Written By: Vogel Racing

St. Louis , MO (May 31st , 2007) Vogel Racing was again back at it racing Yamaha’s the week before the Stars event in Newcastle at the KRA club events. No story there, except that we found more pace, and got some great helmet camera coverage (including Grant’s involvement in a pretty heavy hay bail slamming shunt. We will put together a video for the website later this month.) All told, however, the weekend was very constructive, and we figured to carry the momentum, and the things we found into the following Stars weekend.

Christian was able to get his JICA on track for testing, and we were able to try several different chassis setups. We also made time to finally install his modified Walbro carb on the JICA…. HELLO! Lap times dropped 5 tenths, and based on the watch we figured to fair pretty well at the STARs weekend. As it turns out, the watch was correct, and once we caught up with the chassis for the changed conditions on Fridays practice, Christian set the 4 th fastest time of 42 karts in the final Friday practice, and fifth in the Saturday morning practice. Unfortunately when it counted, traffic bit him in qualifying, and Christian’s polite “club racer” approach did not serve him well, as while the pace was still there through out the day, he just could not keep from getting run over during the races. Still I can unequivocally say that he did not take out a single competitor during the entire weekend. In fact he may be the only JICA competitor able to make that statement. What a mess this class is! Unfortunately, that and $5 will get you a cup of Starbucks coffee, but if we can hone it, his style and driving skill should serve him well if we can qualify out of the muck. Time will tell.

Grant’s weekend was a little different. It would not be out of line to say that Grant is not short in the “GO FOR IT” category. It’s the style he brings, and when it works, he is simply dazzling. When it doesn’t work…

On the positive side, Marc Zartarian with High Rev Engineering offered one of his Comer engines to test for this weekend. We were happy to give Marc a shot for a couple of reasons: 1) our Comer inventory includes only one “national level” engine we feel we can win a race on (if it would have an issue, we simply do not have an answer for it in the trailer); 2) to date, everything Marc Zartarian told us he can deliver, he has. As it turned out, the High Rev Comer would not be an exception to our experience with Marc, and the little furnace was FAST! Grant was regularly at the top of the practice times, and was able to slice thru traffic like a hot knife thru butter!

The racing however, was a different story… Grant’s relative inexperience at this level bit him, and we were unable to translate the speed into a finish matching our pace. After thinking about it, and talking thru the weekend with Grant, as much as anything, Grant did not let his pace speak for itself, and allow the race to come to him. He went for it at every opening, which was not necessary with the pace he had, and single handedly cost himself the top five finishes that were easily in the kart. In retrospect, had it been the first race of the year, we would have been doing back-flips over the 6 th place and 8 th place finishes he was able to muster. The hard part to accept is that given the equipment and Grant’s skill, he should have finished top 5 with ease in each race. His plan? Take this lesson to the next race!

Final thoughts on our Cadet weekend. It appears Grant may have caused the first corner melee in the Sunday feature. This was not Grant’s recollection, but alas, there is video evidence at www.wagnerraceproducts.com . His first corner move to the inside was not malicious, and the evidence is not conclusive in what appears to be a racing incident; but it is an incident he does not intend to repeat going forward!

Standouts from this weekend:

Marc Zartarian and High Rev Engineering: JUST FAST ENGINES! While I’m bragging about our Cadet power, I think comparatively our JICA was just as quick or quicker! There is nothing better than bringing a 50 cal. machine gun to a gun fight!

Tristan Degrand, fellow St. Louis native: Once saddled with some horsepower… viola, right back up front. The West drivers better look out in Utah!

Mason Chalootz, fellow Intrepid cadet pilot: Maybe the only kart with consistently quicker pace than Grant, except he translated his pace into two 2 nd place finishes in the finals! WOW!

Shane Walters, our web designer, and spec racer pilot: Saturday from 20 th in quali to 8 th in the final! What a drive, and what a blast to watch!

Quote of the weekend, (Kerry Johnson to Evan Walters): “So you let Grant know he was getting to you… Oh… You shouldn’t have done that!”

Information on the team or sponsorship opportunities can be researched at www.VogelRacing.com . Vogel Racing would like to thank their team & associates. Those include; Walters Web Design, Vogel Heating and Cooling, Fleming Motorsports, High Rev Engineering, Intrepid Karts and Champion Racing.

For more information on Vogel Racing please visit www.VogelRacing.com.