Race Report: STARS RACE OF AMERICAS

Written By: Vogel Racing

(April 21st, 2007 - St. Louis, MO) -- This weekend was a break thru weekend for our entire team. Christian found pace, and with a little help from his tuner Dr. Brian Schafer and Marc Zartarian from HRE, we located the root of his carburetor tuning issues in JICA. Grant on the other hand pulled everything together, holding onto the pace he always brings, but translating it into consistency, confidence and stashing some valuable lessons in race craft away for later use.

Now we have been told by Mr. Rodney Barryhill from Champion racing, that the weather in Norman, OK is typically very nice this time of the year… I guess we will have to wait for next year on that one, cause buddy, it was COLD and WET! Thursday for check-in and scrutineering was not too bad, but by Friday morning, we were huddled up in the trailer just trying to stay warm. Fortunately, the weather cooperated a little, but by day’s end a torrential downpour flooded many of our neighbor’s pits, including the PCH pits. Still, they did have 50” plasma TV’s to watch whatever it is they watch in there!

Grant practices started inauspiciously, not much different than last years STAR’s races. Regularly top ten in lap times, but something was different this year… It was him. He has been tested, and has figured out that he does belong up front at this level in racing. If you’ve ever met Grant, you know he is a joker and a talker, but get him on the race track, and he has one thing in mind… winning, no matter the competition. He finished second in the first feature race, and we had to console him. We don’t even want to talk about his 5 th place finish in the second feature! He has gone from being in awe of the competition, to expecting to win; a key ingredient in any champion. Net results on the weekend; 3 rd and 1 st in his heat races, 2 nd and 5 th in the feature races. Should be sitting in 3 rd place in national points, once they are posted.

On the outside, Christian’s weekend doesn’t look much different than his STAR’s experience from last year, but dig a little deeper, and it’s just not the case. A 15 th and a 19 th in his heat races, at up front race pace, translated to a 23 rd starting position for the features. The problem now is experience and confidence, two things we were not able to work on at this level, because of equipment issues last year. We expect, and will be very surprised if Christian is not a consistent upper half finisher by years end. Next season, we expect big things!

We would also like to mention some other stand out’s from this weekend:

Tuners: Dr. Brian Shafer did a great job with Christian’s kart over the weekend, with he and Christian making most of the tuning decisions on their own, almost always headed in the right direction. Great job for a first time national event tuner. Mr. Dan Bresler tuned for Grant this weekend, and not a bolt was left out of place! As much as anything, that and Grants good luck a couple of times sealed the deal on a great weekend. Mrs. Lisa Vogel (mom), kept everyone warm, dry, fed and in good spirits, as well as putting up with the race track madness when everyone is under the gun and not so polite. Thanks Mom.

Engine Builders: Doug Fleming (Fleming Racing Engines). His stuff is just fast with no non-sense, and he lets Grant do the talking! (Like he has a choice!) Marc Zartarian, (HRE). Our power woes of last year in JICA are gone. Not just because Marc puts together a great engine, but because he takes the time to ask what you need, to watch the kids on track, to offer advice, and to swing a wrench when you have an issue. A very welcome addition to our JICA program.

Chassis: Intrepid. We met some of “the Italians” this weekend, and they filled in some of the blanks for us. Any way you slice it, we could never complain about our Intrepid Chassis. They are amazingly tunable, with the smallest (correct) adjustment yielding the effect you need to lead! What’s left is just the driving and racing.

Fellow racers: Tristan Degrand struggled with power and set up this weekend, but rebounded to a respectable on pace 10 th place in the second feature. While we were performing well, it was hard to watch our friend Tristan struggle. We know he will be on pace in Newcastle, so watch out! Tyler Thomas, what can we say… this kid is just fast. It was great racing against him this weekend. Sage Karam… the bar setter! We will keep pushing.

Next up: A couple of tune up races in Newcastle, then STAR’s 3&4. See you all there.

Vogel Racing would like to thank all of their associates supporting them through the 2007 race season. Those include; Walters Web Design, Vogel Heating and Cooling, Fleming Motorsports, and Champion Racing.