For the 7th race of the season I was out of town.  Our good friends Robert and Jim (Sara’s dad) were the pit crew for Claire.  Martha made sure that Claire was at the track on time and the made sure that the kart was ready to race.  We owe Robert and Jim a great deal of thanks because Claire did not want to miss the race.  The track was setup as the short track and there were six kids competing.

 

During the first heat Claire had handling problems and she had a spin on the third turn of the first lap.  She fell to the back of the pack.  She wanted to make a pass so she could rejoin the leaders but the opportunity never presented itself.  On the 5th lap she was passed on the last turn entering the front straight and the passing driver did not clear Claire’s kart before retaking the good line.  He hit Claire’s kart sending her sideways over the curb and her kart got airborne.  She landed on two wheels and the slid into the tire wall in front of the race directors tower.  The race director called a red flag and the race was stopped.  The EMT, Martha, Jim and Robert all rushed to see if Claire was OK.  The EMT checked her out and cleared her to return to the race.  When Martha and Jim asked her if she wanted to continue the race she said “Yes, put my helmet back on”.  They restarted the race single file with Claire in 5th the place she had been in just before the red flag incident.  Claire drove well, made 2 nice passes and finished the race in third.

 

For the second heat there were only five kids competing.  Claire started near the front of the pack but she was fighting handling problems.  She had multiple spins and kept loosing positions.  By the end of the race she had fallen to last place.

 

I was waiting for a flight in Rochester, NY and I called to find out how the race had been.  I spoke to Claire and she was upset about the karts handling and her driving.  I also spoke to Jim and he and I discussed the problems that Claire was having.   We decided to lower her tire pressure, this would slow the kart down some on the straightaway but it would increase the grip in the corners.  I also asked Jim to remind Claire that she does not need to use the brakes on the Kid Kart.

 

For the ten lap Main Claire started fourth.  At the start she got caught up in traffic and was not able to make up any positions.  On the second lap she made a pass when one of the other drivers spun.  In the ninth lap Claire made a nice pass on the back straight to move up to second.  Sara drove smooth and fast and by the time Claire was in second there was no way to catch her.  I got off my flight in Chicago and I called Martha to see how the race had gone.  Claire answered the phone and she was very happy to come in second after having such a difficult day.  She was also very happy that her good friend Sara had won.