A Rookie's Tale

[Charles Kaneb]

I finally got the kart working again a couple days ago. Cleaning an engine is easy with WD-40 and paper towels. One of my classmates in high school was killed in a bike crash and I missed Saturday's practice to go to the funeral.

We left the house at 7 instead of 8:30, which made the rest of the day so much easier. This appears to be true in every form of motorsport I've ever competed in; it's so much more relaxed and you don't have to worry about what you botched when hurrying. When I got there the kart still hadn't run so I asked to pay the entry fee if I got it working.

I borrowed a starter switch from Mark at SSC East and gave the starter a quick try. It worked! The kart lived! When Roger arrived I bought the switch and put it in, and borrowed his bottle of Tri-Flo to spray the bearings. Tip for everyone: use bearing grease. They sound like a popcorn machine with just WD-40 and are just about silent when adequately lubricated. They also spin much more freely.

By 10 we were all ready. The pit canopy was finally gonna stay up thanks to the old snow tires I'd brought to weigh it down, the carpet was down, the kart ran, and everything seemed right. Then it was time to hit the track and everything WAS right.

A properly working kart with tons of straight line speed is the best thing that can happen to a driver's confidence. Three laps in I set the fastest lap I've ever run at F1 Outdoors, 1:04.4. I was just running alone at that point with no need to chase anyone down and it just worked. There was nothing special about that lap other than the time; I just didn't make many mistakes. I like the five-minute practice sessions, they make it so you don't spend any time just driving around.

The second session didn't go quite as well. I just didn't drive as well and something just seemed generically loose, so I pulled in after three laps. Steve then tightened down the exhaust pipe bolts which had gotten loose.

Qualifying went pretty well. I didn't have any great laps but didn't have poor ones either. It's too bad I screwed up Freddie's last couple laps; he was right on my tail and I couldn't see him so I didn't know to let him past. I turned 1:04.9 which would've seemed so fast only a couple of months ago, but thanks to this being an official RMAX Challenge race and the hot weather scaring off all of the non-diehards, it was only good for 9th out of 11. I barely made weight, coming in right at 365.

After lunch came the pre-final. It was HOT, at least 95 in the shade. In this heat 168/2 was just flat out the wrong jet as soon as the kart was warm. I tried to pass A. J. in the other Arrow but he was too unpredictable; passing someone who's just come off the dirt should be dead easy - except that he could just as easily botch the next turn and go right into me. I came in ninth and weighed in at 366.

After rejetting and doing some light cleaning I guzzled some Gatorade, added a five pound lead weight to the kart, and got ready for the final. In grid, I couldn't get the kart started. Griffin Ouimet and Ted Cook ran over and helped me out; one of the battery terminals was loose, and I hadn't gotten the carb into the gasket right or refilled the carb with gas after rejetting. So I set out a little bit late and had to chase down the pack on the warm-up lap. After some confusion I got caught up to the back of the pack as the race started. I managed to get past Scott Bowers and just started running alone. Unfortunately my ignition started breaking up and it wouldn't run right at over eleven grand, so I was running 1:07s. Ten laps in I saw a yellow flag, and one kart partially on top of another. A couple laps later A. J. came tearing past again; I let him past so he wouldn't wreck me, too. Nathan crashed out as well, taking a kart he was lapping with him. Thanks to some drama I finished seventh, sixth if you don't count a guy who needed outside assistance to pull him off the kart he ran over. I weighed in right at 365.

That was a really good day, my best yet in outdoor karting. It's too bad I let my battery run down so far; I could've been a lot more competitive in the final.
_________________
"If you're still in full control, you're not going fast enough" - Fred Frame

[Charles Kaneb]

Here's my weight balance for the day. It was up to 95 degrees out in the shade and of course the event is in the sun.

After the first practice session I was at 367 lbs. I had 7 liters of fuel on board. Each liter weighs around 1 1/2 lbs.

I drank one 2-lb quart of Gatorade between the first practice session and qualifying. I burned roughly a liter and a half of fuel in the second practice and qualifying. I weighed in at 365 even.

I added 8 oz of food and a pint of soda (1 lb) at lunch. I then added 2 1/2 liters (4 lbs) of fuel bringing me to 8 liters on board. I also drank a quart of Gatorade (2 lbs) before the prefinal.

At the end of the prefinal I was at 366 with 5 liters of fuel left.

Between it and the final, I added 5 lbs of lead and 2 lbs of Gatorade.

At the end of the final I weighed in at 365 lbs with around 2 1/2 liters of fuel left.

Let's assume that the weight of the kart stayed the same aside from fuel all day; I didn't lose any water and nothing fell off.

Therefore, I went through 7 liters of fuel (10 lbs). I finished with 4 1/2 liters less than I'd started, for 7 lbs less.

I added 5 lbs of lead.

I drank 7 lbs of Gatorade.

I weighed in at 2 lbs less after the final than at the first weigh-in of the day.

Therefore, I weighed 7 lbs less at the end of the day than at the start. I also drank 7 lbs. That means that I went through 14 lbs of water - plus however much my suit soaked up, and let me tell you it was soaked at the end of the day.

I go through around 5 lbs of water on a 10-mile night run, about 8 if I run 10 by day.

Mr. Zaccaria,

Where's Marcello's?
_________________
"If you're still in full control, you're not going fast enough" - Fred Frame

[Charles Kaneb]

I didn't practice Saturday as I was busy removing the 200+k mile 90 hp engine from my old Honda CRX and replacing it with a 30k mile 137 hp engine. The swap's almost done but I'm still waiting on a couple of parts.

Sunday we got off to a late start, which never helps. We left Worcester at 8 and got to the track at 9:30. A late arrival makes you hurry through your preparation and setup, throwing everything from the wagon to the trailer and pitching the tent as fast as possible. If I'd wanted to do any preparation or setup changes I wouldn't have been able to.

The practice sessions went reasonably well. I ran in light traffic in the first session and mostly alone in the second. The kart felt OK; it still pushed a lot and transitioned violently to oversteer when provoked. It was popping badly at the end of the straights because I had the wrong jet in (too lean).

After cleaning the kart and rejetting, I headed out for qualifying. The out lap was easy to get me some separation, the first full lap I took easy and let someone past giving us both room to go for it, and then I got on it. The first few corners went by faster than I'd ever gone, including the first time I wasn't losing miles through the hairpin. Up to the banked corner now and time for a fast entry - recall the last time I tried this I crashed - but this time I got down on the bottom and managed to stay there with the throttle "firewalled". Down the straight, brake HARD for the Intersection, get the kart a bit loose through the first corner and have the correction take you through the second, then down to the right-hander, stay on the inside to get a good entry for Weneedabend onto the long pit straight, back on the gas, out to the outside edge then DAMNIT, onto the corrugated concrete curb, sideways, backwards, sideways, straight, sideways and now the chain's off. Guess I'm starting from the back.

We got lunch at Marcello's in Whitman, which is closer and much, much, much better than fast food. Afterwards I put the chain back on, tensioned it, and lubed it up. I set the tire pressures (11 PSI warm all around) and then got back in for the prefinal.

I'd run uncompetitively in the races, backing off and creating room for everyone, and dropping off the pace whenever something felt odd, basically treating them like practices with green and checkered flags. That changed in this prefinal. I got right into the action from the start, trying to make some moves in the fast corners and not conceding much time in the slow ones. The first five laps were all sub-1:05.5 and I was right in touch with everyone else. I was making the kart move around in the corners, driving like an extended qualifying session. After midway I started losing out but this had gone well. There were only 11 karts in my class but it seems that most of the novices have quit and we've got a nice, tight, competitive grid.

Then came the disasters in the Junior final. I was in the pits when I heard tires squealing and bumpers hitting sidepods, then turned around and saw a HUGE crash. A kart went off Weneedabend and slammed into the barrier separating the track from the pits. It looked like Harrison had seen the yellow flag for a crash further along the track and checked up and Kristina didn't have time to react. Everyone came sprinting over and at least she didn't appear to be seriously hurt. She hit so hard that the first section of barrier had completely broken up and spilled water everywhere.

I just cleaned the kart a little for the final. No need to make any changes; the kart handled fine. It looked like some rain was on the way which would've made it FUN. Then I came out of the pits, got the inside wheel on the curb a little - and the chain fell off. I didn't even get to take the green flag. I was completely flattened and didn't even want to take off my helmet or brace. I spent the race watching from inside one of the sections of barrier that had held up so well only an hour ago... but at least I know how the leaders take the inside bend and the hairpin.

I missed the next weekend for financial reasons (related to a huge student loan payment and the engine swap in the same month). I'll see you all at the next race on the 23rd and 24th. Are you allowed to pitch a tent and stay over from Saturday to Sunday? The place looks secure.
_________________
"If you're still in full control, you're not going fast enough" - Fred Frame

[Charles Kaneb]

This isn't going to be an exciting post. I had a good day last Saturday in practice. We loaded up at 7:15, got to the track at 8:30, and noticed that the turnout was kinda slim.

The kart ran fine through the first couple practice sessions. Steve coached me on my driving, watching me through Fountain, Golden Eagle, and Weneedabend. On Fountain, I switched from a sudden turn-in under neutral throttle to a steadier turn-in with a quicker change from gas to brake. This seemed to settle the kart down a little and have me run closer to the line that the others take through that turn. On Golden Eagle, I started running much wider on entry, allowing me to trailbrake a lot more there. I just moved my apex a lot later on Weneedabend to get more exit speed. Just driving fast laps is a lot of fun but I'll start making a lot more setup changes in practice soon. I had a nice run with the two Tonykarts in the third session. They caught and passed me after I'd been held up by a slow kart and then I ran faster some laps, slower some others, and then got close enough to start trying to pass before the checkered flag waved.

In the last practice session, I headed out right after Arie and tried to keep up. He was able to leave me behind pretty quickly, pulling out a couple seconds in only a couple of laps. However, I got to see exactly where he was running and with some smooth running got my fastest-ever lap at F1 Outdoors at 1:03.9. He was pulling away a little at midcorner and a little more near the ends of the straights - I was undergeared at 12/79 and turning 14,000 RPM. The Rotax's power dies off somewhere between 12,500 and 12,750. I was suffering from a vibration at high speed as well.

After the last practice session Steve noticed a large crack on the outside the clutch drum. There's a huge stress concentration on the outside face of the drum where there are several deep grooves with pretty sharp edges on them. This would be acceptable if it were a disc clutch and that wasn't a heavily loaded surface but the clutch shoes DRIVE on the inside surface of this. The outside of a brake drum undergoes both shear and compressive stress anyway and any surface features hurt a lot. They could be there for cooling but a Rotax is basically direct drive as soon as it leaves the pits so where's it generating all the heat? If Rotax is going to charge me $70 for this can they at least not deliberately design it to break early?
_________________
"If you're still in full control, you're not going fast enough" - Fred Frame

[Charles Kaneb]

The maximum effective lifespan of a set of Mojo D2 tires is eight days of practice and racing. I found that out the hard way on the ninth day of running.

We had a full wagon because Dad and Steve both went, and my friend Lev came to take photos. I like my towing setup now; the kart, the stand, and the two tires I use for weights for the E-Z-Up are tied to the trailer, and everything else (tools, chemicals, driver equipment) goes behind the seats of the station wagon. If we then go 65 MPH on the highway we'll get 30 MPG on regular carrying four people and towing a kart. I guess if I have to carry as much equipment and keep it in salable condition as Roger or SSC it won't work but for now this works fine. Eventually I'll bolt a vise onto the trailer and get a tire mounting machine.

We got there right behind a McLaren F1. I wandered over to take a look. It's no taller or wider than a Miata and only a couple feet longer yet it seats three and has a 627-horsepower V12. Every detail is really cool; it looks a lot like an Indycar under the engine cover with a lot of race-grade parts. The packaging is very neat; no long or convoluted hose runs and there's plenty of space for anything. It wasn't designed for racing but it's not like McLaren's engineers would bother looking at any road cars when they designed one. They came up with a better way anyway. There's no way in the world any supercar designed after that car came out should have anything other than a forward central driving position with a narrow seat on either side - three seats in the space of two. In addition you get to have two central tunnels to help out with chassis stiffness instead of one.

In the first practice session, I wasn't very fast just because I had to warm everything up. The second practice session was a bit more worrying. I drove hard and reasonably well but didn't get below 1:06.

Qualifying was worse. I went out there and tried to go for it. I'd been one of the fastest karts out there on Saturday but there was no grip anywhere. It was frustrating; I drove one lap with the same lines I'd broken 1:04 but the Mychron scored me at 1:05.8. I got my fastest lap basically triple-apexing Fountain and and trying not to disturb the kart as much as possible. It was only 1:05.5, good for sixth on the grid out of seven. We had up to fifteen karts in Seniors this year and about ten on Saturday. Seven karts is a bad kart count but the first five karts were below 1:03.5. Marty Moheim even outqualifed Arie.

The prefinal was after lunch. I stayed close on the warmup lap and ran right up on Nathan's bumper at the start, pushing Nathan and Arie a little. I got a great start and ran outside as everyone else moved way inside. I was up to Nathan's motor and gunning for a great first turn. However, the tires just didn't stick at all. I was looking forward to racing for third out of that turn but my kart was just heading right for the weeds. I rolled along in sixth driving everywhere sideways because the kart just wouldn't turn until I gunned it. It must've been fun to watch but it was frustrating to drive like that.

Now it was time for the Keystone Kops episode! My tires were completely shot to hell and there was no way I could race on them. It would have been a bad idea for me to buy a new set as there would be no way for me to scuff them in before the race; I bought a new set of wheels and tires anyway for the rest of the year. I went around the pits with my 3-on-58mm wheel and tire and tried to find someone with a set with better-condition practice tires already mounted. Unfortunately nobody else's bolt pattern matches the Arrow's and I had to turn to plan B which was having four used tires mounted on my wheels. Marty gave me a set and David Braun mounted them up. Steve and Dad inflated them but the right rear valve broke up and I had to race over to Roger's trailer and get a new one installed. Steve spent the next forty-five minutes taking on and pulling off wheels because I was trying to figure out how to get four raceable tires and wheels on the car.

We hurry up to the grid, where the kart fails to start again. Griffin runs over (this is at least the third time he's done this, I owe him lunch) and checks the connections, actually getting the starter button plugs attached and it starts. After a couple warm-up laps I've got some confidence in the tires; they're certainly providing more grip than the old ones were. I do the same thing I did in the first race and get around to the outside on the start and actually take the positions... but then came the hairpin and the right front tire went flat. So there went the race. I drove around the last 17 laps on the plastics because there wasn't much point in taking a DNF. Arie's chain broke a couple laps later, and A.J. went off and then pulled in, so I finished fifth and a lap down. Congrats to the Nathan and Marty on the 1-2 TonyKart finish and to Freddie for his first podium. Too bad I couldn't get there to challenge Freddie and try to make it a Prospeed 1-2-3. Normal service will probably be restored when the Zaccarias and Grant Schilling come back after Nationals.
_________________
"If you're still in full control, you're not going fast enough" - Fred Frame

[Charles Kaneb]

Steve had a bigger save on the way home towing the trailer than I made in the kart all day.

We were heading west on I-290 when Steve saw a Massachusetts State Police car parked across the median. Naturally he backed way off. We closed in and the officer drove to the edge of the median. The officer then nailed it and hit the lights - and pulled out right in front of us. Steve got on the brakes hard and shoved the car and trailer into the next lane and managed a monster dodge, even correcting to keep the trailer behind us. The cruiser then pulled into the middle lane behind us, then went into the right lane and pulled over a Nissan that had passed us on the way.

Isn't the point of traffic enforcement to reduce the hazards of the road, not to cause them?
_________________
"If you're still in full control, you're not going fast enough" - Fred Frame

[Charles Kaneb]

Sprint karting as practiced by F1 Outdoors is not really a spectator event. There is no grandstand and very little indication to the outside world that kart races are going on - no big signs on the street, no advertising of the cost to see us ($10 for the day), no announcer's loudspeaker. As a consequence there are very few spectators aside from friends and family. This despite it being considered one of the best venues in America, regular races and a stable lineup of drivers. This has to be deliberate, to enhance the "club" atmosphere and reduce potential liability.

For a contrast, go to the Woodstock Fairgrounds for the races during the fair. The track there is only a 1/10 mile oval with a couple cracks across the track and some old tires for barriers. The pits are just on the grass outside the fairgrounds. There's a grandstand a couple hundred feet long though, and it's packed as soon as the racing begins.

I was definitely an outsider there. There must have been a hundred fifty karts there and it was a pretty tight-knit crowd; most of the karts were made by either ProKart or T&M and both manufacturers (both from Connecticut) were there. If you think sprint karting has a confusing set of classes and engines - think again. There were box stocks, limiteds, modifieds, opens, flatheads, lites, mediums, heavies, junior champs, senior champs, rookie champs, Yamahas, 2-cycle controlled (I never got a clear answer as to whether the Rotax qualified) and for the big feature race of the evening - Run What You Brung for the Joseph Parent Memorial!

I scuffed in my new tires in the two practice sessions, giving them some reasonably gentle laps and getting used to the track and driving with other karts on an oval. The other guys in my class were to be a friendly bunch that included two grandsons of Joseph Parent, one of the founders of the Tri-State Kart Club. There were a couple guys with hopped-up Briggs and Strattons, and four others with Yamaha KT100 pipe motors. I was given number 10X because Aaron was #101.

They all had oval-specific chassis with the driver offset way to the left, and enormous, pillow-soft outside tires. The outside front tires on a couple of these karts were ten inches wide and they had an open tire rule - whatever tires you wanted, however wide you wanted, unlimited tire shaving, and traction compounds. In practice everyone was impressed with the Rotax motor - especially with how it pulled off the corners. I had no cornering speed at all but my lap times were about even with them - whatever I gave away in the corners I made up on the straights. This was going to be fun...

The heat races were exciting to watch. After watching them I'm not sure if "Animal" refers to the engine or to the driving style. I've seen people race cleaner in demolition derbies. The main means of passing seemed to be either the desperado dive down the inside or the straighforward punt into the tires. It certainly looked like fun - but they have full bodies and my wheels are hanging out there ready to get climbed or taken clear off.

It came down to race time. The announcer called us to the track and we set our karts down in the order we'd been given by random draw. Let's see, I've got a "road-racing" kart, I don't really know anybody here, I've got some weird motor that nobody believes makes only 28 hp, between the questions I asked everybody and the explanation of the Arrow I didn't manage to shut up all day, and I'm racing against the grandsons of the guy who founded the club. Arrow's slogan is "Every race needs a hero"; today I'm the villain. Let's make it a starring role...

On the second attempt they got the National Anthem to play on the loudspeakers. Aaron Parent motored around the track with a big American flag. They then lined us up in starting order, determined by random draw. I was dead last. Every kart got a photo and they introduced us one by one to the crowd. I jumped in and started up my kart. The announcer said "Wait, that thing's electric start, too?". I tried to sell him the kart right there but he declined.

The green flag waves. I nail it. By the time I get into turn 1 I'm fourth and hang on there through the first lap. Entering turn 3 on the second lap I go by the #75/68 kart and get into third. I drove another lap and then started setting up the top two. I caught them and went down the inside of turn three. They didn't even look at me and I backed off to save my skin.

I shouldn't have. I came up to turn one and both the fourth and fifth place karts tried to pass me. Coming off turn 2 the #13 drove right into my left sidepod and banged me into the #75/68. He must've just suffered from a massive attack of brainfade there. I continued on under caution because I could still steer and the axle wasn't obviously bent. By not stopping I kept third and put 13 and 75/68 a lap behind. We drove around for a few laps under caution then restarted. I couldn't gain either of them into turn 1 or turn 3 so third place was where I stayed for the rest of the 30-lap race for my first podium. Some of the other drivers in the pits came up to me and said that they hadn't seen anyone run so well in a straight-up kart.

KT100s sound great. I can see why Alan Dove complains about the Rotax's sound. I'm definitely coming back there next year with a stickier-tired, lighter kart. Somebody on this forum bought an old Formula A kart and can't run it at F1...
_________________
"If you're still in full control, you're not going fast enough" - Fred Frame

[Charles Kaneb]

(short version of next post previously appeared here)
_________________
"If you're still in full control, you're not going fast enough" - Fred Frame

[Charles Kaneb]

There was a thin field for practice. Dad and I rolled up at 9:00 and unloaded, missing the 9:00 practice session. There were no apparent mechanical issues, and it came pretty close to "clean, lube, check, gas, and go". This is the way TaG karting's supposed to be.

I spent the first two practice session confirming that 9 PSI cold all around and hot pressures of 11 front 10 rear worked best. It's amazing what the tire manufacturer knows about their product... I ran most of my laps between 1:05.5 and 1:06 and had a best of 1:04.9 on the old practice tires I raced on at the last F1 race.

After lunch, I started making changes to the kart at last.

I spent the first 3/4 of the season just learning to drive well and to maintain the kart to an acceptable standard. I didn't want to spend time chasing the setup around for a driving problem but the morning sessions and the oval race made it completely obvious that the kart was way, way too tight. I was at 46" even at the front and 53.5" at the rear, with a "medium" axle. Mark Ouimet said that "It might be different for an Arrow but we start the CRGs at 54.5 in back and go from there", so I followed his advice.

My dad and I carefully measured the distance from the side of the left bearing hanger to the flange, and the sprocket carrier to the flange, then I loosened up both sides and slid them out 1/2" each. I then went up front. I had the 20mm spacers on the outside and the 10 and 5 mm spacers on the inside, so to add 10mm per side I put the 20 and 5 on the inside and the 10 on the outside.

As soon as I hit the track I knew it had worked. I was no longer forcing the kart into the corners with all my might and "Susan B. Anthony"ing the corners - getting back off the gas to get the front tires to hook up again over and over. It was now loose and maneuverable. Within three laps I was used to what I was doing; the best was only 1:04.7 but as soon as Grant passed me every lap was under 1:05, and it was physically and mentally a lot easier to get down there and stay there. I could finally concentrate on smooth driving. It was also a lot easier to pass now that I knew I wasn't going to suddenly need an extra foot midcorner.

I got back to the pits, and heard a light clunking noise from the left rear tire. Thinking back to the last time I used these tires I realized that the part of the old valve that had fallen off was still in there! I took the tire partially off, fished out the valve, and Roger put it back on. I then widened up the rear another 1/4" each side and headed out for the final session. Freddie (1:03.7) and Grant (1:03.2) were faster so I wanted to see if I could get down to their times.

The first three laps were great, two at 1:04.3 and the other at 1:03.9. I was blowing past karts everywhere, a mix of seniors and masters. Unfortunately, after that, the kart suddenly started to get tight after I hit a few curbs. What had happened was that the hubs had worked loose and slid in. I came in at the end of the session, fortunately without losing a wheel.

One tip that I haven't seen anyone else do: I marked the rear axle with where the hub had to be for 53.5" wide so all I have to measure now is the distance out from there.
_________________
"If you're still in full control, you're not going fast enough" - Fred Frame

[Charles Kaneb]

The weakest link in the Rotax package is the clutch. It's a disaster; it costs a fortune, it has a much easier job than the clutches in other classes, and it breaks all the time.

Part of the idea behind the Rotax was that the clutch wouldn't be a major tuning element or a major ongoing expense. They went 1 for 2 and got the wrong one wrong. It's pretty complicated; instead of having the shoes mounted on torsion bars they had them pivot around pins and be held in by coil springs linking the shoes together. This introduces the problem of wear due to friction between the shoe and pin as well as a heavy bending load on the pins due to the location of the spring attachment points right at the outside edge of the shoes.

Three things go wrong with this clutch.

A) The springs break because they're coil springs in tension which have nice heavy stress concentrations at the bends and hooks and a LOUSY load path through them. You get three springs in the $25 rebuild kit, which contains about three bucks worth of parts.
B) The shoe cracks at the hole for the pin. The crack starts near a section change (nice sharp corner on a casting in section) and then splits the shoe right there. Shoes cost $35 but you need to replace all three at once.
C) The pin breaks followed by much cursing on the part of the driver and mechanic. From what I can tell this is just a pressed-in pin; maybe the interference is heavy enough that you have to heat it and then press it in. It's got a retaining ring groove at the top, it's got a stop on the back. It's probably a standard DIN part somewhere and as such shouldn't cost much.

Guess what. According to the Rotax rules you can't replace it. You can't replace the entire backing plate either. You have to buy the whole @#$% clutch. That's $400 right down the drain for another clutch that I KNOW is going to break just like this one because it's the same damn part. Ten years to figure this out and they haven't. That's as much as an engine rebuild for this motor, or two sets of tires, or two clutches for a Civic.

I've worked up a pretty decent redesign for this without any moving parts and just one flexible element. The starter gear is separate; the engine drives through a fiber-reinforced-plastic dish. On the outside edge of the dish is the friction material (replaceable). On the inside edge are the iron weights. As this spins the dish bends and stretches putting the friction material in contact with the clutch drum. This gives the additional advantage that the heaviest loading on the clutch drum will be right against the inside edge, reducing bending loads on a badly-designed area. The stresses on the dish should be pretty manageable.

Everything was going right during the first practice session, down right into the low 1:04s without even trying hard. No trouble passing, kart handled just like I'd set it up to on Saturday. Then the clutch broke. It left me with direct drive; it was difficult to push along the ground. If I'd known any better I'd have just faked it and run all day with DD or taken the entire clutch assembly off the pins and stuffed an old "Ralph Nader for President" T-shirt in there.

I took the clutch off using the special puller (like a steering wheel puller but conveniently the holes are about 1 mm too close together for a steering wheel puller to be used). I then went to Roger but he didn't have a clutch, so I headed off to SSC's trailer. Arie opened the drawer and handed me one. There were six in there which says it all - if the clutch was supposed to be "low maintenance" there wouldn't be anything like that inventory.

I then tightened down the new clutch on the tapered bore using SSC East's electric impact and headed out to qualify. I was expecting to be third of seven or so. Unfortunately the new clutch slipped on its tapered pilot and I was stopped on my first fast lap.

Before the prefinal I borrowed SSC's impact again and gave it a quick test by grabbing the socket and pulling the trigger. In reverse it twisted my arm around before I let go. In forward it just vibrated. Hmm... so I put it back on and tightened it down with my ratchet before setting the impact on it. In the prefinal I didn't even make it to the green flag before it slipped again.

I had quite enough of this so I carefully reinstalled it and then tightened it down HARD with my breaker bar before the final.

That worked. By lap 3 I'm fourth, and Freddie and Nathan are sitting ducks in front of me. I've got a kart that goes and handles again and it's time to take advantage. That lap the little thrust washer between the sprocket and sprocket nut explodes, and I'm out.
_________________
"If you're still in full control, you're not going fast enough" - Fred Frame

[Charles Kaneb]

My final weekend of the season was pretty uneventful. It was a lot colder this weekend, and I changed to a 77 tooth driver because I wanted the engine to reach 12500 later on the straights and not hit fourteen grand like it does with the 79.

We got there Saturday morning and the kart was tight. I went and widened the rear out to the legal limit of 55" and it came back to normal. The cold weather made the motor stronger, but the tires didn't grip as hard so the laptimes were a wash. I could keep pace with Freddie but Arie was more than a second a lap faster. Everyone else was in Masters and slower.

I tried to trick Arie and Freddie in the final session by mounting a set of Vega White tires that Mike Camarra had in his junk pile. They were nice and grippy... for about three laps before they went flat!

That night I plugged the last few numbers into my spreadsheet. After the entry fees I had less than $60 left in my budget. That took the edge off my aggression...

Sunday morning was cold and damp, with wet areas on the track. I went out for the practice sessions but just couldn't get any heat in the tires. In qualifying I never strung together a good lap and was last. We had the pathetic total of four karts in Senior, which I guess is what you get by mixing high costs and a recession.

I broke the ProSpeed exhaust mount bushings so had to replace them before the prefinal. The bushings cost $28... I was seriously considering skipping lunch.

For the prefinal they ran the Seniors and Masters together. There were ten Masters karts and they lined up behind us. I was acutely aware that I had no budget left for damage of any kind. We came up to a waving yellow flag on the main straight and a waving green flag. I didn't get on the throttle immediately and karts came past on both sides, and I frantically dodged them as they came past. I then spent the next twelve laps avoiding anything that could remotely resemble a dangerous pass.

In the final, I should've gone for broke. It was the last race of my season, after all. We headed into turn 1 and I had the edge on Nathan, so I started to move in. However he slid out and made minor contact so I turned hard right and avoided a crash at all costs - after all, all it would take just one accident or mechanical failure to put me on the podium.

I spend the rest of the race passing Masters karts. I should've had an acceleration advantage but I was geared too tall now and couldn't press it home into the corners as the drivers weren't looking inside. It took me a while to pass each one, and for the first time all season we had 100% reliability in the Senior final. I bet that's never happened before.

I had $15 left in the budget. I offered to take Freddie, Nathan, and Arie for tacos with it but they declined.

If I can post the spreadsheet, I will. It chronicles the $6000 I spent on this year's racing, assuming the kart sells for $4000 (blatant plug). It's in the classifieds. It's a great beginner's kart. I had a pretty decent rookie year.

Next year I'll come back with more. My student loans will be paid off, I won't lose out as often to silly mechanical issues, and I won't be so willing to back out of a pass just because the other guy turns in on me... This year even bursting a tire would've been an out of budget experience.

I'm open to ideas on what chassis I should get and what motor I should run. The PRD Fireball still sounds cool but SSC hasn't gotten it figured out yet. The closer I look at my Rotax the less I like it. ICC still sounds expensive and intimidating but as Mike Rivera explained it the maintenance and repair costs don't seem too bad. Maybe he's just easier on driveline stuff than I am; but a manual clutch should be more reliable than a centrifugal one (it doesn't have to have its control built in and can be symmetrical). We don't run Stock Moto up here for some reason. If you want to try to sell me a chassis for next year, I'll be looking as soon as I sell this one...
_________________
"If you're still in full control, you're not going fast enough" - Fred Frame

[Freddie Fawcett]

Great year Charles!
Next year you can use all of these experiences to your advantage and go even faster. There may have been a small field that day, but Nathan gave me the race I was looking for all summer. We fought for 2nd the whole race and traded spots 5-6 times. When I flew past the checkered flag I felt like I won the race. Clean high speed fun is what it is all about.

On the other hand, I never said NO to Taco Bell!
Freddie

[Charles Kaneb]

I had one last race before putting the kart away for the season. I wanted my uncle Guy to see me race, so Dad, Guy, and I rolled down to Bridgewater. I also wanted to show off my kart to a potential buyer. The October 25th race was pretty interesting.

As soon as we'd gotten everything set up, it started to rain pretty heavily. I went out in the first practice session, and was immediately black-flagged for staying on the main course rather than going onto the shorter course. I'd thought the change was just for the Bambino/Cadet classes, but it was before the drivers' meeting. They sent me back out immediately and I got in a few laps, sliding around on my slicks and spinning them up every time I got on the power.

Shortly before the second practice, the buyer shows up. I told him to get into his gear while I drove a couple laps. I got out, Kyle got in, and by the time he hit the track, the checkered flag had already flown. He was black-flagged and spun several times on the slick surface, at one point briefly going the wrong way on an empty track before righting himself. He was black-flagged three times in less than one lap and when he came in the entire #101 team nearly got thrown out! Apparently he hadn't signed in as a driver and I was in too much of a hurry to check. If he'd screwed up worse the consequences would have been Catastrophic - possibly including loss of several jobs and an unconditional ban for both him and me for life from every kart track in America. He went over and bought the correct pass afterwards, and stayed to watch along with his father and brother for the rest of the day.

After the lectures from the whole track staff, I calmed down before qualifying. The track was still going to be quite wet. Several other guys had rain tires and even fancy rain suits; I just had the slicks. So I went out anyway and had a terrific time. The problem I had with the seat struts spearing me in the back over curbs was gone because the fast line no longer included them. The conditions suited a patient driving style, and I was the only driver under 1:00 on slicks in Senior or Master (I don't know about ICC or Junior). It was still wet enough that the rain tires were ten or more seconds faster a lap. It was good for fifth on the Senior grid. All of the drivers who ran rains would've outqualified me anyway.

The sun dried out the track while we ate lunch and prepared the kart for racing. I explained the features of the AX8 and the Rotax engine to Kyle and Guy while going through checking the chain tension, the engine mount bolts, the axle collars, the bumpers, the carburetor boots, the fuel lines, the muffler bolts and springs, the seat fasteners, the steering column brace bolt, both ends of the tie rods, and the spindles. I slid off on the warm-up lap trying to keep up but caught up in time for the start. The race started and I immediately took advantage of starting on the inside and passed CRG #117 for fourth place. He passed me back near the end of the second lap, and I started hearing a rumbling from my exhaust. I should've been black-flagged for noise but wasn't and finished either fifth or sixth.

One of the exhaust springs had unexpectedly broken. I bought two from Roger over his objection that I only needed one and replaced them both. After checking over the kart, it was time for my last final of the year.

When the green flag dropped, Dillion Benros passed me and we chased the lead pack around the track. He made a couple passes that I was unable to follow. Several laps in CRG #117 was involved in a crash and I passed him, only to be repassed a couple laps later. A few laps after that I caught and passed somebody (not sure whom). About five laps from the end, Freddie spun in turn 1 and I backed off to avoid a major crackup, and for my trouble he straightened out right in front of me forcing me to kill my speed and lose any chance of passing him. Three laps later, I went over some curbs and knocked the quick-release pins out of the chassis. On the main straightaway the right sidepod fell off. I was black-flagged coming out of the esses and a sixth and final black flag waved me into the pits to complete my season. There was a crash one lap from the finish; if I'd still been in the race I might have been able to squeak through there for fourth.

Not a bad day for being black-flagged six times in three separate sessions.

I think my rookie season went pretty well. I was sixth out of 31 in the Senior points at F1 Boston. I scored a podium on the oval, and had a couple fourth places at F1. I met a lot of new friends and enjoyed myself a lot. Even when I had to duct-tape and knot the shoestring I ran the operation on the kart still ran better than it should.

The list of people I have to thank is longer than I thought it would be.
My boss (C.F) put up with this and even wished he could drive sometime.
His boss (A.J.G) encouraged me to race.
My mother didn't kick me out of the house or object to my putting up a shed next to the compost pile.
My father helped a lot at the track - even with a TaG you still need two people to set up the pits, haul various stuff around, and discuss how the day will go.
The Zaccarias helped me avoid making even more rookie mistakes than I did early in the season.
Ted Cook lent me a spindle bolt that we thought was the same on an AX8 and an AX9.
Nathan and David Braun helped out with setup advice and race strategy.
Arie Ouimet gave me good advice on driving.
Freddie Fawcett and Grant Schilling always raced clean.
Mike Camarra let me work in his nice, warm, well-lit shop a couple times near the end of the season.
Mark Ouimet and SSC East sold me whatever Rotax parts Roger didn't have.
Roger and Grant Hargens from ProSpeed KartSports provided great support and advice all year long and kept me on the track. They saved me a lot of money on several occasions and always made sure I was going to be able to race.
RJ Valentine built a tremendous facility out in East Bridgewater and for that all of New England should be grateful.

I still haven't sold the AX8. It now comes with a completely rebuilt Rotax. Can't get a much better deal for four grand. I'll be driving 12-14 races next year.

For anybody who's contemplating getting into the sport, come on in! This really is at least as fun as it looks and sounds. Find a local dealer, buy a chassis and the same engine that everyone else has, buy some tools and equipment, throw it all into the Vacationwagon, and hit the track!
_________________
"If you're still in full control, you're not going fast enough" - Fred Frame