News from Ryan Cross Racing, LLC... many know him as the premier Harley Davidson Factory Mechanic, providing his expertise in precision to the current champion , Kenny Coolbeth... but he has other passions... Karting... October 20,2007 update!

Another step forward.

We went into this weekend with a lot of data from our previous tests.  With some time to machine some parts for the chassis, we wanted to have the front end sit a little different.  My main concern was track temperature.  We were expecting a high of 60 degrees with very minimal sun.  With the cooler temps I knew that grip would not be ideal, but we would make the best of it.  Everyone would have to race on the same track. 

Coming out of the two rounds of practice things felt the best all year.  After reviewing our lap times, they were the best times that we have ever run in a Shifter Kart.  We were very please due to the fact that we were slipping and sliding around the entire track.  I did notice that we were not as bad off as others in our practice group.  With very little time to get ready for our qualifier, first group on the pole.  I wanted to continue to work on getting the chassis a little better, even though things were feeling so good.  I knew that I could get the tires to bite a little better and the times would follow.

After coming out of the pits with a few minor adjustments to the chassis and trying tire warmers for the first time on a Kart, we were ready to make a run from the pole to get a front row start for the main.  Our laps were very consistent, but at the same time they were creeping down.  On the seventh of eight laps I ran the best time of the year, but my goal is to set the track record before the end of the year.  With our times we were able to set fast time and became the pole sitter for the main. 

For the main I thought that the ideal starting position would be the outside.  We put our couple of warm-up laps in and everything was feeling good.  As we got ready for the standing start I got off the line neck and neck with the young lady that started in the spot.  After the first turn I started to pull her and out of the corner of my eye I seen her Kart shoot from one side of the track to my side.  Her front wheel hit me right in front of my rear wheel.  She took us both out and created a big pile up behind us, red flag.  Come to find out she fresh tires on for the main and one out of three hub nuts, and snapped the lone stud.  On the red we got back to pit lane and put the Kart on the stand and did some quick checking.  With everything ok, it was time to get to work and battle for the win.  In the back of my mind I was concerned that something might not be right so the plan was be aggressive the first half of the race then go into conservative mode.  Plan “A” worked, we led from pole for all ten laps.  Times were a little less that the qualifier.  We have one more race to go after the track record this year.

We have one more race this year.  As I said before we will be going for the track record and the win.  Thank you all for you help and support.  I apologize for the report running a little late, but we were hard at going through the entire chassis and Kart for this weekend.

Sincerely,

Ryan Cross