Tillsonburg ON (August 15, 2016)-Race report from the weekly Tillsonburg Outlaws racing series. Let’s get right to the Lubricare Tillsonburg Beginners.
At this point in the season these kids have gotten comfortable with each other and they can generally run the whole night without much issue. Time to up the ante. Time to mix them in with some of the Box Stocks to see how they fair. Flagger Jacob Sheridan wasn’t taking any nonsense and was looking for a nice even start to the race in heat one. That took a few tries but eventually the group was able to stay side by side to get things rolling.
Race two the group ran at the same time as the “B” half of the Box Stocks. They did good but caused more cautions then they normally do with spin outs. I thought it odd at the time because I didn’t think we would see that. After looking at the race times though, I knew exactly what had happened.
The beginners were following faster karts and figured if they can do it, so can I.
Zak Stewart knocked a second a lap off his times. That’s significant. There was a learning curve however. Keiran McDonald and Kyeriah Mararcle both went 2/10 ths faster. No prodding or coaching. Just send them out with some faster drivers and they go faster. Once the teams figure out how to tighten up the karts for the faster speeds, they will be ripping.
The Smale Powder Coat Box Stocks had some great action this week.
John Jackson Jr and Nick Sheridan won their heats to set the stage for some great racing. What the group wasn’t ready for though was a track with more traction than normal.
Team Sheridan, by luck or good setup, nailed the night and was running 2/10 ths of a second faster than the others. By the feature, the top five had gotten down to the those times but it was too little too late. Sheridan had the feature tied up. Jacob Ross looked to be the next closest and took second in both heats but when he got to the feature and his team mate, similar driving styles clashed and they took each other out and had to restart at the back. They recovered but not fully. John Jackson Jr doesn’t need much of a break and he made sure to take advantage with a second ahead of Tom Pellizzari in the feature. For the night, it was Sheridan in first, Jackson and Ross tied for second and Pellizzari in third ahead of Austin Roes.
The Chesterman Opens continue the reliability streak with only one DNF out of all the drivers. That is a sign of how deep the skill level is getting in this group.
John Smibert came out of the gate swinging with fastest lap times in the Sprint but got tangled up with Brent Smith causing both some excitement and a delay while we got things going. While the pair blocked the upper part of turn four, Andrew Marshall who was battling with Dave Chesterman, did not notice the pair stopped and smoked them good. Stuff happens and I am sure Andrew will be watching further down the track in the future so there is a chance of avoiding the wreck rather than joining it. This time it was Marshall but pretty well everyone over the years has had to adjust and learn how to “read a situation” in time.
Once going again, it was Holly Porter, Scott Hall and Syd Hess taking the top three in that order. Although rattled, it was not enough to keep Smibert out of his Kart for the feature and he came out swinging with fast times again. He must have learned if you want to win, you can’t park on the track and hope the others miss you because he got out front and stayed there. He was going so fast that there was a vacuum behind him which pulled Brent Smith in for a solid second in front of Holly Porter. Overall for the night was the same result in the same order. Smibert may just be peaking at the right time as the North Carolina trip is only three weeks away. John will be one of the Rookie’s in our NC group. I am sure he will have fun.
We line up again indoors in Tillsonburg, August 16, 7 pm.
From: CHESTERMAN POWER PRODUCTS
14493 BAYHAM DR
HWY 3
TILLSONBURG, On N4G4G8
Canada
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