August 25, 2012 Sumas International Motorsports Academy
NEW WORLD CLASS EXPERIENCE!
The Word Racing team headed North, up to the Canadian border, to race at the new Sumas International Motorsports Academy (SIMA). We were greeted with a beautiful facility, great hospitality, and a world class track.
FRIDAY PRACTICE
The weekend started out fantastic. After pulling our trailer for over 300 miles we arrived safely at the track for Friday's practice. Ethan and Randy both had a great time learning the new track.
As you probably remember from our previous press release, Ethan had an unfortunate engine failure at the previous race in Canby, Oregon. Fortunately we had a spare engine, and Ethan worked all day Thursday installing it and preparing his kart for the weekend.
Towards the end of practice, Ethan's spare engine started to act up, but it appeared to be a minor issue with the powerpack that can be by-passed with a hand held starter.
RACE DAY
On race day, both karts fired right up and we were excited to get out on the track for the morning warm-up with a field of 14 TaG Sr karts. Unfortunately, we discovered Ethan's kart had bigger issues than just the powerpack. After less than one lap, Ethan spent the next several hours completely rebuilding nearly everything on his kart, and was unable to compete in any of the races. Even with the factory team and engine importer there to help, we were unable to get the engine to run correctly. Ethan completely rebuilt the carburetor, replaced the bendix gear, replaced the coil & plug, replaced the ignition, checked the reeds...the list goes on, but nothing helped!
Special thanks to professional race car driver, Michael Valiante, for helping. Although unable to repair the issue in such a tight time frame on a race day, he was a huge help with trouble shooting the issues and trying to get Ethan out on the track. Ethan was also very impressed to have someone like Michael helping with his kart, and all the Valiante's treated us like family.
ON TRACK ACTION
During this ordeal with Ethan's kart, Randy's kart continued to run without any issues. If he could have, Randy would have given his kart to Ethan, but with their height difference it would've required quite a few changes to setup properly - and there was only 15 minutes time between morning warm-up and the first race.
In the first heat race, Randy was able to move forward a few positions and had the 5th fastest time, but was 1 pound underweight on the tech scales and was disqualified. Heat race number two went much better, as Randy scored a 2nd place finish!
In the final event, Randy started in 10th place, but in just the first six laps was able to move up to 5th place! However, there was some very aggressive racing and some heavy contact. Although Randy clearly had the line on several passes, the "door was closed" on him after Randy was already wheel to wheel on a couple of occassions. In one of those instances Randy's kart was sent airborne over the front of another kart and it tore off the side-pod. Not long after, Randy was black flagged (required to pull out of the race) because it's not safe to race without the protection of the side-pods.
Although a little disappointed at having to pull out, Randy was really pleased with how well the race went, his consistent lap times on a new track, and the number of passes made. "It was one of the best races I've ever had, it was so fun to race with all TaG Sr karts (instead of being combined with other classes) on a world class track, and to pass so many in such a short time" said Randy after the race. "I had trouble learning two of the corners, and I think with just a bit more practice I could drop a few more tenths off my lap times."
Here's a link to a short YouTube video of some race action: http://youtu.be/E-tLXAY9Dd8
TURNING IT INTO A VACATION
Randy's race went quite well, but he felt absolutely terrible for Ethan. At the same time, Randy was really proud of Ethan's good attitude through the frustrating situation, and the mechanical skills he displayed in rebuilding so many parts of the kart.
To help turn-around some of the disappointment, the time away from the track was turned into a mini-vacation. A couple of great Thai restuarants were discovered in Bellingham. We found a hotel with a swimming pool and a great breakfast, and ended up having a fun pre-back-to-school vacation.
WHAT'S UP NEXT
Our next race is a night race! Check us out under the lights in McMinnville on Saturday September 15th. Hopefully we'll have both karts running perfectly by then!
Thank you for your support!
Sincerely,
Randy Word #71, and Ethan Word #77
WORD Racing
Portland's Father & Son Racing Team
Web Site: WordRacing.com
Phone: (503) 869-4970
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