The SKUSA SuperNationals November 9-12, 2006
The Stock Honda Championship
"Following You, I Climb the Mountain, I Get Excitement at Your Feet" - P. Townshend


Trophies, prizes, and fame await those who can climb to the top of the mountain

Viva Las Vegas! Wayne, Jeff and I decided to race at the SuperKarts USA (SKUSA) SuperNationals held in the parking lot of Sam Boyd Stadium.  It is a big event that some have called the Mecca of Karting in the USA. 


"Trust me!  Jim, Greg, and I can make this thing happen!"

Here are some comments from other people about the SuperNationals:

Excerpt from Jeff Franz, KartSport Magazine:
"The SKUSA SuperNationals is quite simply the biggest and most prestigious event in North American karting.  Since its inception in 1997, this race has always drawn the absolute finest talent from across the continent.  It has become an end-of-season Las Vegas tradition, as 300 drivers make the pilgrimage to Sin City to close out a year of racing.  Whether it be at the Las Vegas Karting Center, the parking lots of the Rio, or it current home at Sam Boyd Stadium the SuperNationals is the Indianapolis 500 of karting.  There is no other North American event that even comes close."


Not your average karting event

Comments from Memo Gidley in the KartSport Magazine SuperNationals Program Guide:
"Two years later, I was so disappointed with my result in 1998 that I was determined to come back the next year and win it.  Three months prior to it, I started testing, and that meant shutting off the phone, sleeping on the floor of at the factory, and working non-stop for those three months.  So the win in '99 was much more satisfying, as there were more teams and more drivers on top of their game, and the talent level was so much higher.  The 1999 SuperNationals victory remains the pinnacle of my racing career, including every other form of motorsport I've been involved in.  It's simply the biggest win I've ever experienced".


All the big tents added to the festive atmosphere

Comments from Darren Elliot in the KartSport Magazine SuperNationals Program Guide:
"For me, everyone thought I had a big engine advantage the year that I won.  But you know, I think I've heard that after every SuperNationals, people like to say that the winner had too much engine, or too much tire, or too much Italian influence under the tent.  The losers always have an excuse; hell, even I have an excuse for every year I didn't win!  But when it is all said and done, all that's left are the winners of this great race, and you can't take that away from any of them.  Win the Supernats, and you can say you're The Man!"


300+ drivers, lots of spectators, huge tents, rock music blaring over the loud speakers

Those above comments are about the SuperPro class.  We will be running in the Stock Honda class, which is more of a "hobbyist" type class as opposed to a racing with the pros.  But hey, it will be the biggest single kart race that we run in at our level.  So if the SuperPro guys refer to it one of their biggest events ever, surely we can claim the same for us hobbyist types.

    
Formula One pilots Scott Speed and Vitantonia Liuzzi signed up to race in the SuperPro class

It was a bummer that the FIA/CIK Euro-dorks wouldn't let Formula One drivers Scott Speed and Vitantonio Liuzzi race in the SuperPro class.  Speed and Liuzzi were all pumped up to race against America's best SuperPro drivers, and all the SuperPro drivers were eager to take down the F1 drivers.

      
FIA & CIK Euro-Dorks threatened to pull Speed and Liuzzi's F1 Racing License if they raced with us

The FIA/CIK excuse was that the SuperNationals wasn't on the "official FIA/CIK calendar of events", so Speed and Luizzi were threatened with losing their F1 racing license if they were to drive in this event.  And the FIA wonders why Formula One isn't more popular in America?  Euro-snob-iness at its best.

          
No F1 Drivers For You!  You must be on French FIA/CIK Calendar months in advance!

We worked really hard to practice and prepare for the SuperkartsUSA Supernationals, as you can tell from the last chapter. (Well...not as hard as Memo Gidley, but still pretty damn hard).  We went to Vegas in anticipation that the three of us (Wayne, Jeff, myself) had a legitimate shot at making it to the podium against 40 of our peers from across the country. 


"Kutscher is trying to upstage us Italians.  You must not allow Speed or Luizzi to race with SKUSA"

Even better if we could put all three of us on the five person podium, with one of us taking first place.  2WildKarting trailered our karts up along with Bobby Legate's Spec Honda Light entry, Troy McCall's TaG kart, and two tons of spare parts, four tool chests, spare chassis, etc.  Their game plan was to setup a big tent for nine of their customers, and see if they could help their drivers have some fun at the races and get on the podium.


Great selection of low speed, medium speed, and high speed turns

November 6th, Monday afternoon. 
I'm feeling pretty good about our Cheating Bastard plans from the last chapter.  I think I can win another bet from some fellow members at corner-carvers.com. I proposed a bet that Wayne or I will make the podium at the Supernats, with podium defined as 1st, 2nd, or 3rd, despite the fact that in 9 PKC races in 2006, we have made the podium only once.  I think it is a better than 50% chance that we can do it.  After I get 30 people to bet me 10 bucks each, I reveal our Cheating Bastard plans in Chapter 131, about how we got new karts, did four practice days in a one week period after we took delivery of the karts (two of those days were coaching from Nick Halen and his dad) and then did 3 more test days after that. 


Interior section of Turns 6, 7, 8, 9, 10

I also revealed, after taking the bets, how we didn't want to try to take down the young guns like Connor DePhillippi in the Stock Honda Light.  He is blindingly fast and less than 1/3rd our age.  Instead, we will run in the Stock Honda Heavy class with the older guys.  I did some searching on the Internet, and saw that a few months earlier Nick Halen ran at Miller Motorsports Park in both the light and heavy Stock Honda classes.  He had the same game plan against the Norcal/Pacwest guys that weekend (Saturday and Sunday) that he uses on us ProKart Challenge guys.  


Coming onto Turn 4, start of the back straightaway

Halen sits out Heat 1, starts from the back of the pack in Heat 2, walks through everyone, and then wins the Main.  Halen is racing in the Superpro class at the Supernationals, and SKUSA isn't allowing any Superpro guys to run with us mere mortals in Stock Honda or any other non-SuperPro class.  So in Stock Honda Heavy, we don't have to worry about Connor or Halen.  Randy McKee, 2nd in overall points in the ProKart Challenge series, decides to run in the light class also.  Humm...with these three guys out of the picture, I forsee a chance that Jeff, Wayne and myself have an excellent shot at the podium.  We didn't hear any rumors of anyone super-fast entered in the heavy class, so we threw another 30 lbs of lead on our kart and decided to race in the over 35 age group.   Fernando Diaz calls me up, and sees the same opportunity.


BC Ethic is the tile sponsor for the Supernationals.

BC Ethic, whose clothes are found anywhere from Fred Segal in Los Angeles to Nordstrom nationwide, was the SuperNational X title sponsor. The brand’s philosophy is one of fast and loud cars and their subtle yet effective marketing presence really added to the event....from the professional BC Ethic hospitality hauler to the massive BCE signage and their unbelievable clothes, it was nice to finally see a non-endemic sponsor involved in karting- as this company seems genuinely dedicated to growing the sport of kart racing across the country.  This is what karting needs, more sponsors and exposure!


Trying to hold off Craig Sender

BC Ethic CEO Mark Zacher had this to say about the title sponsorship announcement, “BC Ethic has been involved in various motorsport endeavors over the years, and as the company continues to define its focus and growth with our core customers - many who are influenced by racing - we simply thought that SuperNationals X would be a good fit for us.  It’s no secret that some of the best drivers from around the world will be in Las Vegas this November- so it makes sense that we are too.” 


The Transporter.  It was small compared to the factory team rigs.

Wednesday, November 8, 2006
Jason Steaman and I fly into Vegas around 12:30 p.m., and head over to Sam Boyd Stadium.   Wayne Kimball from 2Wild drove the Pulp trailer up on Monday and was working with the tent people to get our pit area setup.   He also has Loren helping him for the week.  Loren is a 2Wild customer who wanted to see what the Supernationals is all about, and he offered to help in the tent for the week.  Loren said he got his laptimes in his Stock Honda down to 1:07 at Moran, which is pretty good.  Especially since Loren is 65 years old.  Nice....that means I got at least 18 more years of karting left in me!


Two double stands and four upright stands get all of our racing machines to the track

Jason and I only have to spend about 15 minutes arranging our stuff in the tent, as 2Wild already pulled out the karts, karts stands, tables, etc.  Jeff and his wife Sunni pull into town around 4 p.m.  Wayne's plan is to fly into Vegas tomorrow morning at 9:00 a.m., as his wife is 8+ months pregnant.  He's got their nanny staying at the house 24 hours a day until he gets back on Sunday. 


Our home for the next four days

We are staying at the Hooter's Hotel, which used to be the old San Remo hotel.  It ain't the greatest hotel in the world, but for our needs, it ain't bad.  The rooms were clean.  My non-smoking room smelled like smoke and the water didn't really drain from the sink, but they changed it out the next day.  SKUSA got the block of rooms real cheap, $39 for the weekdays, $69 for the weekends.  Food in the steakhouse restaurant wasn't bad at all.  Half of the dealers were dressed in Hooters attire, and they were all friendly and nice. 


2Wild got us placards for outside the tent

The blackjack tables at Hooters were all $10 minimum, with half of them single deck.  Only problem with the single decks is that they only paid 6-5 on blackjack instead of 3-2, but people were saying that virtually all single deck games in Vegas have evolved to this with the possible exception of the Horseshoe casino.  The casino area wasn't smoky and they had live music on the weekends.  In fact, I never gambled anywhere else on this trip.  I applied in advance for a line of credit, so I could walk up the table and act like a big shot and say, "Give me a marker for $700".  Unlike other casinos on the strip, this caused a lot of confusion, as apparently they don't get a lot of marker players.  It takes about 10 minutes for them to figure out their own procedure for giving someone a marker.  After playing for about two hours, I'm up $175 for the evening, betting between $10 and $100 a hand, depending on how ten-rich the deck is.  That stupid 6-5 payout on a blackjack is killing me, I feel like I am losing money when I get a blackjack.  I would definitely stay here again.


Our four karts (Wayne brought his old kart as a spare)

Ekartingnews.com had the following blurb about our class on their website:

S4 - Stock Honda Heavy - RLV Products

With the popularity of the Stock Honda package growing, a second Stock Honda class was added to support the over-35 drivers, along with allowing drivers over 200 lbs. into the category. 36 drivers are slated to battle for the win with many of the drivers from the popular West Coast programs, the ProKart Challenge and the Cascade Regional Series. Some of the top PKC drivers include, Doug Hayashi, Fernando Diaz, Jeff Littrell, Marc Segal, and Mike McClaran. the Pacific Northwest's Craig Sender, Kelly Baker, Raman Sarin, Randy Small, Scott Officer and Wyatt King will be representing the Cascade region. When the karts hit the track on Thursday, the top contenders will emerge during the opening practice sessions.

I thought it was pretty funny that they left Wayne's name out, especially since he had more points than me in the PKC series.  Wayne was furious.  He gets no respect!


The tent had lights, and kept the wind out of our pit area.  Very nice setup.

Thursday Morning
Each class gets four 10 minute practice sessions to sort out their kart and get used to the track.  These sessions are critical for those of us who are uh...slow at learning new tracks.  Wayne is skipping the first practice session, as he is flying in today an arriving at 9:00 a.m.  He should be ready for the 2nd practice session at 11 a.m.


The drivers running out of the 2Wild Tent

Last year, there were about 22 Stock Honda drivers.  This year, there were a total of 62 Stock Honda drivers, and SKUSA had to create two classes.  There were 26 drivers in the Stock Honda Light class (385 lbs minimum weight driver and kart), and 36 drivers in the Stock Honda Heavy class (over 35 years old OR driver weighs more than 200 lbs, and driver and kart weigh minimum 415 lbs.)  

The Stock Honda shifter class is exploding in popularity.  Some of the reasons for this are: (in my opinion)

1.  Easy to tune the motor.  It doesn't take a rocket scientist to properly figure out the jetting for the Keihen carburetor on a Honda CR125.  We were always battling to try to get our old Vortex ICC motors to run strong without bogging or blowing up.  With the Honda, you can be off a couple of jet sizes and the kart will still run decently.

2.  Great reliability.  Hey, it's a Honda.  Kinda like racing a stock Honda Civic.  If you don't screw around with the motor, it won't blow up on you.

3.  Easy maintenance schedule.  Hey, it's a Honda, so the maintenance schedule for swapping out a new piston or bottom end is 3x-5x better than an ICC motor.

4.  Relatively cheap.  You can't spend money on building/porting/polishing/tweaking the motor. 

5.  On the West Coast, there are big race grids for the Stock Honda classes.  Hopefully that will spread nationwide.

6.  0-60 in 4.5 seconds, pull 2.5 g's in a turn, and they'll do a 100+ mph with the right gears and a real long straightaway.

7.  It truly is the best bang-for-the-buck wheel-to-wheel racing you can experience.  Rent a shifter at a local track for an hour or two, and you'll understand what I mean.  It will make your Viper/Ferrari/Porsche/Z06 feel like a pig on the track.


Fernando goes on the Emerging Fat Bastard Diet to qualify for the Stock Honda Heavy Class

Fernando Diaz was even more of a Cheating Bastard than we were.  He's 34 years old, and weighs about 193 lbs.  He's a little too heavy for the Stock Honda Light class (he would be at a weight disadvantage, probably weighing in at 405 lbs instead of 385 lbs), and too young for Stock Honda Heavy (34 years old), and too light for Stock Honda Heavy (193 lbs).  So he had to go on the Emerging Fat Bastard diet.  He stopped working out AND told his wife to feed him excessively so he could gain 7 lbs to get to 200 lbs.  That way, he could meet the driver weight minimum for Stock Honda Heavy and race with Jeff, Wayne, and me for bragging rights.


Jeff was doing yoga mediation and stretching before the practice sessions and heat races

Today, we have four 10 minute practice sessions to sort out the kart and get used to the track.  We are the last run group, so our first session is 9 a.m., which means we can sleep in for a little bit in the morning.  Every two hours we have another practice session.  Jeff's doing yoga meditation and stretching before he goes onto the track.  He looks like an idiot in the tent.  We rag on him and poke fun at thim.


Team Pulp Racing, with Jason, Jason, Dana, and Johnny as crew members

Practice Session 1
Jeff's kart bogs out, so he doesn't get to practice.  Bummer for him.  I go out there and buzz around for 8 laps, kart feels pretty good.   My Mychron beacon was pointed the wrong way, so no laptimes.  Damn.  Turns out that Jeff's kart had the needle clip break on his carburetor, causing the motor to die on him.  2WildKarting has brought all their spare parts, and that is quickly fixed.


I love the smell of two-stroke motors burning race gas in the morning

Practice Session 2
Wayne has prepped both his new kart and his old kart to race this week.  Which I think it is kinda crazy, as he missed the first practice session, so now he only has 3 sessions left today to drive both karts, get used to the track, and choose which kart to drive.  He starts with the new kart.  We go out, and it is getting out of control out there in practice.  People dive bombing, late braking each other, not braking enough and going into the walls, bouncing off of each other.  I decide that I need to make a gear change, as the gear I have doesn't feel optimal.


Helmet camera worked for all the races!

Practice Session 3
We decide not to grid up with everyone in the practice session in the cold pit, opting to wait about 45 seconds after everyone else is on the track, and then we join the practice session.  That way it doesn't resemble the 405 freeway in rush hour, filled with hopped up crack addicts weaving back and forth.  This way, we get a little more space, and then we can drive like wide-eyed, hyperventilating, meth smokers and not crash into anyone. 


Matt and Wayne Kimball.  Rhod and Ryan Beachner.

I need another session to get used to the new gears I put on the kart.  This is the first session that SKUSA posts the AMB transponder lap times.  I check the time sheet, and Hey Now, I'm third quickest!  Jeff is first, and Fernando is 4rd.  Wayne is off the pace, as missing that first practice session hurt him.   I'm thinking I'm gonna clean up on my bet with the cc.com guys.


Wayne in a rare appearance in front of me! Ha!

Practice Session 4
Last practice of the day.  We convince Wayne to just stick with his new kart, as we think that moving back and forth between karts is going to screw him up.  My kart is feeling real good now.  Coming back and checking the time sheets, I hold down 3rd quickest.  Jeff and Fernando are 1st and 2nd, and Wayne moves up to 6th quickest.  Hey Now, looks like we are ready to race!  And I think Wayne and I have a shot at 3rd place!   Looks like our plan is starting to fall into place quite nicely.  Check out the Big Brain on Doug.  I'm thinking of sending in my resume to Scuderia Ferrari to replace Ross Brawn as their Chief Racing Strategist for the 2007 season. 


Jeff harnessing his Chi on the track

Jeff is feeling pretty confident about how he is running so far.  He even considers skipping practice tomorrow morning and sleeping in.   2Wild convinces him to show up for the practice, put on some new tires, and scrub them in to prepare for qualifying.  That way they can check to see if he is getting any hop from too much grip on the new tires.   Jeff is watching the SuperPro guys on the track, and noticing that the fast guys get within an inch of the hay bales and barriers.  I tell Jeff to give it 6-12 inches, as if you hit those barriers or hay bales it will really screw up your kart and your position on the grid in the main. 

Thursday night we just eat in the coffee shop.  Teddy from softball is down for some stone cleaning convention, and those guys are drunk and raising hell with the Hooters chicks in the bar area.  I win another $150 or so playing blackjack, up to $325 for the week.


Pulp Racing Crew Chief Jason Steaman is happy about our Thursday practice results

Friday Morning, Practice Session 5
Today we have a practice session at 9:00 a.m., Qualifying at 1:12 p.m., and Heat Race #1 at 3:38 p.m. In the morning practice session, I'm 2nd quick behind Kelly Baker, who is also running in the G1 semi-pro class.  Jeff's 3rd, but is driving easy on his new set of tires, Fernando's 5th, and Brian Paulter moves up to 4th.  Wayne drops back to 12th, trying to get used to a different gear set.  Time sheet here. 


The Ribtect Girls were adding a lot of uh "glamour" to the pit areas

Qualifying
Everyone gets two sets of MG FZ tires to use for qualifying, the three heat races, and the main event.  We get 20 minutes to qualify, kinda how like F1 was a couple of years ago.   Everyone is on the grid at the same time.  You can come into the hot pit to do adjustments with your pit crew.  My plan is to do about 6 laps, come in, have the pit crew check the laptop displays in the pit area showing qual times, and let me know if I am in the ballpark.  I do six laps, come in, things seem to be going good, do a quick air pressure adjustment, and then I go back out. 


I need this pose for the helmet cam video. Heh.

But, I never got faster than my first lap.  Curious, because it seemed like with the MG FZ tires, they don't come in quickly like the MZ tires.  I was hoping to get faster as the session went on.  I come in, and end up sixth fastest.  Not great, as I was hoping to be in the first two rows, but I can live with row 3.  Especially when there are 15 more rows of karts gridded behind me.  


Me where I should be, in front of Wayne

Fernando Diaz has huge problem in qualifying.  It appears that the stator has died on his kart.  He can't qualify!  This is terrible, as where you qualify determines where you start ALL three heat races.  Points are totaled after all three heat races, and that determines how you are gridded for the main.  Now Fernando is going to have to march through the field in each heat race to get a decent finish.  It will be very difficult, as there are plenty of good drivers on the grid, and getting around the relatively fast midpack guys without crashing/banging will be tough.

Date
Nov 10, 2006 1:12:00 PM
Event SuperNats X
Group S4 Spec Honda Heavy
Track
Sam Boyd Stadium (0.800 Miles)
Tasks
Best Lap Tm 58.114 In Lap 2
Best Speed 49.558 by Jeff Littrell
Pos No.
Name
  Best Tm In Lap Best Spd (Mph) Diff Gap Laps
1 95c Jeff Littrell 58.114 2 49.558     15
2 4 Kelly Baker 58.294 3 49.405 0.180 0.180 11
3 89x Paul Russell 58.342 10 49.364 0.228 0.048 16
4 42 John Espinor   58.363 4 49.346 0.249 0.021 11
5 45z Craig Sender   58.500 4 49.231 0.386 0.137 9
6 55c Doug Hayashi 58.624 1 49.127 0.510 0.124 18
7 70x Brian Pauter 58.646 6 49.108 0.532 0.022 14
8 68c Mike McClaran   58.739 4 49.030 0.625 0.093 13
9 75 John Hoppa   58.760 4 49.013 0.646 0.021 14
10 800c Wayne Mello 58.763 5 49.010 0.649 0.003 12
11 88z Scott Officer   58.950 3 48.855 0.836 0.187 13
12 64u Scott Clark 59.156 11 48.685 1.042 0.206 19
13 73 Jeff Leggitt   59.164 10 48.678 1.050 0.008 10
14 31y Chuck Allen 59.169 8 48.674 1.055 0.005 11
15 88 Wyatt King 59.201 4 48.648 1.087 0.032 12
16 64c Brian Bender   59.220 6 48.632 1.106 0.019 10
17 46 Randy Mitchell 59.224 15 48.629 1.110 0.004 15
18 66 Rob Soares   59.287 2 48.577 1.173 0.063 10
19 75z Steve Perdue 59.302 2 48.565 1.188 0.015 14
20 5z J. Andrew Sole 59.313 3 48.556 1.199 0.011 10
21 31x Marty Henderson   59.381 3 48.500 1.267 0.068 5
22 5c Michael Mihld 59.472 8 48.426 1.358 0.091 9
23 60z Randy Small   59.531 5 48.378 1.417 0.059 8
24 50 Keith Drake   59.637 8 48.292 1.523 0.106 14
25 35 Joe Tatman   59.651 10 48.281 1.537 0.014 11
26 27c Brian Ichikawa   59.831 2 48.136 1.717 0.180 10
27 12c Bryan Benso 59.865 17 48.108 1.751 0.034 17
28 71c Marc Segal 59.889 6 48.089 1.775 0.024 13
29 36c Bill Cox 1:00.188 6 47.850 2.074 0.299 16
30 31 Richard Pollum   1:00.220 7 47.825 2.106 0.032 15
31 19z Larry Kurpiewski 1:00.236 7 47.812 2.122 0.016 13
32 10c Tim McClanahan 1:00.237 3 47.811 2.123 0.001 9
33 9 David Barkley   1:01.303 2 46.980 3.189 1.066 12
34 58z Raman Sarin   1:01.998 12 46.453 3.884 0.695 14
35 50z Tim Davison 1:03.525 2 45.336 5.411 1.527 4
36 45c Fernando Diaz   --:--:--.--- 0 -     0

 


Bobby Legate wins Heat Race #1 in Stock Honda Light class.  Ribtect Girls like winners!

3:38 p.m. Friday afternoon
We go to Heat Race 1.  My strategy is that I'm on Row 3, and if I can maintain my position in all three heat races, I'll be able to grid in the 3rd row for the main.  If I try to get to 4th or 3rd, and I crash or get tangled up, then I would end up a DNF for the heat race, and I would probably start around the 11th row for the main.  So my strategy is to race clean, don't crash into anyone, don't clip a hay bale or Techpro barrier, and finish around 6th.  


Now that's a nice big grid.  Especially with me in row 3

We grid on the short front straightaway.  36 drivers all revving their motors to 12,500 RPMS for the start.  Green light comes on, and I get a good start.  I get by Craig Sender who is next to me on row 3.  The four guys in front of me, Jeff/Baker/Russell/Espinor are all running good.  I don't have a chance to pass them this heat race.  I start driving more conservatively, as I notice I got some space between me and the 6th place guy.  Might as well cruise it home and save the tires.  All I need to do is finish in this spot. 


Jeff trying to chase down Baker and Russell

Coming down the start finish, the flagger has two hands up, waving the white flag.  I interpret this as, "Hey dumbasses, you got one lap left in this race."  Unfortunately for me, what it really means is, "Hey dumbass, you have TWO laps left, not one lap".  I throttle it down even more to cruise home in 5th.  Come by start finish again, I expect to see the checker, and instead I see the flagger guy waving the white flag, signaling one more lap.  "Oh shit".  Now I got three guys on my butt.  I get moving again, and luckily hold my 5th place spot.  Jeff wins the race!  


Jeff takes pole and wins Heat Race #1.  Shit.  We need to do yoga.

Over in the Spec Honda Light class, Bobby Legate, who is also running out of the 2WildKarting tent, takes 1st!  2Wild is looking like geniuses at the moment.  Fernando and Mike McClaren have incidents on the track, and are DNFs.  They are gonna be screwed for the grid in the main heat. 


Now we look like idiots trying to meditate before the next heat race

Results of S4 Spec Honda Heavy - Heat 1
Date
Nov 10, 2006 3:38:00 PM
Event SuperNats X
Group S4 Spec Honda Heavy
Track
Sam Boyd Stadium (0.800 Miles)
Tasks
Best Lap Tm 58.089 In Lap 10
Best Speed 49.579 by Jeff Littrell
Pos No.
Name
  Laps Total Tm Diff Best Tm In Lap Best Spd (Mph)
1 95c Jeff Littrell 10 9:56.339   58.089 10 49.579
2 4 Kelly Baker 10 9:57.275 0.936 58.152 8 49.525
3 42 John Espinor   10 9:58.114 1.775 58.115 10 49.557
4 89x Paul Russell 10 9:58.457 2.118 58.184 8 49.498
5 55c Doug Hayashi 10 10:02.190 5.851 58.666 5 49.091
6 45z Craig Sender   10 10:02.540 6.201 58.306 9 49.395
7 70x Brian Pauter 10 10:02.916 6.577 58.230 7 49.459
8 800c Wayne Mello 10 10:06.287 9.948 58.266 8 49.428
9 88z Scott Officer   10 10:07.621 11.282 58.434 9 49.286
10 88 Wyatt King 10 10:08.065 11.726 58.572 9 49.170
11 73 Jeff Leggitt   10 10:10.777 14.438 58.783 7 48.994
12 64u Scott Clark 10 10:11.408 15.069 58.840 9 48.946
13 46 Randy Mitchell 10 10:11.655 15.316 58.838 8 48.948
14 64c Brian Bender   10 10:13.384 17.045 58.754 8 49.018
15 66 Rob Soares   10 10:14.290 17.951 59.067 6 48.758
16 5c Michael Mihld 10 10:15.060 18.721 58.918 5 48.881
17 35 Joe Tatman   10 10:23.253 26.914 59.465 5 48.432
18 19z Larry Kurpiewski 10 10:24.656 28.317 59.191 8 48.656
19 50 Keith Drake   10 10:30.262 33.923 1:00.330 6 47.737
20 31 Richard Pollum   10 10:30.604 34.265 1:00.271 6 47.784
21 12c Bryan Benso 10 10:31.665 35.326 1:00.066 6 47.947
22 36c Bill Cox 10 10:37.996 41.657 1:00.411 10 47.673
23 31y Chuck Allen 10 10:38.452 42.113 59.638 7 48.291
24 9 David Barkley   10 10:40.378 44.039 1:00.971 9 47.236
25 5z J. Andrew Sole 10 10:42.350 46.011 59.960 9 48.032
26 31x Marty Henderson   10 10:52.352 56.013 58.691 9 49.071
27 58z Raman Sarin   10 10:52.401 56.062 1:01.821 7 46.586
28 75z Steve Perdue 7 7:23.088 3 Laps 59.890 5 48.088
29 27c Brian Ichikawa   4 4:24.434 6 Laps 1:00.242 4 47.807
30 45c Fernando Diaz   4 4:25.436 1.002 59.585 4 48.334
31 71c Marc Segal 4 4:58.617 34.183 1:00.912 4 47.281
32 68c Mike McClaran   2 2:14.114 8 Laps 1:00.706 2 47.442
33 75 John Hoppa   2 2:28.899 14.785 1:00.509 2 47.596
34 50z Tim Davison 1 1:33.160 9 Laps 1:18.550 1 36.665
35 10c Tim McClanahan 1 2:08.884 35.724 1:55.206 1 24.999
36 60z Randy Small   0 12.635 10 Laps --:--:--.--- 0 -   -
 

Friday Night
Jeff, Sunni, Wayne, Jason S. and I go to see The Who at Mandalay bay.  We scored some pretty good tickets in the loge area two sections away from the stage.  The Who really wasn't my first choice.  Prince was playing at the 3121 Club at the Rio, and I thought that would be the hot ticket for the weekend.   Prince had a great comeback from obscurity two years ago, and I thought it would be cool to see him in a small club.  Unfortunately, scalpers wanted $300 a pop for the tickets. So we opted to go for the Who, and bought the tickets from the Mandalay Box Office.


The Who blow out the windows at Mandalay Bay.  Pete jumps around like a teenager

I've seen the Who about seven or eight times before, but last time I saw them was probably 15 years ago.  Back then, I was sorta disappointed as I was expecting them to be even better, but I guess they needed Keith Moon on drums to live up to their reputation as a great live band.  I mean, back then, they were still good, but I was kinda hoping they would be the best I ever seenThe Pretenders were opening for them, so that seems like a great opening band.  Unfortunately, the ticket said 8 p.m. on it, and the Pretenders actually came out at 8 p.m. and there was only about 20% of the people were in the arena by then.  Still The Pretenders were pretty good, despite the lack of crowd energy.


Turn 1 can get a little packed on the start

The Who came on stage, and they were playing like they realized that they may be old farts, but they have a reputation to uphold.  Kinda like me, Wayne, and Jeff.  They came out and played like their life depended on this set, and were very entertaining and animated.    Roger Daltrey is 62 years old, and Pete Townshend is 61.  Holy shit, they would kick ass in the Old and Heavy Class of Rock and Roll Performers, and take down 95% of the bands in the Young and Light class.  After the concert, I win another $100 bucks at the blackjack table, up $425 for the weekend.  Hey, maybe I can make enough to pay for my entry fee!


In the cold pit, revving motors

Saturday, November 11, 2006
Today we have a morning practice, and two heat races.  I blaze into the 57's with a 57.8.  Except I recharged my transponder last night and forgot to put it on, so it didn't appear on the timesheet.  So much for trying to intimidate the competition.  It would have been 2nd fastest time in the session, with Jeff the quickest by a few tenths.   Jason Trumpio flys in, and is the official Pulp Racing News Photographer.  He will click off about 2000 pictures over the course of the weekend with his new digital gizmo, with most of the ones on this page from him, and a few from Bob Legate and Chris Ortenburger


The Pulp Train moving down the track

Heat Race #2
I tell Wayne that if we maintain our positions, we will be looking good for the main.  I explicitly tell him to not do anything crazy, as the goal is to finish around where we are at, and we got a shot at the podium in the main. Waiting for the green light to come on (it will come on between one and five seconds), I anticipate wrong and jump the start and the kart moves about six inches, so I stop the kart, and re-engage the clutch.  Unfortunately, the green light comes on as I'm re-engaging, and McClaran and Pauter blow by me from row 4.  Arrgh!   Wayne said it appeared to him like they jumped the start.


Loren is 65 years old.  Runs 1:07's at Moran.  Ribtect girls think that is so cool!

A few laps later, Jeff is building up a big lead, but clips the Techpro barrier at the apex and spins coming onto the back straight.  I told him to leave a few inches. That's gonna hurt him.  Ha ha.  Eleven people pass him.  About seven laps later, Jeff dives in on me on a second gear turn.  Damn!  Jeff is bummed that he spun, but he fought his way back to 5th spot after the spin.  It was real important for him to do that, because he wants to stay on the front row for the main race.   With a couple of laps left, some idiot bumps me on the side coming onto the back straight. 


I hate it when Wayne is in front of me

It's Wayne!  I'm gonna kill him.  If he would’ve taken us both out, we would’ve been screwed for the main.  I stay on his butt, staying just far enough away so that in case he spins or hits a barrier I don't crash into him.  Wayne takes 8th place, and I take 9th in this heat race.

Results of S4 Spec Honda Heavy - Heat 2
Date
Nov 11, 2006 11:30:00 AM
Event SuperNats X
Group S4 Spec Honda Heavy
Track
Sam Boyd Stadium (0.800 Miles)
Tasks
Pos No.
Name
  Laps Total Tm Diff Best Tm In Lap Best Spd (Mph)
1 89x Paul Russell 10 11:18.754   58.323 10 49.380
2 4 Kelly Baker 10 11:20.143 1.389 58.352 6 49.356
3 42 John Espinor   10 11:20.336 1.582 58.342 5 49.364
4 68c Mike McClaran   10 11:22.710 3.956 58.199 7 49.485
5 95c Jeff Littrell 10 11:22.896 4.142 57.876 5 49.762
6 45z Craig Sender   10 11:23.453 4.699 58.537 8 49.200
7 75 John Hoppa   10 11:23.724 4.970 58.402 8 49.313
8 800c Wayne Mello 10 11:24.197 5.443 58.385 5 49.328
9 55c Doug Hayashi 10 11:24.550 5.796 58.486 8 49.243
10 64u Scott Clark 10 11:25.322 6.568 58.356 7 49.352
11 88z Scott Officer   10 11:25.804 7.050 58.345 8 49.362
12 88 Wyatt King 10 11:26.206 7.452 58.524 7 49.211
13 46 Randy Mitchell 10 11:27.866 9.112 58.453 9 49.270
14 31y Chuck Allen