Russell Racing Championship Karting Series Race #6
TAG Amateur Class (24 kart field):
Qualified 5th, Finished 2th in the prefinal. Finished 2th in the main.

What a way to wrap up the series – battling the race leader all day! We knew the Rocket kart was hooking up really well based on Scotty’s covert clocking of the usually fast guys practice laps on Saturday. Sunday’s qualifying effort made our estimates a realization – an inside third-row spot for the pre-final by qualifying 5th fastest among the 24 kart field. In the start of the pre-final I got a great jump and launched passed the third place kart who seemed to have clutch problems and got a slow start off the line, holding up the row of karts behind him. I took the opportunity to shoot to the inside, half-way in the dirt, to squeeze by and not lose the momentum to stuff my kart into second place by turn 1. The kart in the lead usually puts in some very fast laps in the beginning of the race to establish large leads and then hold them. I was patient in concentrating on running consistent lap times and slowly started to see the gap coming down between the leader and my kart. I finally got a chance to start sizing him up in braking zones and noticed his kart was starting to get really loose on entry. I had a few opportunities to attempt a pass, but thought the better of it to make sure I had a front-row spot or the main event. I did make one more effort at the tight last hair-pin corner just before the checkered flag – and actually almost nipped him, finishing just .03 seconds (three-one-hundredths) behind.

In the main, the pole-position kart got a great jump and I fell in line behind him. He got a huge lead that seemed to grow and then start to stay constant. We both ran consistent, fast laps and had a gap on the entire field. This gap allowed us to drive offensively and not worry about defensive, slower driving to block potential passes. The leader’s kart had definitely been set up better since the pre-final – no signs of it going off and getting greasy, which meant I would have to try to beat him on blazing speed and lap times. Half-way through the race I seemed to be getting closer and closer. I finally pulled about a kart-length behind but the white flag came out to signal that I was running out of time to put a threat together – a few more laps would have made it interesting. At the checkered I was on his bumper but in no position to attempt a pass, so a second place would have to do. This is the best I’ve ever finished in a Russell Championship event. It was also good enough to boost me from 7th in points to 5th for the overall series championship. Thanks to Scotty and the crew for the excitement, enthusiasm and wrenching to put the Rocket on the podium once again.