Best $250 Dirt Bike in the World

I brought my 1992 Kawasaki KDX200 out of mothballs last night. With a fresh spark plug, fresh gearbox oil, a coolant flush, and some fresh 93 octane pre-mix, the Kawi was good to go on the 3rd kick after not being started since I moved from Ohio one year ago. I love this bike.

Lots to Learn from the 2010 Bondurant Driver Search Shootout

All of the Shootout Drivers and Judges

The 2010 Bondurant Driver Search ended last week and I had a blast participating in the school's first competition of this kind. I've been back home for about a week so sorry for the late post. Its been hectic catching up on work and boring non-racing stuff around the house that I've been ignoring for two months.

Anyway back to the shootout, I did not finish in the Top 3 so I did not bring any hardware back to Texas. Looking at the lap time results, I was 2nd fastest overall in the Corvettes on Day 1, but only 6th quickest in the Formula Mazdas on Day 2. I was about 1 second off the pace in the Mazdas and that ended my chances at winning. Despite this, it was a VERY positive experience and I learned a lot about how to develop my skills on and off the track to achieve my goal of racing professionally. I received excellent feedback on my driving from the Bondurant instructors and the shootout judges. Basically, I need to dig deep for the that extra couple percent, slide the car around more, carry more entry speed, and push hard for that last tenth in each corner.


Thanks to Alan Rudolph, Bob Bondurant, the Bondurant staff, and all of the shootout judges (Jeremy Shaw, Lyn St. James, Larry Pond, Neil Alberico, and Darren Law) for providing a great opportunity and learning experience for young racers!

EFCN Bondurant Shootout Article

Bondurant Driver Search Shootout Day 1 Recap

Day 1 of the 2010 Bondurant Driver Search Shootout is in the books. We had 4 sessions of Corvette driving evaluation and an interview with the panel of judges. I did well in the interview and scored big points on professionalism which should help me make the Top 5 tomorrow when they make cuts.

I think I drove well enough in the Corvettes to put myself in contention, but tomorrow's driving sessions in the Formula Mazdas will be key. It looks like we will have rain storms tomorrow which will throw a curveball to the competition.

Me Driving the Vette on the Bondurant School Course in the Wet Afternoon Session

Bondurant Driver Search Shootout Starts Today!

I am in Phoenix bright and early today for the 2010 Bondurant Driver Search Shootout. Today is the first part of the 2-day competition pitting 20 young drivers against each other to compete for a full-ride in the 2011 Bondurant Championship Race Series in the school's Formula Mazda racecars.

Today we will have interviews, mock media interaction, and driving evaluations in C6 Corvettes and Skidcars. Wish me luck!

In-Car Video from BCRS Race 2 and 3 from last Sunday

This is in-car video from Races 2 and 3 of last weekend's BCRS Formula Mazda races. I had to split each race up due to Blogger's upload limit.

September BCRS Race 2 (1st 5 laps)

September BCRS Race 2 (Last 6 laps)

September BCRS Race 3 (1st 5 laps)

September BCRS Race 3 (Last 5 laps)

Dave Ogburn Wraps up the BCRS Race Weekend with 2 2nd Place Finishes

Getting focused in the garage before Race 3

After an exciting Day 1 of the BCRS weekend and taking home the victory in Race 1, I tried to focus on really improving my formula car driving on Day 2 and do my best in Races 2 and 3 while staying clean and bringing the car home intact. We qualified for Race 2 on Sunday morning during a wind storm that brought debris and sand all over the 2.5 miles track. This made quick laps risky and difficult and I was struggling with rear grip in my #14 Formula Mazda. I made a rear anti-roll bar change before the session, but it was not enough so I continued to soften the rear bar for Race 2 and Race 3 to compensate for tire degradation and track conditions. I qualified 3rd for Race 2 and was disappointed with my pace, but I knew I had the racecraft and speed to pass Ayrton Triolo, who qualified 2nd in the #17 car, during the race.

At the start of Race 2, I settled into P3 and stayed with the leaders for opening stint of the race. After Lap 5, #17 started to make some mistakes and have braking issues with his Mazda so I closed the gap, got on his gearbox, and waited for him to make another mistake. On lap 8, Ayrton spun in Turn 4 and I was able to get by unscathed despite having a close call with the sand outside of turn 4. I stayed in P2 for the last few laps and cruised to a 2nd place finish.

Dave Ogburn in the #14 in the Pits before Race 3

This put me 2nd on the grid for Race 3 with Matt Maddox in the #6 FM on the pole. Matt won Race 2 so we were tied for the weekend overall lead with Race 3 deciding the victor. I tucked in behind Maddox at the start and pushed to stay close with him. However, Ayrton in the #17 was fast and pressuring me from behind. He went for the pass on the entry to Turn 4 on Lap 3, but I was able to pull an over/under move on him and retake 2nd place at the exit. Our battle for 2nd place let Maddox check out to a 4sec. lead. I pushed hard for the next 8 laps and was able to maintain 2nd position, but could not challenge Matt for the lead. This gave Matt Maddox the overall victory with 2 wins and 1 2nd place finish to my 1 win and 2 2nd place finishes. Congrats to Matt on the win!

Podium Ceremony on Sunday

Overall, I was very pleased with my first race weekend in Formula Mazdas. From the advice of Alan Rudolph (BCRS series director and stud karter/racing driver), I switched from right-foot braking and using the clutch on downshifts to left-foot braking and clutchless upshifts and downshifts on Sunday. I started the new braking/shifting technique in Sunday morning practice and stuck with it for the remainder of the race weekend. I was able to keep running similar laptimes with the technique change, but still need to work on my smoothness with clutchless shifts. I learned a ton about driving and racing formula cars and feel much better prepared for the Bondurant Driver Search Shootout next week. Thanks to the Bondurant staff, mechanics, and instructors for making the BCRS a great experience!

I will post some more in-car video when I have time after the shootout.

Dave Ogburn Takes Pole Position, Leads Every Lap, and Wins Today in the Bondurant Championship Race Series

Today was Day 1 of my Bondurant Championship Race Series weekend in Chandler, Arizona. Running our races with ASA Road Racing, we had two 15-minute qualifying sessions, one 15-min. qualifying session, and a 20-min. race on the schedule. My pre-race preparation paid off and I was instantly quick in the 1st practice sessions. By getting to the know the track well beforehand, I was able to focus on improving my driving in the Bondurant Formula Mazdas instead of working on the line and where the track went. This helped me get a good start on the weekend and a jump on the drivers who also had not raced on the Bondurant tracks before. I was in the top 2 for both practice sessions with a fast lap of 1:57.916 in the 2nd practice. Top practice time was set by Matt Maddox, a competitor in last year's Bondurant series, with a 1:57.234. I knew I was giving time up in several corners and was confident I could make the time up in qualifying. However, Maddox missed the qualifying session so that boded well for me grabbing pole and possibly a race win.

Qualifying went smoothly and I ran clean laps without traffic for the full 15-minutes. I really improved my driving in this session and corrected some of my errors from practice. This helped me qualify in Pole Position for Race 1. From our morning practice sessions to the afternoon qualifying, the track and ambient temperatures rose causing our Formula Mazda slow down with the engines making less power and tires struggling with the increasingly greasy track. My qualifying time was a 1:58.701 which was 0.6s ahead ahead of Ayrton Triolo in P2. Ayrton is a 16-year old Formula Ford and kart racer from Saskatoon, Saskatchewan in Canada.

My plan for the race was to lead into the first corner and then push hard to build a gap on the field in the opening laps. Maddox was the only driver who could match my pace today, but he was starting back in 5th place. I knew if I could build up a gap while he fought through traffic, I would have a good shot at the win. At the start, Ayrton in P2 got a jump on me and led into turn 1. I was able to get by him in turn 11 on lap 1 and take the lead. I then put the hammer down and worked hard to build up a lead on the field. Behind me on lap 2, two drivers got together in turn 9 and then Maddox started to get open track after he moved up to P2. After the first 2 laps, I had built up a 3 sec. lead, but then Maddox started to slowly reel me in and finally caught me on Lap 6. We battled for the next three laps swapping position several times on the long drag strip straightaway. The key moment of the race came on lap 8 as Maddox and I approached a lapped car. I decided to make an aggressive pass on the lapped car in turn14 because I knew Maddox would not be able to follow me past the lapper. This strategy worked and helped me to build a 1 sec gap that I was able to hold onto for the final few laps. In the end, I crossed the finish line 0.214s ahead of Matt Maddox and almost 35s ahead of 3rd place.

In-Car Video from the Formula Mazda Race Today

Today's race was my first wheel-to-wheel race in anything other than a kart so I was very pleased with the result. Despite picking up the win, I made plenty of mistakes that I can learn from to improve my race driving, racecraft, and race starts. Tomorrow, we have one practice session, one qualifying session, and two 20-min. races. I have several different corners that I know I can make up significant time in and will be experimenting more with left-foot braking, so it should be a fun battle tomorrow with Maddox and Ayrton.

Dave Ogburn racing in the Bondurant Championship Race Series and the Bondurant Driver Search Shootout over next two weekends

Back in August when I attended the Bondurant 4-day racing school, I applied for the 2010 Bondurant Driver Search Shootout which is a competition for 20 young drivers to compete for a full-ride in the 18-race 2011 Bondurant Championship Race Series (BCRS). The BCRS is a feeder Formula series using the Bondurant Formula Mazda racecars and is run at the 4 Firebird/Bondurant complex tracks in Chandler, Arizona.

Bondurant Driver Search

Bondurant Driver Search Article on EFCN.com

Bondurant Championship Race Series

I was selected for the shootout soon after I applied and I have been working hard to prepare myself for the competition since. My main preparation goal was to get seat time in a Formula Mazda before the shootout. To accomplish this, I have entered a one-off (not part of the 2010 championship) BCRS race this weekend September 25th and 26th. I will get 4 sessions each day including 1 race on Saturday and 2 races on Sunday. We will be competing on a combined circuit comprised of the Bondurant School track and the Firebird Main track. This is the first time this combination has been used for racing in over 8 years. It will be a new track for every driver which should make things more interesting!

I fly out this Friday morning to Phoenix to start an exciting two weekends of racing. I will update my blog with in-car video and race recaps as much as possible during the Formula Mazda BCRS race weekend and the shootout. The shootout could be a huge step in my racing career, so I am working my hardest to prepare and maximize this opportunity.

Bondurant/Firebird Combined Track Map

My New and Improved Race Team Logo.......

My new racing logo was completed today. I worked with Media Jaw in San Angelo, Texas. They did a great job and I am super happy with the end product. Over the off-season, I will be transitioning everything from Yaw Moment Racing to Ogburn Motorsport - which will be my team name for the rest of time......

Here it is:


I would like this to be the final design, but I have the illustrator files so feel free to post any suggestions or just let me know what you think. I wanted to get this logo done in time for my next two race weekend because they are big ones for me - more on that later.


Thanks,

Dave Ogburn

New Pages Added to My Blog

See the links right above this post for three pages added to the blog. I've added a page showing the members of the Yaw Moment Racing team, a page detailing the main vehicles I have owned, built, and raced since I turned 16, and my driving resume. I've been having trouble with some of the photos not loading on the car history page, but I think it stems from Blogger server trouble because it has been different on each computer I've tested it on. Anyway, enjoy the improved YMR Blog!

The Yaw Moment Racing Team

YMR Toys: Past and Present

Dave Ogburn Driving Resume