Tillsonburg Outlaws.
History was made this week, but first lets get to the beginners.
Paige Smith and Logan Lapierre-Cassie continue to battle it out for first each race and usually by nights end there is only a point separating the two. As was the case this week with Paige coming out on top. #16 Aubry Smith continues to improve and could be threatening for a win by summers end. This class does need a few more entries after several beginners graduated up to Junior so if you know any aspiring young racers, please put a bug in their (or their parents) ear. Starting mid season is still possible. This class is being Sponsored by Tillsonburg Lubricare and I know they would like to give away a LOT of trophies, so get those young racers out to the track.
This week the Juniors started out with a bang. Into the wall that is. The sprint race hardly got going before Tom Pellizzari and Aiden Maynard locked karts and neither wanted to lift to avoid what followed. Apparently throttle control was not considered quickly enough by either driver and after swinging wide, both gave the plywood wall a good test. It is unusual that wrecks in Tillsonburg take a kart out but both sat the rest of the night due to mechanical issues. It seemed not backing down was the theme of the night in the Juniors as Nick Sheridan, Rayse Meyer and Scott Hall did some wheel locking of their own but all managed to avoid the wall and disaster. Did I mention that racing is a lot about going fast but when everyone is fast, other tactics come into play somewhat. These drivers are all experimenting with the success and failure rates of different on track strategies and it does make for some tense parents. It's all good and in time they will be ready to take on the Seniors who are even more, hmmmm, aggressive.
At nights end, Scott Hall and Kyle McGlone were tied for first followed by Sheridan and Meyer. (Tom Pellizzari leads the series)
Speaking of Seniors, it seems team McGlone from Union has found the recipe for success as # 6 Eric McGlone found himself sitting in first place this week despite some tough competition from Bea Courtnage and Katherine Summers who finished 2nd and 3rd. With such a large and skilled field that we currently have in the Seniors, I have to note that the 35 lap feature race went caution free. Some spectators wonder how that is possible but despite some of their on track antics, this group has their "stuff" together and have either dished it out or been on the receiving end of the dish, and they are able to deal with it without taking themselves or someone else out of the race. ( for the most part, anyway) If you threw a bunch of Tigers in a cage, you wouldn't expect them to all lay down and purr, now would you? (Jacob Sheridan currently sits in first for the series)
Now for the making history part. Hannah Ferrell, despite it being a curvy road to get here, is the first member who has gone through each of our divisions to end up running in the Experts. Back in 2008, during our first full season of Outlaw kart racing, Hannah Ferrell was considerably smaller and learning how to drive in the Beginner class in a homemade kart. Things have changed since then. Parents considered 5 or 6 karts as being the maximum on the track and that the power limitation surely was already high with the Senior class at 11 hp. With the skill level and karts that we had back then, they may have been right, but we had other things up our sleeve. Convinced that with better karts and more experienced drivers, we could push these limits forward by a considerable amount. Currently using 70 hp, and up to 16 karts on the track at once, things have changed in the Expert division. Hannah is the first to have survived the "trained" in Tillsonburg system with a foray at Ohsweken. How did it turn out? Hannah set fast lap time in qualifying and again managed to set fast lap in the 30 lap feature. She finished just out of the top 3 so for a first night run, pretty darn good. Wouldn't you know, the only other girl in the class took first overall with Holly Porter winning followed by Scott Kelly and Cody Coburn who tied for 2nd. That's really close to the 3 house karts getting pushed out of the top three. Guess I have to go back on a diet. (Cody Coburn currently sits in first for the series).
Dave Chesterman.
Chesterman Power Products
Tillsonburg Indoor MX
Tillsonburg Outlaw Kart Club
www.chesterman.ca519-842-5977
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