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Topic: A first race win at Go Kart World in Carson Jan 9
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Page 1 of 1 of 9 replies
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January 11, 2008 at
11:29:13 PM
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11/22/2007
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This message was edited on
January 11, 2008 at
11:36:08 PM by John H
I've been racing go karts off (mostly off) and on in the city of Carson's Go Kart World Wed night league racing nights since the summer of 94.
Unfortunately from 94-2001 I was working on cruise ships so I would only be able to race for a few weeks at a time before returning to a ship gig, with one long stint of three months off in 95-96.
During that time I did rack up a bunch of top fives and led races, only to get tripped up in backmarkers and get passed for the lead. In the meantime, I was also racing part time at the Jim Hall Kart School and took all their classes and won a couple of class races and a race in their monthly racing series. I also raced in 93 at a nearby kart track's weekly race night, but winning there was easy and the track was alot easier.
In December 2001, I got off cruise ships and raced every week in Carson for six months, before an every Wed gig took me away for five years. In Sept, 2007 I returned to the track and most of my friends were still there, looking the same and welcoming me back with smiles. These guys are the coolest in the world, all die hard racing fans of all ages but most are in their 50s. And they're damned good drivers!
The track is a small oval slick track that takes quite a bit of skill to get around and I've had a love hate relationship with it over the years. Nothing I've learned elsewhere really applies here. This place is tough! I was on the pace pretty quickly when I came back, because I had just returned from lapping the Nurburgring (my second trip to the ring) and speeding around the Autobahn during my third German visit since 99. I had a podium a couple weeks after my come back and led one race but got passed after about 15 laps.
I've been competitive when the conditions are right and had a lot of fourth places and good races since Sept. Then came the track's annual Ercse classic charity race, in November in honor of Fred Ercse, who died of a heart attack at the track in May of 1998. He was a tough old racer but a great guy, who worked on Emerson Fittipaldi's 1984 Indy 500 effort, among other achievements.
I won my first race there, a ten lap heat and was the only wed night regular to get into the main, where I finished 9th of 14 drivers. 52 were trying to get into that race so it was a huge thrill. The proceeds of the event are donated to the American Heart Association. That was great, but I really wanted to win a regular 40 lap race and am pleased to say I finally did it on Wed night!!
That kart was flying, the track tightened up and we were blazing around in 9.5 second laps (normal lap times are in the 11-12 second range when the powder is put on the track to make it a slick track. I found this killer groove on the bottom and the thing just stuck! I got stuck in traffic this time too, but I just had such a big lead I wasn't passed. Like Jean Alesi, I started to get real emotional halfway through but you have to control your emotions or risk losing. We were going so fast, my right leg and foot were killing me too, this was hard work!
This has been a dream of mine to win there for over a decade, and to finally do it is a total thrill. I'm also racing their fast Euro karts on their awesome roadcourse on Tuesdays, but still have a lot of work to do to be more competitive there. I've been walking around replaying that race for two days in my head and I can still see that checkered flag waving at last for me. I haven't won a race since October, 1998. I'm not egoed out by any of this, just humble and appreciative. I also want to say thanks to my friends and track veterans especially Jim for always being open with advice and helping me get around that place. Thanks for listening.
John
Victory Lane at last, Carson, January 9, 2008
http://www.gokartworld.com/
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January 11, 2008 at
11:47:35 PM
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11/11/2006
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Dude.... you're comparing racing @ Slick Track to F1.......... I want some of what you're on!
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January 11, 2008 at
11:49:36 PM
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11/11/2006
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411
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p.s. You should be @ the Chili Bowl 
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January 12, 2008 at
07:15:21 AM
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This message was edited on
January 12, 2008 at
07:18:49 AM by John H
Reply to:
Posted By: Favor boy on January 11 2008 at 11:47:35 PM
Dude.... you're comparing racing @ Slick Track to F1.......... I want some of what you're on!
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No, tell me in what sentence did I did I compare it to F1???? Hell no. I said I got emotional like Jean Alesi. And what I mean by that is, he started to cry when during his last laps while winning the 1995 Canadian Grand Prix. There's no comparison to F1, only the emotions of winning are compared. I got emotional too, but I didn't cry.
John
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January 12, 2008 at
10:49:02 AM
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Not to worry, Favor boy was just being a ...well you know.
I remember that they had open comp carts at old Western Speedway in California in the late 60's early 70's? They were running all kinds of wild stuff in those days and were running faster than the Midgets on that track. I started looking at carts different from that day on.
Have fun!
Kenny
Half the lies they tell about me aren't true.
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January 12, 2008 at
02:17:46 PM
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11/30/2004
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While it's nice that you won, John, who did you beat? Was it first class competition or a bunch of kids with raw skills and little talent?
And it seems to me that this is a message board, not a blow your own horn board. You can create a blog to do that, IMO. Most of the poster's/skulkers on here don't really care about your accomplishments . Or carts, for that matter... the forum is titled "Sprint Cars" for a reason...
Chuck.....
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January 12, 2008 at
03:02:16 PM
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Reply to:
Posted By: sprinter25 on January 12 2008 at 02:17:46 PM
While it's nice that you won, John, who did you beat? Was it first class competition or a bunch of kids with raw skills and little talent?
And it seems to me that this is a message board, not a blow your own horn board. You can create a blog to do that, IMO. Most of the poster's/skulkers on here don't really care about your accomplishments . Or carts, for that matter... the forum is titled "Sprint Cars" for a reason...
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This forum goes all over the place, all the time. Go bitch at the wife if you feel the need to be one.
Half the lies they tell about me aren't true.
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January 12, 2008 at
05:52:16 PM
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This message was edited on
January 12, 2008 at
05:53:13 PM by John H
Reply to:
Posted By: BIGFISH on January 12 2008 at 03:02:16 PM
This forum goes all over the place, all the time. Go bitch at the wife if you feel the need to be one.
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I had a feeling this may be the wrong place to put this, and the only reason I did was because the Ercse classic at the same track gets mentioned on here and some of our league night regulars browse this forum. So apologies if it is the wrong place. No I beat the regular guys, or yes I agree, this would have been totally meaningless. Thanks.
John
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January 12, 2008 at
07:02:02 PM
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01/02/2007
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Don't worry about it John, some on here post a lot of stuff regularly that has nothing to do at all about racing at all! Got to go, here comes the Chili Bowl.
Have fun; Kenny
Half the lies they tell about me aren't true.
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January 13, 2008 at
08:43:41 AM
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01/09/2007
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No more senceless than alot of stuff on here.
At least it's RACING!
Congrat's on your win.
We think karts are cool!
www.teamwmotorsports.webs.com
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