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Jeff Braun reports:
Tracc 5 continued to have good practice sessions leading up
to the races at
the WKA National championships in Charlotte, NC. Colin drove so
well in the Cadet class today that only one driver was
able to come within a second of his lap time. Tracc 5 is the only
team to have the GCT engine and Jolly Cadet chassis combination.
Colin drove one short session in the Yamaha kart to
check it out for the
Sunday race and set a time in the top four for the two days of
practice. In the one HPV practice session, Colin ran a
lap 0.4 seconds faster than his Thursday best time to keep him
at the top of the time sheet in this class.
In all three classes Colin will be fighting with Mike Geasson
from New
York. Mike is also 10 years old and has set times near the top
of the list in every class. In the Yamaha class, C.R. Crews of
Texas has run very well and may be the guy to beat. Others to
watch are Corry Reves of Wisconsin, Emily Cone of Georgia, and
Lee Boss (1998 Grand National champ), from Ohio.
Niki Coello was on top of the 125cc shifter class today with brother Mike second. Coello Racing really has the Jolly kart shifters working well.
In one scary and weird event today, a Jr. driver spun, high-centered the kart on a curb, and then the throttle stuck full open. He couldn't get the throttle to release, so he got out of the kart with the engine screaming at max revs. The kart rocked and the tire hit the ground causing the kart to take off at top speed, crossing the busy track two times. The kart continued to run around crazily bouncing off a guard rail, spinning around three times, hitting an unoccupied grandstand, and finally getting stuck in a crowd-control fence. No one was hurt, but it was a scary sight.
Saturday Colin races the HPV kart. On Sunday it looks like
100%
chance of rain, so all the Tracc 5 setup development may be out
the window. The World Karting Association races in the rain, so
it should be exciting.
Colin and Travis on the practice grid for HPV. We are in the top three in practice times in this class. The race is Saturday. At the bottom of the photo you can see a megaphone-type exhaust pipe on another kart. All the karts Colin drives have restrictor mufflers that limit power output. A megaphone like this can double output, 8 horsepower to 16 or more.
Colin showing off our new sponsor's products - Veryfine Juice and flavored water.
Niki Coello works on his 125 shifter. Niki is the defending national champ, and at 19 years old will move up to a Formula Ford 2000 soon. He has raced extensively in Europe for the Italian Jolly Kart factory
.Niki his brother Tony, owner of Jolly Kart USA, and one of the top kart tuners in the U.S., discuss the performance of the 125 shifter.