Kart Season is Coming
February 15, 2007
Expectations are coming
As season’s open gets closer, I find myself planning and wondering how this first year will go. It will be my first year back after a two year layoff. I’m pensive about my finances, although this time there are more funds, they’re just as scarce as before. When my finances fell flat on their face in 2005, it wasn’t until late 2006 that racing became a legitimate fantasy again, a reachable one. In 2004, I built an elevated deck for a racer who traded a racing kart for my services. It is a 1998 Birel with a Yamaha 100cc motor, with clutch- no shifter. It will reach speeds of 80 mph, and this year I’ll see just what it will do. Previously, I'd raced at a local sprint track, and the top speed was around 55mph. My engine man is named Frank Newsom, a shop owner specializing in Yamaha kt100’s, and I’m fortunate to have someone of Frank’s experience so nearby. Frank, along with lifelong racer Colin Walker field a team of karts under the name Swift PPK. I hope to race alongside their team karts and learn from these two experienced veterans.
Opening race is at Texas World Speedway in College Station. It will be the second time I’ll have stepped foot on those grounds. The first was an unforgettable camping weekend at the Texas Twin 200’s. I was 9 or 10 years old and we saw AJ Foyt, Richard Petty, Johnny Rutherford and all the greats from that day competeing in Indy cars on Saturday and Nascar on Sunday. A Jackrabbit had to be cleared off the track on Saturday and we walked the 2.5 mile steeply banked oval Saturday night.
This race meeting will be mostly on an infield road course, but will race on the big oval for the start finish stretch, then entering a left hander at top speed which I hear will curl your hairs. Really looking forward to March 23. Mark your calendars.
Expectations are coming
As season’s open gets closer, I find myself planning and wondering how this first year will go. It will be my first year back after a two year layoff. I’m pensive about my finances, although this time there are more funds, they’re just as scarce as before. When my finances fell flat on their face in 2005, it wasn’t until late 2006 that racing became a legitimate fantasy again, a reachable one. In 2004, I built an elevated deck for a racer who traded a racing kart for my services. It is a 1998 Birel with a Yamaha 100cc motor, with clutch- no shifter. It will reach speeds of 80 mph, and this year I’ll see just what it will do. Previously, I'd raced at a local sprint track, and the top speed was around 55mph. My engine man is named Frank Newsom, a shop owner specializing in Yamaha kt100’s, and I’m fortunate to have someone of Frank’s experience so nearby. Frank, along with lifelong racer Colin Walker field a team of karts under the name Swift PPK. I hope to race alongside their team karts and learn from these two experienced veterans.
Opening race is at Texas World Speedway in College Station. It will be the second time I’ll have stepped foot on those grounds. The first was an unforgettable camping weekend at the Texas Twin 200’s. I was 9 or 10 years old and we saw AJ Foyt, Richard Petty, Johnny Rutherford and all the greats from that day competeing in Indy cars on Saturday and Nascar on Sunday. A Jackrabbit had to be cleared off the track on Saturday and we walked the 2.5 mile steeply banked oval Saturday night.
This race meeting will be mostly on an infield road course, but will race on the big oval for the start finish stretch, then entering a left hander at top speed which I hear will curl your hairs. Really looking forward to March 23. Mark your calendars.
posted by Katykarter @ 8:07 PM
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