Old habits die hard. And going fast in anything shows no signs of mortality in my book. Not for now anyways.
After a ten year stint in the SCCA racing Formula Fords, I put down the driving gloves and hung up the helmet for what I thought would be for good. That was almost nineteen years ago and today I find myself just as fast, just as talented, and just as good looking as I...
Alright already! Deflate that fat head of yours and come back down to earth. I can almost hear each and every one of you saying it.
But when you have a drive like I had this past weekend you are almost certain of those things, even though they are a bit far fetched. When half the field has half the horsepower than you, and the only real competition that you have out weighs you by about a hundred pounds it's easy to lose touch with reality and fantasize about being the next FIA Formula One World Champion.
All silliness aside and before I go any further, I want to say that I have all the respect in the world for today's karters. Boy, girl, young and old alike. Anyone who can make it out to the track a dozen and a half times a year and consistently drive one of these things quickly has my attention. These are not toys. And with some classes having the ability to hit triple digits it can be a handful to just keep yourself on course much less maneuver through traffic and squeak out a win.
I learned this firsthand when my son graciously allowed me to drive his Merlin LM30 in the annual Mechanic's Race at Dousman this past Sunday. With no practice, I jumped into the kart and pulled out a win. Made it look simple right? If only it could have been that easy.
With a traditional Le Mans start, yours truly was the second slowest guy to take to the track. And after two back to back spins (in the same corner) I finally found a rhythm and reeled in the leader.
This leader I speak of is the "heavy" guy I mentioned earlier. Dave Elliott, A large man with an equally large heart. He's the guy who loaned us an entire kart last year so my son and his co-driver could compete in an annual endurance race. A man who will always find time to help you with a problem and give you the shirt off of his back if you needed it. And now I have to pass him.
How does the old saying go? All is fair in love and war? This is kind of like war... aww hell just pass him!
So around him I went, but not without a fight. He left me plenty of room but didn't just hand the lead over. After a couple of turns I emerged in front and was bound and determined to stay there this time. I made certain that every lap was conducted in a smooth and precise manner, making not one single mistake. I thought it was an eternity but it turned out it was only three laps before I finally took the checkered flag and found the chance to nurse my numb limbs back to life. Ten laps, and you would have thought I raced for 24 hours by my weak handshake up and down pit lane.
These things pound the daylights out of you! I say to anyone who has access to someone who owns one of these little darlings (and I'm not talking about the karts at the Dells) get in it and see just what I'm talking about. I guarantee you'll come away from the experience understanding why the best professional drivers in the world have come out of karting. With things coming at you as fast as they do, and just the plain strength needed to control one (they have no suspensions) you'll quickly have an idea of how the transition to cars comes so much easier to those who began their careers in karts than to those who have not.
I digress, since joining the ranks of the professionals is clearly not in my future. Sure I'd love to get back in it and see what I've got, but even if I had the time and money it just wouldn't be as gratifying as that one time each year when you treat yourself to something like this. No expectations, no disappointment, just one day to have a blast, come what may. We'll see you next year Dave. And to any other worthy opponents I say bring your A-game because it ain't gonna be easy...
I really have to stop that.
