05/04/2026
We raced Friday night under the lights, then again on Sunday at a different track.
Friday night - driver comes off the first set of hot laps - “Mom, there’s something wrong with my kart.” This is when the anxiety increases and you “hope” it’s something you can easily troubleshoot and have worked on before. New engine seemed to have lower RPM’s, realized fuel line wasn’t completely open …. Ok, on the first heat he was almost a full lap behind everyone else - completely bewildered - and frustrated. Quickly realized one of his back wheels was turning independently of the axle - signaling a broken wheel hub. I had a spare but the damage was too extensive to just swap it out so we called it a night.
Saturday was wheel hub replacement day. One thing went wrong after another and what should have taken 30 minutes max took 6+ hours.
Sunday I was anxious to get it back out on the track - only for him to come in during the middle of the first heat dragging the chain. The engine had vibrated loose and displaced.
Everything replaced, tightened back up, cleaned and ready to go - and all of the other things that were going wrong masked that we needed to change out the gear, so still came in in an unfavorable position.
So since races are won in the pits - the pit crew gets a solid D+ for the weekend.
This continues to be a learning journey and every educational opportunity unfortunately comes with a short window to figure it out. We’ll Monday Morning quarterback it, swing by the local karting shop to pick up some additional spare hubs and get geared up for Friday.
