June 23rd WTKA Club Race # 4 Report

First off, this is a first for Yaw Moment Racing....I am typing this race report from 30,000ft aboard a Delta flight to Virginia for a UVa buddy's wedding. Back to the racing - Joe, Stuart, and I raced our 125cc Shifter Karts with the West Texas Karting Association on June 23rd at Rimrock Raceway. It was blazing hot in Midland, TX last Saturday but our faithful crew member/pit bunny Ali made the trek with us. Given the 100deg temperature at 5pm when we arrived at the track, I decided to run one quick practice session on old tires as a shakedown. I was able to click off some consecutive 34.9s lap times which I was happy with given how worn my tires were (race tires from the SWRC last year).

At 8pm, the heat races (grid decided by pill pick) began and I raced on my MG Yellow tires from the May WTKA race that I won. Joe and Stuart ran a test day before this race while I was in Lincoln racing the Camaro and thrashed their May race tires so they bolted up some fresh sneakers. This would prove to be an advantage later in the evening. I drew Pole position for Heat 1 in our field of 5 shifter karts. After losing the lead after bogging at the start, I was able to slot back into P1 on Lap 1. Soon after, Stuart began to breathe down my neck on Lap 2. He gave me a little "love-tap" coming into the final hairpin which loosened me up and allowed him to sneak up beside me and take the lead into Turn 1. He checked out and went on the victory while I finished in a P3 after being passed by Joe on the final lap.

For Heat 2, I started in the 3rd position and was able to grab 2nd from Stuart at the start. I stayed there until the finish. My P2 and P3 finished put me in the P3 for the feature. The 12-lap feature was a fairly straightforward lead-follow race. Stuart started in P2 and we had a bit of a scrap on Lap 1 as I tried to pass him in several corners. I was not able to complete the pass and lost momentum which allowed him to build up a gap that he would not relinquish. Joe cruised to a comfortable victory with Stuart in P2 and me in the final podium spot.

I won't be able to race my shifter kart at Rimrock again until their September night race due to travel and SCCA racing conflicts. Hopefully, the San Angelo shifter kart racers can rack up some more victories later this year!


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