~ by Chris #16 Demaras ~
Five days after Nationals, and we’re already back at the track. Got to say that the 2021 calendar has been tough on the family. We’ve been at the track now 11 weekends in a row. From 12 June 2021 (new kart shakedown) up to this weekend’s race on 21 August 2021 (TRAK Race 10) including two travel races to Leamington and Shannonville.
New Speed Motorsport got split in two this weekend. Daniel Demaras and Cayden Goodridge are in the hunt for TRAK Championships, so upon return from Shannonville, they prepared to race at Goodwood. Rocco Simone decided to race at Mosport instead, with Anthony, Glenn and Leonard supporting him.
But before racing, we needed to undo all the changes (and damage) from Shannonville.
Trevor Reeve is normally wrenching on his nephew Chad’s kart under the Reeve Webster Racing tent, but with Chad doing play-by-play announcing instead, Trevor had a free weekend. No stranger to NSM, Trevor stepped-up to help Daniel get back on track, just like last year when he wrenched the No. 412 to a win at the “2020 Night Race“. He really is part of the team, and a valued member of the karting club.
We found more damage on the No. 412 than we expected. Twisted spindle, bent kingpins, and of course the alignment was completely out of ‘spec’. I guess we should have expected to discover these issues, since a certain National Champ did push Daniel off track during the KartStars Senior race last weekend.
When people mention me at the track, I hope they say “good in the clutch” so I focused my efforts on the Hilliard ‘Extreme Duty” centrifugal clutch. By servicing the drum, shoes and replacing springs, I try to give Daniel a competitive edge. Big thanks to Dale Bonham who jumped in to help with technical issues on the No. 412 kart, even though he had his own drivers to take care of. Bonham has a real love for the sport of kart racing.
Our official team photographer this weekend was Michelle Demaras. I was impressed that she was able to withstand the +30°C heat and made sure to keep our team mascot “Flash” fully hydrated as we suffered through the soaring temperatures.
Daniel took the No. 412 out on track for practice, and set some quick lap times. Adjustments that Bonham and Reeve implemented resulted in a half-second drop in lap times by the end of the session, and Daniel was looking good heading into Saturday’s race.
Now, I’d normally be writing about my Friday Night CRKC race at this point. But I finally realized that Friday’s have become tiring, and stopped being fun. We get to the track at 9:00 am, practice until 4:00 pm, then Daniel heads back to the campsite for a refreshing swim in Musselman’s Lake. I wait for 5:30 pm to arrive to start my CRKC practice sessions. By the time my Final race is run, it’s after 9:00 pm, and I’m thinking “What the hell am I still doing here?!”.
So this time, after practice, I returned to the air-conditioned comfort of our luxury RV to relax and be ready for Saturday’s TRAK Race 10. I’ll have to find a different day to race…and start enjoying it again..
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