2003 RACE SCHEDULE / RESULTS

1. Grattan Raceway - First race ever, finished all races and practices without error.  Finished roughly close to the rear of the field of karts by design because he was new on Saturday he ran on pump gas, on Sunday we converted him to Menthanol but his engine was right out of the box.  His only job was to not come in on the trailer and he made sure he drove the kart in every time.  He was mad that he did not win the race!
2. Road America - Here Patrick was still running his box stock engine but we were running a gold restrictor plate.  Because of the people we met at Grattan we thought the gold plate was the correct plate.  Needless to say he dominated on Saturday finishing some 13 seconds ahead of the next competitors.  On Sunday there was a new kid that even dominated the Yamaha karts which caused the Yamaha's to protest so we got caught with the wrong plate and DQed on Sunday.  This was good because at least now we knew which plate to use and Patrick knew what it felt like to get out front and stay there.   
3. Putnam Park Road Course - This was the first race with the new "Blueprinted" Regan Verhing engine.  This engine was the best money I have ever spent.  I reccomend that anyone who needs a restricted racing engine get it from Regan.  The Sunday race at Putnam Park marked a lot of firsts for our racing effort.  This was also the first race that CES decided that it was wise (at our urging) to split the Yamaha's and the Briggs Karts by 15 seconds at the starting grid.  This meant that the Briggs karts could run their own race and not feel as through they were racing a group of Yamaha's that they would never catch.  This was also Patrick's first attempt at drafting which he took to rather quickly.  He was 4th at 10 minutes, 3rd at 8 minutes, 2nd with 6 minutes to go and took the lead with enough time to lead about three laps before the checkers flew.  We had a big party after that race!!! 
4. Blackhawk Farms Raceway - The Blackhawk race on Saturday was a hard fought battle.  Patrick and Stephanie crossed the line at pretty much the same time.  In fact Patrick thought Stephanie won the race but the transponder had Patrick in the front.  On Sunday, the first part of the 15 minutes was the same battle but unfortunately something happened to Stephanie's engine causing her to not finish.  Patrick picked up two more wins. 
5. Gateway International -The two races on this weekend were the closest two of the whole year.  I have an 8 X 10 picture of Patrick and Stephanie both crossing the line side by side which is how they raced for two days in St. Louis.  On Saturday, Patrick drafted her right down the front straightaway on the last lap and pulled out just in time to sling shot past her just enough to take the win.  On Sunday, that trick was not enough to take the win from Steph.  She had the right set-up and we could not match the gear ratios that they had because of some special things they did with their rear wheels.  She took the win with Patrick right beside her bouncing in his seat trying to get his kart to lighten-up and fly past her.     
6. Gingerman Raceway - This race was cancelled because of some santioning issues.
7. Indianapolis Raceway Park - Patrick tried really hard to race at this race but it was just not meant to be.  On September 14th Patrick had a bicycle accident which sent him to the hospital for a week.  There was no lasting injuries however, he still had some pain from the surgical procedure he needed on the 14th..  Had we been at one of the other tracks where the track is smooth, he likely could have raced but IRP is so rough that even people who had not just had surgery were brused and battered.  He was upset that he did not get to race but it was for the best that he didn't.