Putnum Park and the 150 mile race!

Patricia Hechler

Greg:

I'll say this out in plain sight. If no one from Dart Kart realizes that you represent the magazine The Inside Track and covers your pass, then I will, and I will pay out of my own pocket your pit pass. (I say this while waiting on reimbursement of my past month's business invoices, having a mere $40 in the checking account!) I would love to have some help at this event, as I will also be covering the saturday and sunday racing action.

If you don't know who I am, ask around, as I am sure that someone can point me out! I really hope to see you there, as something like this friday event hasn't been run for what I believe is almost three decades.

Patricia Hechler

Greg:

Sorry! Forgot to tell you that this 150 mile event will run at two times, for two different classes, on Friday. One goes off during the late morning, the other, during the early afternoon.

Still hope to see you there!

Charlie Tackett

If that is all it will take to get some PR for this event, I'm with PAtty....I'll chip in too for your pass! But since you can be in two places at once, Greg, do you need two passes?

Oh, and Greg,since your from The Inside Track, you might want to ask for Leslie, not Patty.

[ August 23, 2001: Message edited by: Charlie Tackett ]

Tim Blaney · Joined: 18 Jul 2001 Posts: 1127

quote:
Originally posted by Charlie Tackett:
Oh, and Greg,since your from The Inside Track, you might want to ask for Leslie, not Patty.

[ August 23, 2001: Message edited by: Charlie Tackett ]

Now Charlie, you know what happens to people who stir the pot!

Greg Walters

Thanks Patty! You to Charlie!

Go ahead and stir away. Doesn't really bother me. I've been in politics already once in my life.
I just want to see Karting grow and grow and grow and grow!!!
If I (The Inside Track) could help to bring everyone together I'd go at it 150 percent. I just want to see kart racing with alot of competitors out there.
I tend to want to take a nap these days during those long enduro races with only twenty or thirty karts out there. Getting OLD maybe!
Charlie...should I show up "Big Blue"? The old GEM Racing truck.
Patty...I will certainly hunt you down. I know the name well but have never seen the face.

All it really takes to get coverage is to ask. Guaranteed if you send airplane tickets! There are so many events and races that I'd like to cover, but for obvious reasons cannot. One of the things I learned when I took over production of The Inside Track was Dentistry. Trying to get articles and results is similar to pulling teeth I imagine and few know what the actual definition of "Deadline" is. Nice job this time Scott! Thanks!

Well, I walked in the door back from Chicago and sat down behind this computer right away so I guess now I have to come to Putnam. Who hasn't met the cats? Maybe I'll bring them with me.

Greg Walters
The Inside Track http://www.theinsidetrack.com

Charlie Tackett

Well, ran the 150mi/2 hr race at Putnam, well, at least most of it. It actually went pretty smooth. Had one red flag in our race...for some absolute idiot that was oen of the practice karts that broke down and left his kart on the track and would not move it! They gave the ones racing a 10 min start to get going and get spread out some before they opened it for practice.

Those not racing got 1 hr 50 min of open practice. One good thing they did was kind of regulate the practice karts going out....spacing them out some so you didn't have 10 of them hitting the track in one big group. Only a few minor problems with the practice drivers. I think one thing that would help in the future is some kind of identification on the karts that are racing. Maybe something like a red rear number panel or something very noticable that would readily identify who was racing and who wasn't. Once the practice group started going out it was hard to figure out just who was were, what the gap was between positions, etc.

ANnother thing, htey need to make sure it is a track that has the scoring system pick up running thru the pits and that that is operational. When we stopped, I had 71laps on the clock, we then went out twice more trying to fix the problem, each time coming into and leaving the pits for a total of 73 laps, not the 68 we were scored for. The difference from 71 to 68 would be the three scheduled pit stops we had made. Probably wouldn't affect the outcome, as everybody made pitstops. However some made more than other....I'm sure we would have had to make more than say a b-limited that had sufficient fuel supply to run 1 hr and could run the two hours with one stop vrs our three stops. That case the additional two lost laps thru the pits could possibly make a difference in a closer race.

The other thing that would certainly come in handy during a lengthy event such as this would be having radio communications! Pit board worked fine for routine stops, but when trouble occurred, would have been real helpful to have known what was going on before the driver pulled into the pits!

I hope Dart or some other organization considers running such an event in the future and that they promote it much more widely.

Don Jones · Joined: 16 Aug 2001 Posts: 75

What if an entire race weekend was devoted to endurance racing. What would the classes look like and how long would they run. I say a 3 hr for Rotax max. We could have regular open practice on friday for drivers wanting to get seat time.
How long did it take to run the 150 miles?

Patricia Hechler

Don:

Neither class ran a true 150 mile. One class ran for 137.28 miles, and the other for 126.72 miles (of course, there was that dreaded "no amb loop in the pits" fiasco. At any rate, I said the same thing while witnessing that "150" mile event.

I have to think that maybe the best way to do something like this is to make it a two day event, with each class having it's own day, running 3 hours maximum, scaling the kart dry of fuel to get a somewhat balanced weight, and providing the morning to the practice session. Of course, providing practice on Friday would cost alot more, and there'd need to be enough entrants to not take a bath. But, for those who ran, it seemed that they'd love to have another chance at it.

And, I remember my Father's trophies from such an event long ago. One class means much more money for the trophies. Why not jackets and table lamps... or something!

Charlie Tackett

quote:
Originally posted by Patricia Heinrich:
Don:

Neither class ran a true 150 mile. One class ran for 137.28 miles, and the other for 126.72 miles (of course, there was that dreaded "no amb loop in the pits" fiasco. At any rate, I said the same thing while witnessing that "150" mile event.

!

Ok, is this indeed true that there was no active AMB loop running thru the pits?? If so that truly and indeed ....well..stinks, to put it politely. That means we got screwed out of 6laps....our three pitstops, the lap he first came into the pits when the H2O temp shot up, and then the two laps after that when we were working on it and he came into and left from the pits.

Yeah, I know this was a"fun" race, but when you put the $$s into the...tires, topend rebuild, $50 of gas/oil...etc, etc. Plus the physical effort of the driver doing nearly two hours solo in a sprint shifter, you ought to at least get credited for *all* the laps you run! Depening on the # of pit stops of the kart finishing right ahead of us, who knows who really won for sure.