Two Weekends of No Racing

Two weekends of no racing meant rest for Mom and Dad! Maybe. That didn't stop Tom from working on the go karts though and it just meant I had time to catch up on tasks that were put aside during the days spent at the race track.

June 9th, we were able to go visit our late Auntie Evie's grave with Grandma Dot and Grandpa. Then we had lunch at Balestreri's Pizza on 6th & Wells then had dessert at Gille's Frozen Custard on 76th & Bluemound, a treat for all of us!

June 15th, Connor and Colin did a fundraising at the Annual Filipino-American Association of Wisconsin (FAAWIS) Picnic. Their go karts were on display and they sold candy bars and gift cards. Daddy was there to anwer questions about go karting, Badger Kart Club and Briggs and Stratton Raceway while I handed out copies of the Briggs and Stratton Raceway Schedule for this season. The interest was great. People swarmed our tent at one point to look at the go karts and ask questions. The boys made enough to pay for one day of racing at Briggs and then some. Thank you to all who showed their support! (We are still looking for sponsors! ;>)

Connor and Colin fundraising at the Annual FAAWIS picnic.

On Father's Day, June 16th, Tom ran the Briggs and Stratton Raceway Park from open (10 a.m.) to close (6 p.m.). Connor and Colin went along with him and they were able to practice while they were there. This was Tom's second day of volunteering as per driver is required to have three volunteer work days. Having two drivers mean we have to work six volunteer days. Two down. Four more to go. State Fair is our next opportunity. Tom plans on knocking down two days at the Fair.

A pose for Father's Day.

Points Race #5 will be on June 23rd at Briggs and Stratton Raceway. Connor and Colin can't wait to go out and race again!

Blackhawk - Point Race #4

Unlike last year, we arrived at the track early on Saturday so that Connor could attend the driver's meeting and do some practice laps. We brought our travel trailer so we could stay and camp the night. This was our first time camping this year and without electricity too! The facility has electricity but they were all taken. We never get there early enough to get the coveted spots and besides, Tom and I think that those spots were reserved for the CES racing teams, which was also running that weekend. But, lucky for us, we have a generator that we always take along to sites where we know electricity was not available for us. Unluckily for our neighbors, our generator is a bit on the noisy side. It's not one of those expensive quiet Honda motor ones. But we try to run it only during the day for the microwave when race cars were on the track to drown out the noise and only for short periods of time. Though not hooked up to electricity or water (our trailer does hold 25 gallons of water), the great thing about camping at Blackhawk is the showers. They are new, big and clean. I look forward to taking my showers when we camp there. (Oh, the simple pleasures in life! :D)

On the exact same spot we had last year.

The boys were excited being at Blackhawk and about camping. They also got excited when they saw Jacob J., from Badger who was in Connor's class last year but moved on to another class this year.

 Practice was during the day and we watched the races in the afternoon. Connor and Jacob had fun drafting and helping each other out on the track. We only took Connor's go kart; Colin was not participating in practice or the races here. After the races on Saturday, we walked the track like we did last year. This time, Jacob J. came to walk with us too.

Lining up.

Start.

Racing hard.

Connor's race the following day was done in waves, very much like last year. He was the only one from his class from Badger Kart Club but there were five others in his race that day but they were not Badger members. The drivers were timed 25 minutes and whoever got the checkered flag at the end of the 25 minutes was the winner. Connor finished second place.

Kart and driver being weighed after the race.

 

Connor's 2nd place plaque.

Colin and Tommy in the trailer.

The boys, wearing their brand new Blackhawk shirts courtesy of Grandpa.

Points Race #3

 Today was the warmest day so far since the track opened. My dad came with us and he got to go in the pits to help Tom with lifting the karts to and off their stands. He also went out to the track with the parents when Connor and Colin's class practiced or raced.

Our new color--RED!

Connor felt good after practicing yesterday which gave him a lot of confidence going into today's race. The new tires on his go kart finally broke in and had enough miles on them that the go kart is running much better than it had in the last two races. He did well during the first practice while Colin spun because Daddy forgot to put a washer on one of the wheels which made him loose.

Tom almost went crazy looking for the three of them afraid that Connor and Colin would be disqualified for not attending the Driver's Meeting. Little did he know, they were cozy up at the Media Tower attending to the meeting, standing right behind the speaker. :)

 Today's format was the same as last weekend: 2 practices, one qualifying run, a pre-features race and then finally the features race. At qualifying, Connor qualified first with a run time of 44.58 seconds so he got to start the pole for the pre-features race that he won.

Lolo's presence was a big difference today! Thank you, Lolo!

There were nine racers in the Animal Sportsman class today, the most we had so far this season. Connor's goal for today was 1) to win the features race and 2) to lap Colin (which I wasn't too crazy about but he said, he was not trying to be mean, he just wanted to do it to somebody and since Colin was the slowest of the pack, it had to be him), both of which he accomplished. He was second for the first eight laps of the features but he took the lead right after that and held it to the checkered flag. In addition to his two accomplishments today, he added another one by setting a track record for fast times at the track in his class. He clocked at 44.297 seconds during the features race. Click link to see record fast times. http://www.badgerkartclub.com/2013fasttimesandrecords.htm As far as points go, Connor was running second for the first two races. The points results are not up yet and we're not sure if this would bump him up to first, remain in second or make it a tie. Click link to see Points. http://www.badgerkartclub.com/2013points.htm

Connor trying to catch up to #23 during practice.

 Animal Sportsman was the fourth class to race thus we were done earlier than the rest of the classes and would have been able to pack up and leave but because Connor won, his go kart and the crew chief (Tom) had to stay at the tech area for the go kart engine to be taken apart and inspected.
It was a good day for Connor, especially that his Lolo was there to help and watch him race. Colin had fun, as usual just being able to drive his go kart and be part of the whole experience on the track.

Colin exiting the track and entering the Pits.

Next race is at Blackhawk Farms Raceway (http://www.blackhawkfarms.com/) in South Beloit, Illinois on June 2nd. For the schedule of the remainder of the season, click http://www.badgerkartclub.com/documents/2013_schedule.pdf

Points Race #2

With all the stuff we had going on since the start of the weekend, the boys were not able to go to practice at the track yesterday and Tom hardly had time to get the go karts ready today though he had been working on them everyday last week, save for Friday and Saturday.
 Today being Mother's Day, the mothers got free passes to the pits. Normally, anybody who is a non-driver pays ten dollars to get in the pits while the drivers pay twenty dollars on race day. Otherwise, it's ten dollars per driver and non-driver to go in the pits on non-race (practice) days.
 Today's run was also different from the previous ones (though there had been one time last year that the run set up was the same as today's). The drivers still had two practice runs on the track but the heats were replaced by a qualifying run and a pre-feature race. The pre-feature race determined a driver's position in the features (final) race (as I understood).

Colin on the grass at Qualifying.

At qualifying, Colin went on the grass and Tom had to come to his rescue and push him out of there down to the pits.
 During the pre-feature race, Connor started second but spun at least twice leaving him to finish 5th and Colin finishing 6th. This was how they started in the features race but Connor finished in second place. Connor almost did not make it to the final race for Tom found a leak on his gas tank and he had to quickly repair it. The Animal Sportsman class was already called to line up on the grid when Tom was still fixing it. Colin finished at the end of the pack.

Connor's #21 with new body and colors.

Connor and Colin with their karts.

Next points race is Sunday, May 19th. The boys should be able to go practice on the track on Saturday as next weekend would not be as hectic as this one had been.

Season Opener - Points Race #1

Boogity, Boogity, Boogity! Le'ts go racing, boys! Go kart racing that is!

Such happy dispositions my kids had today! I could only attribute it to their excitement to race! They were up and at 'em, bright and early. I didn't have to urge them to do anything for a change. They were the first ones out in the car, ready to go. In the car, they were singing, "Nugget in a biscuit, dip it in mashed potatoes?" Whatever. They even had time to appreciate the scenery driving down Sunset Drive--"What a beautiful view!" Tommy had exclaimed; their conversations were nothing but lively; and for once, there was no bickering during the half-hour drive to Dousman. It was Tommy's first time out to the track this year while Connor and Colin had been out there a couple of times to practice and once to help clean and set up the track.

Connor, #21, Colin, #12 and Crew Chief Dad on the grid.

 Connor and Colin were antsy to race. They've been antsy since the track opened for practice the first week of this month. The fact that the track was closed last weekend, which was supposed to be the first race of the season, due to the wet conditions on the track and the fields, only compounded the restlessness.

The day started out cold but it warmed up during the day and the sun finally came out.

The two practice sessions were uneventful, as they usually are. It's a chance for the drivers and machines to warm up before the actual races. It's when the drivers try to feel their go karts to see if changes or adjustments need to be made.

Lining up for the green flag.

 During the first heat, Connor would have finished second had he not been mistakenly asked to pull over by his dad who thought it was his go kart that blew off an exhaust when in fact, it was Colin's. Instead, Connor was instructed to pull over to the pits on the very last lap preventing him from finishing and for which, he was not too happy.

Connor

 During the second heat, Connor started second but as soon as the green flag was waved, he took the lead and held it to the finish while Colin finished in the back of the pack. This was Colin's first race and he is considered a novice and will be playing it safe for a while by starting in the back of the pack, which was where he usually ended up finishing during the heats. He is a little more cautious, and definitely, not as aggressive and not as fast as his older brother. But he's having fun.

Colin

During the final race of the day, Connor finished second and unfortunately for Colin his engine blew even before the green flag was waved so that he never got to start in the final race.

I forgot how exhausting an entire day was spent at the track but the boys had fun, especially Tommy since it was his first time back there this year, playing and chatting with their old friends. Some of the kids from Connor's class moved on to different classes so that there are only four of them who are original members of the Briggs Animal Sportsman class from last year. Colin is one of the new additions but he is not a stranger to all the other kids from last year.

Points race #2 is scheduled for Sunday, May 12th, to Tom's relief and Connor's dismay. That's three LONG weeks--for Connor. But that's three weeks of rest for the mechanic and crew chief that's Daddy.

For more info about Badger Kart Club or Briggs and Stratton Raceway Park, or to see the 2013 Race Schedule, please go to  http://www.badgerkartclub.com/

Getting Ready for a New Season

Tom's been working on the boys' go karts for a few weeks now. Both Connor and Colin are racing this year and each has his own kart. Connor's go kart is getting a new motor, body and number colors as well as Colin's. Connor will still be #21 while Colin chose #12. (Then I suggested the #121 for Tommy's go kart next year to incorporate both #s 12 and 21.) We will not be wearing green this year but red, the numbers color that both boys picked.
Much to Tommy's dismay, he would still just be a cheerer on the sidelines. Hopefully, he'd have his own go kart to drive next year when he will be eligible to drive at five years old.

Go Kart 1

Go Kart 2

Front Body

Right now, Tom, Connor and Colin are at the track helping clean and set it up. Badger Kart Club's Briggs and Stratton Raceway Park will officially be open for practice tomorrow. There are a few changes this year. There is no longer a Briggs Sportsman class but Connor and Colin still belong to the Animal Sportsman class like last year which means they will be racing against each other. There has also been a change in the kart and driver weight limitations. This year will be Connor's last in the Animal Sportsman class. He will be moving up to another class next year for his age.

Connor's Number Decals

Colin's Number Decals

Driver's Names Decals

For more information about Badger Kart Club, Briggs and Stratton Raceway Park or racing schedule, pleave visit: http://www.badgerkartclub.com/

BKC Banquet

The awards ceremony banquet for Badger Kart Club was held last Saturday at the Sheraton in Brookfield. The place was packed. The same family atmosphere at the track was present here. It was nice to see the drivers not wearing their racing suits. Some of the boys wore ties and the girls wore cute dresses. A prayer followed by a buffet dinner officially kicked off the ceremony. The awards was the longest part for there were sixteen classes and several other special awards were given in between.

The trophies.

The trophies were impressive and there were lots of prizes and raffles. Connor received his trophy for winning second place in points in the Animal Sportsman class. He also received prizes for placing second in the Junior Summer Series. He also received recognition along with the others who had perfect attendance for the year.

After the awards ceremony, the lights went off, the disco lights turned on and music played. The kids stormed the dance floor. Tommy, who we thought would fall asleep halfway through the ceremony, was awake the entire time and joined one of his friends who was first on the dance floor. The other kids joined and they just danced on and on. My boys would have danced all night but we had to go. Grandma and Grandpa were both getting tired and we still had to have our pictures taken outside. (Note: sweaty kids in the family picture.) It was way past ten when we left. Next year, we'll get a room and let the boys dance all night long. Just a thought.

Connor and his second place trophy for Animal Sportsman class.

The Animal Sportsman Class receiving their trophies on stage.

The Animal Sportsman Class.

Grandma Dot and Lolo came to celebrate with us.