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| October 19, 2006 |
| Team News: Conlin SpeedSports: RoboPong.com 200 |
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 | Conlin SpeedSport team for the RoboPong.com 200
(Photo courtesy of Conlin SpeedSport) |
The female driving team of Lynsey Tilton, Dana Conlin and Tracy Conlin overcame two major set-backs at New Castle Motorsports Park on their way to finishing 16th in the historic Robo-Pong.com 200 TaG endurance race on October 15. To do so the ladies made full use of the torque available from their Biland Kart-Power 4-stroke engine to climb up through the field twice in the 200 mile race.
After posting an unofficial fastest time of 1:07.4 in Friday afternoon’s practice, a mechanical problem Saturday prevented the team from posting an official time Saturday afternoon, which also determined the qualifying grouping. Forced to qualify in the second qualifying session Tilton, 19, had her hands full going for a fast lap on the cold track. By the time the 11 qualifying sessions were complete, the Conlin SpeedSports entry had fallen to a disappointing 38th starting spot.
But when the green flag dropped Tilton was determined to redeem the team and used her karting, Midget and Sprint car experience to storm towards the front. In 21 laps Tilton moved the Bad Goat Racing Biesse Viper from 38th position to 10th, using the draft on NCMP’s backstraight to pass one or two karts each lap. By the end of her stint Tilton had put the kart into 7th place – a gain of 31 positions in 51 laps.
With 37 karts starting in front of her Tilton was understandably cautious at the start: “I knew once we got through the first corner I could start to move up. I started picking one kart off at a time, and before I knew it we were in the top ten.” Tilton shared the credit with the Stoney Creek Motorsports prepped motor, adding, “the Biland engine pulled off the corners real well and enabled me to pass a lot of karts.”
Taking over the #32 kart, Dana Conlin, 23, rejoined the race as the team’s second session driver in 15th place and was running as high as 12th before a chain broke on leader lap 97. “I had just gotten the ‘L5’ pit board and thought I’d click off some super-fast laps before I came in and the engine just spiked,” Dana Conlin related once the kart was back out. “I jumped out to make sure it was the chain and I couldn’t just limp it back in but the chain was gone”. The team lost 19 positions and 10 laps while a new chain was installed.
Tilton and the team’s third driver, Tracy Conlin, 20, then went out for the final two sessions and pulled the Conlin SpeedSports kart up from 31st to 15th before late-race handling problems slowed their progress. Of the handling woes Tracy said, “the thing was just understeering so bad… I’d turn the wheel and just have to sit there and wait for it to change directions. I was really happy to see the checkered.”
The RoboPong.com 200 was the second endurance race that Tilton and the Conlin sisters have teamed up for. The trio dropped out of the 2005 New Castle Motorsports Park 200 miler with just 25 laps to go.
“I am really proud of all these ladies, and Lynsey was just magical in that first stint,” commented team owner Jim Conlin, “and I’m proud of the entire team. Kart prep was perfect, pit stops were smooth – when the chain broke we had a new one on, had four new tires and the kart refueled in no time. If it wasn’t for that damn chain, we would have had a top ten finish. No doubt.”
Conlin SpeedSports acknowledges the valuable support of INFONETICS, Inc., Stoney Creek Motorsports, Biland importer Jack Hooker, Bad Goat Racing, BGR Graphics and POWERsports for this year’s entry in the Robo-Pong.com 200.
Conlin SpeedSports is based in Hilliard, Ohio and more information can be found on their web site, http://www.ConlinSS.com Lynsey Tilton is originally from El Cajon, California but now resides in Martinsville, Indiana. She can be found on-line at http://www.LynseyTilton.com |
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