Thunder in the Mountains.....2007

Some tuff racing.....Check back I'll post a few more pics later this week.


Thunder in the Mountains--Kart race from Brian Wheeler on Vimeo.

WKA Kart Nationals.....Dexter Raceway

Good run for us....Qualified 6th out of 18....Much better than we did at Daytona. I was pretty close on my guess for pole in Stocklite.....McDonald set pole with a 12.782....I guessed 12.70. To bad he was lite at the scales....Tippons was to and that jumped us up to 6th with a 13.064.....Right behind Thompson who had a 13.048....Very good qualifying run....Got hung-up on the outside after moving to 5th....Ended up finishing 11th....The crowds were huge and we are looking forward to Daytona.


Qualifying....


Race results....

Dawgwood Speedway 8th points race......

Karting is alive and well at Dawgwood....This was the first time we were back at a points race since the 3rd one....We were only there to get a few practice laps in to check out the new motor before the Nationals next weekend....They had a huge crowd....Most points series entries fall off toward the end but not at Dawgwood....There were more karts not less and U better bring your "A" game if wanna win....Toughest competition in the Southeast.....Below are some pics and videos I took while enjoying the night off from racing.














Snowing at Dawgwood....


Zach got spun in practice....


Practice....

I just re-read my post about going to Dexter....

Man was I wrong....Track held together very well even on Sunday....Never even had to get the blower out....This is gonna be one fast ass track for the last National....It would be scary fast if it was an open tire rule race....The Vega's are the tire of choice and with the right prep I feel they could be 2 to 3 tenths faster....I think Stocklite pole will be around 12.70 if the track is good.....That means we have about 1/2 second to pick up....Not sure how much faster the track will be.....I hope 3 or 4 tenths...If so that will put us real close....Atleast much better than our first National last Christmas.....I know the gearing....Devin knows the track. I hope to have a good run at the Nationals. Here is a pic I took Sunday....
One lap around Dexter Kart track..... from Brian Wheeler on Vimeo.




Brian

Got the short block done....

Still got some head work to do and the set up the valves....Looks like we may have to go up to NGMS to get some laps in on the motor...Jimmy's dyno is down and I ain't going to the National with a motor that hasn't atleast been on the dyno....We are really looking forward to going back to Dexter.

Brian

It blew....

So did our night at the track....Rod broke about lap 42....I can say this much atleast he stayed with it.

We were about 3 tenths off the pace....22 karts started the 50 lap Animal 360 race at NGMS and only 10 were still on the track when the rod just couldn't take any more of the bouncing coming out of 4....He was pretty good in 1&2....I think our tires were too soft....we decided to grid them and see if we could get some of the prep out of them....It worked....Qualified with a 12.90 turned a 12.62 in the race....Leaders were turning high 12.20's--low 12.30's.....We seem to always be 3 tenths slow at NGMS.

Some videos from Dexter Kart Track.....

Practice lap the Sunday after....





Dexter kart track.....Animal 360 1st heat.



Dexter kart track.....Animal 360 2nd heat.



Dexter kart track.....Animal 360 feature race.



I'm not sure what race this was.....?

Look out Dexter here we come...

Leaving at 10:00 am headed to Dexter to get some practice in for the up coming National....Looking forward to meeting a few fellow 4cycle members and making some laps....Mr. Carl is going to let us practice Sunday to....We will be there bright and early.....It's gonna be HOT.

Brian

Ga State frame....

Getting ready for Dexter......

Trying to find a motel to stay in....We are going to stay overnight at Dexter the weekend of Aug. 11th and practice on Sunday....Too far to drive and just get one night in....We owe a big THANK YOU to Mr. Carl for letting us run some on Sunday. We should have a pretty good idea of set-up and should really only need fine tuning with the HT5's....Biggest question is how much grip will we have to get with set-up with the T5's.....? I can free it up but I think we will have to tighten it up....? I expect the track to get dusty/sandy for the National and need more grip...I think after the win at North Ga for the State race we have proved that we can tighten-up a Falcon...Question will be...How much is too much....? It's funny having to set it up to be slow in order to turn better lap times....? I know it just doesn't add up....But there is times that it works.

Brian

Well I guess 2nd in the Ga State series is a good year.....?

It sure doesn't feel that way tonight....Made alot of wrong calls today.....But I learned my lesson....It won't happen again....We got out qualified today by over 1/2 a second. The Ridley's did a fine job today with the last Ga State race, I expect a great series ran by them for next year....We tried our best to get all the races in but the rain still won in the end.....Devin was the first out on the track to iron in it after the first 30 min. rain delay....Our team grew tonight.....I hope we get better because of it.

Best pic yet of Devin on the grid...





Practice....



Getting ready to qualify....



Qualify....



Final Point standings....



Brian

5th Ga State race.....We had a good run....!!!!

Below is the video..... Finally a WIN....The kid held on to it for not only the white flag lap but the checkered lap too.....He has been running 2nd with 2 laps to go and got passed at 2 of the 3 races that we got to run so far....It sure was pretty....He ran a prefect line for the entire 15 laps....Needless to say I'm one proud Dad.....and to answer the question on everybodys minds.....Yes we passed tech and they tore our animal all the way down.




Here we are after the race....First trip for us to the tech room.







Here is the only pic of us we took all day.....




Here are pics of qualifying and race results....





Victory Lane.....

Killer 305....

This is the bad boy that ran in the FL Allstars that had everyone talking...

305 built by Norman Wilford (Stormin' Norman)
3.150" bore (steel bore), JE Piston
+.200" stroke, ARC Billet Crank
ARC 305 Rod
ARC Billet Sidecover
ARC Billet Flywheel
PC 300 Cam
33mm Mikuni w/accel pump
Robertson's Open/Flared Header
Block has girdles welded/braced to it
Missler Pushrods (customized to this motor by Norman)
CUSTOM 305 head with:
-1.450" Titanium Int. Valve
-1.250" SS Exhaust Valve
-Custom Roller Rockers
-Custom Made intake, blended, matched to head
AND comes with:
3rd Bearing Block Support
AND 3 disc Bully Clutch

Norman said he was sure the first thing people would ask is, "how much HP does it make", the answer is, don't know, never been on the dyno. But take my word on it, and ask anyone in the FL Allstars, this is the ONLY 305 I have personally laid my eyes on that would run with the BIG HP 2 cycle karts. This IS the 4 cycle engine you need to run at the front of the UAS races. And it is dependable too.

Yes, there are bigger bore motors. Yes, there are more modified motors out there. THIS motor stays together AND has proven to run at the front with the best of the best.

This motor, 3rd bearing, and 3 disc Bully clutch is a STEAL at $3,200.

PM me, email me at fchp@kartingengines.com, or call me at 904-210-8351 for more info.

First trip back to NGMS in almost a month....

Well we ran Lite and Med and put different tires on just about every time we hit the track....The track had more bite last night than it's had all year except for maybe the first 2 or 3 day races at the beginning of this season.....They are not going to put the pond water on it anymore.....They think that might be part of the problem....The pond was very low and what water was left looked "THICK"....

We actually got faster as the night went on....That was a first for us this year at a night race.....Kart count was alittle low...Maybe 40-50 entries.....The score tower problems were solved....Everything ran smoothly.

We won Lite and finished 3rd in Med....It took us untill the Lite feature to really figure out the tires....We turned a 12.91.....Right about the same times Kevin Young turned in the med feature.

We had a good time and enjoyed ourselves even though we worked our tail ends off....No help just me and Devin....No pics or videos....Jennifer stayed home.

We will be back there next weekend for the 5th GA State race....

Brian

Breaking in the Animal after a rebuild.....

Just click play.....I'll let the motor speak for itself.

My lucky hat....

Devin was kidding me about how goofy it looked and he didn't wanna walk beside me if I wore it....Well after the run we had at the State race he says I have to ware it all the time...LOL

Below are the qualifying results for the 4th stocklite Ga State race.....

WARNING to all Georgia drivers....

There is a 16 year old on the loose....Devin passed his drivers test today....He can be seen driving a 2001 black Mazda truck.....I just hope he doesn't get a black flag...LOL I guess my fingers will now be permanently crossed....It has never bothered me seeing him on the track running 60 MPH, but on the road is awhole nother matter.

Brian

4th GA State Stocklite feature race.....

We set outside pole in Stocklite....Tippens set pole.....Devin fell in right behind Tippens on the first start...It was waved off.....He took the lead on the second start....He didn't stay upfront for long....Tippens went by him on the 2nd lap and Walden and Ridley got by to.....Then Walden and Ridley got in the loose stuff on the back stretch and Devin got back by both of them...By this time Tippens had checked out and Devin did a good job of holding onto to 2nd.....Until they were coming to the white flag and Devin made one small mistake and both Ridley and Walden got back by him.....Devin ended up finishing 4th.....All in all a good run for us.

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