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WKA Grand Nationals - Shawano, WI - 6/15-6/17/07 Written By: Vogel Racing Saturday’s class structure found Grant pulling double duty running Yamaha Jr. Sportsman, and Cadet. Christian would run Yamaha Jr. Super-Can Lite (as opposed to “Heavy”). First up, rain… then we catch a break… the race director split the Yamaha Jr. Sportsman class into 2 groups, and Grant fell into the second group, on a drying track. Grant always drives well in the rain, but when it unfolded that Grant was in the second group we were excited because we knew a pole opportunity had presented itself. Booyah! Grant took the pole! Next Christian took to the track and on a completely different set up qualified 7th. Team Vogel definitely had momentum on our side as Grant took the track in Cadet as he netted a 5th place starting position. The heat races were exciting: Grant finished 5th in Yamaha, Christian netted 8th, and Grant again finished 5th in Cadet. Unfortunately, at this point, the wheels fall off the wagon: We made changes to Grant’s Kosmic for the feature race that we were sure would work, Grant was over anxious at the start, pulling out early, running up on a competitor (who fortunately continued on) and killing his engine. Hero to zero in 3 hours; ain’t racin fun! We felt pretty good about Christian’s kart from the heat race, so we left it alone… big mistake! The track was hooking up, and it sucked the horsepower right out of our Yamaha. Christian drove valiantly, but was only able to hold on for 13th place. Grant, Cadet, 5th (note: a theme). I should mention our buddy Tristan Degrand won the Feature in Cadet; actually made it look like a Sunday drive. Great Job! With the racing wrapped up we were beat, just did the minimum to the karts, and headed out. Back to Luigi’s for wound licking, and Sunday planning… Sunday, Sunday, SUNDAY! The morning started for us, just as it did for many a Yamaha Jr. Super-Can Heavy competitor. We dug weight out of the trailer, and bolted it onto our kart. Not only does the WKA have too many classes, they even run some of their numerous classes at different weights! Search me? At least I didn’t have to buy another kart for this one, and it already had a 40mm axle conversion in it from yesterday! Small Victory! Today Christian is the double duty man with JICA and YJSCH (I don’t know if it’s cool to abbreviate the American classes like the European’s do, but like changing weight, I am just tired of typing out the full name.) Grant’s sole mission: Cadet and vindication from Saturday’s action. Once the qualifications start, it seems we carried our lost momentum from Saturday into Sunday, with Christian qualifying 14th in YJSCH. I guess Grant felt sorry for Christian, and decided to put his Cadet in the exact same qualification position, 14th… then out of the blue Christian decides enough is enough, and BOOYAH! Pole position in the JICA, with two very strong laps, and this on our back up engine! Maybe this karting stuff is fun???? Hold on, back in YJSCH, we heat race ourselves into 14th. Grant had other ideas, however, and raced his Cadet from 14th place to 5th place, a great starting point for the feature! JICA heat? Solid 3rd… no wait… carb issue… too rich… 4th place. Bummer? No, we’ll take it. Just to be sure on the JICA, we decide to throw a carb kit at it (remember this, because it bites us later). We made a gearing change on the YJSCH (not a big enough change!), and found ourselves just holding on for 15th. Somehow, we managed to tune the pace right out of the kart! The cadet race looked to be a rain race, and Grant was excited! No wait, back to slicks and a dry start. Grant jumps out to a great start and into 3rd at the rear of the lead draft. B-E-A-utiful, until poor tire pressure and chassis geometry choices by Dad leave Grant with an ill-handling kart, and all he could do to hold onto 5 th place. Still not too bad. Now for the class we have been looking forward too. JICA. Enough horsepower to drive thru Pop’s chassis mistakes, and a great 4th place starting point, until… the kart will not start on the grid. Dad’s handy work again. (See a theme?) Fortunately, Christian had the presence of mind to push the kart back to the grid from the track (I didn’t get a chance to tell you, but once they got the kart started, he pulled onto the track and it died again). A second restart gets him running but better than ½ a lap down. On a positive note, he was able to run the 3rd fastest lap, and finish 10th. Actually, as aggravated as he was, he looked QUITE racy. Maybe a little aggression is not a bad thing from time to time. Up next? A mid summer break! Oh Yeah!
Weekend Standouts: Tristan Degrand: Victory is SWEEEEEET! Christopher Barngrover: In the hunt all weekend. Great to see him at the national level. Bummer about the bent up kart in the last race. Still, with the great weekend he had, I doubt that will be his only memory from this weekend! Dad’s wallet? Now that might be a different story! Marc Zartarian : “Mr. Horsepower” (Like Mr. Clean, Marc also shaves his head, except rather than cleaning counter tops, Marc’s specialty is cleaning up the competition!) Dan Bresler: Without Dan, this weekend DOES NOT HAPPEN! How can a guy work that hard, and be that cheery? Quote of the Weekend: NASCAR fan Uncle Joe asks Grant: “If you make it to Formula One, can I meet Jeff Gordon?” (Like a “location joke”, non-race fans won’t get this. 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. |
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