2017 Race Recap: Mid State Kart Club Race #1

The first weekend we were at the racetrack was a great one, so I wanted to keep the momentum going. With the Margay Racing team, we headed to the Mid-State Kart Club for the first race in their championship series. I am not competing for the championship at MSKC, however I thought this would be a great opportunity to grab a podium or possibly win the race. Margay Racing has done a phenomenal job with their Ignite program, and there was a pretty good turnout for Mid-State's first race. I love the track at Mid-State, it is so fun to race, and the corners are always so quick. I especially love the "Monza" corner where the banking is pretty high and you zoom onto the front straightaway carrying much speed into turn one. I haven't had as much luck there in previous races, and unfortunately my first race there I crashed and did not finish. My second race there I was able to finish, however I was struggling with grip and I had really old tires plus a bad setup. I finished last, but the big thing was I finished that race. I had great optimism for this race. In my race were a few locals from the Gateway Kartplex, such as Jon Vernier, who he and his wife Traci have helped me a ton throughout the year learning more and more about setup. Also in my race was WKA National Champion Jon Strohm, former Margay factory driver and one fast cat "Pistol" Pete Vetter, and Mr. Margay himself Keith Freber. I had a lot on my plate if I wanted to win, because those guys were still fast, had a lot of experience, and also had many more laps on this track than me. First and second practice went beautifully. I was top 5 in all practice sessions within my class, and I kept making changes that made me go even quicker. For the first time in my career, I had a solid qualifying run which gave me the 6th starting position. The pre-final went even better. There was a few bumps on the first lap, however, I was lucky and got through those bumps and drafted my way to third place. I was running with the leaders until I got passed with two laps to go, where I ended up finishing 4th in class for my Pre-Final. I decided to go down on my tire pressures for the feature race, but that ended up being a mistake. The Feature was a bit bumpy for the first lap. There was a lot of bumping going on between the middle of the pack, and I ended up sideways. There ended up being a crash on the first lap in House corner, but I snaked my way through there and ran third behind Mr. Margay himself Keith Freber. However, his experience prevailed and he gained more time on me as my kart started to fade in the last few laps. Eventually, Jon Strohm and Blaine Finnegan passed me and I finished 5th in class. If I did not make that tire pressure change, I think I would of been closer to the front than I was. However, it is a huge accomplishment to finish good with good competitors that I had in my race. I have to thank my sponsors, Simply Thai Restaurant, Thai Express Restaurant, and Elliott Henderson Graphics for the support this season. Catch us on April 29th as we take on the Gateway Kartplex for Ignite Challenge Race #1/GKP Ignite Series Race #2 in Madison, Il. For marketing opportunities please contact paulfodderacing@yahoo.com