11-28-2019, 11:50 AM
(This post was last modified: 05-10-2022, 01:43 AM by Terry Bentley.)
Chapter 7
Steve and I, I believe that is the correct way to say it, but sounds better the other way. So, me and Steve, we are going around the pits looking over anything that has four wheels and makes noise. We would have payed more attention to the feed store grain scales under roof at the tech barn if equipped with a motor too.
Some of these karts were easy to put a name to, others not so much. A few karts were all alike, but looked like cheap copies of one I had seen advertised in the magazine. Then some just looked like a bad day in the chop shop. Like Jr high metal shop disaster 101. Things that should not be done for school projects. Or a fast way to fail my class, says the shop teacher. There were a still few running with dead axles. Mostly people looking like that may not have been racing very long. I saw one kart that really caught my attention.
Hey Steve look at this oddball looking kart. I said a little too loudly, before lowering my voice. Hey, covering my mouth in a whisper this time, that kart has a plastic seat. Why would anybody do something like that? Is this some homemade backyard special? Look how much ground clearance it has! This thing is made of square tubing too. You could drive another kart under this one. If I ever built a kart....it wouldnt....Dad yells at us. Hey guys, there you are. Time to head up to the stands or behind that fence over there. Races are about to start.
We bailed out of the pits and over to a fenced area where most of the track can be seen. Eventually the first kart come out and take two laps each. As the first kart starts its second lap the next kart is motioned out on the track. So they are taking lap times. You get one warm up lap then on the clock. As you are finishing your timed lap, the second kart started theirs. This continues on for the next hour, until everyone who is registered registered to race tonight has been timed.
Under a canopy behind the flagman is a table set up. There are three women with stop watches timing the drivers as they pass by. They write down each drivers lap time on a tablet. I bet it is a headache to keep focus on the one driver being timed while another one is also making laps. At one point there are three drivers on the track at the same time. Maybe they are accustomed to this after doing it for so long. I wonder if the same people time the drivers each week? Never realized how many things need to be done in order to put on a race.
For a while Steve and I were yelling at each other with observations we had made. But the noise from karts making laps was overbearing and made hearing each other nearly impossible. We resigned from trying to speak and just watch, taking notes in out heads. Occasionally we would nudge each other and pointing to something. But neither of us missed anything. Just acknowledging what we both were seeing.
When it came time for the big bad dual engine karts to run time trials, I did notice something. Most of the drivers were rather large. Really big old men that looked funny crammed into a karts small frame. Reminded me of a Warner Brothers cartoon when the dog was driving a car. You know the one where the dog was sticking way up above the car body. The car would bow up and down driving along, with the tires going from round to egg shape. Like both were made of rubber.
What really stood out is a lot of these dual engine giants didnt seem to really go any faster than the single engine karts. There were a couple that looked like missiles. But some seemed to go slower than the singles. They were making a terrible amount of noise. But taking noticeably more time, it seemed to me getting around the track. I needed to ask some more questions, because this was not making much sense to me right now. What gives I wonder?
Time for a break while they tally up everything and get ready for the first heat races. I had some time to go investigate. So back into the pits I went. How do you ask a big giant of a man why his kart is slower than some of the juniors running in the stock bushing classes? OK dumb idea. I will just try to keep my mouth shut and listen. Sometimes that is the best way to really learn things. So I have been told more than once.
Hey moron, wait up. Where are you going in such a hurry. I forgot about Steve, who was half way across the track still way behind me. He was stopped at one of the faster single engine karts that looked like belonging to a team. I have to admit that kart did look sharp. All of the drivers and crew pitted together under a canopy. They had matching jackets too. On the front of those jackets had GoKart in a real flashy logo. Wow those guys really look serious. Wonder who they are?
Steve and I, I believe that is the correct way to say it, but sounds better the other way. So, me and Steve, we are going around the pits looking over anything that has four wheels and makes noise. We would have payed more attention to the feed store grain scales under roof at the tech barn if equipped with a motor too.
Some of these karts were easy to put a name to, others not so much. A few karts were all alike, but looked like cheap copies of one I had seen advertised in the magazine. Then some just looked like a bad day in the chop shop. Like Jr high metal shop disaster 101. Things that should not be done for school projects. Or a fast way to fail my class, says the shop teacher. There were a still few running with dead axles. Mostly people looking like that may not have been racing very long. I saw one kart that really caught my attention.
Hey Steve look at this oddball looking kart. I said a little too loudly, before lowering my voice. Hey, covering my mouth in a whisper this time, that kart has a plastic seat. Why would anybody do something like that? Is this some homemade backyard special? Look how much ground clearance it has! This thing is made of square tubing too. You could drive another kart under this one. If I ever built a kart....it wouldnt....Dad yells at us. Hey guys, there you are. Time to head up to the stands or behind that fence over there. Races are about to start.
We bailed out of the pits and over to a fenced area where most of the track can be seen. Eventually the first kart come out and take two laps each. As the first kart starts its second lap the next kart is motioned out on the track. So they are taking lap times. You get one warm up lap then on the clock. As you are finishing your timed lap, the second kart started theirs. This continues on for the next hour, until everyone who is registered registered to race tonight has been timed.
Under a canopy behind the flagman is a table set up. There are three women with stop watches timing the drivers as they pass by. They write down each drivers lap time on a tablet. I bet it is a headache to keep focus on the one driver being timed while another one is also making laps. At one point there are three drivers on the track at the same time. Maybe they are accustomed to this after doing it for so long. I wonder if the same people time the drivers each week? Never realized how many things need to be done in order to put on a race.
For a while Steve and I were yelling at each other with observations we had made. But the noise from karts making laps was overbearing and made hearing each other nearly impossible. We resigned from trying to speak and just watch, taking notes in out heads. Occasionally we would nudge each other and pointing to something. But neither of us missed anything. Just acknowledging what we both were seeing.
When it came time for the big bad dual engine karts to run time trials, I did notice something. Most of the drivers were rather large. Really big old men that looked funny crammed into a karts small frame. Reminded me of a Warner Brothers cartoon when the dog was driving a car. You know the one where the dog was sticking way up above the car body. The car would bow up and down driving along, with the tires going from round to egg shape. Like both were made of rubber.
What really stood out is a lot of these dual engine giants didnt seem to really go any faster than the single engine karts. There were a couple that looked like missiles. But some seemed to go slower than the singles. They were making a terrible amount of noise. But taking noticeably more time, it seemed to me getting around the track. I needed to ask some more questions, because this was not making much sense to me right now. What gives I wonder?
Time for a break while they tally up everything and get ready for the first heat races. I had some time to go investigate. So back into the pits I went. How do you ask a big giant of a man why his kart is slower than some of the juniors running in the stock bushing classes? OK dumb idea. I will just try to keep my mouth shut and listen. Sometimes that is the best way to really learn things. So I have been told more than once.
Hey moron, wait up. Where are you going in such a hurry. I forgot about Steve, who was half way across the track still way behind me. He was stopped at one of the faster single engine karts that looked like belonging to a team. I have to admit that kart did look sharp. All of the drivers and crew pitted together under a canopy. They had matching jackets too. On the front of those jackets had GoKart in a real flashy logo. Wow those guys really look serious. Wonder who they are?