Yellow Fin Kart Engines News

The Passing Of A Friend

2008-12-14T08:51:00.000-08:00

It is with the saddest of hearts that I have to write this today, last night I found out that a close family friend had passed away before his time. Yesterday morning Steve Smith, former OVKA Board Member and Sponsor of Courtney Hannah was found deceased at his home, my only hope is that Steve did not suffer in anyway for he is truly a person that didn't deserve to.

Over the past few years my dad had become very close to Steve, I would pretty much consider them the best of friends, for those of you that didn't know Steve personally, he was a racing fan thru and thru, Steve took it upon himself to take Courtney Hannah under his wing after the tragic death of her father in a racing accident, and it was Steve's efforts and finances that took Courtney through her Go-Kart Racing endeavours and onto a promising Car Racing career.

Steve Smith was a great man, he was caring and devoted to the people in his life and also to the sport of racing that he loved so much, it is a real tragedy that more people didn't get the opportunity to get to know Steve the way my family and I were able to over the last several years and I know that he will be sorely missed by everyone that knew and loved him.

Godspeed Steve we will all be awaiting the day that we can see you again. Rest In Peace My friend.

2008-11-17T11:44:00.000-08:00

Well 2008 season is pretty much over and for us here at Yellow Fin Performance engines it was a pretty successful one. There is no doubt that the TaG class at the WKA Manufacturers Cup was the most prestigious and competitive class of the year, and I am very proud to announce that it was a Yellow Fin prepared Sonik TX that took home the Championship.

At the beginning of the 2008 season I was excited to find out that I was going to team up with Chris Larson, one of the best drivers in the country, to compete in the premiere class at the Manufacturers Cup, TaG. I knew that the combination of Chris's ample driving skills, First Karts Chassis's and tuning expertise, and the reliable Horsepower that the Yellow Fin Performance Engines tuned Sonik provided, would be a formidable trio, and it proved to be the right combination to bring home the title.

I knew it was going to be a dogfight all season with an absolutely stunning array of drivers competing in the class, and despite a season fraught with adversity, and a competition level second to none the title of WKA Manufactures Cup TaG Champion is ours to enjoy.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank the people that made this possible, first I would like to that Chris and Mike Larson Jr. for their hard work and dedication without them none of this would have been possible, Next I would like to thank the entire First Kart North America team for their support throughout the season, it's not easy to win a championship and without the hard work of these people it wouldn't have been possible.

I am looking forward to 2009 and can't wait to get things started again.

Francis

Yellow Fin Performance Engines Impress At Lowes Manufacturers Cup

2008-03-05T13:07:00.000-08:00

For Immediate Release March 5, 2008

Yellow Fin Performance Engines Impress At Lowes Manufacturers Cup

It was an impressive weekend for Yellow Fin Performance Engines at Lowes Motor Speedway in Concord, North Carolina this past weekend, racking up 8 out of 10 top five finishes with 6 of those being top 3.

Following a great showing at Daytona, Yellow Fin Performance Engines stormed into Lowes Motor Speedway with their sights set on improving an already fabulous start to the year. Leading the team of Yellow Fin tuned First Kart Chassis was Chris Larson who fielded entries in six high profile senior division classes including the incredibly competitive TaG class. Chris’s solid weekend that included 3rd place finishes in both Yamaha Lite and Heavy, a 4th place in Yamaha Sr. Sportsman Lite and a 2nd place finish in TaG 1 on Saturday was toped off by a dominating performance in TaG 2 where he took his Yellow Fin Performance tuned Sonik to the pole, a pre-final win and finally to the top spot on the podium in the final completing his sweep of the day to take home the victory.

Spencer Pigot’s excellent performance in HPV Jr. lite and heavy classes, 11th and 4th respectively, was overshadowed by his performances in the Yamaha Jr. Can Lite and Heavy classes which could only be classified and dominating, Spencer took his Yellow Fin Performance Engines tuned Yamaha to the top step on the podium in both classes winning both prefinals and both finals, what made it even more impressive was in Yamaha Jr. Heavy on Saturday a first turn altercation in the final pushed Spencer back to the 9th in the first turn, but with grit and determination Spencer fought his way back to 3rd with 6 laps to go but a 2 plus second deficit loomed large, pulling off the nearly impossible Spencer took the lead with 3 laps to go and never looked back.

When asked to coment on the weekend Yellow Fin Performance Engines founder and patriarch Gerald Whaling had this to say, “We are truly blessed to be involved with such a great group of people, without great drivers and unbelievable Chassis none of this would have been possible, Chris and Spencer did a wonderful job not only on the track but also off the track their feedback was invaluable. It is wonderful to work with such a professional team as First Kart USA their experience and tuning abilities were the key to our successful weekend, without their support none of this would have been possible. I am so happy with the results and and am truly looking forward to continued success throughout 2008.”

Yellow Fin performance Engines has already started preparations for the next event in Dousman,Wisconsin where they plan on continuing a run at several Championships.

For more information contact Yellow Fin Performance Engines at 937-743-4433.

Moving Towards The Future

2007-10-25T11:59:00.000-07:00

Well as some of you know we here at Yellow Fin/PKP are moving to a new location and man let me tell you does this ever suck, a person never realizes how much stuff they actually accumulate over the years untill they actually have to pick it all up and move it, it's a very overwelming experience to say the least.

Our new location will only be a few short miles from our current location, in the quaint little town of Carlisle Ohio at 375 Industry Drive Unit I, 45005. The move to a new location is just one of many changes that will be taking place around here, we are also in negotiations right now to begin promoting another brand of Kart Chassis, of course I am not allowed to say too much about this right now due to the fact that nothing has been finalized but we will begin testing in the very near future.

Also on the agenda for us in the weeks to come is to start planning out the season next year, and for us to decide which races and race series that we will be attending, as always we will be in attendance at all of the WKA Manufacturer's Cup races and as of this very moment we are also planning on being at every Ohio Valley Karting Association event as well. We will also be trying very hard to attend as many other races that we possibly can which may include trips to MSOKC (Circleville), KRA (New Castle), as well as select Divisional and Stars Of Karting events. As you can see it will be a busy off season for us and an even busier Racing season.

Well folks I hate to cut this one short since it has been forever since my last post but I must get back to packing boxes and throwing stuff out that I will hopefully never need, I will try to keep this page a little more up to date in the future so keep checking here for all the latest updates.

Francis

My 2 Cents On The Ohio Valley Karting Association

2007-04-18T11:28:00.000-07:00

I was talking with one of our customers today (Ray) about the state of our local kart club and the state of Kart Racing in general and that conversation has prompted me to write this post, I realize that it has been a while since my last post but there really hasn't been a whole lot going on that was very interesting.

Don't get me wrong I think that the OVKA is a great organization the competition is amongst the best in the country and the people that race it are some of the nicest people you could ever want to meet, the problem I see is a lack of promotion and the miss appropriation of funds that could be spent in other areas...............Now before anybody starts firing up their phones to start yelling at me hear me out first.

Let me try to break this down so that it will be easy to follow where I am going with this..............the first point I would like to address is the expenditures at the annual Banquet held to celebrate the Champions of the series, there is an insane amount of money spent each and every year at this event and I feel that it is money wasted, for example in 2005 I personally raced in the TaG class at OVKA and achieved the 100% participation award at the Banquet. Now after spending thousands of dollars to race the season I was looking forward to winning a nice prize for my efforts, however after my random drawing for my prize I was awarded a L&T Mini Clutch (Don't get me wrong here the L&T clutches are excellent and well worth the money) which due to the fact that I raced TaG was absolutely useless for me and in a similar situation Victor Hartings who was the Yamaha Light Champion that year won a single disc L&T wet clutch that he still to this day has never used because he has no use for it.

Now I am all for giving people an award or a prize but why not give them something that they can use instead of a dust collector sitting on the shelf, well here is my suggestion instead of the club purchasing a bunch of prizes that people may or may not use or need (A helmet that is 3 sizes too small is one that comes to mind) why not make a list of kart shops and series sponsors that the competitor can chose from and issue them a gift certificate for example

Position Award Breakdown ($values for sake of argument only)
First Place................$400
Second Place............$300
Third Place..............$200
Fourth Place............$100

List of available Sponsors/Shops
Appco
Staffords Racing
Slattery Racing
Yellow Fin/PKP
Comet Kart sales
Liberty Sports Wear
American Power Sports
Russell Karting
so on and so forth..................

Now a competitor that finished in first place in his or her class could choose the shop or supplier or sponsor that they want the certificate for for example say the driver and his or her team really wanted some personalized race apparel then the certificate could be issued to Liberty Sportswear and they would have $400 to spent on some hats or shirts of their choice instead of a prize that they may never use.............sounds simple to me, of course the dollar values and the position pay back that I have given will change due to participation in the class but I think you get the idea.

Rick Coombs (bless his heart) spends hours every year arranging for and ordering all of these prizes that are given out and on top of that has to find a way to get the stuff to the banquet, with a system like I have suggested this could be greatly reduced and could take alot of the burden of planning the banquet away.

The other point of contention that I have is advertising I feel that it is time for OVKA to start promoting itself to the local media, Newspapers, Radio Stations and possibly even Television, if OVKA would allocate 5 to 10 thousand dollars a year to advertising in the local media it could potentially boost the interest in karting tremendously, why not run a half page add in several local news papers one Sunday every month during the season, advertise the races make it sound exciting give detailed directions include a couple of really cool pictures that are eye catching make it seem like the next best thing to sliced bread this would generate interest in Karting from people that may not have ever heard of it and with the popularity of NASCAR there are alot of people out there that might be interested in an affordable substitute.

I hear on Radio stations all the time where they are broadcasting live from a location like a restaurant opening, why not at the race track could you imagine "We are here live at G&J Kartways in Camden Ohio for the annual Mid Season Championship Race, the action is wheel to wheel folks and hey bring the Kids for a free Hot Dog and a Soda" wouldn't that be cool to hear on local radio and even if nobody showed up there would be thousands that would hear it and think hey Go-Kart racing I wonder what that's all about...................Bingo potential new Karter.

I think that with a 5 to 10 thousand dollar budget that all of this is possible and with some 30 to 40 thousand being spent on the Banquet each and every year cut backs could easily free up the funds needed to get this done. Television could also come into play as well all of the time spent by local news talking about local sports yet Karting is never ever mentioned and I think it's mostly because they don't know how big and competitive Karting is, OVKA could arrange a media day at the track and invite all local media over on a VIP package to watch a race offer free meal and refreshments and potentially rides in Karts, I am not guaranteeing that this will work but why not give it a shot there is no harm in trying.

I would love some feedback on this so feel free to post a comment or I would be happy to talk to anybody this weekend at the first race I will see you all there.

Francis

Chassis Set Up Volume 1

2007-02-09T13:03:00.000-08:00

Sorry it's been so long since my last post but it has been a little crazy around here in the past few weeks but I will try to keep the posts coming (Hopefully somebody is reading this, otherwise it's kinda like talking to yourself ;) ) in a more timely manner.

Today I have decided to start a multi part series that will cover various Chassis setup changes and how they react. I think the best place to start is to explain the axle and it's components.

Because a Go-Kart Chassis does not have a suspension like a car and uses the torsional characteristics of the frame itself as a suspension the axle becomes a very important part of the equation that makes a go-kart function.

First off let me explain the most important thing that you need to know, because a Go-Kart has a solid or live rear axle it is very important that during cornering both rear wheels are not on the ground at the same time. Everybody needs to understand that the majority of street cars on the road today have what is called a differential in the rear end, this component allows the inside tire during cornering to spin slower then the outside tire which has to cover more distance to get to the same point.

In Go-Kart racing we don't have the luxury of a differential so in order to prevent tire scrubbing (commonly known as a tight condition) it is important to unload the inside tire during cornering. Axle stiffness plays a crucial part of accomplishing this task because it allows you to adjust the grip that the rear of the kart produces.

The stiffer the axle the harder the weight transfer of the chassis forces the tire into the ground which increases the grip at the tire, conversely when you run a softer axle the weight transfer of the chassis is deflected through the flex of the axle therefor putting less pressure on the tire decreasing the tires grip.

A good way to test and find out which direction that you need to go is by using different length rear hubs or by adding or subtracting axle locking collars, shorter hubs allow the axle to flex more and will decrease rear grip and a longer hub or adding an axle collar will increase the rear grip so for a quick change between practice sessions one can add or subtract a little grip and see what is faster or slower, for example if you go from medium hubs to short hubs and see an improvement in performance then you might want to try one step softer axle with the medium hubs and see what happens.

Wheels will also affect the amount of grip that you have if you use a stiff wheel like a cast aluminium wheel it will have alot more grip then a soft wheel like a spun Douglas, Magnesium wheels dissipate heat better then aluminium ones which will allow the Kart to go longer laps before overheating the tire which keeps the chassis faster longer.

Different track configurations and conditions will dictate whether a soft axle or a hard axle will be faster and only track testing and keeping good records will help you make the right decision on any given day.

I hope I have explained this so that everyone understands but if I didn't feel free to leave me a note in the comments section a and I will be happy to answer your questions in another post.

Thanks to all those reading this and I will be posting Chassis Set Up Volume 2 in the near future so keep checking.

Francis

Chassis, Chassis Everywhere

2007-01-18T10:32:00.000-08:00

The chassis market in Go-Kart racing has been inundated in the last few years with a multitude of different Chassis brands and models to choose from, this makes it increasingly more and more difficult to choose the Kart that is right for you and your application.

That being said I thought it might be a good idea to set forth some guidelines that may help the new and veteran karters alike to choose a new chassis.

The first of many things to consider is what is the class that you are going to race, there are many variables that will ultimately determine this such as age of driver, location, experience level, size of driver, tires to be run and last but not least type of engine you plan on running. the best advice that I can give you here is "Do Your Research". Before you rush out and purchase anything do some solid research, attend some local events and ask a lot of questions and be realistic about your skill and experience level, it is never a good idea for a new karter to jump straight into a 125cc Shifter kart, that is a recipe for disaster.

Generally speaking most local clubs and kart shops can help out a lot with steering you in the right direction, popular classes vary from area to area so to buy a HPV powered kart to race in a predominately Yamaha market would be foolish.

Next is age group and drivers size, (these usually go hand in hand) younger drivers are usually smaller in size then older drivers so if you are purchasing a Kart for a 60 pound 9 year old it will need completely different characteristics then a kart being bought for a 200 pound 20 year old. Here is a quick rule of thumb for this problem, the smaller the driver the more flexible the chassis will need to be (28mm tubing or equivalent) if the driver is of a medium size then the chassis will need to be a little stiffer (30 mm tubing or equivalent or a combination of 28mm and 30 mm) and if the driver is large in size 200 plus pounds then you will likely need a fairly stiff Chassis (32mm tubing or equivalent or a combination of 30mm and 32mm tubing)

Once you have determined what class and engine that you want to run now you have to find a vendor and a brand, it is my experience that all chassis brands when you have the appropriate model will work and be fast so the best advice I can give you here is to find a vendor that is close by, has a good reputation and provides at the track service in your area and purchase your equipment from them, again do some research ask around at the track and see what the other racers have to say about the local kart shops, and steer clear of "Fly By Night" shops that may or may not be around to help you when you need it.

Buying a Go-Kart Chassis can be an intimidating process and because of the rather large dollar value that is associated with it you definitely want to make the right decision when you finally make the purchase so like I said do your research and be a smart consumer visit as many tracks and shops as you can and talk to as many people as possible and then make your decision this will help ensure that your karting experience a lot more enjoyable.

To find a list of importers and dealers in your area visit the web site www.kartfinder.com it will provide you with every brand and a list of dealers and give you links to their respective web pages.

Good luck with your search.

Francis

Cost Of Karting On The Rise

2007-01-10T07:34:00.000-08:00

I recently had a revalation about how expensive the cost of Kart Racing was getting, with the rise of a more European format here in the USA (Classes like ICA,ICC and JICA) the cost of racing is going through the roof.

With the European style classes gaining momentum her in America the demand for overseas equiptment has gone up substantially when you couple that with the current value of the Euro Dollar compared to the American Dollar you end up with rediculously expensive replacement parts not only for Chassis but for Engines as well.

As an engine builder I see what the cost is on replacment engine parts and a recent parts order for a Vortex ICC engine absolutely blew me away. The cost of these parts was shocking to say the least with a bare connecting rod costing $321.00 and a set of reeds at $119.00 just to name a few. To me this seems like an insane amout of money but relatively speeking when compared to other forms of motorsport it's expensive but not too bad.

My purpose for writing this is not to discourage new people from wanting to enter into Karting but to inform people that Karting is a diverse sport that will accomodate almost any budget. Not all forms of Kart racing are as expensive, for example, an individual can purchase a ready to roll Yamaha equiped used Chassis for somewhere aroud $2500.00 add on about another $1500.00 for some equiptment and gear and for around $4000.00 you have a ready to race package that will provide nearly foolproof operation and an incredible amount of fun.

Here is a quick list of some things a person would need to get started in the sport of Go-Kart Racing.............

1...............Appropriate Chassis for the class you decide to race(Should include tires,wheels and the appropriate size seat)

2...............An Engine to go with the Chassis (A complete engine including proper exhaust, clutch and intake silencer)
(Usually best to buy a Package deal that is allready assembled with engine and chassis together)

3..............Starter for the engine

4.............Kart stand(preferably with wheels) makes working on your new Kart alot more enjoyable

5.............Assortment of oils and lubricants(Chain lube, engine oil,clutch oil etc.)

6............ (optional for starters) Assortment of spare parts like gears, chain, extra wheels and tires and some spare chassis parts like spindles tie rods and axles

7...........Driver equiptment like a drivers suit, helmet, shoes, gloves rib vest and a neck collar.

Of course this is a fraction of what can be collected by a veteran racer over the years but this is more then enough to get a new Karter started. I hope this will give you an idea of what is required to get a good start to an enjoyable Karting experience because believe me it is an experience worth every penny.

Francis

Play Time's Over..........Back To The Grind

2007-01-03T08:02:00.000-08:00

Well I had a wonderful holidays this year, with the absence of a WKA race over Christmas it gave me some well deserved time to relax, and believe me I needed it. Spent alot of time with Family, Friends and my Girlfriend and her Family which was thuroughly enjoyable.

We have gotten busy here at Yellow Fin Performance Engines lately which is a really good thing because it wasn't looking too good for a little while, but now the engines are rolling in and it looks like the 2007 season is underway.

A little advice to everybody out there, get your engines rebuilt early, we are offering a 10% discount on the labor charges for all complete engine rebuilds and engine blueprints thru March of 2007. I highly reccomend that you take advantage of this offer, not only is this the best time of year to have this work done but now you can get it for a discount as well......... What a deal.

2007 is underway and I want to wish everybody a Happy New Year, I hope your holidays were as fun and exciting as mine, so from my Family to yours Best Of Luck In 2007.

Francis

Christmas Is Almost Here

2006-12-22T11:14:00.000-08:00

December the 22, just 3 more days until Christmas.............I love this time of year, although not a big fan of the cold weather I love the Christmas holidays, I like everything but probably the thing I love the most is just seeing the excitement in all of the youngsters eyes.

Christmas reminds me of the importance of family and friends.I personally have family coming into town on the 23rd so it will be fun times around the Whaling family home this holidays.

I was just talking to Tim Shaw this morning and he mentioned how strange it was not to be preparing to go to a race this time of year, and it got me to thinking when the last time I had a relaxing stay at home Christmas holidays and to the best of my recollection it was in 1988, which I believe was the first time I travelled to Florida to race.

Karting has been such a huge part of my life over the past 32 years, and I have come to the decision that it is without a doubt the best family sport ever. No where else can every member of a family become so involved with a sport. Sports like Baseball, Football and Hockey are all individual family sports where one member competes and everyone else watches. In Karting every young driver needs a mechanic, which generally becomes Dad, and a data keeper to collect and keep track of all pertinent information, which usually becomes Mom's job.

Aunts, Uncles,Grandparents and even Siblings will all find their places on the karting team, it is a wonderful site to see the team work that it takes on any given weekend to have success in this sport, and to see a family unit come together like that is a wonderful thing.

I miss not going to a race this holiday season but not having one to attend reminded me how much I missed spending the holidays with my family as well................So Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to everybody out there and I hope you have as much enjoyment as I plan on having, doing nothing and spending time with Family and Friends.

Francis

Progression In Racing

2006-12-21T07:29:00.000-08:00

It seems that a drivers progression into big time motorsports has more to do with dollars then talent these days, even the sport of Kart Racing is getting more and more expensive to compete at a high level.

There is an abundance of young driving talent in America right now but the problem is there are too few rides available, and the extremely high costs of racing in the big time are just too high for the majority of the people to afford.

It is a shame to see this talent go to waste strictly because of financial restraints but that seems to be the nature of the beast. On a positive note, with the emergence of television shows like Jack Roush's The Gong Show it seems like this trend may start to turn around. Although I never really have been a huge fan of reality television this is an unprecedented idea in motorsports.............Find some talented drivers and make them race for the ride............Brilliant.............It is my wish that more and more teams would undertake this type of talent search.

I feel that the drivers that we have in North America rival that of anywhere in the world, but racing it seems, is taken alot more seriously in other parts of the world, like Europe, and drivers begin their training at a much younger age then they do here. It's a lifestyle, here in America it's Football, look at the variety of levels of play that a young boy can do starting at the very young age. In countries like Italy, Germany and France Racing is so extremely popular that us North Americans can't even imagine.

Around 1995 or 1996 I had the opportunity to travel to the Karting World Championships in Lonato Italy, and let me tell you this was an experience like no other, there were 50 000 spectators at a Go-Kart race. This amazed me because I was used to seeing maybe 20 spectators here in the US. I actually had the privilege of meeting two people from Germany that had been backpacking across Europe for a couple of months just to attend some races, and yes believe it or not the Karting World Championships was one of them.

It amazed me that these two people actually ranked the Kart race up there with the Formula 1 race at Monza, and the Italian leg of the Moto GP as a must attend event..................However it seemed that 50 000 people agreed with them.

Racing is a very fickle sport, sometimes I think it would be easier to become an astronaut and land on the moon then it would be to land a seat in a race car and that is a shame, an American Race car driver is a rare occurrence anymore in open wheel racing and that is a huge disappointment to me because I feel it is a huge waste of our talented drivers.

Francis

Yellow Fin Engines Awards Day

2006-12-20T06:45:00.000-08:00

You see it all the time on TV, they have Awards shows for everything now, Music, Movies, Television, just to name a few, so I thought I would give out a few cudos myself.

Junior Driver Of The Year................Christian Pahud.........(Thunderous Applause)..............What a year for Christian 2 WKA National Championships, in 2 of the toughest classes out there. Absolutely fantastic if you ask me.

Most Improved Junior Driver................Sterling Shaw........(Thunderous Applause).......... Sterling drove his Butt off all year and showed consistant progress all season. Starting with new equiptment (again) for 2006 Sterling beat the learning curve and posted impresive finishes in the WKA as well as an OVKA Championship in the toughest class by far. Way to go Sterling I can't wait for 2007.

Junior Sportsman Driver Of The Year..............Chase Stempfley........(Thunderous Applause)................ This was Chase's season, he dominated the Junior Sportsman class at OVKA in 2006 taking home the Championship with ease. His consistency is scary and he will definately be one to watch in 2007. Excellent job Chase, howabout we do it again in 2007.

Junior Sportsman Most Improved Driver................Shinya Michimi............(Thunderous Applause)............. I have had my eye on this Hot Shoe for a while now and have seen nothing but improvement from him the whole time. His race craft has improved as well as his consistency, although he lacks a little aggression at times he will be a threat to win races in 2007. Watch out for this driver everybody he will be in the hunt.

Masters Driver Of The Year............Rick Coombs..........(Thunderous Applause)............. Rick is the man, His crafty race sence is only out done by his consistency. Rick struggled early with a weight issue but was still almost always the man to beat. A little weight loss later and he was lights out for the rest of the season. Heck of a job Rick next year should be even better.

Most Improved Masters Driver............ Doug Stempfley.........(Thunderous Applause)........Despite a rash of bad luck that seemed to strike all season long Doug still just missed the OVKA Championship.
If Doug could get a little more luck you Masters drivers better watch out cause this dude can fly.

Family Of The Year,,,,,,,,,,,,,,The Horn Family..............(Thunderous Applause)...............John, Maria and Olivia definately won this one hands down. This Family loves to race, their passion is fueled by Dad John an ex Motorcycle racer. Maria the Mom is the Anchor, the Rock of the family.......OK shes the Boss and a darn good one at that. And last but certainly not least is Rookie Sportsman Racer Olivia, She might be a rookie but you boys had better watch out.

Hard Luck Award...............Victor Hartings...........(Not So Thunderous Applause, Nobody Wants To Win This One).................Sorry Vic but I had to give you this one. Man what a Season, coming off of an OVKA Championship in 2005 Vic was looking good going into 2006 but with a seemingly endless string of bad luck and bent equiptment 2006 went to the crapper.................Untill the Tag Worlds at NCMP where Vic scored a second place in the TaG Expert class..............Finally some redemption.........Don't worry about it Buddy we'll get them next year.

That's all for now folks if I come up with any wore I will post them later untill then congratulations to all of these drivers and to everyone good luck in 2007.

Francis

3 Day Weekend

2006-12-19T07:19:00.000-08:00

Well i'm back......................It's Tuesday morning and here I am back at work, I took Monday off to get my Christmas shoping done, WOW, were the stores ever busy, and the streets too.................What a crazy time of year.

Man I have to vent here a little.....................What happened to My Bengals...........They sucked last night, and did it on national TV, God that was embarrassing to say the least.

Maybe I could use this time to give everybody some tips for storing your racing engines for the winter time (A little late, but you know what they say 'Better late then never"). And since there isn't much going on in the racing world these days there is no time like the present.

Let's say for example that you race a Yamaha KT100 engine (Although these techniques will work with any engine) the first thing you should have done was "FOG" the engine with some oil.................Now hold on let me explain what I mean here............With the engine on the chassis and everything connected you would remove the airbox from the engine, after that start the engine up and keep it running with one hand while you squirt oil (Any oil will do even some 10W30) into the Carburetor with the other, this process will completely coat the inside of the engine with a thin film of oil.

Once you have that job accomplished you can remove the engine from the Kart and thuroughly clean the outside of the engine and remove all grease and oil (If left on for long periods of time these deposits can stain the aluminium at a detriment to the engines appearance). now with that out of the way all you have to do is find a nice cosy place to keep the engine that will limit drastic temperature changes that cause condensation inside the engine that will eventually cause the engine to rust.

Well that's all I have right now so I hope you all enjoy the tip for the day and I will be back later with more thoughts and tips.

Bye for now.

Francis

Thank God It's Friday

2006-12-15T08:49:00.000-08:00

Thank God Its Friday.................I can almost hear that being shouted out all over the country.

It seems like it was just yesterday that I was sitting in the Pits at Michiana Raceway park for the World Karting Association national race,sweating my butt off wishing for some cooler weather......It's funny how time flies, and the cold weather that we are sure to get might make one sorry for what they wish for ;)

Kart racing is always on my mind, heck it's what I do for a living it has to be on my mind, but recently I have been trying to think of ways to promote not only my business but the sport of Go-Kart racing as well. Now I haven't actually come up with anything brilliant yet but if I do I will most certainly let you all know.
Along with this same train of though I got to wondering why Go-Kart Racing isn't more nationally promoted, I mean come on people ESPN can air Professional Bowling on television but they can't bother to air a Go-Kart race every once in a great while.

Kart racing holds events in several of the same venues as NASCAR with yearly events at both Lowes Motor Speedway and Daytona Intl. Speedway. With that said, where is the respect that this sport deserves and why does Go-Kart racing not get much national airtime? ........................... I don't have the answer to that question but hopefully the success that the Snap On Stars Of Karting presented by the Indy Racing league is having will convince other major series to pitch in and help promote Kart Racing into the future.

Well everybody it's almost a new year.

2006-12-14T13:01:00.000-08:00

2006 is almost over and 2007 is just around the corner, I hope everyone is doing well this holiday season, I know things around here are a little slow this time of the year, but hey it gave me time to start a Blog ;)

I had alot of fun in 2006, there was alot of racing to do all over the country and my engines saw alot of success across the board. I got the chance to work with several of the top drivers in the country like Casey Neal, Chris Keller, Chris Larson, Christian Pahud, Anthony Lliopiz and many many others. I also had the privelige of getting the chance to work with several top teams in the country including J3 Competition, Prime Motorsports and the Margay Factory team just to name a few.

This is the first post on my Blog so I will keep it short, but I would like to take this opportunity to thank everybody that was part of our team for making this year such a huge success.

Talk at you later.

Francis