Events – Page 7 – Vintage Karting Association

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December 28. 2020

by Staffin Events, Jan 2021 - Issue

Barnesville Driving Event Summary

By Bob Barthelemy
Photos by Brian Allardice

The Georgia weather was a little nippy Thursday morning with temperatures in the mid 40’s followed by temps over 70 by mid-day. Mother Nature was kind to us Thursday and Friday but on Saturday morning a heavy mist followed by a drizzle and later a downpour resulted in no on-track activity. Thank you to Mike Adkins, GSKA President, and the entire GSKA team for a well-run event! Thank you to all the Vintage Karters (44 entries) for participating at this event, and especially the large group from Saltillo, Mississippi.

After a round of safety tech inspections, the track was opened for practice at 9:15. We started with open practice for all single engine senior drivers with a max of 10 karts on the track at a time. The junior drivers were then allotted a practice session followed by the dual engine drivers taking their separate practice session. We repeated this order throughout the day and closed the track for practice at 5:00 pm. I believe everyone had plenty of practice time.

Friday morning temperatures were in the mid-50’s and rose to the mid-70’s and it was an absolutely gorgeous day. Practice began at 9:00 and went through noon. After the lunch break, we conducted our driver’s meeting including a brief devotional recognizing what God did to save Bill Jackson’s life and to pay respects to my friend, Ronnie Smith, who recently passed away (I conducted the eulogy at his funeral Saturday morning). After a few last-minute corrections to our running order to ensure participants were not driving in back-to-back classes, we were able to get the first Heats started by 1:45 pm. We had 13 classes represented, and by grouping some of the classes together, we were able to run 10 groups. We proceeded with our 1^st and 2^nd round of demonstration Heats. All Heats went smoothly with no substantial incidents on the track.

We all enjoyed a great evening buffet meal (chicken and rice, pork loin, and a wide range of vegetables and salad) prepared and served by Vicki & Glenn Forsyth in the concession/registration pavilion (outside to comply with COVID-19 protocol). “Legends of Karting” awards were presented in recognition to Dicky Wilson and Bill Berry by Bob Barthelemy. A Longest Distanced Traveled award was presented to Romero Llamas from Canton, Ohio. Romero was also presented the coveted traveling “Yankee Award”. He will be able to cherish it for only five months due to the 2021 Barnesville event scheduled for the March 25^th-thru the 27^th weekend, when it will be presented to another honored recipient.

Due to the continuing rain Saturday morning, the vintage karters in attendance voted to call the 3^rd Heat. We then presented the awards for the demonstrations (based on finishing order of the 2^nd Heat) and finished before 12:00 noon.

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December 22. 2020

by Staffin Events

VKA Barnesville Kart Show

By Bob Barthelemy
Photos by Brian Allardice

Editor’s Note:

Due to space limitations in the digest-sized print edition of FirsTurn, our stalwart editor, Rolf Hill has not had the ability to publish very many event photos, especially show photos. Now, with the new digital version of FirsTurn we have the space to display those beautiful karts that show up at our events. However, we need your help to provide the information needed to give them the proper coverage. So, please fill out your registration card (complete with comments), and we welcome any additional photos you may have. Please send to VKAeditor@gmail.com.

The kart show judging activity got going at 9:00 a.m. Saturday morning under the grid canopy due to the heavy mist. Kart Show judging and the presentation of the awards was completed about 10:00am by VKA President Gary Wlodarsky, who also identified Steve Mox as the 50/50 raffle winner of $275.00. Steve donated $50.00 back to VKA, so Gary presented a total of $325.00 to the VKA.

Due to the continuing rain, the vintage karters in attendance voted to call the 3^rd Demonstration Heat. We then presented the awards for the driving demonstrations (based on finishing order of the 2nd Heat) and finished before 12:00 noon. When I arrived back from the funeral at 1:45, all but George May had already hit the road home. George loves Barnesville and vintage karting and we love him and his dedication to the sport!

HISTORIC
Unrestored	1961 Go-Kart 800; Duel WB 610; Bob Barthelemy
Restored	1961 Rupp A Bone; Robert Rizzuto
REAR
Restored	1970 Hornet Duel Mac 91’s; Blain Young
Modified	1971 Blackhawk; Bill Shelly
SIDEWINDER
Unrestored	1974 Bug Wasp; Chris McMullen
Restored	1971 Margay Cheetah Mac 91; Dewey Brewer
Modified	1987 Coyote Bullet; Rick Williams
PAST CHAMPION		1969 Margay Enduro; Bill Shelly
ENDURO	1973 Bug Stinger; MC-91; Dewey Brewer
PEOPLES’ CHOICE			1971 Blackhawk; Bill Shelly

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14th Annual Southern Vintage Kart Classic

December 20. 2020

by Staffin Events, Jan 2021 - Issue

14th Annual Southern Vintage Kart Classic

By Dick Charest
Photos by Alan Lidke

The 14^th Annual Southern Vintage Kart Classic was held at Roebling Road Raceway on October 17-18, 2020. The track is located near Bloomingdale, GA. It is 2.02 miles long with nine turns. The facility features a 60-acre paddock with paved access roads.

Each year in March the Southern Kart Club (SKC) hosts the 2^nd race of the World Karting Association National Road Racing Series. However, in October the SKC holds a club race at Roebling Road with special emphasis on vintage karts. The vintage karts run four exhibition races over the 2-day weekend. There are two, 15-minute vintage exhibition races on Saturday and two more 15-minute vintage exhibition races on Sunday. Both vintage lay-down enduro karts and vintage sprint karts are welcome to participate.

The weather was beautiful on both Saturday and Sunday. It was sunny and cool in the morning but warmed up nicely as the day progressed. The turnout was more than expected and registration on Saturday morning extended throughout the 1^st practice session. To help those who missed the 1^st practice session, a short 3^rd practice session was run before the races started.

I missed the 1^st practice session and during the 2^nd practice session my engine did not run well, the clutch under slipped, and I could not get the CHT up to the desired range even though I leaned out the carb HS needle. By the 2^nd lap the spark plug was getting badly fouled so I came into the pits. After practice I installed a new spark plug and turned in each of the clutch adjusters to increase clutch slip. During the short 3^rd practice session, the engine ran better but I still had an ignition problem and the clutch still under-slipped. I figured that the clutch under-slipping prevented the engine from getting into its power band and the bogging at low RPMs caused the spark plug to foul. After practice I turned in each of the clutch adjusters again to increase clutch slip and installed a new spark plug for race #1.

Vintage Exhibition Race #1 on Saturday

Tony Ellison’s kart (#13) next to Harry Foskey’s kart (#18) on the starting grid

When the green flag dropped, Tony Ellison got a good start and took the lead of the race. I was gridded last of the 11 karts that were in the vintage race. I got a good start and started passing karts. The engine ran well but still at low temperature. The clutch worked better but by the 3^rd lap the ignition problem returned. I ran another lap, but the ignition problem got worse, so I came into the pits rather than getting stranded out on the track. Tony Ellison set fast time for the Vintage 1 race and won the race with his K-35 completing 10 laps. Arthur McKenny was 2^nd with his Yamaha, Chris Foskey finished 3^rd with his Yamaha, and Terry Armstrong finished 4^th with his DAP T-62. Arthur, Chris, and Terry all completed 9 laps. All 11 karts that started completed at least one lap. Five entries in the Vintage race did not make the grid.

Since my ignition problem occurred only after the engine electrical system got warm even with a new spark plug, I suspected that the coil had gone bad. After the race I installed a good spare coil and test ran the engine in the pits. It started up easily and ran well so I tried it again in Vintage race #2.

Vintage Exhibition Race #2 on Saturday

As in race #1, when the green flag dropped, Tony Ellison got a good start and took the lead of the race. I was gridded 9^th of the 10 karts that started the race, but I got a good start and started passing karts. Although the engine ran well, the clutch under-slipped and that hurt my lap times in the curves on the backside of the track. I had a difficult time getting the engine up into its power band. However, I drove on and completed the race. Tony Ellison set fast time for Vintage 2 race and won the race with his K-35 completing 10 laps.

Arthur McKenny was 2^nd with his Yamaha, Chris Foskey finished 3^rd with his Yamaha, and I finished 4^th. Arthur, Chris, Scott Orr and I all completed nine laps. Bill Anderson, Bennett Armstrong, and Harry Foskey all completed eight laps. They were followed by Terry Armstrong and Trevor Armstrong. Six entries in the Vintage race did not make the grid.

After the race I changed engine and adjusted the clutch for Sunday’s Vintage 3 race.

I ran a short practice on Sunday morning to verify everything was OK with the engine. Although the engine ran well, the clutch over slipped badly so I came into the pits after one lap. I backed out the clutch adjusters to the setting I came to the track with. Since there was no more practice, I tested the clutch engagement in the pits, and it seemed to be OK for the race.

Vintage Exhibition Race #3 on Sunday

Tony Severino on track with his McCulloch powered Hegar kart (#62)

I got a great start and passed everyone before entering turn one to take the lead of the race. Chris Foskey, Terry Armstrong, and Tony Ellison were fairly close behind. Tony dropped out on lap one due to a stripped drive belt. Terry Armstrong and Bill Anderson dropped out on lap three. Chris was quicker than me on the back side of the track because my clutch under slipped which slowed me down on that portion of the track. However, I consistently pulled away from him on the straight. He drafted me to stay in contact, but he could not overtake me. The engine ran well, and I maintained the lead of the race to the end. I set fast time for Vintage 3 and won the race by only 3.119 seconds. Chris Foskey finished 2^nd, Bennett Armstrong finished 3^rd, Scott Orr finished 4^th followed by Alan Lidke, Harry Foskey, Tony Severino, and Trevor Armstrong. Three vintage karts did not make it to the starting grid for race 3.

After the race I adjusted the clutch to get more slip and prepared the kart for Vintage race #4.

Vintage Exhibition Race #4 on Sunday

As in Vintage race 3, I got a great start and took the lead before getting into turn 1. After one lap I got a high CHT warning light so I richened the carb HS needle. However, the high CHT warning light persisted so I richened the carb HS needle again. Then I noticed that the CHT was reading 485°F then 520°F while the engine continued to run well. I realized that the CHT reading was erroneous, so I returned the carb HS needle setting to about where it was originally and continued throughout the race with the high CHT warning light on. Tony Ellison and Chris Foskey were close but on lap three, Tony Ellison dropped out. His engine mount had come loose, and the engine tipped over in a turn. Terry Armstrong had engine problems early in the race and dropped out. While lapping a couple of back markers I got enough of a lead on Chris Foskey that he was not able to draft me. I pulled away from the field and won the race by 1 minute and 21.673 seconds over Scott Orr. Bill Anderson (173) finished 3^rd followed by Chris Foskey and Harry Foskey. I set fast time for the Vintage 4 race.

This event wrapped-up the vintage enduro season for 2020. The next road racing event with a vintage class is the WKA event at Daytona International Speedway between Christmas and New Years. That will be the first event of the 2021 racing season.

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November 24. 2020

by Staffin Events

VKA Bakersfield 2020

Photos by Julie Watson

Bakersfield’s VKA rear engine contingent was well represented. What may have been lacking in quantity was made up for in quality. Dewayne XXXXX’s fat tire, open header, dual West Bends was the power player, with Al Paolercio’s dual Mac 20 McCulloch kart dicing for the remaining positions.

Bakersfield’s VKA event is a favorite vintage west coast kart event for a number of reasons. First, there’s the track – the karting equivalent of F1s SPA-Francorchamps with huge elevation changes, and unlike SPA, virtually no straightaways. A large downhill off-chamber sweeper is the straightaway – if you’re brave enough to keep it pegged. The track’s got history too with karts racing on it for more than 40 years. Track owner, Rusty Sanders, resurfaced the track a couple of years ago; it now has excellent grip and a smooth surface. Simply put, Bakersfield is the reason race karts were invented.

Event Promotors Joe Swantek (left) and Richard Swantek (Right) not only put on a great event, they fielded some incredible karts like the K29-powered Bennet/Invader with Howard Combee in the seat.

Then there are the people – starting with promoters Richard and Joe Swantek. They almost totally bear the financial responsibility of this race including substantial cash show prizes and a great Saturday lunch provided by Teressa Swantek. One of the best parts of Bakersfield is that you get to rub shoulders with karting greats like Howard Combee, Terry Ives. Steve O’Hara, Rocky Buff, Bobby Shiffert and many more. Not all were in attendance this year due to medical and Covid issues, but the low-key atmosphere ensured that some good times were shared.

This year’s event had perfect 70-80-degree weather with a slight layer of smoke from the many California fires. About 30 karts were entered, which was good considering the Covid 19 concerns and heavy smoke warnings. There was nearly unlimited track time on Thursday and Friday for racers to dial-in their karts. Saturday brought on some excellent race exhibitions in four categories: Single and Dual Rear, Yamaha Sidewinder, Single Sidewinder and Dual Sidewinder. The exhibitions were run as a 6-lap heat race and a 6-lap final with a lunch break in between.

Following the laid back atmosphere, Bakersfield’s kart show was unstructured with no pre-determined classes. Instead, the judges simply picked out 5 outstanding karts and awarded them generous cash prizes.

Saturday afternoon rolled around all too soon as karters packed up for the trip home. After lots of track time, bench racing and long lunches at Ethel’s roadside restaurant across the street, everyone looks forward to doing it all again next year. If you haven’t been to a Bakersfield VKA event, you should definitely put it on your schedule!