A Rookie's Tale

[Charles Kaneb]

This is my first year of organized karting, the first time I will run more than a couple events in a season. It comes after ten years of wishing I could race. I will be running most of the Club Series at F1 Outdoors, finances and work schedule permitting, and possibly a couple selected events at other tracks.

Background: I am a mechanical engineer working in the software industry, graduated fall 2006 from Case Western. Since I was about three I've been a car nut, and have been a racing fan since I first picked up a Road and Track at around ten. At Case we had the country's smallest successful FSAE team; we won Rookie Of The Year in 2005 with about fifteen total contributors and five regular members, of which I was one. I've been driving indoor karts for a couple years and last year decided to buy a kart of my own.

So this year I went from 6 to 30 horsepower.

Thanks go to Mark Ouimet at SSC East for introducing me to Rotax Max and showing me around F1 Outdoors, and to Roger Hargens at Prospeed for answering a lot of questions and selling me my Arrow AX-8. Of course I have to thank my friends and family who help me haul around the kart and do various household projects to allow me to keep it safe, and my employers, who I'll name if they let me, for paying me enough to let me do this.

This thread is intended to be a recording of this season, including every rookie mistake I make on and off the track. If anyone is interested, I'll post the spreadsheet of costs as I go; otherwise I'll post it at the end. Feel free to offer commentary, corrections, and criticism!
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"If you're still in full control, you're not going fast enough" - Fred Frame

[Charles Kaneb]

In January I started my preparations for the season, looking at CRGs and an Intrepid at SSC, and Tony Karts and Arrows at Prospeed, and then beginning to assemble all of the other stuff necessary to race.

Since nobody in my family had a trailer, and the 53" wide kart was never going to fit into the 46"-wide interior of the Subaru, it was time to get one. Everything at Harbor Freight is dirt cheap, and the trailer was no exception. I got one that was way too big, 4x8, as there wasn't any reason to get one any smaller. My father, my uncle, and I assembled it. Now, not only had I never had a trailer, I'd never driven with one, so Dad and my brother laughed themselves silly from the security of his car while I tried to back it into the driveway. If we had footage it would be all over YouTube. The problem was that since it was an open trailer with nothing sticking up, it was invisible in the mirrors until it was nearly jacknifed! I eventually gave up and hauled it in manually.

Now for somewhere to store it. I originally thought it was going to be fine in the basement, but the steps are so narrow and the doorway tops so low that it was a precision wrestling exercise to haul a 180-lb kart down there and up is just as bad. Of course, I made the same mistake with the shed as I did with the trailer - I bought the biggest and cheapest, this time from Sears.

I picked up the shed two Sundays ago, six days before the first practice day. My friend Chris and I thought we could get it done in an evening.

Yeah, right.

At midnight on the first night, Chris, and my father, and I had gotten the floor frame assembled and the walls attached. The second day we put in the floorboards and roof, finishing at 10:30, and the shed was finished last Thursday. We put in over 500 sheetmetal screws and hundreds of other fasteners, many of them twice. It completely wrecked us. Whoever wrote those instructions should be forced to build one of these sheds using only the directions he wrote and the tools they recommend. I advise anyone else to go and buy one of those snap-em-together-quick Rubbermaid plastic sheds.
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"If you're still in full control, you're not going fast enough" - Fred Frame

[Charles Kaneb]

Saturday morning, I set out for practice. The kart was ready and I thought I was prepared. My mother came along because she was convinced that this was the last time she'd see me alive. We got to East Bridgewater and paid the entry fees.

A Rotax Max kart is terrifyingly fast to someone who hadn't driven any kart faster than a rental; the midrange acceleration is terrific, the cornering forces huge, and the bumps knock you silly. I spent the first session making sure I wouldn't be rear-ended and finding my way around the course. I think I forgot to turn the Mychron on for that session.

Second session was a bit better. I knew a little bit of the track and started following some of the other karts around. However, about halfway through I spun and the engine wasn't running well after that so I came in. The battery terminal connection had gotten loose. I was in the 1:11s, the faster guys in the 1:06s.

I spent the third session figuring out just how fast I had to unlock the brakes to avoid spinning out and generally failing. This didn't appear to be a unique problem, there were drivers standing around the circuit near their karts. I got down to the 1:09s.

The fourth session was longer, twenty minutes, and I was really beaten up by the end of it. I was starting to get faster and more confident, but was driving way, way over my limits, spinning every few laps, and doing more off-roading than your average SUV. But I was in the 1:08s, on the old Mojo D1s, so Sunday had to be better, right?
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"If you're still in full control, you're not going fast enough" - Fred Frame

[Charles Kaneb]

I'd told my boss I would be racing Sunday so I wasn't going to back out and only do the practice sessions which I've been told is the normal course for the first few weekends. Besides, I'd been boasting too long about my indoor exploits to be able to face the music on Monday if I didn't race. So my cousin, my father, and I came back to East Bridgewater.

Sunday's goals were as follows:
1) Don't crash
2) Qualify off the back row of the grid
3) Finish both races somewhere other than last, ideally on the lead lap.
To accomplish these goals, my strategies were as follows: First, avoid the nuts who spun themselves to a halt and/or banged into each other in practice on Saturday - this is one of the advantages of karting, you can identify the other driver/kart combination very readily. It's really easy to see the drivers for whom the red mist descends too readily. Just watch the practice sessions; don't look for the drivers who spin out as a lot of people do that, look for the drivers who spin out and then either get frustrated or angry afterwards, or who end up arguing with track staff or other drivers during practice. Second, I was going to get the new tires and drive more sanely on Sunday, taking advantage of others' mistakes.

Before practice, I bought new tires from Roger and helped him a little getting the old ones off and the new ones on. He, his son Grant, and the machine make it look so easy; from my FSAE experience I know just how hard is to force the bead over the edge of the rim and get it to seat. I put the wheels back on the kart and headed out for practice.

The new tires were really slick the first couple of laps but by lap five or so they were working pretty well. I was still off the pace of the faster drivers and one of them drove into my right sidepod between two turns. Unfortunately she bent her axle and had to replace it. We went over to see if we could help but there were already several others who knew more about this than we working on her kart. I later used a piece of the axle to hold up part of the frame for our pit canopy where it had collapsed.

I set the tire pressures, filled the tank, and went out to qualify. I almost spun on the out lap and lost some time, so on the next lap I really went for it and drove what felt like a really good lap, then drove a slightly saner third lap. I decided during that lap not to just accept the previous time and come in because nobody in the pits would be expecting me back in so early and it could have been hazardous, so I went around again before coming in. This was lucky as they only start timing on the third lap - the last lap I completed. I qualified twelfth of sixteen with 1:07.1.

After lunch, it was time for my first wheel-to-wheel-open-wheel race in the "prefinal". I was a bit scared and anxious, and then I got to the grid and relaxed a little as the track staff got ready for the first race of the day. Alex and Dad were supportive and wheeled the kart up near the hot grid, so I relaxed a little; they weren't scared so I wasn't either.

We headed out on the parade lap, and then the leaders proceeded to drive it like a qualifying lap - I had my hands full just trying to keep up! I was wondering what I'd gotten myself into and resolved not to get into a first-corner accident. They let us catch up and we went for the green two-by-two. So we all headed into the first turn and I went wide. Everyone passed me and I was dead last. Then I started working my way through the field. To my surprise, that parade lap was flat out for the rest of us as well, and I was able to hold up a decent race pace, put a couple good moves on people, and finish 11th with 20 seconds or so cushion against going a lap down. My fastest lap was 1:06.3 and I had driven twelve steady consistent laps. I was feeling pretty good for the final.

For some reason, I was gridded tenth for the final. Unfortunately, with the way turn 1 goes at F1 Outdoors, that's a disadvantage over being 11th; Nathan Braun, one of the more experienced drivers there, reckoned he'd rather start third or even fifth than second. We went for another banzai parade lap and then set up for the 18-lap, 20 minute or so final. I lost two places on the start and then settled in. Between attrition and overtaking I was all the way up to eighth at half distance and reeling in seventh. The bumps were really starting to hurt now; my lungs had been acting as a spring to cushion the ride but in the fourth practice session on Saturday and in the final race on Sunday I'd gotten tired enough that the springiness had gone and each bump just rattled me.

Nevertheless, by lap twelve I had closed up on the seventh-placed kart, and going round the final turn onto the long frontstretch went wide on entry then moved in and used my speed advantage to make my move. Then the engine sputtered midcorner and I spun off. Damn! I bounced for a few seconds along the infield grass, making sure that I was out of danger, then attempted to restart. It caught and I drove a few feet forward, but didn't run. I still didn't want either a DNF or to have to hope that nobody else did this for the next six laps so I tried again, which allowed me a few more feet along the grass this time before stalling, then the third time was the charm. The engine was a bit weak but when I looked all the way around nobody was coming so I merged back onto the straightaway. I was now a lap down, and didn't know my place, so I treated the rest of the race like a practice/qualifying session, and actually drove my fastest lap of the weekend after that, 1:05.8.

Michael Zaccaria won both of the races. I was eleventh. I finished. I climbed out of the kart under my own power. I brought a kart home rather than a bunch of parts!
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"If you're still in full control, you're not going fast enough" - Fred Frame

[Francis Amargo]

Great story Charles, and glad to see another racer join the club.

I'm still new myself, both to F1 and karting in general. Did a few practice sessions last season and just went out on Saturday for practice, which didn't turn out really good. I drove the number-less Arrow kart, but now will be #209.

I have yet to find out on Sat if my motor will come out of being possessed and hopefully get some solid laps down. It was the first time I drove the full-length track and since I cannot complete a full-lap without the motor acting up, laptimes weren't my focus then, besides, I had my sensor backwards

Hope to see you this Saturday

[Chris Crome]

Thanks for posting your experience. It actually made me finally register here, and stop lurking. I'm new to karting this year, and I am going through the same experiences (although no races for a while). I find karting exciting and relaxing at the same time. Nothing like flying around the track to find some perspective after a busy day. I hope to gradually improve my driving skills, have fun with new friends, and maybe finish a race or two this year. I look forward to your reports of your journey. It will be interesting to see how similar our paths are. Thanks.

[Charles Kaneb]

I spent some time Friday afternoon cleaning the kart up and checking nuts, bolts, etc - the ones holding the seat down were loose so I tightened them back down and added a tiny bit of epoxy - they'll be a bit harder to take off now but shouldn't loosen or strip now. The RAVE cover spring on a Rotax Max is a hassle - it doesn't go in the slot you think it does, and if you put it where you think it'll fit, attaching the other end requires a pair of big pliers and a huge shove - and it doesn't fit right, so it goes flying, sending the little spring on the room on a chase towards the corners of the garage. I eventually managed to simultaneously break the cover spring and lose the inner spring for once and for all. Luckily SSC East had the parts in stock. The right location is the INNER notch on the RAVE housing casting.

That evening, both my cousin and my brother bailed on me. So I strapped the kart to the trailer and headed down to F1 Outdoors alone. I got there, paid up for the two-day pass (not sure why this isn't included in the entry fee), and parked way out in the free lot. Those sort of things grate a little; F1 has to earn its keep, and I can see how its expenses add up, but I don't like "gotcha capitalism" - if the entry fee is really $85 (or $125 if I go for a good parking spot and someone for my pit crew) don't tell me it's $60. I can come up with it either way, but one way is easy to budget at the start of the season and account for at the end and the other isn't. It's not as if it's an additional charge for an amenity; there's no way to enter without paying both fees. One thing I note is that the parking price sheet has prices for the first two rows; yet the parking is four rows deep, and the lot is cordoned off so as to give the impression that the free parking is in the far-off section a couple hundred yards from the grid. Can I park in the third row free? I'd rather not ask someone who doesn't know at the start and then be told to "move or pay up" midday.

It's not really practical to run solo for the simple reason that it takes two people to pick up a kart. It's also much, much harder to keep track of everything and get everything unloaded and ready. What would've been a reasonably relaxed run-up to the first practice session turned into a hectic dash. Thank you to the Zaccarias, father and son for noticing that I had a flat tire and grabbing the air compressor. You gotta check the critical stuff immediately before heading out onto the track - and if you're unloading 10 minutes before the session you can't do that. I got into the 1:06s and was running steady 1:07s, pretty much keeping up with most people, before coming in at the end of the session.

Everything Carroll Smith wrote in Prepare to Win and Screw to Win comes down to the next sentence, in capitals for importance. NEVER GO OUT ONTO A RACETRACK WITH ANY SUSPECT COMPONENTS, WHATEVER AND WHEREVER THEY MAY BE. Don't hit the track if the car has anything that you aren't sure is up to the task. If you're driving, don't put on equipment that won't work out there. If you're working on it, don't bring tools that might break. It can be as significant as an engine that might go or a chassis with a crack in it, or as trivial as a seat that's moving around due to a missing washer or a visor that's not on straight. If you're worried about it fix it. Of course this like all rules has its exceptions - if the choice is start the Big Race or miss it and it's something that might not matter it would be dumb to lose out.

I knew my chain was on its last legs. It was binding, it wasn't going around the sprockets cleanly, and it ground as it ran. The sprockets weren't in any better shape. I even asked my cousin, who's done some motocross, to look into #219 chains and see what was available. About three laps into the second practice session I went over a curb and the chain came off. This is the third time I've had this happen in a race vehicle. In the FSAE car, we replaced the old chain and fitted guards on the sprocket so it got forced back on. Of course, there was a possiblility that it could bind and lock the rears but a DNF is a DNF in FSAE - with only one race it's worth the chance to improve your reliability. The other time was when I test-drove the CRG Kali at F1 Outdoors and it came off on the same corner!

It took Roger and me until the last session to get the new chain and sprockets on. I like the Arrow's mechanical design a lot; it is very easy to adjust chain tension because the engine mount is on a pair of rail sliders with clamps. Replacing the front sprocket is another story; it obviously wasn't designed to be changed quickly with normal tools. It's both pressed into the clutch drum and secured with a special locking nut, with the only way to undo them to put pins through the holes in the drum and the center hole. Roger had several special tools to change what should be a common maintenance item. My first guess at a redesign would be to make it a straight press fit, reducing the number of tools necessary to do this to an arbor press and something that's the right diameter to drive it. I also changed the beadlock O-rings because I'd crushed the hell out of them by tightening the screws with a wrench - DON'T DO THIS! They're hard to replace if they've been crushed. Hand-tighten them and if you don't think that's tight enough use a socket in your fingers (no socket wrench).

I rolled up to the grid about three laps into the session, threw on my helmet, neckbrace and gloves, and rolled out. One lap to get the tires warmed up, one more to warm up the motor, then three 1:05.8s right in a row. That's as fast as I'd gone in the race. I spent the next couple laps clearing slower karts, being passed by Grant Schilling's #99 Zanardi, then clearing a slower kart, then trying to follow and run down Grant. I turned a 1:04.8 the next lap and about kept even, then a couple mid-1:05s as he lost me.

So there it was, I met my time goal for the weekend - I'd wanted to break 1:05. I drove a lot fewer laps than I thought I would but it wasn't bad overall.
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"If you're still in full control, you're not going fast enough" - Fred Frame

[Charles Kaneb]

Today was less eventful. I'd been told that slicks would be hopeless as soon as there was either standing water or moderate-or-greater rainfall. I don't have rain tires, rain wheels, or any other rain equipment, so I'm not set up to run in the rain.

So I hoped that it would be dry today, because I'd done well yesterday despite running so few laps. My go/no go call was simple; I'd go if it wasn't raining at 7:00 AM in Worcester, because it would get to Bridgewater sometime before noon if it was. It was raining at 7, so I went online to check the weather - and it looked like both storms on the map were headed right for the South Shore. So I didn't go.


If you were there, please tell me that it started pouring five minutes before qualifying and they had to hastily reconfigure the course to avoid the banking, that all the oil from the past three months got washed up and everyone spun into the mud, fortunately all on different turns to avoid contact, and that Mark Ouimet won the Senior Rotax race in the golf cart that he was using to drag the beached karts home with.
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"If you're still in full control, you're not going fast enough" - Fred Frame

[Greg Hughes]

Charles -

This has quickly turned into one of my favorite threads to visit. Your stories remind me of perspectives to keep in mind when working with some of the newer folks at our track here. And your story telling abilities mixed with your experiences crack me up! Keep up the good work - keep setting loftier goals and striving for them - and keep on keepin' on!
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Greg Hughes
'07 CRG Kali 32 \ Rotax
www.61kartway.com

[Mark Ouimet]

Charles,

Wet qualifing, full track
Wet pre final, full track
Dry feature.

Surprisingly few pull offs
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Mark Ouimet

[John Viveiros]

Charles-

As "first years" ourselves, we look forward to reading your posts. In trying to put a face to the name... are you the young man I helped tension a new chain under Rogers tent on Saturday?
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J Viveiros

[Charles Kaneb]

[John Viveiros]

No problem! I'm there as "crew" for my son (who runs juniors) so if you ever need a hand loading/unloading - just let me know, glad to do it. My eventual plan is get into a masters Kart myself once we understand the "lay of the land" and the budget permits.
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J Viveiros

[john kelley]

Great thread! Thanks for posting and thanks for the heads-up on the fees. I'm continuously amazed at how this "economical" form of racing has the ability to empty a wallet nearly as fast as any other motorsport.

I'm a rookie as well and will be starting at F1 by the end of the month (Rotax masters). I'm on my own but I do have a one-man kart stand so hopefully I'll mange it.

With respect to parking, if you pay for a paved spot, is it an assigned spot or do you take what you can get?

[Mark Ouimet]

John,

Check your p.m.
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Mark Ouimet