TILLSONBURG, ON – This week, four of our racers were off doing summertime activities. Scott and Jamie Hall were off at summer camp and Bea and Kate Courtnage are out west to check out the Calgary Stampede and their sister’s new residence. That made two less drivers for one team and two guest drivers for the other.
In the Beginners, #8 Tristan McClay/Burgessville and #45 Nick Sheridan/Mt. Brydges appear to have this racing thing figured out, and managed to get to the front by the end of each race. Paige Smith, Rayse Meyer and Tom Pellizzari battle it out every night but this week it was Tom who ended up in third overall. Regardless of their finishes, this group is learning the skills that are going to take them into the Junior division and they are going to fit right in.
Speaking of Junior’s, #52 Jacob Sheridan and #48 Andrew Marshall continue to battle for the lead most nights. These two thrive off each other and without the challenge, their progress would stall. It goes deeper than what they are learning on the track. I could write a page about each of the remaining drivers as I have watched their skills both on and off the track progress all season and all of them have made the top three at some point. This week though, after being sick and having to start at the back of the field, it was #93 Amber Meyer that went from the back to the front in the final main to take the win. Persistence paid off and Amber finished in third for the night overall, albeit by the slightest of margins, but a win is a win.
With two guest drivers in the Seniors this week you would think the results would have been easy to predict. You would have been wrong. Despite the “guests” having to start at the back, they were driving the proven karts of Bea and Kate Courtnage and they both have raced in Tillsonburg before. #77x Alex Hill was a roller ball and was not going to be denied the night’s victory by taking all three race wins. Second place though went to Dylan Westbrook/Scotland driving the 39 kart. It took the sprint for him to get back in the groove but he followed that with a pair of seconds after starting at the back. Good racing, Dylan. It sure would be nice to see you back full time. Third overall went to #87 Brad Perrott who was more consistent than the others with a 2,3,4 over the night. This week’s bad luck award goes to Kassy Streng. After getting hooked together with another kart on the start of the middle main, her kart started to smoke. Although this is a bit unusual, it cleared once she drove around to join the field. After a quick look we adjusted the starting order but it started to smoke again and the team wisely shut the kart off. Turns out it wasn’t some spilled oil from between races or an over filled crankcase but a partially stuck throttle and a smoking clutch. Looks like those “fancy” disc racing clutches don’t take the punishment that the stock economy racing clutches do because she was not able to return for the final main.
On to the Experts. Now, I don’t want to brag, but the opportunity to say I won the time trials and beat my 23-year-old son and his speedy girlfriend comes along so rarely that I am going to anyway. The races went down differently though, and Holly Porter took the overall after winning the sprint and holding second in the main while setting a new track record in the process (7.539). On down it was Scott Chesterman and Dave Chesterman for second and third overall. Cody Coburn showed some signs of the old fire last night. He hasn’t got every trick in the book mastered yet but as long as he can manage to keep having fun while trying to master them, he will keep getting faster. That’s a wrap for this week.
From Dave Chesterman
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