Monday August 12, 2002 at Willow Springs Raceway. Well, Ben and I finally went back to the Gokart track for Round 2. This time, Steve came out to show us amateurs how it's done. And I can honestly say that I got Spanked hard!
First of all, the track temperature was over 155 degress and the ambient air temp was over 113. One of those days where even racing doesn't sound that exciting. We head to the main karting track Willow Springs Raceway and start out running clockwise. Before we start, Steve walks the track reminding me of the days when he and I ran some autocross events. You can tell who the road racers are as we sit under the shade and figure that we'll learn the circuit once we get out... it's too damn hot man! Steve comes back after running a few laps complaining that the kart is way low on power and understeers really bad. Funny, seems fine to me....
Ben just bought this kart and hasn't had a chance to sort it out yet, mainly because he almost killed himself in his first kart race! After spending several months recuperating from his broken bones, his 6 month old kart is only on it's 2nd event. He sets the pace for the first session and returns with a grin as he knows I'm up next.

Since I have no karting suit yet, I put on my multi-layer Nomex driving suit. If you want to see what this feels like, turn up the thermostat in your house to 113 degrees, wear 2 layers of plastic garbage bags on your entire body, then stick your head in the oven while it's set at 300 degrees! So I make the same mistake as last time... clutching the brake pedal again... and finish about 2 seconds behind Steve, who's 1/10 of a second behind Ben. As soon as I'm done, I immediately go to the bathrooms to stick my head in the sink and let it soak in cold water before my brain pops like a microwaved egg.

When I return about 30 minutes later, the guys have each run another session without me and moved to a more shaded side of the track. They've also decided to run the course counter clockwise. I get there just as it's my turn so I put on my "bunny suit" and head back out. This configuration is much nicer as the esses are more rythmic and much more fun. During the session, I find that I'm clutching the brake less often and getting into it. I'm constantly amazed by the braking ability of the kart and how much you can trail brake. My lap time is now a second behind Ben, who's half a second behind Steve. But during Steve's session, he discovers a bad wheel bearing. We spend the next hour finding parts and replacing it and adjusting the kart's suspension. The guys each get another session and claim that the kart feels "100% better" but I decide to miss that session as it's 4pm and Steve still has to drive up to Northern California.

So this experience merely verified my prior suspicions. Karting is very much like car racing as the actions and reactions are the same. The adrenaline rush that you get from karting is very similar to car racing. But once again, in karting, the stakes aren't as high. When Ben tells me that I can brake through the corner, I simply do it. I know that the worse that can likely happen is that I'll spin or end up in some hay bales (Ben's crash was from somebody else rentering the track, I'm just running alone). In contrast, I've gotten driving advice from many experienced race car drivers who tell me things that my brain knows is possible, but the rest of my body refuses to do simply because of that fear factor!

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