First WKA Race

Blue skies, Audi towing an RV and a happy dog

After a late start to the season, I finally took Ralphie out for a spin this weekend. It's been a sedate year in karting for me this year, indoors and out. So on Saturday I competed in my first WKA (World Karting Association) sanctioned race, my second competitive race ever. The race was also the second of the five-race New Jersey Sprint Series, a series of races that take place in Millville, NJ, Englishtown, NJ and Cuddebackville, NY.

I ran in the TAG class again, against 4 other races, all considerably more experienced, better equipped and just plain better than me and Ralphie. One guy has a motor that cost more than my daily driver! I should note that I did install a shiny new gear and chain all by myself. It really didn't matter that much though, because I knew Ralphie and I would be disqualified before we even got to the track. See, Ralphie is equipped with a pretty powerful (but old) Comer engine that requires a total driver-kart weight of 380 lbs. Ralphie and I only weigh 294 lbs.

The practice sessions were shorter than my first race last year, and I turned a few surprisingly slooow lap times. The qualifier went a little better, as I was able to follow someone. I think I eked out a 44.15 for my qualifier. (The qualifiers are time-based. The pre-final and final are position-based.) 44.15 is still faster than my fastest time last season, so I was decently happy with my time. Even so, with a 44.15, I was still nearly 2 seconds slower than the next fastest driver. For the pre-final, I tried to stay a bit closer to the pack out of the gate, and did a decent job keeping up. However, by my 5th lap, I was quite aware of how tired I was.   Turns out that my fastest lap was either my 3rd or 4th lap... and I managed a 43.22! PR!  The final... The final did not go as planned. While I was physically exhausted, the fatigue mostly dissipated once the green flag dropped. Unfortunately, so did the integrity of the weld on my muffler. About 9 laps in, I had to pull in without finishing the race. :( All in all, it was a beautiful weekend.

Weekend loss tally: one karting glove and one race.  Oh and Singer lost her cookies on Sunday afternoon.  And she pooped at my parents' house.  Oops.