KART S. S. #7 Tulsa, Oklahoma October 14-15

By: White Motorsports Racing

(November 24th, 2006) -- Since this is a Tulsa race we didn’t leave until Saturday morning. When we arrived I was very disappointed to see the low kart turnout. In my class, we had; Erin Sims, Irene Rose, Jake Beasley, Brady Demree, and me running. With a low overall kart count, I was VERY pleased with having 4 other karts to run against.

The first practice was a mess. It took 7 laps for the tires to get up to temperature, and then on my first flying lap, the chain came off heading up the back straight. As I coasted to a stop, I was looking for an opening in traffic to exit the kart and get it off the track. Well, when I find that gap I'm hurrying my best when the karts finally catch me. Well, I have NO idea what caused this driver to do so, but I certainly don’t respect him for it. I am pushing my kart off track when a Rotax Jr. driver attempts to pass a Yamaha can kart. It would be fine with me if, I HADENT BEEN STANDING RIGHT THERE. Needless to say I was very upset with that immature driver.

The rest of the practices were the normal, make changes and go faster or slower. Well, we found the best our kart could be, unfortunately it was still a half second slower than Erin. What was really frustrating was, we knew why we were slow...tires. The TaG World Finals took up most of our budget for the rest of the year and therefore we didn’t have enough to buy new tires, so we were running the SLOW Bridgestone YHCs we had to purchase at NCMP. Looks like we are racing for second this weekend. To make matters worse, I HAD to win to take the championship. Right now I'm thinking how much I would have liked to have won at the Denton season opener. STUPID motor mount.

After practice I go out to Port City Raceway to help, an ex-fellow karter and good friend, Jonathan Beason pit his micro sprint car. He had an ok night. He started the A-Main, in 4th, after a 2nd place run in his heat race. In the Main he had moved up to second on lap 22 of 25, and was challenging for the lead, when he hit the inside tire of the racetrack. He didn’t have the best car that night but he was going to win. I haven’t been around sprint car type racing in about 8 years, so to me the night was defiantly cool.

Sunday

When I awoke Sunday morning I was about the only person happy in the pits. It was RAINING!!! Now you are probably thinking I'm crazy for wanting to race in the rain, but remember now, I have a chance! We put the rain set-up on the kart with nothing but smiles on our faces. We went out for the one practice session and we were consistent. I only spun the kart once.

For Qualifying, I was on pole by over a second with Erin Sims and Irene Rose behind us. Those two were separated by less than one/one hundredth of a second. Jake Beasley decided to only race his Rotax kart for several reasons. He was renting the Birel/Leapord TaG Jr. kart. He had to race for points in Rotax Jr. and he only had one set of rain tires. I would have loved to race Jake but, it will have to wait until next time. Brady Didn’t race because they had tore up their oval car the night before and were busy fixing it for a big race the next weekend.

In the Pre final I walked away with the win. That Birel kart was HOOKED UP in the rain. I didn’t spin and only had a couple mistakes. Man, I couldn't wait until the final to begin.

Ok the Final. All I have to do is:
WIN
Beat Erin
Finish

I keep my Pre Race routine that I have had ever since I began karting. I say my prayer, shake everyone’s hand, and warm the kart up. We leave the pits for our warm up lap. At the exit of T1 I realize this is CRAZY! I look to the pits, it doesn’t help. I have NO brakes... I am pushing that pedal with all iv got. It’s not helping. That little Seal Problem that we had in New Castle...its back. This time I can’t fix it. I HAVE to win this race. The start was so scary I can’t describe it. Erin got a Jump on me heading into T1. I have no choice but to dive down the inside and pray that it makes the corner. Well that’s exactly what it did. How I finished that first lap I have no clue. Over the next couple laps I opened up a 15 kart gap, yeah 15 kart lengths, that’s how good that Birel was handling. Each time I head into T1, I have to wiggle the kart to get it slowed down. On the last lap I get a wheel off at the entrance to that turn and I almost lose it. Man how dumb I would have looked. As I came around the final turn I realized I had won the championship. WOW, what a GREAT feeling.

I truly want to thank all my sponsors for helping me with an AWESOME season this year. Jim Stroud of MiSi, thank you for all the advice and help throughout the year. It truly means a lot to me. The Pattisons of RPMotorsports. Thanks for that great Birel support this year. Shane Walters of Walters Web Design, Thanks for keeping this website updated. You do an awesome job. All Truck Sales Inc. thanks for all the financial support this year. I can think of at least 5 races that would not have happened without you guys. And last but not least Bill Heck of Photos...etc. Thank you so much for the sweet photos this year.

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