KART S.S. Race #3 & #4 Waco, Texas May 13-14

By: White Motorsports Racing

(May 16th, 2006) -- Race #3: WHAT A WEEKEND!

We left for Waco at 4 in the afternoon. We got there at about 2:15 in the morning. OH WHAT FUN! If that wasn't the most boring drive of my life I don't know what was.

Saturday morning we were up at 6:30 and ready to go. If you've never been to the H.O.T. Kartway, they have this awesome grid side pit runner. You bring all our tools up and place them on these benches. As a result you hardly ever use your trailer.

After setting up our pit we got around to catching up with people and walked the track. The track is tight, twisty, and doesn't have a lot of runoff room.

During the first practice I took the first couple of laps slow to feel out the kart, learn the line, and watch other driver lines. Once getting up to speed I could tell that we needed to get more mechanical grip out of the kart. As it turns out the track was just resurfaced and had a sealer on it. That would explain the grip issue. We still tried to add more mechanical grip and it just made the kart worse. After going back to the original set up we only made minor adjustments. We made the decision to sit out for the final
practice because our kart was working great.

For qualifying we sat on the pole with a 25.8 while Erin Sims had a 25.9. It was just that close. Zach Tippet was 3rd with Irene Rose followed in 4th.

In the pre-final we had a good start and got through T1 great. After exiting T3 I looked back to see who all was there and how close they were. BIG SUPRISE! No one was there. I looked back to the T1 T2 area and they were all piled up but getting going. So I pushed hard to open a bigger gap and feel out the kart. I started to ease off and brought it home 7 seconds ahead of 2nd place.

We couldn't think of adjustments to make and make it better. It was pretty good but got tighter as the race went on. Then again so did everyone's kart in all classes. We decided to leave it since I picked up 2 tenths from qualifying to a 25.6. Then  about 5 minutes before the final some clouds covered up the setting sun. The track that had been baking was now cooling off. We went with 1 PSI less in the rear tires and it made all the difference in the world.

For the final the kart was absolutely HOOKED UP! It was like the kart and myself were one. If I made a mistake it made up for it. The Jaguar just kept humming along. The Birel stuck like glue when it needed to and slid where I wanted it to. Needless to say we walked away by half the track length and I
still didn't want to stop. It was one of those times out of a thousand where the kart was perfect. I just want to thank the lord for moving those clouds in. Our best time was 25.33. The best senior TaG time was a 25.33. Not bad. NOT BAD AT ALL!

For the awards presentation I was so tired that I was acting all too funny. Here's a picture my friend Mark Frech took.

Race #4:

Saturday night I went to bed around 2 in the morning once again. Its not smart, so why do I keep doing it?

We awoke up to the sound of rain. YEAH! My favorite! No, I'm not kidding I LOVE racing in the rain. The only problem is that we were racing on a freshly resurfaced track. The track had sealer on it. Sealer + Rain = NOT FUN.

We got two good practice sessions in the rain before the lightning hit the area. The entire place came to a halt when you could see lightning within a mile.

After letting the storm pass it was decided to use Saturday's qualifying results to line us up for the shortened pre-final.

At the last possible second we decided to go with a dry setup. It was so last minute that I didn't even have time to check air pressure. The kart was good for the first 4 laps but then Erin found her way past me going into the final turn. I followed her for the next couple of laps until the finish. If we would have had 4 more laps I think we could have gotten her. Both Irene and Zach had wets on. Irene pulled in after just two laps as not to waste her tires. Zach finished way off the pace. About 2/3 of a lap behind.

For the final it was completely dry. The grid order was, Sims, White, Tippet, Rose. At the start I got a little bit of a jump. To my surprise the flag guy gave the green. Starting on the outside definitely is a big disadvantage. I could have squeezed Erin off and took the chance of us both crashing or give her room and fall back to second. I took the second choice. It would have been pointless to take us both out when we knew we were faster than the other two but then again I could have won the race right then and there. Playing it safe definitely hurt us. So on about lap 4 my kart was up to temperature so it was time to play. I would "stalk" Erin for the next 7 laps waiting for my opportunity to pounce. As it turned out i made my move on the last lap. I got a really good run off the final corner and dove for the inside in T1. It was my only hope, "hero or zero" time as they say. I PASSED HER....for a second. My plan was to not get into the gas as quick and hopefully have her hit us. Well it didn't work. She performed a nice cross over to retake the lead. We went into T2, a 90* left hander side by side, myself on the inside. she started to close the door and I got up on the curb. That was all Erin needed to get back at the front of the pack. We finished just like we started 20 seconds later.

In the end we all raced clean and hard. The Waco track is very unique and fun, plus it's a great workout. Not bad for a 4 day weekend.

White Motorsports Racing would like to thank all their sponsors for their continued support to their team as well as to racing. Those include MiSi Racing Engines, RPMotorsports, Walters Web Design, and Photos ext. We look forward to being able to advertise and give all the recognition we can to our current sponsors in the 2006 racing season.

For more information on the WMR Team please visit www.WhiteMotorsportsRacing.com.