the no pass rule in effect? (We have been bit by this one depending on the answer.) Thanks in advance for any help!

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This debate needs to be intellectually honest. There is a difference between a motor style being regulated into retirement (EPA, etc.) vs the natural evolution of technology and groudbreaking competitive superiority. In this case the 2-stroke in Karting is not being regulated and is officially not even on the radar with the EPA. Therefore, it will be good old competition that will determine each of their fates in Karting for the foreseeable future. If one feels like the writing is on the wall regarding 2 strokes then you are already behind the curve. Don’t you watch TV, if you want to be “with it” and competitive in the future you wont even bother with the 4 stroke, you’ll follow Audi and go straight to the diesel! It’s a great discussion but we need to be honest and accurate.

[swhannum]

I always enjoy the insight and wisdom that Doug has to offer our community and I basically agree with what is being said. There are so many contributing factors to our current state that it is not only difficult to improve all of them at ounce, it?s equally as difficult to address all of them in any forum or article here. I would like to build on Doug?s comments. Misc. thoughts and questions (I don?t necessarily have all the answers):

Good question, what is the CSC? A glorified club race or legitimate regional series? If it?s killing our sport then let?s get rid of it, back to just club races. ?Oh no, we want to have something to aspire to, more competition, some prestige!? Lets say we have roughly 125 active Kart racers in Colo. Where did they come from? Obviously many places but one of the places was from the club ranks. I know I?m repeating myself but it always sounds like a lot of the discussion is only trying to decide the best way to divide up the pie. 125 racers, 5 tracks, 30 club races and 9 CSC races. It?s math. If we only ever want to have 125 racers then get rid of the CSC and lets all support just the club races at the tracks and have an average of 60+ in attendance. However, if racers want an elevated level of racing and will support a regional series, (which seems to be the case looking at the entry numbers from this year?s CSC events so far, although I personally feel that nine is about three or four too many) is that the racers fault? I agree with Doug that perhaps a nine race CSC is killing club racing but it?s not killing the growth of the sport. Redistributing a captive audience of 125 racers will not grow the sport, only growing the sport will grow the sport and where do things grow; from the bottom up! Try this, go out to the tree in your back yard, cut a few branches off the top and tape them back around the bottom, how much did your tree grow?

I recall our own brief history in the sport. 2004 (our first year) we only raced the club races at Action Karting and that included two CSCs that overlapped. We also went to one IMI club race just to see what another track might be like. We didn?t even finish on the lead lap until the last race of the year. 2005 the kid saw all the really big trophies at the ?04 banquet and asked how he could get one of those? ?Those are for the State Series? I said. ?Wow, the whole state, I want to do that next year!? says the kid. OK, so we do the 7 race CSC and pick up a few club races for practice and testing, things started clicking and he finished 2nd for the series. What?s the point, well I have gotten a few others involve in the sport and I have encouraged them depending on the learning curve and their budget, to focus on the club races until they feel comfortable and I will be bringing in a few more next year.

Bottom line. Redistribution of participants will not grow the sport. I want to support the tracks and club racing. How do I do it, I bring new bodies to the sport not try to talk someone already racing to go race somewhere else. Is this my job? Officially no, morally yes. I do it out of sheer enthusiasm and love of motorsports. Is it anyone?s job? Yes, at least in the sense that there are also businesses that rely on the sport and therefore they should always make an obvious effort to grow the sport from the bottom up not to try and covet what already exists. Example, I had a friend call a local track to try and arrange a birthday party for a group of kids, (5-10 yr olds). They were very flexible on times, etc. When it came to price they were told the ?off the sign? lap rate. My friend was willing to spend some money but they offered no group or volume discount let alone that these were mostly first timers and kids that could potentially get involved in the sport all from a very good neighborhood? They went to Jungle Quest.

In the end it?s all of our job but the tracks and businesses should take the helm in developing grass roots participation. How many tracks and/or businesses have space reserved for a display at the Denver Grand Prix coming up in a couple of weeks?

There should be just enough regional races to do three primary things: satisfy the racers need to compete at a higher level, give newbies something to aspire to and to provide a marketing showcase of the sport at the highest level possible. What is that magical number, I don?t know but 8-12 club races at every track doesn?t help anyone either.

Doug?s right, the CSC and the clubs need to decide what they are and their purpose, but the same decision applies to the racers.

Classes?..ooooooh that?s a whole other post. Bye for now.

Scott Hannum

[swhannum]

Rick,
We are using a real small Cannon 8mm/Video Card camcorder which I put in a fanny pack straped to the back of Evan’s seat using the seat bolts through grommets in the straps. The resolution is 400.

Scott

[swhannum]

Video is not only a great record of the race but we’ve learned that it makes a great training tool particularly for the kids. We sell the Twenty-20 brand which we have had good luck with, it’s simple to use and it records audio too. We sell the kit for $249.00 Let me know if your interested. Scott @ 303-888-8162

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