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Thoughts from the Team

2010 Season Opener -- March 6, 2010  By: Jeff

--With some good fortune we were able to save some money up so we could race a limited schedule in 2010.  The goal was to just have fun and get back on the track.   There is also a new engine out that the Arizona tracks are trying to get going.   It is called a clone and costs about $1200 less than a new racing engine and is less than the cost of a rebuild of those other engines.  Since we only have one good racing engine left we decided to buy the new engine and let Cody use our other engine so we could both race.

The last time we had raced in Tucson was last June & we've only run 3 races there since 2008, so we were just wanting to get some laps in and try to dial in our set-up.   The day started off great with Cody & I both winning our first heat races.   He finished 2nd in his 2nd heat race & I again won by half the track.   Cody said he didn't want to push it too hard since he knew a 2nd place finish would give him the pole for the main.

The track was pretty black and we knew we needed to free the karts up more so made some pretty big changes.  During Cody's race we knew we didn't make big enough changes.   His tires were squealing badly, but it didn't matter....his throttle pedal rod had gotten bent and was sticking.  This caused him to lose the lead he had built on the start and eventually spin as he couldn't slow down enough in the corners.  He handled it surprisingly well and I love that he said, "I know it was just bad luck and that I was fast, so we'll come back next week and try again."  I almost didn't recognize him as the past two years this would have ruined his day and probably weekend.

My race started off strong again as I led the first 7 laps, but couldn't stretch out my lead like before.  On lap 8 Bernie Lacotta from Phoenix hit me hard in turn 2 and put me into the fence.  (He apologized afterward & typically doesn't drive like that.)  That put me to the back of the pack where the fun really began.  What is nice about the clone motors is that they are all stock parts so you don't have builders putting in expensive parts trying to gain horsepower.  Without that horsepower boost it is tough to pull people off the corner to make passes & you have to keep your momentum going to not lose speed.

For the first time all day, I had people to race and had a blast.  The next 12 laps were a blast.  I was trying to bump draft Bernie down the straights to give him enough speed to make the pass in the corner.  It worked twice, but both times the lead kart turned down on him and slowed our momentum.  Then I decided to try and pass them on the outside, which worked well until I got to turn 1 and had to slow down too much and Bernie pushed me up the track a bit to pass me back.  Finally I pushed Bernie by the 75 kart enough to complete the pass, but couldn't follow his lead.  On the next lap I made the pass work on the outside and chased Bernie down.  I couldn't get past his rear tires the rest of the race, but had a good time trying.

I was a little mad that we gave up so much of the advantage we had all day, but after the race Bernie was disqualified because he used tires not made by Burris.  I felt a lot better because on good tracks Burris tires are the worst thing you could use.  So technically I won the race.

The highlight of the day was a new exhibition of the Powder Puff class.  It is only for women that haven't raced in regular classes before.  Brandi had given it a try in Phoenix so we had her drive my kart again.  The heat race was tough on her as she couldn't keep up enough momentum to make any passes stick.  We talked before her main and she even said to loosen her kart up and leave the set-up in that I had but to go up in air all around.  If we had more time we would have changed gears to give her more speed.

After a chaotic start she fell to 4th place and a few laps in while trying to make a pass spun out in turn 4.  On the restart the fun began as she was running higher on the track than anybody else, which had them 2 and 3 wide down the straights almost every lap.  It was such a whirlwind that I couldn't give a play by play that would do it justice.  The most important moment was with 2 laps to go when she went in the corner 3-wide on the outside and made it stick enough to carry the momentum down the straight.   The next corner she was again on the outside 2-wide and again carried her momentum to make the pass.  That gave her 2nd place which is where she finished.

It felt good to let her experience the fun and excitement that we have had the past few years.  The smile on her face was priceless.  Hopefully it's something we can do many more times this year.  We're going to try and race the next race in Tucson in two weeks and then re-evaluate from there.

Corryn's Racing Debut -- October 24, 2009 By:  Corryn

--On Friday during practice, a lot was going on. Everything was very hectic. At the beginning of the day, my dad and Cody were planning on only going out once or twice then letting me and my mom practice for the first time on the AKA track. Now you must remember, I have never raced at that track before, so by the time it was my mom and mine turn,  was really nervous, and very excited! So once I hit the throttle, I freaked out about how fast I was going so I slammed on the brakes, after going for a while, I thought  had gotten off the brakes and was going prety fast again, only to have Mr. Paul Sr. pull me off the track telling me that the "brake pads were glowing red". When my dad came over to see what was wrong he was told that I was "riding the brakes", I felt kind of stupid because when we tried starting it again, for me to go out for the second time, it wouldn't start! So I thought I had broken something, only to find out afterwards that I had simply ran out of gas. So my second time out, I didn't get on the brakes at all, so I of course spun out a few times, and just about every time I caught myself. When I got off the track I wanted to know what my fastest lap time was, and it was 18 1/2seconds. Apparently that isn't that fast because my mom got, 16 seconds.. yeah I felt kind of lame knowing that my mom was driving faster than me and this being like, my 3rd time out on a track, and her very first time. However, things did get better the next day.

    After a good(ish) night sleep in a suite, I was excited and willing to work my butt off in order to get back out on the track. So I did, I cleaned tires like I would never clean them again! And when My dad and Cody needed me to start them, or help lift the karts, I was enthusiastic to help. After the second heats, we were behind schedule by about an hour and a half. So, I was disappointed thinking that I might not be able to race, because of the fact that we were sooo behind schedule. But by the time the mains rolled around, we were only forty five minutes behind, so hope was once again gained. during my dads mains, he was three laps into the race, when the jerk that was driving for our friend Dicky Dudd, ran over my dads right rear tire and completely broke my dads carburetor in half. The bummer was that my dad couldn't finish the race, the bigger bummer was that my mom was supposed to race in my dads kart. So we needed to ask all of our friends until finally, our good friend Kevin saved the day with a carburetor!   As for Cody's mains, he was really tight the entire time, and finally about the second to last lap, something happened and he was going fast. in the end he finished third. When the Big Wheels race came around, Toby and Tayten, my 3 year old baby brothers, were freaking out!! They were beyond excited! When we got on the track, they were only supposed to go from turn four to the finish line, but once those kids got going - they weren't stopping! So yeah, they went around the entire track!

    Finally, it was my turn! My mom was getting dressed and heading up to staging, and I was putting on my helmet, only to be interrupted with my dad yelling at Cody, because my genius of a brother put the gears on backwards! Yeah, we are all so proud of him. By the time my dad had fixed the gear, I had missed out on hot laps for the girls. But I got to staging just in time to get to my race, so I hoped in the seat, started the kart, and when I was given the go,  I pulled onto the track and was excited as any other fifteen year old girl could be. I was so hoping to not get in last, so I was going as fast as my little heart could handle. On my fourth lap, on turn two, I tried passing Kevin's daughter, Paige and got too far out, hit the dirt and started spinning. I thought I got off the gas, but I must not have all the way, because I just kept on spinning and spinning until I felt a big bang that knocked me out of my seat and nearly gave me whiplash. But I was determined to keep racing. No little hit in the wall was going to stop me, so I jammed myself back in to that seat, and started slamming on the throttle. Only to see that the engine had died. So I rolled into the infield, bummed and hoping that one of the corner workers could start me up again. Unfortunately, the paramedics had a different idea of what was going to happen. They came at me asking,"Are you ok, do you remember where you are? Do you remember who you are?" I obviously answered, "Yes I'm fine, I want to keep racing!" they must not have heard me past 'yes I'm fine', because after that, they just told me to get up and wanted to check me out off the track, so I got out of the kart, and sat on the bumper of their truck, with one of the other cute firemen. When we got to the place, they asked if my neck hurt and I told them how I was, then they asked me a bunch of questions, like, where do you live, what is your first and last name, and so on and so forth, after all of that, they told me it was ok to take off my helmet and jacket. So when I did, the first thing I did was fix my hair, if you saw them, and you were a fifteen year old girl, you would have too. So they asked if they could check my pulse, and feel my neck to make sure I didn't hurt myself too severely, and I was ok with that. When they were all done, I was shaky and kind of cold. But then my mom came around to make sure I was ok, my dad was with the babies and the others. When they decided I was fine and didn't need to go to the ER I went back to our pit. My moms friend Brandy came up to me to make sure I was ok, then she started joking about  how I was supposed to tell the firemen that I "couldn't breath", and that I needed, "mouth to mouth".  I wish I thought of that when I was back with the firefighters. It was a little bit of a disappointment. By the time I did get back to my pit Paul Jr. and a bunch of my other friends came over and said, "Are you okay?", just like every other time I was asked, I replied with, " Yeah, I'm a klutz, I get hurt all the time. I'm fine, really!" Then I coughed which felt terrible, but I didn't want to cry in front of everyone, so I went behind the trailer, to cry my eyeballs out. But once I got crying I kept on taking deep breaths, which really didn't help. Until finally my mom came back to me, and gave me a cupcake and told me to calm down, after about an hour, I was good and had stopped crying long enough to actually eat my cupcake. by the end of the night, I was exhausted!

    By the end of the night, my injuries were just a few bruised ribs from jamming myself into the seat, and a very sore neck from having my neck flicked back after hitting the wall. But I did get faster over night, my fastest laptime during those four laps, was 15 seconds! Over all, it was an awesome night, when you mix racing for the first time, spinning out for the tenth time, improving in speed over night, and having cute firefighters pity you, you have a very good night. =)

Almost a Great Night -- October 24, 2009 By:  Jeff

This weekend was the 1st Annual Gary Stone Memorial race, a race put together to honor a great man that helped so many kart racers in Arizona.  The turnout was over 75 karts, by far the biggest race we've been a part of.  We decided to go up on Friday night, partly because we wanted to enjoy the weekend since it would be our last race of the season & partly because we wanted to give Brandi & Corryn a chance to drive our karts during practice.  They were having a Powder Puff race on Saturday, so we were excited to give them a chance to have some fun.  The plan was to only run a few sessions for Cody & I and then turn the karts over to them.  Well, my kart was awful so Cody started trying things to make it faster and handle better.  It was a lot of fun because they let us practice together--one of our dreams is to be able to race a whole season against each other.  I also love the ideas Cody comes up with to improve my kart.  He's a good racer, but a GREAT crew chief.  We also tried things to make him better, which we did as well.  The last session was the most fun...he was half a lap ahead of me and I really wanted to catch him.  I changed my driving line & reeled him in within 8 laps and then worked to pass him.  I finally did, but then he saw how I was driving and followed me bumper to bumper.   Hopefully that is how it will be when we do get to racing together in 2 years.   By the end of our "quick practice", we had logged over 50 laps.

We then turned it over to the girls....you can read a lot about Corryn's experience above....Brandi was AWESOME as we always expected.  Before she had the twins we were making plans to have her race with us.  She's competitive, coordinated, and smart.   I couldn't believe how fast she was going already in her first time in the kart.   Corryn really did well too as she got more comfortable.

The next morning, Cody and I talked about ways to make my kart even better and he came up with another good plan.  He made the changes & it worked well.  For the first time ever we would be running time trials.  I'm usually not the best at getting the fastest lap, but I can run consistent laps.  The set-up he gave me was good, but I felt like I over drove it.  When it was all said and done, I was 7th quick out of 18 karts.  I felt really good about it since the field was full of very experienced racers, including many who raced on the national level and several that race in big cars in some of the bigger serieses in the region.

For heat 1, Cody changed the set-up a little & it was good for 4 laps--I made it up to 4th, but then it started to get too tight.  I came to the finish in 6th.   Cody tried a big change for the 2nd heat to see if it would work....it went the right direction and freed me up, but it was too much and I was sliding all over.  I did manage to finish 5th as a few karts in front of me wrecked at the end of the race.   For the main he split the difference and had me confident of my chances of getting a top 10 or even a top 5.

We went out there for the feature, I was 11th out of 18.  On the start I fell back one spot, but as we got up to speed, I started to pick off people quickly.  I could pass high, which I did twice, and low.  By lap 3 I was up to 7th and about to make a move on the next 3 positions.  I was closing quickly, when some idiot that was put in a kart at the last minute hit me from behind, came over my right rear tire & broke the carborator right off the engine.  This guy supposedly drives NASTrucks, but he obviously has no appreciation for the people that can't afford it or don't have his experience level.  I never block people and if they show me they have the spot, I back out and let them by.  I don't know what upset me more....the $250 carborator that he ruined or the fun he prevented me from having.  I was just trying to pick people off cleanly.  By the time the night was over that idiot had taken out at least 4 other people.  Oh well, that's racing sometimes.

One awesome thing was the Parker brothers finished in the top 2 of our class....if we couldn't win we love that our friends showed all the big boys how it's done.

Cody's main we were up in the air on the set-up to run.  He was able to run several fast laps in each heat, but not consistently.  We went fairly aggressive with the set-up, but it wasn't enough.  He started 3rd and raced closely for 1st & 2nd for the first 3 laps.  We could tell he was too tight and kept going high off the corner.  He dropped back about 7 kart lengths and there was a tight battle for 4th for a while.  Then with 3 to go, he changed his line and quickly closed back to the bumper of the 2nd place kart.  He pushed it a little hard and scraped the wall in turn 1--that caused him to nearly be passed on the last lap, but he picked it up and came home 3rd.  We were bummed we missed the set-up, but happy at how competitive he was.   The track is tough as is the competition.  We were only wishing that we had more races this year to try and get that allusive win at AKA.

The highlight of the night was the Big Wheel race they put together before the mains.   Toby & Tayten had been excited for 2 weeks since we told them about it.   There were at least 12 other kids in it.  They were by far the smallest ones out there.  It was so cute...they wanted to line up in staging where we always do and when they went to go out on the track both wanted to go right (counter clockwise) to line-up.  The problem was the race was supposed to be from turn 4 to the finish line.   The track is 1/5 mile around so they couldn't really go the way we usually do.   They lined up excited to go, but failed to notice the green flag waving.  Once they got going, Toby really took off.  Tayten was swerving trying to get in front of the kids around him.  When they got to the line Toby was up to 3rd & Tayten was 6th.  The older girl that was in the lead kept going...so the race turned into a complete lap and a quarter.  Tayten was too busy looking around and went down the banking and crashed in turn 1.  He likes to play crash at home and had a smile on his face.  Toby was off with the leaders & Tayten finally got going again.  Toby kept going strong and pedaled all the way around the track.  He got passed by a much bigger kid in the last corner, but still finished 4th.  All of that and he had a cold and 101 degree temperature.  Tayten also made it around without any help and only crashed two more times.

We brought two of my old trophy dash trophies to give them after the race.  They knew just what to do and climbed up on the podium to get their trophies.  It was precious---they are still talking about their race.  The only problem was they wanted to go BACK out on the track when it was time for the rest of the races.

The other highlight/memory was the Powder Puff race....Corryn gave a good summary above.  The only thing I have to add is that we told her to go out there and just be careful and have fun, but like a true Hybiak she wanted to "beat everybody" (her words) and pushed it really hard.  Brandi also pushed it hard and was up to 3rd at one point before she did a complete 360 at the same time Corryn was hitting the wall.   I guess that makes pretty much everybody in our family ultra competitive--good or bad, it's who we were.

All in all it was a fun weekend.  We spent lots of time together as a family...we made some memories, and we at times were very competitive.  The main disappointment is that we couldn't quite finish it off.  That was the last of our racing funds for the year, so we're done until 2010.  We're not even sure if we'll be able to race next year.  We're already starting $250 in the hole for the new carb we will need, plus around $100 for the damage Corryn did, as well as about $400 for a rebuild.

It is what it is, if we can race that would be great, if not, we'll continue enjoying each other....we are all truly friends and love being together and that's what is important.  We've made so many awesome memories racing over the past 4 years.  I think we proved this year that we could barely race & still be somewhat competitive.   It also made us appreciate the times we are out there.

We'll keep everyone posted on any plans once we know what we're doing.  Until then..................

From Horrible to Contender -- October 10, 2009 By:  Jeff

Saturday was the finale of the Arizona State Championship Series.  We were unable to participate in the series this year due to a lack of funding.  We wanted to race in the 2nd race of the series in Tucson, but the race was cancelled due to a crappy track.   We originally weren't going to race in the finale, but changed our mind 1) because they usually give a way some nice prizes to all participants & 2) we needed more track time to get ready for the big  Gary Stone Memorial Race on the 24th.

After struggling the last time there we made some pretty big chassis changes in the garage.  Our Tucson set-up did not work at all, so we went to our 2007 AKA set-up this time. 

I went out for hot laps optimistic about the set-up. We were racing Shane & Thomas Parker.  Long-time fans know the Parker family.  They have been the top racing family in Tucson for a very long time.  They've forgotten more about racing than we'll ever hope to learn.  I've always had fun racing them over the last 4 years.   In hot laps I was absolutely horrible.  I was slower than everybody out there & left early knowing we had some big changes to make.  We noticed that the RPM was really low and changed the gear.  For the first heat I started outside pole & fell into 2nd behind Shane.  The kart felt better, but by lap 3 it became impossible to turn.  I went from 2nd to last in one lap.  I kept falling off the pace & the kart was getting worse and worse.  I was afraid I was going to hit the wall & finally pulled off with one lap to go.

Cody & I talked over ideas for some big changes.  He decided to not only change tires and the air pressures, but also to move weights around on the kart.   We're usually reluctant to do that without scales to check our numbers, but when the car is as bad as it was you just take a big swing and see how good it is.  I started in the back for the second heat and went out there hopeful that the changes would work.  Cody always says "trust me it will work" when he makes big changes.   I drove it in hard for the first lap and was surprised how much better it felt.   It was not quite perfect, but so much better.  I stayed right on the tail of Thomas and was running in second place for the first four laps.  I screwed up on lap five going into turn 1 and bobbled coming off of turn 2.  That was enough for Shane to pass me on the inside of turn 3, but I got another run at him on the outside.  I nearly passed him back in turn 1 but again bobbled.  I finished the heat in third, but right on Shane's bumper.

During the intermission before the main event I told Cody we just needed a slight change.  He made an air pressure adjustment and we went out knowing that the Parkers always make their cars better for the main.  I started third with the Parkers on the front row.  I pushed Thomas down the front stretch on the start, but Shane also had a good jump.  He was able to drive it in high and take second coming off of turn 2.   From there the next 8 laps were the most fun I've had racing in a long time.   Tom would go low so Shane would go high.  I was trying to decide who to follow into the turns.  I had to keep letting off to not hit one of them in the corners.   A couple laps I tried to bump draft Shane down the straight to give him enough momentum to make the pass.  Finally on lap 8 Shane made the pass stick.  I was following Thomas & wasn't able to take second.  Thomas almost passed Shane back for the next two laps.  I backed off slightly coming into turn 3 to build my momentum.  It was enough to not have to lift until turn 1 when I dove down underneath him to make the pass.  The kart stuck perfectly & I was already closing back in on Shane.

I thought the race was nearly over as tired as I was, but the next time around the flagman gave us the crossed flags, signaling the halfway point.  I was already exhausted & my kart was starting to get tight.  I started changing my line around the track to compensate and found a pretty good one.  Within three more laps I was closing in on Shane, but I started to have a hard time holding my head up and my arms were getting tired.  I received a break with 5 to go when the caution came out.  I tried to relax and catch my breath, but the caution was only for a lap and a half.   Shane got a good jump on the start.  At first I thought I'd just try to settle for second, but I caught back up quickly.  The next two laps I was able to get my nose under him, but as I turned the back end got loose.  Rather than take both of us out I decided to back off.  By then I could barely make each corner, but I hung in and finished half a kart behind him as the checkered flag flew.

I was so exhausted and so disappointed that my lack of racing shape prevented me from winning.  That was the first time in two years the kart felt that good.  It will be interesting to get it on the scales and see what changes we made to make it that good.   Some of the most fun we have is figuring out how to make ourselves faster.   Not racing much this year we forget some of the little things we used to try to make us better.

Cody's day went from decent to worse each time out.  He was very emotional about how it was handling and when he gets like that we usually can't make him better.  I wanted to try the same changes he made to my kart, but he didn't think it would work.   He thought he was too loose, when in fact he was too tight.  The main event was really tough for him as he jumped to second place early in the race and then started fading at lap five.  He was clearly too tight and the longer the race went the more his tires faded away.  He fell back to fourth place with three to go after several bobbles trying to get the kart to turn.  He was able to come back with some strong driving and made a great move on the white flag lap to reclaim fourth place.  I told him after the race that he needs to get back to constructive feedback and not be so emotional with his inputs.  Hopefully he can do that for the next race.

Our next and last race of the season is the very big Gary Stone Memorial race.  It looks like there will be a huge turnout and it could be the most people I've ever raced with.  There will be a lot of money on the line, so it should be an interesting night.  Hopefully we can take what we learned and we can continue to be competitive.   I also need to figure out a way to get into racing shape again.  Two years ago when we were racing every week for about 48 weeks straight it was easy.  You don't realize how physical this sport is until you try it.

It's Been a Long Time -- September 19, 2009 By:  Jeff

As our long-time fans know, we always enjoyed racing at AKA Super Speedway in Phoenix.   We first visited there in August of 2005 & raced full time there in 2006 & 2007.  For those new to our blog, we call AKA a Super Speedway because it is by far the fastest track we have ever been on.  The track measures the same length as Tucson (1/5 mile), but the lap times are 5-7 seconds faster at AKA.  The track is banked and very smooth and you barely have time to straighten the wheel and take a breath.

We only raced there once in 2008 during the state series and fared pretty well despite the fact that they reconfigured the corners and banking slightly.  We learned then that our set-up that used to work did not work well.  They also have gone to an open tire rule, meaning we could run any brand of tires available.  We've always raced at Burris Tire only tracks, but most people agree, those are not the best tires for most conditions.  We went into it with just our set of 4 year old Maxxis tires that we used at the Holiday Classic.

We were using this race as a "get back into the feel of things" type night.   We didn't know how our set-up would fare, how the tires would hold up, or how we would handle the much higher speeds.  Add to that the long layoff between races & we were just hoping to not wreck & to stay on the lead lap.

We both had a loose condition to start the night, which is typical of that track.   The track gains so much grip throughout the night that you don't want to panic too much and tighten the karts up.  The racing at AKA had always been intense, but because of the great surface, there usually wasn't much contact.  In the two years since I've been gone, that has changed quite a bit.  I had the bad luck of starting both heat races on the outside and got slammed out of the way on both starts.  Once I get my kart set-up dialed in over the next few races, I'll be a little more aggressive with those drivers, but no sense doing anything about it now.

I was really loose the first 5 laps of the first heat, but then I started to get my rythm back and the kart tightened up & I gained on the people in front of me, but after the horrible start where I went 2nd to 8th, I came home in 7th.  We didn't do much to the kart except to change gears for heat 2.  The theme of heat 2 was "avoid the crashes".  I had a front row seat to THREE separate crashes in front of me as the racers beat and banged there way for position.  All 3 could have been avoided if one of the karts had given up the spot.  I narrowly missed all 3 wrecks.  For whatever reason they put everybody back in the same spot after each caution.  Unfortunately on one of them, Mark was taken into the wall as he tried to avoid the chaos.

I made it up to third place for the white flag lap.  I had thought the 2nd place kart was spewing fuel out of their engine as I kept getting small spots on my visor.   Coming out of turn 2 on the final lap I realized it was RAIN as I was hit with a bunch of water.  As I reached to clear my vision, I let off the gas a little and was passed by two people.  Oh well, I thought, it's just a heat race.  With finishes of 7th & 5th I qualified 7th for the main--one of my worst regular season starting spots ever at that track.

For the main we assumed correctly that the track would tighten up more...thank GOODNESS!  The kart was good from the start & by lap 4 I was up to 5th place, closing in on 4th.  From there two things happened -- first, the kart started to get nearly impossible to turn--I was basically just along for the ride hoping the banking would turn the kart for me off the corner;  second, I started to get REALLY tired.   Now I'd been working out pretty hard the past three weeks trying to get back in racing shape, but I was no where near ready for the grueling race.  It'd been 5 months since I'd raced & almost 2 years since I went that fast.

When I passed the halfway point I was thinking, "There is no way I can finish this race."  I usually can count down the laps, but I completely lost track trying to keep the kart from hitting the wall.  I was seeing stars coming off the corner as the G-Forces kicked in & I could barely breath.  I was thinking, "stay steady, it's got to be almost over."  Finally, I told myself if I don't see the white flag next lap I'm going to have to stop.  Thankfully that was the white flag and I made it home for a 5th place finish.

Cody's night for the most part was much better than mine.  He led quite a few laps against a driver that has won pretty much every race this year at the track.  We were on our Tucson baseline set-up and were using some pretty old tires.  We just wanted to see how close he was and what needed changed.  Unfortunately, he had the kart to win in the main, but the motor started hesitating on lap 4 & by lap 12 was almost shutting off at the end of the straight.  He limped home in a very frustrated 3rd place.

We left the track pretty frustrated and not optimistic about our chances of ever being competitive at the track again.  Then on Sunday we started doing some reading & looking at our notes from a few years ago & we aren't as far off as we thought.   We are about 90% sure we've identified his motor problems.  It may take 3 or 4 more races, but I think we can put together a scientific plan to test what changes need to be made to get our karts back near the front. 

Cody has already identified the changes to make to my chassis & I found the changes to make to his.  It will either be a lot better, or we'll know we need to go in the opposite direction.

We used to say that half the fun of racing is figuring out how to go faster.  We have a lot of work to do in the months ahead, so hopefully that means a lot of fun as we (hopefully) improve each week.

If you don't have anything nice to say -- June 20, 2009 By:  Jeff

My mom always taught me that if you don't have anything nice to say, don't say it at all, so the recap of the weekend will be pretty short.  We're $80 poorer and only got 20 green flag laps between us.  We have two broken bodies, gear, clutch, chain guard, and who knows what else.  The track was not drivable.  I know everybody did their best to work on the track.  Cody quit in the middle of heat 2 and said he was done at the track because he was afraid of getting hurt or breaking more things on his kart.  I decided to race the main.....but it was cancelled because they flooded the track during the intermission, despite the 60 degree weather.

I gave them the benefit of the doubt and was going to try to race Saturday.  Cody decided to go to the Monster Truck show.  He made the more intelligent decision.   After making us go out there and drive through puddles and bumps they decided to cancel the race.

It looks like we'll be back at AKA in late August if we want to race again.  It was great to see our old friends from AKA and hang out with them at the track.  I can't wait to get to race with them again.

Last to First -- June 5, 2009 By:  Cody

This had to be one of the strangest races in awhile.  In hot laps I literally spun out every time I'd step on the throttle.  The track was so bad for us they gave us another hot lap session.  For my kart we changed almost anything we could have changed.  It did get better, in fact it was the best my kart handled besides the main event (and I was still dirt tracking it.)  The first heat I started on the outside of Carlos, who was on the pole.  I got under him around lap 3 (it could have been any lap, I don't really remember, that shows how long the night was for me) but I got around him and held the lead for maybe two laps before I slipped up and got passed by him and Chris.  Me and Chris were having a good battle until Tommy came and got clipped to him and Chris went straight into the wall, bringing out a red flag.  Then while starting up his kart Carlos's clutch came loose and had to pull off.  I led until the last corner and than slipped up again and finished third behind Tommy and Connor "Sticky" Turner.  Heat two was a complete disaster from the beginning.   It started out with me and Tommy racing for the lead until I got impatient and moved him again.  I held the lead for one lap before my kart ran straight into the wall, head on collision.  The caution came out and I spun a few times and got last, enough said.  So for the main I was set to come from last place.  My dad made big changes.  I told him I either wanted last or first.  I gave the inside line a major push and like a freight train we were 1 2 3.  Then after pushing Connor and Tommy for another lap I made my move.  I passed Connor the next lap and then Tommy the lap after that.  I was cursing, running the fastest laps of the night out of any 4 cycle division.  I won by half the track over Carlos in second, Tommy in third, Connor in fourth and Chris pulled off with a flat tire in fifth.

Fun When it Was Over -- June 5, 2009   By:  Jeff

What an exhausting night.  As you can read from the News item & Cody's blog, it was a very strange trying night.  I've never seen one of our karts look so horrible.  It was both driver and crew chief.  We just couldn't get a handle on the track.  We went from the worst loose condition ever, to darn near perfect, to so tight Cody couldn't even turn.  As disappointed as I was in Cody's driving during heat 2, I was just as proud at the way he kept his composure and gave tremendous, quality feedback on every part of the kart for every part of the track.  He's gotten the nickname Rowdy because he drives a lot like Kyle Busch.  Starting near the end of his rookie year he found the ability and the guts to try passes other people didn't dare.   He surprises a lot of people with the passes and sometimes they are ill advised.   You either love it or hate it.  He needs to learn that when his kart isn't handling right, he can't drive it as hard.  As great of a driver as Rowdy Busch is, we've noticed watching the races that he gives very emotional, sometimes derogatory feedback to his crew chief.  This makes it harder to get the car right.  Last season, in years past, Cody had the same problem.  He'd come off the track and say how horrible it was, sometimes near tears because he wasn't able to drive it hard like he wanted.

This season, we've worked a lot at the feedback.  Our motto these last two races has been to drive like Rowdy, but give feedback like Jimmie (Johnson).  If you've ever noticed, Jimmie Johnson always seems to get better as the race goes on.  He has a great crew chief that knows the driver and how to make the car better.  We'll never be as good as Jimmie & Chad, but our goal is to emulate their attitude.  We did just that during the break before the main.  I asked Cody at least 5 times, tell me again EXACTLY what it is doing.  He walked me through the entire lap and how the kart felt.  We went through our options and made 3 big changes to fix every problem all at once.  It's something we weren't comfortable doing, but had to do it to compete for the win.  Some nights, my job is easy, other nights it is extremely stressful.   Watching how Cody has matured this year with his feedback sure made it a lot easier.

By the way.....Cody picked #18 BEFORE Rowdy Busch moved into that car.  Cody's favorite number has always been 12, which is why he started liking Ryan Newman.   After running #12 in 2005 & in Tucson in 2006, he had to switch to #18 in Phoenix because #12 was already taken.  He chose #18 because his birthday is on the 18th (same reason I've always been #30).  The fact that Rowdy Busch now drives the M&M's Toyota is just a bonus.  We love our Toyota's (my dad sells them in Colorado) for their reliability, we all love M&M's, especially the twins, & the M&M's car is their favorite car on the track.

Next race will be a huge challenge and test for us.  The best racers in our region will be competing in Tucson.  We're going to show up and see how much more speed we need to find in his kart.  We appreciate everybody who has been so supportive of our team and are thankful that we are able to get to the track every once in a while.

Until next time......

One Race, One Win -- May 15, 2009 By:  Cody

Well for both me and my dad not racing this year was hard.  At the end of last year we had a lot of questions about my kart.  Well our plan was to see what was wrong one race at a time, but due to us being short on time we changed everything at the same time, which seemed to work.  I drew the highest pill out of all four of the four Jr 2-4.  Oh and do you remember Carlos Martinez, the person who finished second in points three years in a row.  This year he has won every single race and is very confident.   He kept telling me all night how I was going to lose and how great he was.  Just remember him and then I'll get to the funny part.   At the first heat I passed Chris Perry on the outside and Carlos on the bottom to get to second.  Then I moved Tommy Wunderlich to take the lead.  I lead the rest of the race to win by about a straight.  In the second heat I dominated from the pole to win by half the track.  So from the pole in the main I was cruising with another half the track lead.  Then with four to go a caution came out ( no one really knows what the caution was for besides giving Carlos a chance to beat me.)  The race was close until the end but I won.  Then after the race Carlos starts trash talking me!  I'm not sure if he blacked out during the race and somehow kept driving or if he's in denial, but came up to me and said how close he was and that I just got lucky.. 

Comments from Jeff:  Cody showed why he is one of the best drivers in the state -- he gave great feedback on a new set-up after not racing for 6 months.  He drove hard, but smart and he didn't let Carlos' trash talking get into his head.  One thing Cody learned about me and it is apparent that he has the same trait -- when you talk trash we choose to take that as extra motivation.  We try not to talk back, but internally we work and focus extremely hard to shut the person up. 

We'd like to give a special thanks to Mark Gorton for letting Cody use his Dover Power motor.

Back on the Track-April 17. 2009

Originally our plans for this season were to sit out and save money for new tires & motor rebuilds until August.  We then were going to try and compete during the second half of the season.  That has been really tough on both Cody & I.  While celebrating my 35th birthday, Cody asked what I really wanted for my b-day and I said to race again.  He said, "ok" and we worked to get my kart put back together and to find a set of tires that weren't completely worn out.  We got everything ready over 3 days and were ready to go.  Unfortunately, the race was cancelled by 45 mph winds.

So we waited for 2 more weeks as the adrenaline built up even more.  I was so nervous all day.  I couldn't even remember where my marks were to let off the gas.   It felt strange going on the track again.  During mud packing, which lasted about 10 minutes I even started getting neck and leg cramps--is that bad??

We realized that the neck cramps were caused by my seat being higher than the last time I raced & my neck brace was pushing on my neck more.  That was easily solved by using Cody's neck brace.  Going into hot laps, I was very erratic--nearly spinning several times.  It started to come back to me and it felt good being on the track again.  The kart felt a little loose and Cody made a tire change for heat one.

I was on the pole--the last place I wanted to be after not racing for six months.   I some how led the first lap and was starting to get a little comfortable on lap 2 when I saw the red kart of Shane Parker next to me.  I let him go and followed him for the next lap, trying to remember the best way around the track.  The caution came out on lap 4 and two laps into that I noticed my teammate, Mark Gorton sliding to the inside.  I decided to let him go so he could chase down Shane, but I didn't know that Kevin Rowlan was on his bumper.  Kevin hit me as I tried to duck behind Mark and it knocked me out of the groove.  I slid back to 5th from there.

For heat 2 Cody made another tire, air pressure, and gear change since I'd be starting last.  On the start I got a good jump and tried to make a move to the outside.   I was all the way up to 3rd by turn 1 but couldn't find my way in and fell back to last.  From there I began picking my way through traffic and by lap 6 had made it all the way back to 4th place.  I saw that I was closing on the lead pack and thought I'd easily have a top 2 finish.  Unfortunately, I lost my concentration and spun out in turn 3 & 4.  There was no caution since I spun out of harm's way.  I fell back to 9th and passed one kart before the checkered flag came out.

That brought me a 6th place qualifying spot -- outside on a dusty Tucson track is not the place to be.  Cody made a gear and air pressure change for the main event.   Mark qualified 2nd so on the start I thought I'd try to push our row to the lead.   My push helped Jordan Stetson get a good jump, but instead of pushing Mark he dove to the inside and hooked my nose as he did.  That caused me to drop back to 8th place.  I could tell Cody gave me a better set-up than everybody else as I was able to get a good run off the corners and was passing somebody each lap, including Mark who slid out of the groove, giving up 2nd place.

I finally made it up to 3rd place, but the kart was really starting to be a handful.   The groove was getting more and more narrow and I literally missed the groove at turn in every other lap, causing the back end of my kart to kick out.  A caution allowed me to catch my breath and on the restart allowed me to hand with the 2 leaders for 3 laps.  I again started missing my marks and every time I did Kevin would bump me, pushing my kart forward and back into the groove.  Without his bumps there is no way I would have held on to 3rd.

It was great to be back on the track.  Anybody who says race car drivers are not athletes have never raced before.  I was exhausted and shaking when the night was over.  Cody was awesome as my crew chief.  He'll be rewarded soon.  We're working on repairing his kart and should be on the track in May. 

Back in Victory Lane-October 11, 2008

The last race of the Arizona State Championship Series gave us pretty much everything.   Both Cody & I needed to win to even have a shot at the championship.   Since Cody had yet to run a practice session with his 2 cycle kart, we decided to use Friday's practice to dial that kart in.  It was a very rewarding night.  We found several things that lowered his lap times and learned some things that made the kart worse.  By the end of the night, we had it dialed in and he was running 4 tenths faster than the points leader.

The morning brought wind and rain from Hurricane Norbet, wiping out all the rubber that was put on the track as well as delaying the start of the race by nearly 3 hours.   For my kart we showed up with the same set-up I used for my last victory, even though it differed from Cody's and Mark's set-up by quite a bit.  We figured we could adjust on it as the day went on.

In heat one, Cody dominated (see the full recap in the "News" section of our website) and I was horrible.  I'd never had a loose in condition with that kart.   We had just enough time to put a softer left front tire on before heat 2.  For heat 2, it proved to be too much of a change..the loose in was fixed, but it was very tight off and I could barely keep the kart on the track when I exited the turn.  When it was all said and done, I finished 3rd for both heat races.  I knew exactly what we could change based on what we leared with Cody's kart the night before, but then he broke in his second heat.

We spent the entire intermission thrashing on his kart to get it ready and ran out of time to change anything on my kart.  As a last ditch effort we moved a weight to the left side, without scaling it or resetting anything.  As the race started it seemed to help quite a bit as I was slightly faster than Mark and just trying to find a spot to get by him cleanly.  I finally thought I found a line to get around him and as I dove into the corner, my steering wheel locked up and I couldn't turn.  I ended up spinning out and bringing out the caution.  I had no idea what was wrong and still couldn't turn more than a small amount.  I spent the remaining laps trying to not wreck and to hold onto 4th place.  That's just how the season has gone for me.   I guess I used up all my good luck in 2007.

We thought Cody would have better luck.  On paper, all he had to do was beat the multi-year track champion, who won all but a couple of races at that track this year.   Oh yeah, he was the defending state champion as well.  We figured if Cody could beat him, the championship would be his.  He needed the point leader to finish 3rd or worse.  We knew Cody was faster than everybody, so we thought his chances at a championship were quite high.  All of that ended on the first lap when the "champion" made a bonehead move, jumping over Cody's rear tires in the first lap and throwing his chain.  At that point, we both knew we would need a big lucky break for the points leader to not get 2nd.  As Cody went out and beat everybody by half a lap, it was a helpless feeling watching nobody challenging for 2nd.  We knew Cody would post the most dominating performance of the series and not win the championship.

In the end, it came down to 10 points---Cody broke a chain in the first race and finished 5th.  We picked the wrong tire combo in the 2nd race and finished 2nd.   That right there cost him the championship.

It was a big confidence boost though to be able to dial in a kart and figure out how to make it faster.  We are so proud of him winning in just his 4th race with that class.   The power band on those motors is so different, to go out there and win like he did was quite an accomplishment.

I was also very happy for Mark, who needed a confidence boost of his own.  It also happened to be his birthday, so it was nice to see him get such a great present.  I think I'm going to have to go back to setting up my kart just like his because it was obviously faster.

We don't know what our plans are for the Tucson Shootout.  For sure Cody is going to run the 2 cycle class, thanks to TMW Motors.  Hopefully Cody can have an event free race for that one.  We need to put quite a bit of money into Cody's 4 cycle kart, so we don't know if he will race it.  I may race one last time this year, but we just don't know yet.

Frustrating End to a Frustrating Season-September 27, 2008

Well the optimist in me actually thought that we could end the season on a good note.  I decided to save some money and my equipment and sit out the race since I wasn't in the points chase.

Cody had nothing to lose, if he started he was locked into 3rd place in the championship race...couldn't go any higher or any lower.

We put everything back to a baseline set-up and found a set of tires that actually weren't worn out.  Things were going pretty good...he won the first heat race, his first win in quite a while, he finished 2nd in the next heat race, good enough to qualify on the pole.  He also was only a tenth slower than track champion Nick Parker.

Then came decision time--make no changes, make a small change, or go for a big change.  I was leaning towards a small change, but Cody decided he wanted to take a big swing at it.  I admired his decision to go for the win.

As he took the green flag going into the first corner, he bobbled.  As he went into turn 3, his kart really got loose.   From there I knew it was the wrong decision.  It got so bad that on lap 3 he spun out in front of the field, but there was no caution.  Thankfully, everyone avoided him.

I felt so bad for him, but it was a good learning experience.  We're ready to pack that kart up for the year.  It needs a lot of repairs done to it, so we'll start saving money and hopefully have a newly refreshed kart ready to go for next season.

He still has an outside shot at the 2 cycle state championship in two weeks.  I also have an outside shot, but we just want to have fun and hope that luck finally falls on our side this year.  We still won 4 times this year and were threats to win most of the time, but we are both so competitive that we want to see more consistent results.  We're going to start from scratch next season and hope for the best.

Tired of the Bad Luck-September 6, 2008

They say that luck comes in bunches, but we sure are tired of the bad luck.  Last season was such a blast, yes we had some bad luck, but we always seemed to come out better for it.  This season has just been one thing after another.

I've lost my motor twice and now can't afford to finish out the season.  I had to give up a guaranteed second place points finish.

It's been even worse for poor Cody.  We've struggled to find a good set-up for his new division, but when we have had it right it seems something bad happens.  He's on his 4th motor this year if that is any indication as to how bad his luck has been.

Last night had to be the worst.  We got a new set-up straight from his manufacturer that we wanted to try.  He barely got to test it out during hot laps as the track was so rough he bottomed out and broke his seat.  We spent all the time repairing that for the first heat race.  He got out there just in time only to be spun out on the start straight into the mud.  He recovered nicely on the restart and made it out front.  He went on to lead every lap except the most important one--the last one.  He said it felt really good and just needed a little more speed.

We made some pretty big changes that should have made it faster, but he was a distance 3rd place.  Again he said it felt good, but was slow.

We figured he was guaranteed to finish 3rd if we didn't make big changes, so we guessed at what to change.  We ended up changing cross, nose weight, camber, tires, and tire pressure.  We hit it dead on.  He was super fast and said he had to hit the brakes to not run into the leader.  Our changes made him 6 tenths of a second faster than the second heat race, and a tenth faster than the leaders.  He was trying to find the best place to pass when he felt something strange in his front wheels.  He soon fell back to fourth and then pulled off the track.

As we examined the kart we saw that something had broke in the left front spindle.   Today we found out it wasn't something small...the whole spindle casing had literally cracked in two.  We've never seen anything like that.

So not only did he not get the win (again) when he was the fastest kart on the track, the damage to his kart was at least $150 that we really can't afford.  That's just how the season has gone.  We'll be glad when it's over.

August 16, 2008 by Jeff:

Things have certainly been hectic for us.  We spent a week in California following the last race and had a blast.  Unfortunately, the long hours I had to put in did not leave me much time to work on my kart for the next race.  The motor again is giving us fits and we just don't have the money to get a new one.  I'm not sure how much more I'll get to race this season.

Cody's attitude has been great even though the final results haven't been.  He is working hard at trying to give good feedback and not getting upset when the track, his fellow competitors, or his engines hurt a good finish.

It's been a very trying season and is winding down.  In a way we'll be glad when it's over.  However, we are both so competitive we don't want it to end so that we can try and have some good luck and get some more wins.

June 22, 2008 by Cody:

AKA Speedway was the sight of the second Arizona state race.  After a rough Speedworld appearence in both Jr. two classes AKA is an important race if I want any chance of being state champion.  Although I figured out that if your engine is falling apart it is rather difficult.  After losing one engine the race before in Tucson I had to use a backup engine.  After THAT one broke in AKA I had to use a backup backup.  If you haven't figured out already I had a rough night in the four cycle.  The two cycle was running great in the heats, which won me the pole.  I struggled with the handle in the main and settled for second.  I also figured out that I am a better racer than my dad at the indoor kart track in Phoenix!

June 22, 2008 by Jeff:

MISSED IT BY THAT MUCH--that should have been the theme of the weekend as we returned to AKA for the first time since the Holiday Classic.  They had changed the configuration of the track so we decided to attend the practice session on Friday night.   The track was a lot different, but a lot more fun, which I didn't think would be possible.  It now has two completely different shapes in the corners so you have to drive them differently.

The most fun part of the practice was they let Cody, Nick Parker and I go out on the track at the same time.  I was barely faster than them the first time, but as Mike Parker and I made adjustments to the Icons, they picked up about 3-4 tenths.  Their Icons could drive a line that my Phenom just couldn't handle.  It was such a joy to be out there with two of the neatest kids I've seen at the track.  I keep saying that I will retire in a few years when they are old enough to race me because they will probably lap me.  In the end, Cody was about 5 hundreths of a second slower than Nick--not too bad.  {Missed it by that much!!}

Saturday we had a lot of down time, so after an argument at breakfast about whether to increase or decrease the cross weight percentage in my kart, we decided to take in Get Smart at the movie theater down the street.  Our teammate Mark Gorton came along for the race to serve as a crew chief for our karts and Cody, Mark, and I are all huge fans of the Office and Steve Carrell, so we were pretty excited.  The movie was hilarious and it only cost $5 each--what's up with that--it is at least $9 in Tucson.

After going back to our hotel for lunch and a nap, we decided to go try the indoor kart track in Phoenix to see if we know how to turn both left and right.  We were surprised to see our friend and fellow competitor Kevin Rowlan there.  He'd already gone 3 three 15 lap races and had chased all the other competitors off with his dominance.   The first race Kevin qualified on the pole, I qualified on the outside pole, and Cody and Mark were somewhere in the back.  After the first two laps, Kevin was pulling away and Cody & Mark were a straight away behind me, so I pulled over and let them pass me so I had somebody to race.  I had a blast setting Cody up for the passes and then passing him only to let him pass me back.  In the end, Kevin had the fastest time, I had the 2nd fastest, Mark was 3rd quick, and Cody was 4th quick.

For the second race Cody showed his adaptibility and skill at wheeling a race kart.   He qualified 2nd and battled with Kevin the entire race.  He even had taken the lead by the last lap, but over drove the corner and came in 2nd.  For the entire day, Kevin had the fastest lap out of anybody, and Cody was 5 hundreths slower as he posted the 2nd fastest time.  {Missed it by that much!!}

We decided to head to the track where it was 115 degrees at 4 pm.  I can't really remember all of the details of each race except Cody dominated his 2 cycle heat race, winning by a straight away to claim his first 2 cycle win in only his 3rd time in that style of kart.  His 4 cycle night was a bit more miserable as we again fought motor problems, this time something inside came apart.  That's his 4th motor he's had break this year--all have had different problems.  I guess after 3 years of good luck we were bound to have some bad luck, but still we can't really afford to have one motor break.  Our bad motor luck is drastically changing the racing plans we had for the remainder of the year.  His 4 cycle night was less than spectacular as he had to use a Jr 1 motor that was very under powered.

My kart was still not driving like I wanted, so we went with my idea on which way to go with the cross.  I was dead wrong (meaning Cody was right) and the kart got worse and was a handful to drive.  I still managed to bring home an outside pole starting position for the main.

Cody's 2 cycle kart was up first for the main and we had figured that as bad as our 4 cycle karts were squalling their tires, we needed harder tires and to free up the kart.   Cody had the pole, but we didn't want him to go backward as the race wore on.   We have a lot to learn about 2 cycle karts because the kart was so loose that Cody could barely hang on to it.  He quickly fell back to 2nd as he struggled to hang on to the back end of the kart.  He finally got his rythm down and he settled into 2nd, but never got the caution he needed to catch up.  If only we had stuck with the same tires as the heat races, he would have cruised to an easy victory.  {Missed it by that much!!}

I again had an outside starting position for my main event and again fell back on the start as I couldn't hang onto the outside through the corner.  I worked my way quickly back to 2nd and began to work on the leader.  I was a bit faster, but he decided that he would hug the bottom of the track.  I tried a few times to pass on the outside and nearly lost control of the kart.  I could close a 3 kart length lead in less than two laps, so I then tried working on the bottom to make the move.  Three times I got my nose under neath him and all 3 times he chopped me down.  Not wanting to wreck both of us or to be put in the back, I let off.  We should have won that race, but the outside qualifying position did me in again.  {Missed it by that much!!}

All in all, we had a good time.  It was nice being back at AKA.  They have the nicest facility we've ever seen.  Hopefully the economy can pick up at some point and we can race there more often.  As it is, we'll be lucky to have both of us finish the season.

June 8, 2008 by Jeff:

Racing is such a funny sport.  After leaving the track so frustrated we were ready to quit a week ago, we came back with good attitudes, just wanting to have fun again.   We tried big set-up changes to get back to what was fun last year--learning what makes the karts faster.  Cody gave good feedback after the last race so we tried something new on his kart.  While researching that, he also saw it as a way to fix my kart.

The changes worked great for Cody--not so great for me.  My kart was for sure a top 5 kart, but with both Parkers racing, it wasn't good enough to win.  We spent the night trying new things on my kart and tweaking Cody's kart.  Like last year, the feedback we gave each other was enough to get the karts adjusted for the main.  My problem like it has been all but once this year, was a poor starting position.   Starting on the outside in Tucson is never a good place to be.  The track was better, but it still was a struggle to hang onto the position.

Coming through traffic was some of the most fun I've had this year though.   Dennis, Kevin, and I had a blast passing each other back and forth.  I was even able to bump draft Kevin twice to help him pass Dennis.  I knew I couldn't pass them both, so I helped Kevin pass Dennis first, then I passed him myself.

I'm most proud of Cody.  He kept a good attitude and gave great feedback all night long.  He was calm and collected when his set-up and tires started going away in the main and he adjusted his line to try to compensate.  He knew he didn't have the best kart, engine, or tires, but he was smart enough and determined enough to take the checkered flag first.

This was the last race until August at TKC.  We have the state race coming up next.  It will be fun to get back to AKA for the first time since Christmas.   We'll have some tough competition and will have to guess on set-up, but we should be up for the challenge.

May 31, 2008 by Jeff:

Ugh..what a long night.  Despite their best efforts the track was HORRIBLE!   Cody and I both had track related DNFs in the first heat.  2nd heat was dusty and a struggle to get through traffic.  Cody was running good in the main until a very long red flag period.  After that, his kart was hard to turn.  By the time my main rolled around, the track was a dust bowl.  I was running on the bumper of 2nd place when he slid and I turned too hard trying to avoid him.  My subsequent trip through the infield somehow damaged the stud on my right rear tire.  It felt like I was going to spin out every lap after that.  It was a long, forgetable night that just wasn't much fun.

We're going to give the track one more try on Friday.  If it doesn't improve, we may just take some time off and save our money for a few trips to AKA in Phoenix.

May 18, 2008 by Jeff:

Hey, I said all along that as long as Cody wins I'm happy.  You can read about the race night in the news section.  I'm happy, but didn't know I would really be tested.   I'm still really sore and my kart is damaged pretty bad, but that's racing sometimes.  It was by far the worst wreck I have ever been in.

I'm really proud of Cody though.  He finally reigned in his emotions and gave some great feedback during the intermission so we could get his kart dialed in.  After again saying, "horrible, slow, I don't know what's wrong," he calmed down and said exactly what his kart needed to win.

We made the right calls by making some big changes and he was right--it gave him what he needed to win.  Hopefully the win will be a confidence boost that if he gives constructive feedback (like he did all of last year), we can get the kart to how he likes it.

Probably the best part of him winning is that he got a hair cut.  After growing frustrated at the amount of time between wins (7 races and 2 1/2 months), he had said he was cutting his hair the next time he won.  We didn't notice this, but he has some nice eyes and ears under that curly mop he's been wearing the past few years.

The damage to my kart will be expensive and a hassle to fix, but we are so close to getting it figured out that it seems necessary to do it right.  I hope everyone is enjoying their early summer.  We will be in the triple digits this week--had to break the fan out for the garage.  Yuck!

May 3, 2008 by Jeff:

Friday was a roller coaster ride.  After struggling through most of the heat races this year and then having a pretty strong main event, the tables were reversed this time.   That is never a good thing.  The night started with me having to change motors as the motor sputtered and struggled to stay running.  That caused Cody to miss hot laps, which we wanted him to run to test his new set-up out.  He went out for his first heat race and after getting pushed to last place on the start began making his way through traffic.  The kart drove much better off the corners, which is what we were after.  He just had a hard time not losing his momentum as he caught people too quickly off the corner.  He came home with a 3rd place finish in that heat.

My heat was even better.  I started 3rd, but had the lead by the end of the first lap and cruised to victory.  The kart was just a little tight, but handled very good.   We made a few adjustments to Cody's kart to help him turn even better off the corner.  He took the lead on lap 2 and checked out for an easy victory.  Good enough to qualify on the outside pole.  Cody made some pretty big adjustments to my kart for the second heat, and it was HORRIBLE.  I had no grip and slid around to a 4th place finish, but still good enough for an outside pole starting spot in the main.

During the intermission, Cody decided to put my kart back to where it was at in heat 1.   We made very few adjustments to his kart, thinking we'd be ready to bring home a good finish.  He again got pushed to the back on the start, but made his way up through traffic quickly.  He was at least as fast as the leaders, maybe faster as he moved into 4th place, closing quickly on 3rd place.  Then his motor started hesitating and he pulled off the track.  Cody thought he broke a valve or lifter on the motor and was very upset.  Afterwards, thanks to some diagnostic help from Mike Parker and Dennis Smith, we narrowed it down to either the carb or coil.  After changing the coil on Saturday, we were relieved to discover that was the problem.   It's a $40 part that has failed 3 times in 4 years of racing--ironically, all on Cody's motors.

Cody came off the track and said the track had a ton of grip and we needed to change my kart.  When he was all done making the adjustments, it ended up being pretty much the same set-up as the 2nd heat race.  He said to trust him and that usually works out just fine.  From the moment I hit turn 1 on the start, I knew he was wrong and I was in for a long race.  I could not get on the gas at all without the back end wanting to kick out.  I started dropping back quickly and settled in for a fun 20 lap battle for 4th place with the #77 of Kevin Rowland.  I'm not sure how many times we swapped positions, but he ended up prevailing as I nearly lost the kart on the last lap and he got by me.  After the run we've had, 5th place wasn't much fun, but it could have been worse.

Cody is a great crew chief, probably one of the best in the state at making the kart faster each time out.  He's entitlted to make a mistake once in a while.  He reminded me today that we had changed my chassis set-up in the garage as a test to see if we could gain more speed.  That made me feel even better knowing we can go back to the old set-up which seemed to be much more consistent.

It sure has been a long season already.  It seems that all of our good luck from last year is really coming back to bite us this year as we have had very good start to finish nights.  We'll be back at it in 2 weeks, refreshed and ready to go.

April 27, 2008 by Jeff:

Saturday was the first race in the Arizona State Championship Series.  We were traveling to Surprise, AZ to race at Speedworld for just the 2nd time.  The track configuration is like nothing we've seen.  It is a blast to race, despite the dust and the bumps.  People described it like being almost like a road coarse.  It has a huge amount of banking, but you go down the hill and it flattens out in turns 3 & 4, while turns 1 & 2 are fairly sharp turns.  It is a challenge to set-up the karts and very difficult to pass people.  Lap times are in the 13-14 second range where in Tucson we usually run 16-18 second laps, so it is a much faster track.

The whole night was a big whirlwind of events as Cody was running both a 2 cycle and 4 cycle kart.  Those karts are set-up different and you have to drive them differently.   Cody had a really rough time, especially with one kart in particular that insisted on turning left every time Cody got underneath him.  He's used to racing with some of the best 4 cycle racers in the western U.S. that understand how dangerous that practice can be.  He was fast, he just didn't know how to maneuver around anybody.  In the end, it didn't matter.....a brand new chain ended up breaking on the 3rd lap of the main event.

The 4 cycle race was even tougher.  We've struggled all year to get a good set-up for the new division.  The top 4 finishers all raced in Jr 2 last year, and everyone of the entries has won a race already this year.  Cody finished a respectable 5th in the division.  I'm thinking of going back to the drawing board and starting over with a completely different set-up for him.  The kart just hasn't been comfortable for him like it was in Jr 1.

My night seemed to be following the theme I've had all year.  I was stuck behind Dennis Smith trying to find a clean way around him.  Dennis is fast off the corner, but I'd catch him in the middle of the corner--closing a 5-6 kart length gap, and then have to let off to avoid hitting him.  We did that the entire first heat race as Dennis led and I chased.  With 3 laps to go, Dennis slid a bit in the corner and I checked up to not hit him, but got booted from behind and went sideways.  I got it going again and was running in 3rd, but too far back to catch up.  The last lap was the only lap I was able to run by myself, so I didn't have much feedback for Cody.

We made a gear and tire change for the 2nd heat.  This time I had to start in the back row and again was stuck behind Dennis.  I spent the entire race trying to cleanly get around him.  I made one last attempt coming to the checkered flag to get under neath him.  I got a nose under him, but he started to turn and I didn't want to take us into the wall, so I let off...giving me a last place finish in the heat and a 5th place qualifying position.

Cody guesses pretty good on the set-up after being on the track a few laps in his 2 cycle kart.  Richie Jones and Kevin Rowlan of Tucson started on the front row and were having a great battle for the lead.  I was again trying to find my way around Dennis for 3rd place.  Like pretty much every race this year, he eventually slid his tires and I was able to get under him off the corner.  I then had a great seat to watch the battle for the lead.  I wasn't gaining on the leaders, but they weren't pulling away.  I was a good 7-10 kart lengths back when I saw Kevin slide out of the groove and spin with 2 laps to go.  The caution came out and I was able to make a 2 lap dash for Richie's spot.  I had two opportunities to get around him when he slid his tires, but both times I was setting him up for an outside move and I couldn't dive under him to make the pass.  All in all I was happy to come home in 2nd as horrible as my night had been thus far.  I was also happy to hear that our teammate, Mark Gorton finished right behind me.  He's had some pretty bad luck this year so I'm glad he was able to get his 1st top 3 finish.

We have an extremely short week this week.  We were so tired we didn't get the trailer unloaded until late on Sunday.  We now have only 4 days to get the karts torn down, cleaned, repaired, and the set-up for Tucson's track again.

April 19, 2008 by Jeff:

We were back in Tucson for another regular season race.  Coming off the win from the race before, we decided to run my restricted Animal motor as a test to see how equal they were to the flathead motor.  During the heat races, I was convinced that the flatheads had an advantage.  In heat 1 I couldn't get enough speed on the straightaways and was stuck in 4th place.  On the last lap I tried to make a move on the outside and the inside kart made contact with me and pushed me out of the groove.   I fell back to 8th place as we crossed the finish line.

Not being able to run in the open we made very few changes for the 2nd heat.  We lowered the gear to see if that would give me more straightaway speed.  I started 3rd and worked my way up to 2nd.  I was about as fast as the leader, but was running out of motor on the straights.  For the main, we made a large gear change again and went back to the set-up I ran in the main event the week before.  My poor heat race showing had me starting 5th.  As it was all night, our class couldn't complete one lap without a caution, causing several restarts.  It's too bad because on the first start, I climbed all the way to 2nd by turn 3.  On the start that finally stuck, I was back in 4th place, but I could tell I was faster.  On the 3rd lap somebody decided that instead of passing me and the #11 of Richie Jones cleanly, they would just push us out of the groove.  In the drivers meeting we were told that if you push somebody out of the way and make them spin, you would go to the back and the person that got spun would get their spot back.  Well, despite spinning out me and Richie, that person was allowed to keep his spot and they put Richie and I back to 9th and 10th place--not a good place to be on a dusty, one groove track.

So instead of trying to go for back-to-back wins, my goal changed to wanting to salvage a top 5 finish.  The next 16 laps were kind of a blur as I focused on the kart in front of me trying to find a way to gain another spot.  I passed a few karts pretty easily, but the rest of them took a lot of time and patience.  Just before the half-way point, I had made it up to 5th, chasing a fun battle between Dennis Smith and our teammate Mark Gorton.  Dennis got a good run on Mark and made the move and I was closing in on Mark when something happened and his chain fell off, bringing out a caution.   I then worked on running down Dennis who was clearly better than me coming off the corners.  He'd get a 4-5 kart lenght lead down the straights, but I'd close to his bumper in the middle of the corner.  Instead of passing Dennis, the next target became the #51 of Paul Walshaw.  Dennis passed him after a few attempts and I tried to follow him, but ran out of room and ended up across the discs in the infield.  It took me two laps to close back in on the 51, but I could tell he had a hard time coming off the corner, and I was able to pass him incident free coming off of turn 4.  I again tried to find Dennis and caught him within a few laps.  This time with my full momentum I was able to pass him coming off of turn 4 to move into 2nd.  With only 2 laps to go, cathcing the pole sitter Michael Ramirez would be impossible and I foucsed on not making a mistake.

While I do enjoy winning, I'd have to say these types of races where I get stuck in the back and have 20 laps to catch people are actually more fun than running by yourself for 20 laps.  This division is so competitive and track position is the key to winning.   I think every race this year the winner has come from the front row.  Getting stuck in traffic makes it nearly impossible to win.  Michael was the 4th different winner in 5 races this year.  Our division has 6 people that have won races at TKC in the past, so it's something to be proud of when you run as good as we have the last 3 races.

Cody on the other hand, continues to fight his 12 year old hormones.  If his kart isn't perfect his feedback on what it needs has been close to useless--terrible, slow, I don't know, bad, are all terms he used again to describe it after the heat races.  In actuallity, his division is just as tough as the adult division.  He was at times faster than the other two karts, but he made several mistakes that cost him a lot of track position.  We'll keep working with him to improve his feedback and his consistency in his driving.  He wants to win so badly but needs to realize that winning can't happen every week and he needs to concentrate on what HIS kart needs, not what position he is running in.

We are off to Phoenix for the first round of the Arizona State Series.  It will be a short, busy week, but hopefully a lot of fun to race at Speedworld's high banked track.

April 5, 2008 by Jeff:

Racing takes you on such a roller coaster ride.  Last season was mostly highs, but this season has been mostly lows.  Just when you're ready to quit, something good happens and it sucks you back in again.  After not racing in Tucson last year, Cody and I had decided to start messing with our Tucson set-up.  He decided to make 4 pretty big changes to the kart.  Without my bonehead move in the first heat, I probably would have won the last race.

Last night, the goal was to drive smarter in the heat races to start closer to the front.  This class is so competitive that if you get shuffled to the back, it is tough to get back to the front.  I started third in the first heat and had the lead by the end of the 1st lap.  I cruised to victory in that race.  In the second heat, I got shuffled back to 7th, but was able to navigate a very dusty track and patiently worked my way up to second where I finished.  That was good enough for the pole.

On the start, the favors that I had paid to Richie Jones came back to me.  I had pushed him to the lead the last two races on the first lap.  He ended up winning both of those races.  This time he started third right behind me and gave me a huge push.   It sure did make the favors I gave him worthwhile.  The kart was so hooked up.   I can't get over what a good crew chief Cody has turned into.  He made big changes on the kart before the main and it made everything perfect.  If we had gone with my ideas there is no way I'd have held off Richie.

We continue to struggle with his Jr 2 set-up though.  It doesn't help that he has been the first group out every week and the track has been muddy, dusty, and everything in between.  We'll get it figured out though.  That's half the fun of racing.   The other half is when you do get it figured out and can win a race or two.

Next week I'm going to try going back to my animal motor and see how it compares.

April 5, 2008 by Cody:

My first heat I started on the pole.  My main goal was to finish this first heat, since I haven't finished a first heat since the first race of the season.  Carlos Martinez got ahead of me on the start but I got by him on lap two and got the win in heat one.  My second heat I started last and got to fourth by the end of lap one.  I was stuck behind Tommy Wonderlich.  I got by him and chased down Carlos to finish second.  In the main I started on the pole and got beat into turn one.  I held with him but Nick Parker got by both of us.  I held onto third.

March 30, 2008 by Cody:

The first heat was not my best race.  On lap two I blew a head gasket, forcing me to a last place finish and me to change my engine. My second heat I got pushed out of the groove on the start and fell to last.  I battled my way to a fourth place finish.   In the main I started fifth out of seven karts.  I was trying to push Nick Parker to the lead and was in a huge wreck on the first lap.  Luckily not much damage was done to any karts and they did a restart.  I got to third and was battling Nick for second.  I got by him but didn't have enough time to catch the leader.   Carlos Martinez won.  He was the fastest kart all day long.

March 29, 2008 by Jeff:

We were back in action on Friday for the first night race of the season.  After finally running all the laps last race, Cody took my feedback and made some set-up changes.  We were still running my 2006 set-up since I only ran a few races in Tucson last year.  I drew the worst pill and had to start in the back of a 10 kart field.   I hung back on the start, knowing how most people in the class think you have to win the race on the 1st lap--that was a good decision as there were 4 pile ups in turn 1, all of which I was able to drive around.  The next restart was a single file one, leaving me dead last, with a long way to go.  I was able to patiently pick my was through traffic and was up to 5th, battling the #92 Icon of Dennis Smith.  Dennis builds some sweet motors that have a lot of pull off the corner and I prefer to carry my momentum all throughout the corner.  Each lap I would close to Dennis' bumper in the middle of the corner only to have him pull 5-6 kart lengths away from me on the straights.   For at least 5 laps I tried to get a run on him off the corner, but couldn't.   As the laps wound down I tried to run even deeper into the corner, but almost hit Dennis' bumper and hit the brakes, causing me to spin out.  I don't remember the last time I spun out in a race by myself--it's been at least 2 years.  I was embarrassed and mad at myself for not just settling for 5th place in the heat--instead I finished last.  The attempts of trying to get around Dennis did pay off in the main event though.

The best part of starting the first heat race last is you get to start 1st for the next yeat race.  Cody had only wanted to make a minor adjustment to my kart, but I told him it was too loose, so we tightened it even more with air pressures.  That ended up being a mistake.  I took off from the pole and was cruising along for the first 8 laps, with a 6 kart length lead over the #66 of Michael Ramirez and was pulling away when the caution came out.  With the field bunched back up it was a two lap shootout.   For some reason under the caution my kart got really tight and I could barely turn.   I turned the wheel too much on the white flag lap and Ramirez got underneath me as I skidded off the corner.  I had to settle for 2nd, which actually got me a 4th place qualifying position for the main.

Starting on the outside in Tucson is never the best place to be.  The multi-race winner from last year, Ramirez, was on the pole, followed by another multi-race winner of Paul Walshaw inside of me.  Richie Jones, last year's champion was on the outside pole right in front of me.  On the start I pushed Richie as hard as I could to try to get him to the lead, with me hopefully being able to follow.  It worked out great for Richie, but not so much for me.  Richie got to the bottom in turn 1 with the lead while I was left hung on the outside.  I came out of turn 1 in 6th.  By the middle of lap 2 I was in 5th, with a very tough lead pack of Jones, Walshaw, Ramirez, and Smith.  I reeled the pack in slowly and was once again battling Smith with the same results as the 1st heat race.  I just couldn't get enough of a run on him.  I was trying all sorts of different lines each lap to try and get by him.  The lead pack was starting to get away, but I knew that you can only race the person in front of you.  Finally on lap 12 I was able to get a run off the corner and cut my kart under neath him for the pass.  I looked up and Ramirez was half a straight away ahead of me, but I closed on him within 2 laps.  He got a little loose off of turn 4 and I made the pass and then set my sites on 3rd place Walshaw.  Two laps later I had closed to his bumper and he also got loose and Ramirez gave me a huge push to get past him.  Richie had about a half a straight away lead on us, but I was clearly faster, within two laps I was within one kart length of him, but unfortunately, that was the checkered flag lap.

It still felt like a win to me.  I haven't had that much fun racing in a long time and it felt good to make every single pass without touching anybody.  I'm not sure if Cody will make any set-up changes for that race.   The kart was a little too tight to make some of the passes, but it was the fastest on the track for the main event.  We'll be making big changes to Cody's kart.   We're still learning how different Jr 1 & Jr 2 set-ups are with the heavier weight and more horsepower.  The competition in his class is great--3 races, 3 different winners.  I've been really proud of him so far this year as he makes the transition to the tougher class.

It's a short week for us as we are back in action again next Friday.  We normally take a few days off before working on the karts, but we had to get the trailer unloaded and the karts torn down, tires, washed, etc today.  What a fun time we had.  The twins were in the garage with us the whole time, wanting to use every tool we were using and work on the exact same thing we were.  Being able to spend so much time with my boys sure makes this a worthwhile hobby.  They had such a good time out there--it took 30 minutes after we were all done before Toby would put down his wrench.  I think he wanted to take it to bed.

March 15, 2008 by Jeff:

After the last race, where I only got to race about 12 of the 40 laps, the goal today was to run all 40 of them.  It was another hot, windy day so the track was constantly changing all day.  We went into it with the attitude of we'd take risks to try and get faster, so we changed tires and gears a lot throughout the day.  The best the kart was all day was in the first heat race.  I started on the outside pole and had the lead by the end of lap one.  I didn't see what all was going on behind me, so it made for a pretty easy race for me as I led every lap.

With feedback from Cody, we tried quite a few new things for the second heat race and it made things worse, as I finished 3rd.  For the main event, we took an even bigger risk, trying different tires and gearing.  That was one of the longest races I've ever run as I had no traction and the kart was a handful.  I started 3rd and ran there about 3-4 kart lenghts behind the leaders as they swapped positions several times the first 15 laps.  I wanted to be up in the mix to try to take advantage of any opportunities that might open up, but I was having a hard time hanging on to my kart.   Finally I got bad loose coming off of turn 2 and I lost the position.  I tried to take it back on the next lap by passing him on the outside, but he clipped my left front tire and nearly sent me spinning.  After that, my kart was even worse and I was happy to hang on to a 4th place finish.

It was an even tougher day for Cody.  His clutch guard came off his motor in the first heat race and the rest of the day we just couldn't get a handle on what his kart needed.  He drove hard and made some great moves, but sometimes you just miss the set-up and today was one of those days.  He still finished 3rd, but you could see how disappointed he was.  This was his first loss in 5 races, so it was tough for him to handle.

We're both looking forward to starting the night racing schedule, where the temps are cooler and most of the time the wind stays away.  This allows for a strong rubber build up and faster motors.  Until next time.......

March 2, 2008 by Cody:

My first Jr. 2-4 race went better than I thought.  On my first heat race I won from the pole.  My kart couldn't stay on the bottom and we made dramatic changes.   On my second heat I started last, but was up to second by the end of the first lap.   I was catching Nick Parker, the leader until I overdid it and slid.  Nick was gone after I slid.  On the main I started on the pole with Nick outside of me.   He jumped ahead of me on the start.  I stayed right on his bumper looking for a way to get by.  Around halfway I completed the pass and took it home for my sixteenth career victory.

March 2, 2008 by Jeff:

Opening day never tends to be very good to me and yesterday was no exception.   We're trying a new division this year, restricting the animal motors to run in the ultra-competitive flathead class in Tucson.  In hot laps, the kart was strong until the motor started shutting off.  We discovered it was the RPM sensor that was shorting out.  A quick change seemed to fix that.  In the 2nd heat, I had to start 6th and was quickly back to 8th.  As I worked through traffic I was trying different lines around the track.  I made it as high as 2nd and was reeling in the leader, when i bottomed out.  This caused the chain guard to bend badly and within a lap, I had lost the chain.  In heat 2, I started on the outside pole and ended up finishing in 2nd, but battled a horribly loose condition. 

We made pretty big changes for the main and they appeared to be working as I climbed to 3rd in the 1st lap.  On lap 2, the motor seemed to lose power and by the start of lap 3, it was making a horrible sound.  I quickly pulled off the track hopefully not doing any severe damage.  Either way it was an expense that we really didn't need right now, but that's a part of racing.

I've started the season before in last place and climbing from there was not an easy task.  It was a fun challenge, but very draining.  We'll just have to focus and just start bringing home some top 3 finishes if we want a good spot in the championship standings at the end of the year.  At least our teammate Mark Gorton will be able to climb with us as he lost a chain in the main, finishing 2nd to last.

Cody salvaged our day.  In his Jr 2-4 debut he took to the extra speed and tougher competition very quickly.  He finally got to race his good friend Nick Parker, one of the top drivers in the country.  The two put on an exciting race from start to finish.  Watching those two along with Carlos Martinez who was just a few feet behind Cody and Nick will be exciting all year long.

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Last modified: August 19, 2008