2011 Mini Outlaw Racing

Dec 12 2011

It has been over a month now since the Tillsonburg Mini Outlaw club got together for it's 2011 Annual Banquet. It was a good time recapping the season.

A slide show of the drivers as they were introduced revealed just how much some of our kids have grown since they started racing in Tillsonburg. During the driver introductions I vowed that I would get every drivers name and where they lived correct, without a cheat sheet. That is not that easy for two reasons. One is my mind has over 50 tough years of use and two, the kids look different all dressed up at a banquet then they do in driving gear and helmets. If I screwed up I put $5, $10 and $20 on the line for each failure of my memory. I was doing great but as I got to the senior division, I did what I have done all season. Mixed up Kate and Bea Courtnage. I actually introduced them correctly but when retelling a story about Kate, I slipped and out came "Bea". It wasn't long before Kate came running up to get her $5 with a big smile on her face. I made it through the rest of the introductions without a slip, or so I thought. Amber Meyer was jumping up and down waiving her arm in the air. It seems she was waiting to claim the third and highest amount but when no one else grabbed the $10 she decided it was time to jump in. It seems Amber moved to another town midway through the season and never told anyone. Well, not me anyway. Off went my $10 in Ambers hand. I did manage to keep the $20 , having committed no further Driver Name infractions.

With the introductions out of the way, up next was the trophy presentations. 51 of them in all. Wayne Stainton and Pete Neufeld had the honour of distributing the awards to the drivers. One way or the other, almost every racer left with at least one. Some with several. Awards were presented for the Spring Series, the Ohsweken 4-50's , the Summer Series and the Thanksgiving 100. Most Sportsmanlike trophies went to #93 Amber Meyer, (despite taking my $10) in the Juniors and # 51 Matt Anderson in the Seniors. With so many of the racers improving this year by leaps and bounds, choosing the most improved driver was a difficult choice. #93 Rayse Meyer got the nod this year and was very happy to get the last trophy of the night.

Jaime Westman represented the parents and teams as they got together to recognize the volunteers who make to the club run successfully. Without them the weekly racing could not continue as economically as it does. Apparently their efforts do not go unnoticed. Thank you volunteers.

With the trophy presentations complete, we moved to the door prizes. Two full tables of loot for the drivers and then the drivers teams. There were several teams I saw carrying out over $200 of stuff. Amongst all the awards and door prizes was lots of story telling and visiting by competitors and their families. As the members eventually made their way home and the hall emptied a feeling of satisfaction was in the air. We had completed another successful season of racing. Friendships were made, competition fostered and once again our racers raised the level of professionalism not only in how they competed but how they matured as individuals in the racing community. There is no doubt in my mind that these drivers have gained the confidence to do well, regardless what life throws at them. And did I mention they had a lot of fun in the process?

With all that said it is time to start looking forward to the next season. Schedules need to be set and rules need to be reviewed. If any of our teams would like to forward any comments on ways to improve our club, we would be glad to consider them in the off season. Now is the time to bring any new ideas. Don't be shy, We need to know what you are thinking. We even need to know if you want NOTHING changed as well. As for the 2012 rules, there is not going to be any significant rule changes, in fact there will be very few if any minor rule changes.

As always, we love to introduce new drivers joining our club. At this time we know Joe Kelly is joining the Expert ranks for 2012. How long it will take him to adjust to the power and will he be able to keep up with his son, Scott? Only time will tell.

I would also like to welcome Katherine Summers to our club, She will be making her racing debut as #26 in the Junior class in 2012, but I have hopes she will be graduating to the Seniors mid season. Katherine hails from Aylmer and has been following her siblings around who race in the Hurricane Midgets organization. You can only watch racing for so long before you want a steering wheel of your own. Katherine now has her own steering wheel (and its hooked to a QRC Outlaw Kart).

Also, lets welcome Nick Sheridan to the Beginners at this time. Nick has been watching his brother Jacob race in Tillsonburg for two years and it is now his turn to climb into the kart for real. That moves the new driver count to three going into Christmas. Certainly a good start considering 2012 is not even here.

Speaking of Christmas.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to all our racers, families and fans.

The Staff and officials of Tillsonburg Outlaws

Tillsonburg Outlaws-- Summer Series complete

It was 12 weeks in the making. Racing every Tuesday night. Racers learning, racers improving, and racers having fun. Mixed in with were lessons of frustration, disappointment, joy and excitement. Friendships were forged off the track and enemies made on the track. Thus is the life of a racer. Put on the helmet to accomplish a mission. With it comes the RACE FACE, its me against them mentality. Try to get to the front of the group while the group is trying to do the same thing to you. Simple enough but wars have been started over far less. In the end it is entertaining not only the racers but also the volunteers who run the program, the parents, pit crews, and the Grand Parents who get to spend time with their kids and grandkids. Every week the parking lot is more like a recess at the local school yard then a competition. Friends catching up on the last weeks events. It has been a wonderful summer with a lot of racing action. Now that the series is complete, the results can go into the record books. It is almost time to put away the karts for the winter. Last event remaining is the final race,just for fun and bragging rights, The 100 lap Thanksgiving final endurance run, held Sat. Oct 8 2011, rain or shine. That is also when we have a Pot Luck dinner afterwards. All are welcome. No penalties for eating too much.

The Beginners wrapped up the season with some incredibly close racing action. # 66 Colby Bennett was looking to sweep all three races again this week but # 78 Dylan Watson was having none of it. In the final race the pair crossed the line in a photo finish. The transponder scoring system gave the nod to Watson. Despite this it was Bennett in first overall with # 01 Jamie Hall in 2nd and # 57 Bryson Green in 3rd. Oddly enough, that is how the series finished up as well.

During the summer we introduced several new drivers to the sport of racing Outlaws. Part of their journey was the simple act of driving a motorized vehicle. Throw into the mix a flagman throwing in multiple commands, other drivers doing things they didn't expect, and procedures that seem confusing at first glance. All the beginners performed well under the pressure of the season, improving each week. And so went the 2011 Summer Series.

When a driver graduates out of Beginner, they are not too sure what to expect when they hit the Juniors. This group is a mix of experienced young drivers usually 7-10 years old. Mix into this some 11-13 year olds that are just starting to race but were too old for the first group. The older kids learn fast but the younger drivers have already learned their lessons in previous years. Overall, the Juniors run faster then the Beginners, partly because they have an extra 2 horsepower but mostly because they never slow down. Wall to wall, corner to corner, they ask everything out of their ride in hopes of getting to the front. Some had to learn to slow down to go faster, some needed to be braver when it comes to running in traffic. Each driver had his own demons that needed to be conquered and over the 20 races we had this season, the group came together and have become a very competitive group of kids.

Did I say competitive? That is an understatement. The series had # 52 Jacob Sheridan leading with a small 6 point cushion over # 48 Andrew Marshall. That was unlikely to change until Marshall had his best night of the season at the same time Sheridan ran so so. Normally the two have karts set up similar and they drive around the corner rather then power slide and thus maintain momentum. The two often finish one - two. Well something happened and Marshall was spot on with setup and Sheridan just was not able to match the speed, so the series boiled down to the last race of the year as Marshall moved into 1st with Sheridan taking a very close 2nd. The race for third for the night and the series was just as close with # 77x Alex Hill and # 10x Cameron Davidson both trying to stay in or move into 3rd. Hill managed to keep her third but she had to do it the hard way. Hill while racing with Davidson was forced to run the outside in an attempt to pass the 10x car. The pair went up high coming out of the back corner and Hill tackled the wall. End over end she went, coming to rest with wheels in the air. Shook up but with true competitive spirit, she fought the urge to pack it in for the race and possibly the night and rejoined the group for the restart. That grit and determination let her work back up to 2nd in the 25 lap race and with a decent finish in the final earned enough points to tie Davidson in 3rd for the night.

I honestly don't know where to start with the Seniors. The series was up for grabs going into the night. # 87 Brad Perrott had a good lead but not an safe one. Second to fourth was anyone's guess as they were basically tied for 2nd. So how did it play out? Perrott was fast but not fastest. # 39 Kate Courtnage had some great starting positions, ended up upside down in one race but was able to move back up to 2nd in the same race for a good night. # 10 Blake Westman had the series runner up in his grasp but just couldn't make it happen. # 51 Matt Anderson came out guns a blazing and also had a good night with a win and two other decent finishes. # 20 DJ McRae had zero luck in the 10 lap sprint but was the man in the 35 lapper as he worked his way to the front in the final, also had a good night. Missing from the list of drivers who had a good night was # 79 Bea Courtnage. Bea managed to get caught in what seemed like every wreck and just could not make progress in trying to get to the front. The final 35 lap race for the Seniors took forever with every driver thinking they were going to win the last race of the year. Several seemed to panic in frustration and tried some manoeuvres that just did not work and usually ended with a caution flag. Despite the bent bumpers, every racer finished the race which if you were watching was an accomplishment in itself. So after mentioning several drivers who had a good night, who won anyway? How about a 3 way tie for first? Kate Courtnage, Matt Anderson and Brad Perrott were tied for 1st with 39 points each. That's a first in the history of the club. I would have to say that my series prediction "this is going to be close" was right on the money.

The Expert program fell into place nicely as this week we had three different winners. # 1 Holly Porter won qualifying with a time that did not break the 8 second mark. # 19 Cody Coburn broke out his first win with a 500 in the 10 lap sprint while being hounded by # 34 Scott Chesterman who later went on to win the 30 lap final. When the points were added up It was Scott Chesterman, Holly Porter and myself, Dave Chesterman in 3rd. Please note that I had to pass # 37 Scott Kelly about 5 times before we finally stopped trading positions in the final. I will go on record here saying I beat all the teenagers in the race, and at 50 years old some of the parents think I am too old. Ha. The kids got the last laugh though as # 37 Scott Kelly took 3rd in the series behind # 34 S Chesterman and # 1 Porter, and # 19 Coburn, who had a rough summer series still managed to beat me, taking 4th. That left me in 5th with the rest of the drivers missing too many races to be in contention. It was sure fun racing them though when they were able to come test their speed.

There you have it. All the hype, all the action , all the fun. 2011 Summer Series is done. (Notice that rhymed?)

Next big day is the Thanksgiving 100. Saturday Oct 8 2011, bring your mittens.

Awards Banquet Saturday October 22 2011

The final Points race of the season is now only a week away with the conclusion of Race 10 on Sept 20 2011 at Chesterman Power Products.

New Member Grabs the Beginner Overall Win.

You read that right. No. 78 Dylan Watson put a string of 2nd place finishes together this week to come out on top for the night. In only his 5th race in the last two years, the 6 year old followed in his Mothers footsteps. Seems Dylan has been watching his Father race but didn't really get the bug until he saw Mom climb into a Hurricane Midget and race a few months ago. It seems he figured if Mom can race then so can he. Good job Dylan, it looked like you were having fun. I think you should get a pillow though to sit on so you can see over the steering wheel instead of looking through it. LOL. No. 01 Jamie Hall won the final race leaving her in 2nd for the night with always fast No. 66 Colby Bennett having a rough night and found himself sitting in 3rd for the evening despite winning the 2nd race. With one race to go Colby looks to have the series wrapped up.

In the Jr's this week, it was all about No. 77x Alex Hill who seems to be driving much better now that her throttle assembly is working. Seems 1/2 throttle was not enough to win many races but she is on a tear now winning two of the nights races. That firms up her 3rd place in the Summer Series. No. 52 Jacob Sheridan won the final Jr race and that was enough to be 2nd over all and gain several points, thus building his lead in the Series with only a night to go. No. 10x Cameron Davidson used consistency to round out the top three. Next week we will see what No. 55s Scott Hall has for these three. Scott's motor has been exhibiting the same symptoms as the Hill car several weeks earlier and if he can get that problem behind him he should be able to show the group that he can run their speed. Next week will tell.

In the Seniors there was the usual amount of drama as series leaders are trying their best to finish strong every week and the drivers who do not have the series within reach are taking advantage of racing on the edge. What they learn while doing so will make for some very great racing in 2012. The 10 lap sprint was No 20 DJ McRae going wire to wire with No 17 Brandon Norris and No. 3 Jaxson Jacobs in tow. The 25 lap main gives the racers starting in the rear a bit more opportunity to work their way to the front and this time it was No. 39 Kate Courtnage who found herself sitting in the lead when the checkers came out but No. 20 McRae and No 3. Jacobs were both right on her tail. With only Kate of the three being in the top 4 for the series it looked like she may lock her way into 2nd by having a good night. It was not to be though as you will see. In the final 35 lap main it was No. 3 Jaxson Jacobs who lead most of the race with No. 39 Kate Courtnage trying to find some way around him. In a battle of their own, , No. 87 Brad Perrott and No. 20 McRae were doing their best to be the car in front and while coming down the back straight got locked together and dove to the infield where they broke free and continued. Both these racers know not to play possum in the infield and made the corner without wrecking but cut the track in the process but did not gain track position. Perrott caught the decoder but McRae didn't. Watching the replay after it was apparent that either they both needed to be scored or neither. Since they did not advance and got back on the track safely and did loose about 50 ft to the karts that caught them from behind, we scored them both. After a while McRae made it by and set out to catch the front runners who were not running fast laps as they were battling for position the whole time. When McRae caught them it looked for sure that he may take them both out but in a perfectly timed pass he tucked under the 3 car of Jacobs who moments later drifted sideways enough to block the track for the hard charging No. 39 Kate Courtnage. That was a bad time as the checked flag was 100 ft away. McRae took the win with Jacobs able to get going and keep 2nd. Unfortunately for Kate, her car stalled out and the pack drove on past leaving her to drop from a certain 2nd to last place. That leaves the Courtnage girls tied for 3rd after 10 races and both are only 2 points behind No. 10 Westman. Whichever Courtnage does best next week will push drop her sister into 4th. Or will it? If they do both do well and Westman drops more than 2 points to them, he could be the odd racer out. I can't wait to see how it plays out. And Bea, your Dad has had you racing with a worn out clutch. No wonder you have been driving like a girl. If our readers get the sense there is some real rivalry in this group, you have read the situation correctly and yet outside the building, most of them have BIG smiles on their faces. I like it.

In the Experts the really big news was I was actually pretty fast this week. 4th in the time trials and 2nd in the 10 lap sprint. Things were going well despite some tender ribs from a previous night racing. Starting on the outside pole I was able to beat out my arch rival, No. 19 Cody Coburn and was happily running around in the lead until may smarty pants son passed me and then slid sideways on the next corner where I proceeded to bump into him and stall the car as he drove away in first. Hmmmm. No problem, I was fast and set out to at least pass the back several drivers. It was not to be as on lap 18 the big 500 Honda stuck the throttle wide open and when I flicked the car to make the corner we never really changed direction much. Into the wall and the night was done. Looks like just a spindle so not big deal, oh yes , gotta remember to fix the throttle. As the race progressed No. 37 Scott Kelly managed his way into 2nd with No. 1 Holly Porter finishing in 3rd. That pair were opposite for the nights results.

That's a wrap.

Next and final Summer Series Race - September 27 2011

100 Lap Race and Pot Luck supper--- October 8 2011 (Thanksgiving weekend)

Year End banquet October 22 2011, all welcome, advance tickets only. Call 519-842-5977

Race held on Sept 13 2011

Maintenance.

What is it and who needs it?

The season is winding down and our drivers are getting very good at driving very aggressively and that means more stress on the cars they are driving. Often nothing more then washing off the dirt is needed between weeks but that only goes so long before these very forgiving karts need some love. What did I see this week. How about motors that were falling off because the only two bolts holding them on are loose? How about fuel lines that have gotten so hard that they no longer have the elasticity to stay on the fitting and when bumped, simply fall off. How about clutches that are almost seized up from the bushing not seeing a drop of oil in a long time. Too much oil is a different problem and makes the clutch slip excessively. One bolt holds on that clutch and when it falls out, the clutch is not far behind. Nuts, bolts and cotter pins often get left on the track which means someone needs to replace them before the next week. Often there are multiple fasteners holding on items but once some of them fall off, there is no longer redundancy which means tail cones and bumpers, hoods and wings no longer stay where they are supposed to.

To answer the original question, every racer that wants to finish every race from here to the end of the year, needs to be looking over their kart for things that need addressing. Before you DNF.

The Beginners have improved so much they are looking more Juniors 4 months ago. # 78 Dylan Watson and # 17 Oscar McCormack seemed to have changed the dynamics of the group, meaning everyone is faster, everyone can win and everyone has to work to make a pass. At some point I had to shut my eyes because I saw 4 wide. That's real racing. Despite Watson taking a 2nd in the first 20 lap main, it was experience in the seat that won again this week with # 66 Colby Bennett finishing a perfect night with 3 wins, followed by # 01 Jamie Hall in 2nd and # 57 Bryson Green in 3rd.

Juniors Newsflash. Big Penalty assessed, Minor change, Significant consequences.

Say what? The Juniors # 52 Jacob Sheridan and # 48 Andrew Marshall have a series battle going on that is going down to the last race. Sheridan enjoyed a 4 point lead going into the night. Marshall needs to gain some points but with Sheridan running top 3 so often it is hard to do. Fast forward to the 25 lap main with Marshall seeded at the back of the pack after winning the same race last week. The group rounds the corner to approach the start line 2 wide and in correct formation. Apparently, the lead karts were not getting up to speed fast enough for Marshall , who swung out and passed the entire group before the start line. Stopping the race then and there would have been easy but only served to penalize the kids that stayed in line because sending the # 48 kart to the rear for a restart would have only put him where he was supposed to be anyway. Using the old race rule of thumb would be to drop him by however many positions he passed but since he jumped the whole field,that would mean giving him last place in the race. Hmmmm, what to do? Did I mention that when the race was complete he had lapped everyone except 2nd place. Here is what we came up with. Since he crossed the line before the leaders, we dropped that crossing making his start where he was supposed to be, albeit almost a full lap behind the rest. Luckily for Marshall, he was really fast this week and he closed that gap and started picking off racers one by one, with the only one he did not catch being Sheridan. That means his first place win got turned into a 2nd for the race which still leaves him overall in first for the night. That seems like a small enough penalty, BUT that means instead of cutting Sheridan's small lead in half, Marshall only closed the gap by a point. That jump potentially could have cost him the Championship. On the other hand, it may not change the final standings one bit. That question cannot be answered until the final checkered flag falls.

With Marshall's perfect night foiled, Sheridan took 2nd with a win and pair of seconds. The rest of the group was all sure they could take 3rd this week but after some very hard charging on every racers part, 10x Cameron Davidson edged out the rest of the field for 3rd.

In the Senior Division there is an even bigger battle brewing with the top 4 all in a position to win the series yet every one of them potentially could drop out of the top three. # 87 Brad Perrott and # 10 Blake Westman have been loosing ground the last couple weeks but both were able to turn it around and took 1-2 . Perrott only managed to win 1 of the three races but that was one more win then Westman. Other wins went to # 20 DJ McRae and # 39 Kate Courtnage. Still averaging better than McRae and Courtnage, # 51 Matt Anderson has improved all series and was 3rd overall this week. This group is something to see as they not only hold their formation starts to cross the start line, they often are still in formation for 2 laps as there is just no mistakes being made by the drivers. Until things can spread out a bit, holding your spot is the best tactic. They are not doing this at a slow speed either. It is mind boggling that they can go around the track 2 wide that fast. # 87 Brad Perrott remains in first place in the series. # 10 Blake Westman who dropped from 2nd to 4th last week, came bouncing back to 2nd this week. Apparently he does better with a full track and all racers here. That means the Courtnage girls have been pushed down to 3rd and 4th with Kate actually beating her little sister. Next week will be their chance to grab some points as they will be starting a little closer to the front. Will they take advantage of it?

The Experts finally saw # 34 Scott Chesterman beat out, well, sort of. He got beat in time trials by # 1 Holly Porter, he got beat in the 10 lap sprint by # 15 Josh Beecroft and again got beat in the 30 lap main by Holly Porter. Still, three 2nds was enough for Chesterman to take the overall by a single point. That means Porter took 2nd and # 15 took 3rd being only a single point behind Porter. That's some very close racing. Virtually everyone was under 8 second times, even this old boy who would like to point out to Mister Coburn that I have beat him in 4 of the last 5 outings. When are you coming back to the party? Oh, and Mister Kelly, when are you going to stop hitting the wall? I count 5 axles this year. I am only at 3. On a more positive note, # 37 Scott Kelly pulled into the top 3 for the Summer Series behind Porter in 2nd and Chesterman in 1st. With # 19 Cody Coburn sitting in 4th only 8 points in front of me I will be pushing to knock him down to 5th. Oh Oh, # 15 Josh Beecroft is only 1 point behind me. Seems there is another race to the end.

Reminder to all racers and fans.

Remaining Summer Series races are Tues. Sept 20 and 27

Thanksgiving weekend race is Sat. Oct 8 Noon sign in and 2 pm qualifying, Potluck dinner at 5pm

2011 Year end Banquet Oct 22 2011 Advance tickets only

Race held at Chesterman Power Products in Tillsonburg on Sept 6 2011

Mention the word "Change" and people get exited. It seems the more we try NOT to change, the more we do. I'll get back to this in a minute but maybe there is some basis for this fear of change. Besides the fact that the change may make things better, it usually has a way of messing you up in some way that you didn't see coming.

We are into September, the kids are back to school and everyone has to adjust, new time schedules and places to be. We are very aware of the September change for families and as always, our "slow it down" summer program complete with 15 minute racing intermission gets modified and the "schools in" program returns. With it, we make sure start times are not delayed by long winded drivers meetings. The no "fixing" on the track rule is enforced tightly and we expect the racers to be ready to go when their class is up. Despite the racers all trying to win the race in the first lap causing numerous cautions we are always done in a respectable time allowing the kids to head home at a reasonable hour. Usually the racers and their teams are so punctual that we actually have them waiting around for us to get the show on the road. This week was no different. Racers rolled in by 6pm and the necessary sign in and entries are wrapped up by 6:30. Practice gets underway with the Beginners up first. Once all divisions have had their practice we go right into the drivers meeting at 7ish and racing follows. This week was no different and at 6:55 we started the drivers meeting with everyone standing around waiting for it to start. By 7 we were done and gave the Beginners their "5 minute warning" to get ready and go to the track. Things were going very smoothly as they usually do. As the officials were heading to their stations and the drivers were heading to the track, a Beginner team arrives at the track late. While just sitting down at his station, our announcer spotted them pulling into the parking lot and announced that it looked like the team was going to miss their first 10 lap race. No big deal, just an observation. Arriving at the track is very different then being ready to race--getting waivers signed, entires looked after, kart unloaded and driver dressed and pushed up to the track all need to be done. I will be the first to admit that occasionally we help a team rush through the paper work part in order to make the start of a race but I would say never do we hold up a race because someone came to the track late. It works well for us and it is the same with most sports. Show up right at the start time of a hockey/soccer/whatever match and see if anyone is interested in delaying every other family involved so that you can get ready. Not Likely! They start without you.

The race program got under way and the team that missed the race was ready to go for the next two mains. No big deal, I am sure it will happen to someone else. Come late--- miss some track time. That's how it works.

Why then at 9 am the morning after is my phone is ringing? So the "new team" owner can take a strip off me saying it is our fault his driver missed the first race and that in no way should we have let the races start 5 minutes earlier than posted and the next time it happens I can explain to his driver why he missed a race. I am not too sure he wants me to do that because the blame squarely falls on the circumstances that lead up to the late arrival. It happens, and I feel for you but 25 other families that are on time really don't care. They are ready. They made whatever sacrifices they needed to, and got to the starting line on time.

Having a team arrive late does not bother this author at all. Things happen to all of us. What does bother me is getting chewed out becuase we didn't wait for the late team. NO NO NO. That bothers me a lot.

So have I offended anyone after hanging up the phone while getting chewed out or from adding them to the "what not to do"section of the newsletter? Likely. One thing that never changes; people that want to blame others for what happens in their life, always will. All I can do is point out the needed changes and hope they see the light.

On to the racing.

With the addition of 2 beginners mid season, the forgone winners are finding it a challenge trying to pass when there are already racers two wide on the track. Bennett, Green and Hall are generally front runners but with Meyer, Watson and McCormack all running very fast in the second half of the season, all bets are off in any individual race. # 57 Bryson Green is now fast enough that in the 10 lap sprint that he can go from back to front when he gets a couple of breaks. Not only that but # 93 Rayse Meyer was sitting in 2nd at the checkers. With results like that Rayse is going to have to start at the back more often. In the 20 lap mains the regular 3 made it to the top three. # 66 Colby Bennett, # 01 Jamie Hall, #57 Bryson Green in that order. Serving his notice that he means business, # 78 Dylan Watson set the 2nd fastest lap time of the night for the Beginners and broke the 10 second mark. A feat only himself and Bennett were able to do this week.

The Juniors tightened up the season standings as #48 Andrew Marshall pulled within 4 points of series leader # 52 Jacob Sheridan who finished the night in 3rd with # 77 Alex Hill in 2nd. Hill who is in her own race to hold onto 3rd in the series is being threatened by 10x Cameron Davidson. The top 4 in this division all need to keep site of the series with it being so very close. Marshall appears to be in a position to finish strong and is just close enough he may pull it off. Taking wins in the 10 and 25 lap races, Marshall won for the night despite Sheidans win in the 30 lap main. This series is going down to the last week. The front runners have learned it is important to finish well every night. Maybe not win but being right close to the winner is what wins championships. It takes all season to win but you can lose it in a night.

The Seniors are even closer if you can believe it. # 20 DJ McRae had it all his way with front row starts in the 10 and 25 lap races but after starting back row in the 35 lap main had his hands full while climbing to 5th place. That was enough to win for the night but since he is not in the points chase the story ends there. Oddly, # 3 Jaxson Jacobs who is also not in the series points race after starting the season two weeks in was strong enough to grab 2nd place, winning the 35 lap main flag to flag. The big news is where did Courtnage, Courtnage, Westman, Perrott and Anderson finish in relation to one another? # 10 Blake Westman who was tied for 2nd had an slightly off night and dropped to 4th in the series. Not out of reach of the series lead but anymore off nights will drop him out of the standing. Oh the pressure we put on these kids. The more amazing race is # 39 Bea Courtnage and older sister # 79 Kate Courtnage are in a dead lock only one point apart and only 2 points behind # 87 Brad Perrott. Many nights these three finish consecutively. They all have 3 years or more experiance racing here and it seems that no matter what happens on the track, they seem to make their way through it and continue to push for the front. Again, all bets are off on who is going to win the championship. Everyone off the top 5 are worthy of the championship. Who will own it?

In the Experts it looked as though # 1 Holly Porter was going to take an overall win after winning the main and qualifying 2nd but a terrible 10 lap sprint finish dropped her to a distant 2nd. # 34 Scott Chesterman had things go his way again in the qualifying and 10 lap sprint but after getting sent to the rear in the main had his hands full to get a 3rd. Mid race, # 34 Chesterman,after an infield run set in motion a series of events that ended with a red light when # 4 Cody Day didnt read the situation and ended up on the wall and did a great end over end wreck. Scott Chesterman came on the track leaving room to the outside for whoever was there not knowing that # 75 Dylan Chesterman had just passed the # 4 car of Cody Day. Dylan took the hole, Day took the wall. Pretty similar to the wreck that took McRae out of the Seniors earlier in the season. If the back car does not/can not back out of it in time, the results are the same, tuck in or crash. For the second week in a row, # 37 Scott Kelly finished 3rd after going 3,6,2.

In qualifying, 4 drivers busted the 8 sec mark. Scott Chesterman, Holly Porter, Scott Kelly and # 15 Josh Beecroft. Yes we had a 250 4 stroke break into the 7 second times. Beecroft has been earning some very respectable finishes of late and seems to have the mechanical problems out of the way. When the bottom of the track is not being run by the 500's, that 250 can win races. Lets see if he can do it by year end.

What's left this season?

3 Regular Tuesday races . Sept 13/20/27

100 lap Challange Pot Luck supper Sat. Oct 8 noon sign in

2011 Banquet Sat. Oct 22 2011 5pm happy hr at Courtland Community Center(beside the fire hall)

Thats it thats all.

The 7 th race of the 2011 Tillsonburg Outlaws held at Chesterman Power Products produced some of the closest racing of the series, and that's saying a lot.

The Senior's 25 lap race saw the field run two wide in their starting order for almost two full laps. It sure is cool to see that many karts thundering around the track so close. As a driver it is truly the most exiting part of the race.

After last weeks picture night announcement, all the teams showed up with sparkling karts, clean driver suits, a couple new hair cuts and I think I even saw some make up on a couple of the female competitors. Suuure, they don't want their pictures taken.

Once all the pictures were taken and pre race announcements were out of the way, # 37 Scott Kelly handled the award presentations assisted by # 79 Bea Courtnage.

I love it when I am right. Last week while standing beside # 57 Bryson Green's Mom during a race, I commented that Bryson was just on edge of braking through and being one of our fast drivers. Well look who just took the overall win with a 2nd and two firsts. That's a pretty good showing for a driver who's kart would not run when the night started. A new fuel pump fixed the running issue and Bryson looked after the rest. You know # 66 Colby Bennett was chomping on his heals but with a 1st, 2nd and 3rd , Colby was just handed the news that there is a new kid in town. # 01 Jamie Hall who currently sits in 2nd for the summer series was strong enough for 3rd overall this week. Only a few points out, # 78 Dylan Watson is already putting some pressure on with a good showing for 4th overall. Colby Bennett has a good run on the series lead but he is not out of touch yet. Hall and Green are the most likely to be a threat but even # 93 Rayse Meyer can threaten for a top three if any DNS (did not starts) come into play.

The Beginners have a good battle going but the Juniors are even closer. # 52 Jacob Sheridan has a good lead in the series but still is not out of touch of # 48 Andrew Marshall who often lays claim to fastest lap for the night. It seems all the battles for points are in pairs as # 77 Alex Hill and # 10x Cameron Davidson are only 2 points about so 3rd place is far from settled.

So what happened this week? We had three different winners in each of the races with none of them being 10x Cameron Davidson but with the consistency of three 2nd place finishes, Cameron finished in the top spot overall this week. It was a very close night with # 77x Alex Hill being only a point off with a 1st, 3rd, 3rd. Remember those two are only a two points apart for the Summer Series. Jacob Sheridan was relegated to third despite winning the final of three races. Again only a point back from Hill. These young racers don't give up points easily and I expect the race to the end to be a very close one. Four more weeks and we will know who is top dog.

Senior division had it all this week. Close action. Wild swaps from side to side, and even Bea Courtnage got tangled up and landed on her roof. Well it was more her side but it took some help to get her back down on all four. Things led off with the 10 lap sprint but the only racer that had much luck moving up through the pack after being seeded at the rear was # 10 Blake Westman who managed a 5th. # 39 Kate Courtnage took the win. # 17 Brandon Norris finally had conditions that matched his kart set up and was able to keep the field behind him for 25 laps taking the win with newbie # 3 Jaxson Jacobs hanging tough for 2nd and Westman grabbing 3rd. That left the final 35 lap race for the series leaders to try to claim back some more points. # 20 DJ McRae was sitting front and center when the race went green and never looked back. That made for one heck of a race for second as the series contenders made their way towards the front. It was this action that put Bea Courtnage up and over after tangling with another racer. # 87 Brad Perrott who started mid pack was the first to break out and finished a strong 2nd with # 51 Matt Anderson showing his determination and took 3rd. "Little" Matty seems to have shot up a lot as was evidenced with picture taking. We may have to drop the "little" soon from his title. As always you need a calculator with this group to see who took the most points and with only 1 point between each position and a tie for 4th, you actually have to double check the calculator. This week with a mere 37 points, # 39 Kate Courtnage took first with 1,6,4, # 17 Brandon Norris was 2nd with 3,1,8, and # 10 Blake Westman 5,3,5. This group is something to watch and when on the track you can bet all the good viewing points have spectators standing in them. Currently in the lead for the summer series is # 87 Brad Perrott with a cushion of 1 point over Westman and Kate Courtnage. Sister Bea Courtnage is just 2 points back. If that isn't a close horse race, I don't know what is.

This week series leader # 34 Scott Chesterman figured he had enough of a points lead to try out a new and unfamiliar kart. As always the time trials sets the stage for who is fastest that night and determines the starting grid for the 10 lap sprint and the 30 lap final. When the clock stopped it was the karts of # 34 Chesterman and # 1 Holly Porter sitting top two. That moved them back for the starts. Earning an improvement in starting position was # 37 Scott Kelly taking third. In the 10 lap sprint it was qualifiers 4th and 5th up front on the grid giving # 75 Dylan Chesterman and # 19 Cody Coburn clear track when the green waved. # 75 Chesterman managed to make the lead stick whiled being hunted down by his cousin # 34 Scott Chesterman. Good finishes for # 37 Scott Kelly in third and 4th for # 15 Josh Beecroft who have both been steadily improving this series. The final 35 lap main had lots of action as there were several cautions and several of the front runners got chucked to the rear for causing havoc. That doesn't seem to matter much as they made their way back to the front in time for the checkers. When the points were tallied up, the night went the same as the final race with Scott Chesterman, Dylan Chesterman and Scott Kelly crossing the line in that order.

So what was up with the unknown kart test. Seems it has been a setup night mare for the new owner who said it couldn't be tamed. This week it got rode hard right to the front so I would have to say if the saddle is tight and you hang on, the kart can go really fast as an almost perfect points night will attest. Now the tough decision, have fun with the easier to drive 250 motor or struggle through the poor results while learning how to tame the beast.

As a reminder to all. Only 4 regular summer series races left. That would be every Tuesday night in September.

Lastly will be the Pot luck and 100 lap finals on Thanksgiving Saturday, Oct 8 2011 and the Banquet planning is in the works

Race report for the Tillsonburg Outlaw's race held August 23 2011

This week the Beginners welcomed new racer # 17 Oscar McCormack to their ranks. After being introduced to the club, Oscar got his first chance on the track with a solo appearance to confirm he was ready to fire out onto the track for the 10 lap race with 5 other "experienced" Beginners. Now doesn't that sound funny? Oscar pre race talk included explaining that we did not really mind if he went fast or slow, but it was really important to not spin out and cause any unnecessary mayhem. Oscar's mission was accomplished and Dad and driver looked really happy after the nights program finished up. I think we have another driver "hooked" on racing.

With 6 karts on the track the rest of the field wanted to make sure they beat the "new" kid and we had several attempts to win the race in the first corner that didn't really turn out the way the drivers hoped. After a few restarts the racing got under way. To me it is a sign our youngest drivers are getting more serious about getting to the front as their skills have increased. # 66 Colby Bennett/Port Dover made his return a good one taking 2 of the three race wins and 1st overall for the night. # 01 Jamie Hall/Wilsonville grabbed the other win and was standing in 2nd for the night when the points were averaged. These two are looking like they are ready to test the Junior waters soon. We'll have to see if the kids think so too. # 57 Bryson Green/Ingersoll, like all the kids, has improved so much this season finished the night in 3rd place.

Tying for 2nd this week in the Juniors was # 77x Alex Hill/Wilsonville and # 48 Andrew Marshall/Dorchester Hill proved to be better in the twin mains but Marshall won the Sprint to even things out. That left # 52 Jacob Sheridan/Mt Brydges sitting in first. Each of these drivers won a race this week so you can imagine how close the points are. Only 1 point off was # 10x Cameron Davidson/Brantford who is sitting in 4th this season and only needs to gain 4 points to move up a notch. The series continues to be very close for the top 7 drivers. With 5 races to go I am not making any predictions.

The Seniors sounded like Thunder this week as all 9 competitors hit the track for the first time in the Summer Series. I have to say that watching our most experienced kids driving their best is a sight to see. Passing and challenges are happening everywhere and you don't know where to look next. The night started out looking like # 20 DJ McRae was back to form after winning the sprint and taking 2nd in the middle race but a miscue after the starter cautioned a botched start, McRae choose the wall over rear ending a fellow racer and a broken tie rod was the result. He was still able to take 4th for the night. Two of our points leaders got into the top three with # 79 Bea Courtnage taking first with the final race win and # 10 Blake Westman wrapping up the night with 3rd. So who was left sitting in 2nd place this week? # 51 Matt Anderson/Ridgetown who has slowly and sneakily been shaking off his baseball habits and moving up in his speed index rating. Matt could move up a couple positions if he keeps getting points at this rate. With the difference between 1st and mid pack being little more than a hesitation while attempting a pass, it is getting very hard for a racer to win regularly. # 87 Brad Perrott is out front currently but he is only a mistake away from dropping to 4th. Of coarse it may be his competitors that make a mistake and give him even more of a lead. In the end I don't think you can find any more exiting racing than the Senior class in Tillsonburg. Come see for yourself.

The big news in the Experts is they too had the full field out this week with all 9 racers in attendance. Luckily I was able to run around in the middle of that beehive and had front row seats for the Scott and Holly show. Nephew Dylan took third this week after trying to punt me off the track. Hmmm, I have to find some more speed so I can keep up to pay him back. LOL The big story this week is what Motor will # 19 Cody Coburn show up with next week? After some amazing results and the appearance that he was about to knock off class champ Scott Chesterman while using a motor half the size of his rivals, Coburn was feeling pretty hot and was not afraid to predict his dominance once his team had the new 500 motor to get back on equal footing. This is healthy racing rivalry and is what drives the threatened to keep going but Coburn's adaptation to the increased power has been anything but smooth and the steadily declining results have frustrated him. Lets face it, going from laughing at the slow 50 year old that he easily passed every night to getting beat by the same 50 year old three weeks in a row was not in his plans. He will figure out the power sooner or later and will make his way back to the front but my advice to him at this point would be never tease the guy that controls the newsletter. Moving up this week in the results was # 15 Josh Beecroft who despite having a couple mechanical issues still managed to finish 4th this week despite the full field.

As for the adults, my advice is to stay off your kids toys. Always dominant Sprint Car racer Glenn Styres will be missing some racing with a broken arm. He has walked away from many wild on track wrecks but the under estimation of what his 9 year olds ATV could do got the best of him.

That's all for this week. Keep your helmets tight, your goggles on and your mind centered.

Next race at Chesterman Power Products, August 30 at 7pm.

Race Report for the Aug. 16th race held at Chesterman Power Products.

Tillsonburg Outlaw club

After the normal pre-race briefing, ribbon and win presentations were handled by Junior driver # 10x Cameron Davidson from Brantford Ont. Cameron did a great job announcing the winners. Cameron's choice of assistance was fellow racer # 52 Jacob Sheridan from Mount Brydges. Who knows, maybe there is a career in broadcasting?

This week during intermission we had a half time show. After mudding in the track early in the night, one of our "Expert" teams decided they should scrap all the mud off in the middle of the staging area. Not real impressed with the mud where everyone walks, the old guy in the club (that would be me) knelt down and started picking up the gobs of clay. Well in about 10 seconds (before my blood started to boil) I had several 5,6,7,8 and 9 year olds gathered around asking "what are you doing?" Seeing the chance to be sneaky, I said, "we are having a mud throwing competition, want to join in?" Very quickly the racers had several balls of mud moulded into throwing shape. If there is such a thing as organized mud throwing, it went off without a hitch, no one lost an eye and with our not too accurate method of measuring, no one won or lost put we had a lot of fun throwing dirt into the corn field. After the fun, some of the kids were kind of disappointed that they missed out on the action. Little did they know they just missed the work detail. grin

On to the racing:

With the previous weeks presentations looked after, the beginners suited up for the first race. This included young Dylan Watson from St Thomas, driving the # 78 kart for the first time. (in two years). Dylan never made the top 3 this week but he gave it a heck of a shot by finishing all 3 races which does not always happen with new drivers. Tied for 2nd place this week was # 57 Bryson Green/ Ingersoll (2,3,2) and # 93 Rayse Meyer/Courtland (1,2,4) Yes , that was a win and a 2nd for Rayse. Hmmmmm, somebody is getting faster. Spoiler this week was the # 01 car driven by Jamie Hall/Wilsonville with a 3,1,1. The series shows Rayse and Bryson tied for the lead before throwing out each racers worst score, so now is the time to print off the sheet to prove you have more points then everyone else. LOL

# 52 Jacob Sheridan/Mt Brydges went into the night with a 4 point series lead. # 48 Andrew Marshall took back 2 of those points by winning for the night with 1,1,3 finishes. Not one to shoot for 2nd, Sheridan came out swinging after a poor 10 lap sprint with improved results, 4,2,1. These two look to take the series down to the last week and likely the last race. Not far off the pace was # 10x Cameron Davidson. Must have been the excitement of public speaking that made him faster. Either way, he rounded out the top 3 this week in the Juniors.

You have to love computers. the newsletter was totally done, pictures added and I hit the send button. BOOM -- sorry, outlook express had a fatal error and anything after the last "save" was GONE. That was here so I will start the 2nd half of the newsletter again after a brief cooling down period. (me, not the computer)

For some time now I have been preaching that the Seniors have no clear dominant driver. They all are fast and they all can win. Grit and determination is going to win the summer series.

Proof of this claim can be seen in this weeks results. A three way tie for 2nd place. After a brief absence to repair his motor and recharge his battery, # 20 DJ McRae, who was at the very back of the grid for each start, managed to claw his way forwards with each additional race. After good results last week both # 10 Blake Westman and # 3 Jaxon Jacobs also started near the back and ended the night tied with McRae with 37 points each. # 39 Kate Courtnage took the win and has moved into 2nd place for the series. Only 4 points behind # 87 Brad Perrott who sat out this week, making that his night to drop. I think there are 4 drivers who have a very real chance of winning the championship and will be racing with that goal in mind. The wild card is there are two drivers that should have been in that mix and have nothing to loose by going for the "win" at this point. Add into that 3 more drivers that if things go right can work their way to overall win results if things go their way and you have one heck of a race. This group of racers are having to dig deeper every week as the group gets faster, more consistent and more skilled.

As for the Experts. # 34 Scott Chesterman set a crazy fast qualifying time of 7.383 and a "race" time of 7.578. Both records for the year. That was too much for the rest of the field as the races wore on. Defeating all others in qualifying and both racers was # 1 Holly Porter. Now you would think that being the 2nd fastest driver in the club this week, she would earn some respect but someone with the urge to egg her to go even faster made the comment, and I quote, " Holly, you drove really well tonight.................. for a girl. " Ohhhhh, someone is going to get his kermupins one of these days. Rounding out the top three was # 75 Dylan Chesterman. Cody Day, Devin Jarvis and Cody Coburn all fell victim to the "house" team this week. The Experts are in Wonderland this week and if we can get everyone's race program to come together on the same night, could have 10 racers out to put on a show. Lets hope all the teams are able to attend after the one week delay.

Two cameras were present this week. The St Johns had one and the Tillsonburg News reporter Chris Abbott had the other. Since Chris' better cameral works inside, this week you get to see.......me. Look at the style, look at the form, now if only I could knock a half second off my lap times.

The two girls are on the infield having a tea party after an on track tango. # 75 Dylan and # 88 Devin compare notes.

Tillsonburg Outlaws run wild

Well, not really but the races on August 9th were still pretty amazing.

The weather turned out to be very nice for racing despite the weather man forecasting doom and gloom.

As part of our "expect more, get more" program, this week # 39 Kate Courtnage from Harley handled the awards presentations. Kate did a fine job despite being thrown under the bus at the last minute. This program will continue as we work with the racers to increase their public speaking skills. When they hit the big times and get a microphone put to them, they will be ready to go.

As for the Beginners, this week saw new driver # 27 Ethan Giles/Aylmer take to the track and he did a fine job staying out of mischief and was pretty close to the pace with this being the first time he actually got to drive the kart. Word has it the seat was not too comfortable and he had a sore arm afterwards but he was back to practice the next day to work that issue out. Let's hope the drama of racing did not unsettle him too much. Next week,( I have been promised) will be the appearance of young Dylan Watson/St Thomas, so the Beginner division is growing once again. By narrow margins, # 66 Colby Bennett/Port Dover took home the overall after taking both main wins. Not giving up much was # 57 Bryson Green who was there to grab 2nd in each of the 3 runs and actually beat Bennett in the 10 lap sprint. # 01 Jamie Hall/Wilsonville won the sprint but after getting caught up in a caution in the final, her results put her into 3rd for the night. Next week with 6 Beginners on the track, the racing should be a hoot to watch. Bring the Grandparents and see if we can give them a show.

# 52 Jacob Sheridan/ Mount Brydges used his consistency to finish on top again this week. The 4 points he gained over 2nd place # 48 Andrew Marshall/Dorchester put him out front for the series as well. Marshall managed to put in the fastest lap in each of the three races of all the Juniors. After taking 1st overall last week, # 77 Alex Hill/ Wilsonville put together another great night and finished tied for 2nd with Marshall. When you adjust the season points by removing each racers lowest points night, Hill sits firmly in 3rd. Davidson, Hall, Meyer and Miller are all close enough in points that no one is safe this early in the season.

Showing the depth of talent in the Seniors, we have a tie for 1st this week between # 87 Brad Perrott/Strathroy and # 10 Blake Westman/Aylmer. Each took a win but were unable to do it a 2nd time this week. Holy Cow, in only his 2nd time racing on the dirt, new member # 3 Jaxson Jacobs/London managed to put together a win in the final main and thereby put himself into 3rd place this week. The story doesn't stop here for this group. The ability to win goes all the way to the back of the field in this division. Westman, Perrott and Jacobs were the fast lap setters for the 3 races. In the final race # 92 Austin Giles and # 51 Matt Anderson were leading but some contact between the two coming out of the pit turn put them into the wall almost blocking the track with the field right behind early in the race. What was really amazing was that the rest of the field managed to make some last second manoeuvres to avoid the whole mess. Right behind was # 79 Bea Courtnage who was most likely to get caught but avoided disaster and took over the lead at that point. She was not able to hold it though as the hard charging Jacobs managed to make a pass that stuck before the checkered. With the corrected season points dropping each racers worst night, we have Perrott in first followed with a 3 way tie for 2nd. Westman, Courtnage and Courtnage take that honour. With standings this close, every pass on every night in every race will prove to be very important.

The Experts this week were all chomping on the bit with series leader and usual winner Scott Chesterman away. It was anyone's chance for a win with the most likely being # 19 Cody Coburn but after qualifying in 2nd, the 10 lap sprint went bad as he went into the wall and flattened a rear tire, thus ending his victory chances. Expecting to come back and win the final, Coburn failed to notice his inability to countersteer the kart to the right and on this track, if you can't steer right, you cant go left. The resulting infield donuts were entertaining to all except the other racers waiting to get on with the race. After causing 3 restarts, he got the hook. So who was the fastest? # 75 Dylan Chesterman managed to make a charge in every race in the later laps to make a perfect night after qualifying fastest. >From there it was down to # 7 Dave Chesterman, # 37 Scott Kelly and # 15 Josh Beecroft but when Beecroft lost a carburetor he was out of the picture leaving Kelly and Chesterman tied for second as Kelly Qualified faster but long in the tooth Chesterman beat the youngster in each race.

Next battle takes place at Chesterman Power Products in Tillsonburg, Tuesday Aug 16 at 7 pm. Be There.

Race held at Chesterman Power Products on August 2 2011

This week we have a guest reporter. # 1 Holly Porter

Her version of the races follows.

The night started out with a fresh sticky and smooth track. We start off the story of the night with the beginners. Taking 1st overall this week was #66 Colby Bennett, 2and place for the night goes to #01 Jamie Hall, 3rd place for the night was #57 Bryson Green, 4th was #93 Rayse Meyer.

10 lap sprint-#66 Colby Bennett,#57 Bryson Green, #01 Jamie Hall, #93 Rayse Meyer.

Feature-#01 Jamie Hall, #66 Colby Bennett, #57 Bryson Green,#93 Rayse Meyer

Feature- #66, #01,#57, #93

Fastest lap by- #66 Colby Bennett. 9.675 seconds.

Juniors

#77x of Alex Hill was 1st overall, 2and went to Andrew Marshall in the #48, and 3rd went to the #52 of Jacob Sheridan.

10 lap sprint - #77x Alex Hill took the win, 2nd was #48 Marshall, 3rd went to Sheridan. Fastest lap in this race went to the #48-at 9.213

Feature- Again the #77x of Alex Hill was out front, #52 of Jacob Sheridan was second, #48 was thrid, #55s took 4th, #93 was 5th, #10x was 6th. Best lap by-#77x at 9.139.

Feature- The final race of the night for the junior class saw the #48 of Andrew Marshall take the win. The #52 of Jacob Sheridan took second place as well as the fast lap of the entire night turning in a lap of 8.995! Third place went to Alex Hill In the #77x followed by the #10x Cameron Davidson in 4th, 5th was #93 Amber Meyer, 6th was the #55 of Scott Hall.

Seniors

First over all was the #79 car of Bea Courtnage. #87 Brad Perrott in Second. #39 Kate Courtnage in Thrid.

10 lap sprint- #87 driven by brad perrott took teh race win as well as fast lap in this race. He was followed closely by the #39 of Kate and the #79 of Bea Courtnage.

25 lap feature- the #79 took the win. #87 took second. #39 thrid. #51 was 4th, #92 was 5th, #3 of Jaxson Jacobs turned in the fastest time in this race of 9.053 ( this was his first night in tillsonburg)

35 lap race- The 10 of blake westman took the win, the #79 of Bea Courtnage took seond place. #39 of kate Courtnage took thrid. The #87 of Perrott took 4th and fastest time in this race.

Experts

The #34 of Scott Chesterman took first overall again, Followed by #1 Holly Porter in Second, Thrid went to #19 Cody Coburn, one point back in 4th was the #37 of Scott Kelly.

In time trail the #34 set an extremely fast lap of 7.559. followed by...#1, #19, #37, #7, #4, #15, #75. The top four in this group were all under 8 seconds.

10 lap- #34 Chesterman, #19 Coburn, #37 Kelly.

30 Lap Feature.- The fast grippy track we saw all night couldnt stand up to the power of the expert cars. By the halfway point in the final race of the night the track was starting to rip apart and cause trouble for a few drivers. Scott Chesterman #34 took the win, followed by the #1 of Holly Porter, with the #75 Of Dylan Chesterman in thrid.

The second race of the summer series was a hot one. The Tillsonburg Outlaws were up to the challenge, and a few had some tricks up their sleeve despite the heat.

Beginner # 66 Colby Bennett/Port Dover continues to lead the pack but # 93 Rayce Meyer/Tillsonburg and # 57 Bryson Green/Ingersoll are not making it easy on him. Both are getting harder to get by and with the handy capping system, Colby has to get by if he wants a win. Next race should see the return of Dylan Watson who says he is ready to go after sitting out last season at the ripe old age of 6. Anyone else with young potential drivers should check this class out as it is ready for a couple more really green (meaning never raced) drivers. Kids 5 to 10 yrs old are eligible for this division. This is the place to learn not only driving but paying attention to flagmen, traffic lights, other drivers and anticipating what's going to happen next. It does not happen all at once and often there is a bit more excitement then wanted but within weeks, things smooth back out and the racing is on.

The Juniors were short a couple drivers this week but that did not take away from the action as everyone wanted their turn at the checkers. # 11 Johnny Miller/Ohsweken is back up to speed after missing the spring series. # 77x Alex Hill/Wilsonville struggled this week with suspected engine troubles. #10x Cameron Davidson/Brantford won the 10 lap sprint but was not able to back it up in the mains. #48 Andrew Marshall/Dorchester and # 52 Jacob Sheridan/Mt Brydges took the honours and traded wins and seconds in the mains. These two are something to watch with different driving techniques but similar lap times. Traffic often makes the difference who is in front and it is not uncommon to see them 3 wide as they split to pass traffic. In the end it went down as Marshall, Sheridan and Davidson in that order for the night.

The Seniors saw some interesting results this week. # 17 Brandon Norris/Brantford had a great night with a pair of wins and a 4th to take the nights overall. Passes were hard to come by and with the consistency that the Seniors are capable of it is tough to get to the front week after week. # 87 Brad Perrott/Strathroy was very good at it this week tying # 79 Bea Courtnage/Harley for 2nd place when the results were averaged. Interestingly after two weeks, it is Brad Perrott sitting on top of the standings. Will he be able to stay there? 4 drivers could steal that lead in one night. Hang on, this is going to be a close one.

The Experts actually had the largest turn out for their division despite # 4 Cody Day/Tillsonburg being in New Brunswick and # 88 Devin Jarvis/London missing out on the action. With most of the racers having moved to equivalent machinery, it seems I have been moved back to "also ran" status. My times are close to the mid pack racers but somehow I always end up in the rear when the checkers come out. Discrimination I tell you. # 34 Scott Chesterman/Langton continues to dominate by taking 1st this week but # 1 Holly Porter/Dorchester, # 75 Dylan Chesterman/Tillsonburg and # 19 Cody Coburn/ Mt Brydges all seem intent on knocking him off. They have been making it hard to get by with some very fast lap times. When will they be too fast to pass? Stay tuned as cautions are already playing a big part as racers push the limits too far and get sent to the rear. Rumour has it the Scott and Holly will be missing a race very soon for summer holidays as they exercise their week off option. Who is going to step up and take the win when the opportunity arises?

Next race at Chesterman Power Products in Tillsonburg

August 2 2011 7pm

What do you get when the newsletter writer goes on holiday the morning after the race?
You get a short news letter!

July 1st the Tillsonburg Outlaws were in Ohsweken for a special Holiday event. Fifty lap races determined the winner of each class. 66 Colby Bennett took the win in the beginners. The other 3 groups all saw some last lap charges to change several expected wins. 0 Cole MacDonald looked to have the race in the bag but the never give up attitude from 48 Andrew Marshall paid off as he took the win with only a lap remaining.
79 Bea Courtnage was taking constant pressure from the 39 kart driven by her father mark but despite his best attempts, Bea crossed the line two feet in front for the win.
Expert 19 Cody Coburn who was running super high proved it was a fast way around and was in the lead with two laps to go. 34 Scott Chesterman who had been running well under Coburn but could not get past finally swung out wide and took away the Coburn slingshot down the straight. Race done with Chesterman in front

July 8th the Expert's were on the road for their 2nd visit to Wonderland Speedway. The track held up much better then our last visit. Smooth enough to run a normal race line, our group was able to post times a second faster than the micro's and over a half second faster than their suspended versions. Not long ago it was unusual to ever see a sub 11 second time. We smashed that with a 10.390. Maybe we can knock off a sub 10? Two races left to give it a try

By now the results for the July 12th race should be on My Laps. With out those in front of me it is impossible to guess the overall winners but I can remember the highlights. Rayce Meyer had some big changes done to his kart and should improve a lot this summer. He still likes to do victory donuts on the infield though. Win or not.
10x Cameron Davidson had a breakthrough night by putting a bunch of passes together by going around karts rather than trying to go through them. It worked so well that he won at least one race. 93 Amber Meyer also got going and spent some time at the front.
Can't remember much about these's but 92 Austin Giles took his turn at the wall. He made it longer than most rookies.
All I can say about the experts is you got come watch the battles that are forming. It's taken a while but with home grown drivers and with 700 combined horsepower trying to out do each other while doing 7 second laps, things are bound to heat up.

Next race. July 19

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Spring Series - Tillsonburg Outlaws Wraps up.

Tuesday June 28 2011 was the conclusion of several things. By nights end, race 8 was finished as was the Spring Series. It also marked the completion of the School year for most of the drivers. Several interpretations can come out of that. While for the kids it is a time of celebration, it is a sign that they have completed an endeavour (hopefully successfully) but also they are soon to go on to new challenges, whether that be a new grade, a new division or maybe even into the work force. While some fear change, others run towards it. My moto is with every change there is always a chance for something even better. Next up comes the Summer Series 2011.

This week the Beginner tie was broke for first place as # 55 Jack Tipper/Scotland put enough points on the board to edge out # 01 Jamie Hall/Wilsonville by a mere 2 points. Speedster for the night was # 66 Colby Bennett/Port Dover who managed 1,3,1 for the night. He was followed by Tipper and Hall in that order. Even at this young age, this group is showing some personalities. Young Mr Rayce Meyer finally got his Introduction this week as Holly Porter filled in for the Absent Devin Jarvis. Rayce made sure that Holly pointed out that his initials were RPM and that meant he was always going to be revving motors. Later on in the night, Jamie Hall comes rolling into the building whistling the Dukes of Hazard General Lee horn song (way down south something) totally goes with her Paint scheme, the General Lee. Luckily for mom, we don't allow wearing polka dot tops and Daisy Duke shorts in the kart. Isn't there a song about that? (yes, Jamie is a girl).

Beginner standings

The Juniors also have some characters in the group. # 0 Cole McDonald found out that if you let your seat belt tail hang down in your chain, the seat belt gets VERY tight in a hurry. That revolution had all the parents checking out their drivers belts in a hurry. Lesson learned. # 48 Andrew Marshall/Dorchester managed to put the fastest lap in Junior for the night plus run on the very edge of spinning out almost every lap. This week he got away with it most of the time and was able to win with a 3,1,2. # 52 Jacob Sheridan/Mt Brydges, who has been mister consistent this year took 2nd with a 5-2-1 but wrapped up the spring series in the lead. MacDonald finished third for the night despite the seat belt incident. Marshall took 2nd in the Series with # 55 Scott Hall/ Wilsonville claiming 3rd in the series. Pretty darn good considering it was his first series in the Juniors.

Junior standings

In the Seniors if you weren't female, you were racing for 3rd. Multiple drivers took a run at the championship, and all had their nights but none were able to put in the consistent results that # 79 Bea Courtnage/Harley was able to, week in and week out. Benefitting from some front row starts, Bea was able to put in a perfect night to take the final race win and the championship. Although that sounds easy, Bea showed good composure as she managed to stay out of trouble when she eventually caught up with and passed lapped traffic. A couple slides by lappers almost caught her but she was able to avoid problems. Seeing how her younger sister did it, # 39 Kate Courtnage/ Harley put together a decent night to finish in 2nd but more importantly took 2nd in the series as well. The next part is indicative of how close this class is. Only 1 point behind second, third place was a three way tie. # 87 Brad Perrott/Strathroy, # 10 Blake Westman/Aylmer and # 92 Austin Giles were all threats over the series and had equivalent results this week. Coming in third for the series was # 10 Blake Westman. Noticeably absent this week was # 20 DJ McRae. Rumour has it DJ is not having fun and is looking for a break. Time will tell if the fun comes back for this team.

Senior Standings

The Experts were shy a couple teams this week but that did not slow down the lap times any. This years lap record fell with a 7.649 time on lap 10 of the sprint by # 34 Scott Chesterman. With the smaller group Chesterman was able to put together a perfect night both in time trials, the sprint and the main. Racing for possibly the last time with a 250, # 19 Cody Coburn/Mt Brydges took a pair of seconds in the races and a 4th in the time trials for 2nd on the night but that was 1 point shy of second in the series standings. Cody finished the series in 3rd behind # 1 Holly Porter/Dorchester and # 34 Chesterman and says the new 500 is going to push him to the top this summer. He may be right. Finishing the night in 3rd was # 75 Dylan Chesterman who has adjusted to the Expert speed this series and figures in to be a threat this summer to be top 3. There are a couple of other drivers that could be there too so this summer may see a lot of paint trading going on. I think pretty soon we are going to see some surprises in this group as the students start to pass the masters. Stay tuned grasshopper....

Expert Standings

The standings are in the record books. Everyone goes back to zero and we start the summer series. Each team will be dropping one score from their July or August races. All september races count.

Remember the July 1st 4-50's race in Ohsweken

No racing on July 5th

1st race of the Summer Series is July 12

Experts have the Wonderland race July 8

This weeks picture is Bryson Green with slushie and 3rd place ribbon in hand.

Tillsonburg Outlaws

Weather forcast: Severe Thunderstorms

Weather reality: very nice night

Race forcast: great racing

Race Reality: non stop action with crashes galore

That about sums up this weeks action. With a pre race review of the Spring Series Points Championship and how close the standings are, the drivers stepped it up in hopes of bettering their standings this week. Not everyone had the same success.

For a change this week, the track started the night smooth and wet. Once mud-in and practice were complete, the racing got underway. The bottom was slick and the top line was less slick. As the night procressed, the track tacked up and gave great traction. Some of the drivers adapted well. Some struggled with conditions they had not seen too often. The track was smooth and very fun to race but required more power sliding technique than normal. Either way, they all raced the same track and the fastest most consistent drivers won.

Beginner # 93 Rayce Meyer/Tillsonburg and Junior # 52 Jacob Sheridan/Mt Brydges were the first to go onto the track for the initial mud-in. Slipping and sliding their way around the track, picking up lots of mud in the process but oh did they ever have BIG smiles when they came off the track. Nothing like a bunch of mud to play in to make a boy happy.

Oddly enough, come race time, the Beginners adapt very quickly. # 01 Jamie Hall/Wilsonville, # 57 Bryson Green/Ingersoll and # 55 Jack Tipper all took a race win this week but it was the consistancy of # 66 Colby Bennett with three 2nd's that took the nights overall win. After 7 weeks of racing, there is a tie for 1st place in the series. # 55 Tipper and # 01 Jamie Hall will decide next week who the champ is. Lets assume they won't tie again making co winners for the series.

You never know what is going to happen in the Juniors since they are all capable of winning and all drive to the max, sometimes even past their limits. That makes for action that you just can't look away from. # 52 Jacob Sheridan after playing in the mud early on used his track knowledge to carve through karts with confidence as he worked his way to the front. You can't really say it was a fluke, because with a 2,1,1 for the night there was no doubt he was fastest this week. Jacob leads the Spring series. Tied in 2nd this week were # 10x Cameron Davidson/Brantford and # 0 Cole McDonald/Mississauga with more consistancy then they usually manage. This pair are a little more raw when trying to get through traffic as a result of their "arrive and drive" Cameran style of running but they are not short on desire. Each week you can see they are gaining more perspective on the dynamics of passing on an oval. LOL How's that for big words? This club is all about "learning and racing" and you can't do one without the other. Good going guys. How about this for race action? # 52 Sheridan was running up front with # 48 Marshall running in 2nd in pursuit about 20 feet back in the final main. The two have space and are trying to go as fast as possible to distance the pack. Twenty feet back from Marshall were 3 karts battling inches apart for 3rd, 4th, and 5th. From the mid point of the pit end corner, Marshall lost traction and quickly went sideways and stopped. You know what is coming next, yep, 3 karts with room for one kart high and one kart low to maybe get around if they are really watching. BUT, there were 3 karts coming and 20 feet at race speed is not much time. In fact doing some math with 9 second laps there was .36 of a second to see the kart, register that you have to do something and make the manuever to try to avoid the wreck. .36 seconds. These kids are 9 and 10 years old. So Dad, although watching your kid on the track waiting .36 of a second to get hit seems like an eternity, just how would a faster caution change the outcome in any way? This is not a video game with freeze action. Sometimes you just have to watch what you know is coming and hope the drivers all learn from it. Actually, if the spectators are not related, this is exactly the action they come to see. Aren't fans twisted? Either way, these kids come to race and race stuff will happen.

Seniors seniors seniors. Nobody wants 2nd in this group and this week the attrition rate took its toll. This group takes its racing serious and that includes the parents. Good thing parents are not allowed in school yards or we would have parent fights defending their kids. It would bring new meaning to school yard Bully. Two on track incidents occurred that everyone saw but not everyone agreed what had happened. Luckily all the races are video taped and so at nights end the officials sit down to discuss what they saw before watching the video, then we watch the video, frontwards and backwards, from both ends of the track and in slow motion. Sometimes our opinions change and sometime they don't. Two crashes into the wall came under scrutiny. In the second Senior final # 39 Bea Courtnage went wide and put # 20 DJ McRae into the wall. The karts following that were unable to avoid him making the wreck even bigger. In the final Senior race # 39 Bea Courtnage went into the wall with traffic around her (or so it seemed). Good thing for video replays.

So what really happened? # 92 Austin Giles who has been getting faster each week was doing his best to drive fast enough to stay in front of # 79 Bea Courtnage who not only was trying to get by but was only a length in front of # 20 McRae going into the far end corner. Courtnage thought she may get around the Giles kart by cutting low on the exit but lost traction on the slick inside of the corner. Immediately realizing the mistake, Courtnage moved outwards to find traction and get inline with Giles down the straight. As this was going on McRae saw an opportunity to go wide and got a good drive out of the corner and got along side Courtnage at the same time as she was regaining traction and steering by going up on the track. Out of room and out of luck, McRae who had been doing a fabulas job of moving through the field like a seasoned pro, hit the wall and in turn, got run into by the following pack at the end of the staight away. That took out McRae with as yet unknown engine problems and # 39 Kate Courtnage with a sore neck after getting hit from behind after she stopped after hitting McRae. Bea Courtnage, who hardly knew what had occured behind her came through unscathed. She got sent to the rear for the restart but mechanically was fine. She would not be so lucky in the final Senior race as the Racing Gods frowned on her a little later on. This time Bea was leading the 35 lap main when she slowed slightly with a chain problem, providing some drive but not enough. This unexpected slow down coming into the Pit corner put the # 39 kart, now driven by Josh Beecroft and # 10 Blake Westman into Bea but they were able to get by without a caution. Down the straight it looked like Bea was going again as # 92 pulled up beside her on the outside as they went down the straight. This is where it gets weird because at the end of the straight, # 92 was on the outside of Bea, but somehow Bea made a hard right behind him and was up on two wheels as she hit the wall. She did this from the inside of another kart. No contact from behind. No contact from the front and seemingly non from the outside. I mean, what could a kart on the outside do to make the inside kart hit the wall? Like I said earlier, the Racing Gods work in mysterious ways. That took out the # 79 kart for the remainder. How did things finish? # 10 Blake Westman won two of the three races for 1st overall with # 17 Brandon Norris taking 2,1,5 to finish in 2nd. # 51 Matt Anderson, tied for 3rd this week with # 92 Austin Giles for Giles' first top three finish this year. Oddly with such a strange week the points standings did not change that much. The top 4 series leaders all had poor points nights. Top of that list is # 87 Brad Perrott whose family is dealing with serious health issues of a child and were unable to attend this week. Our thoughts and best wishes go out to the Perrott family as they deal with this. Other than Perrott dropping in the standings the series order is still Bea Courtnage, Kate Courtnage, DJ McRae.

The Experts had a good night without any major wrecks but # 19 Cody Coburn pushed on his throttle so hard he broke it, twice. # 37 Scott Kelly got beat by a 50 year old in the final main and # 34 Scott Chesterman continues to set the fastest time every race and qualifying. Dylan Chesterman, and Cody Coburn both have a chance to knock Holly Porter out of second in the series with a bit of luck. Next week will tell.

Last Race of the Spring Series is June 28 at 7 pm in Tillsonburg at Chesterman Power Products.

See you then

For readers that can't wait, mylaps.com or Tillsonburg Mylaps will take you right to the results.

The Tillsonburg Outlaws Spring Series race 6 occurred June 14 2011 on the Chesterman Indoor Track. Weather was perfect for inside and outside.

The evening started out with 4 expert competitors introducing their "little buddies" in the beginner class. It is always fun to hear about the kids by the kids as you never know what is going to pop up. As well the Beginners have been receiving tips about racing and such from their mentors. A good deal for both sides of the teams.

Up next my wife did her best to embarrass me about turning 50 ugh, but no one said I had to grow up so as long as I can race with the younger crowd I think it is OK. A giant birthday cake was devoured by the racers and teams before climbing into the karts for the nights racing.

The track this week was smooth and somewhat dry making for some fun but loose racing. Teams scrambled to get the karts to bite better and drivers had to adapt to the conditions. All part of the adventure.

Up first was the sticky finger, cake face class. Rayce Meyer trying to eat cake through his helmet was just too funny to put into words. Dad Terry was too happy to get some extra time to pull the helmet back off. Back to the track....Up front for the second week in a row was # 66 Colby Bennett/Port Dover who has been almost unstoppable the last 2 weeks. His 2,1,1 finishes were despite being seeded in the rear for the second week in a row. Series leader # 55 Jack Tipper/Wilsonville was fast but so was # 01 Jamie Hall/Wilsonville as the two tied for the night with 1,3,4 and a 3,2,3 respectively. As all the racers get faster, they are learning new strategies as well. It shows as they manoeuvre around the track. It won't be long and they will be eyeing the Junior division.

I am not too sure Jason Meyer will be allowed back at the track by his daughter # 93 Amber Meyer/Tillsonburg after she took her first overall of the season in his absence. Amber is likely the nicest driver on the track which makes her a bit easier to pass then it should be. Amber was having none of that this week and took her pole position starts and raced the wheels off her kart to go 2,1,3 which left her standing on top of the competition. Nice to have you back Amber. Now lets show them (and your Dad) that it was no fluke and do it again next week. No ties in this group as # 48 Andrew Marshall/Dorchester was fast all night but a mishap in the middle race put him to the back and dropped him to second for the night. 1,6,1. Seemingly not as fast as Andrew this week but more consistent with 3,4,2, # 52 Jacob Sheridan/Mt Brydges was only a point behind in third. This group continues to battle for supremacy on the track and I think until the final race, we will not be able to declare the champion.

In the Seniors we continue to see the new to Sr kids giving the returning Sr's a hard time. Problem is for them that each week it is a different rookie doing well and each week it is the same returning Sr doing well. # 79 Bea Courtnage/Harley as spent most of the year starting at or near the back but each week, there she is finishing at or near the front. # 51 Matt Anderson of Ridgetown took 1st for one of his first wins of the season Again, Bea took 2nd and increased her series lead to the point she is going to be hard to catch. Recent Jr graduate, # 20 DJ McRae has taken the spring series to get his Sr legs so to speak and has hit his stride. DJ has learned how to work his way through traffic more efficiently and will be a threat from here on in. He took 3rd . When watching this group, you can't take your eye off the track for a second or you are going to miss something. It is as exiting of racing as you will see anywhere.

The Experts. Hmmmmm. The old guy finished last, #34 Scott Chesterman set the fast time in qualifying and won the 30 lap main and the night. # 19 Cody Coburn broke away from his girlfriend long enough to win the 10 lap sprint and get 2nd in the main and the night. # 1 Holly Porter showed that with the 2nd fastest time in qualifying you can get third even if you can't keep it on the track for the races. All the Experts were glad to have a smooth track to race on after the Friday night race at Wonderland where the top layer of dirt separted and left a very rough track to drive on. They have not posted the results yet but I recall it was Scott Chesterman followed by Dylan Chesterman with fastest lap set by Devin Jarvis. It was good to see Cassidy March racing again. Hopefully, available time will allow him behind the wheel more. Either way it was a fun night out but it sure would have been better if the track did not fall apart. As the summer progresses they should be able to loose some of the moisture that this spring has given them.

That about wraps up this week.

A reminder to all clubs that there is only two weeks of the spring series but also in two weeks we will be in Ohsweken on Friday July 1st for a holiday race called the 4-50's in the afternoon before the BIG Outlaws take to their track for their special event.

This week one of the St Johns attendants took the camera to snap away what she found interesting. All the pictures will be shown at the November banquet but here is a couple of teaser shots

for you.

Expert heat race at Wonderland Speedway

Competitors, friends, or both?

#87 Brad Perrott Strikes twice.

After a sweltering hot day, the June 7 Tillsonburg Outlaw race took place at Chesterman Power Products under almost ideal conditions. The track was freshly redressed, the outside temps came down to a reasonable 75 degrees (yes I am old school) and there was a parking lot full of racers ready to show everyone they were the fastest this week. There weren't any celebrities spotted but that didn't effect the racing in any way.

Last week # 66 Colby Bennett/Port Dover decided it was better to be home sick than at the race track sick. No doubt a good decision so the rest of our racers didn't catch anything. The missed week, however put him to the back of the field for all races this week just as it always does for missing a race. The only solution for Colby was to dig in and drive his best. In the 10 lap sprint he did just that and went back to front making it almost look easy in the process. Colby followed that up with a pair of 2nds giving him overall for the night. # 01 Jamie Hall/Wilsonville may have taken a big step in her driving skills this week after taking some advice from one of the expert drivers( Josh Beecroft) on how to make a pass. Something worked because after a pair of 3rds, Jamie shot to the front and won the final 20 lap main which left her in 2nd for the night. Standing in 3rd overall this week was #55 Jack Tipper who not only won the middle race but also set the fastest lap for the night in the final. Only one point separates Jack and Jamie for the series lead after 5 weeks. Make a point of catching one of these young racers every Tuesday night in Tillsonburg.

Okay, Juniors next. Seems one of our racers was getting a bit big for his britches and not being respectful where respect was due. Stick to your guns Dad, it is easier the straighten them out when they are 9 than 19. Unfortunately the assigned missed race cost another racer his ride to the track so both had to share in the pain. Racing is a fun sport that so few get to participate in. Getting to drive brings other responsibilities off the track like keeping up in school and being polite. Look at it as payment forward kids, for something nice that is coming your way.

On the track, this group can't decide who is fastest. 3 races, 3 winners, # 52 Jacob Sheridan/Mt Brydges was able to set fast time in each of the 3 races and with a pair of 2nds and a 1st in the final squeaked into first for the night. Surprisingly, sitting in second is # 48 Andrew Marshall/Dorchester who got sent to the rear multiple times for contact causing a caution and just like a Cherry pit, kept shooting to near the front. In fact he won the middle race which he sandwiched with a 3rd and 2nd . Andrew can be on the edge sometimes but there is no denying that he can get around the track in a hurry. Just trailing by one point was # 55s Scott Hall/Wilsonville going 1,3,3 in a very clean manner. Hidden message, Hannah, it is time to be really nice to your Dad to get him to invest in a class legal motor so you can come and play with us again. There are some very fast racers waiting to try to beat you. Next week the class should be back to full strength and we will roll the dice to see who can come out on top. Currently Jacob is sitting in the lead for the Spring Series.

Last week # 87 Brad Perrott/Strathroy handed the Seniors a solid beating by taking all 3 race wins for the night. With our grid start system, Perrott was set to start all 3 races in the rear this week and looked to have a rather poor night in the ultra competitive group. With a pair of absent racers last week Perrott got to start in the 2nd to last row but that's not much of a break. So what happened? Within 4 laps of the 10 lap sprint, he had worked his way up to 4th but a penalty sending him to the rear in lap 7 was just too big a hurtle to overcome. Undeterred, Brad bounced back in the longer mains and worked his way to the front of both races for a pair of wins, and no kidding, overall for the night for the second week in a row. Tied for second this week with strong performances of their own were # 20 DJ McRae/London 3 ,5, 2 and # 79 Bea Courtnage/Harley 2,2,6. Most amazing moment was during the finish of the middle race. 2nd,3rd,4th and 5th went across the finish line in a cluster of 5, yes 5 karts that could only be scored with electronic transponders.

Bea Courtnage took 2nd by 2/100ths of a second over sister Kate. Bea currently sits atop the spring series but Brad, DJ and Kate are within easy striking distance.

# 34 Scott Chesterman/Langton and # 1 Holly Porter/Dorchester, took Top Gun spots in the time trials with the only sub 8 second laps of the group. After inverting the top 5 drivers based on times, the group makes a mad dash for the front in only 10 laps. # 75 Dylan Chesterman/Tillsonburg was able to hold off the pack of roaring motors to take 1st followed by #19 Cody Coburn/ Mt Brydges who made it to second. The final 30 (which seems more like 50 when you are driving) gives the racers a bit more time to sort out their positions. Oddly enough the results order matched the fastest laps of each racer during the race. That made it # 34 Scott Chesterman, # 1 Holly Porter and # 19 Cody Coburn. The same three went 1,2,3 for the night except Coburn jumper ahead of Porter for 2nd. After 5 races, # 34 Scott Chesterman is in the series lead.

Next Tillsonburg race is Tuesday June 14 at Chesterman Power Products just West of Tillsonburg, rumor has it there will be birthday cake for somebody old.

A reminder for the Experts that this friday , June 10 is our first race at www.Wonderlandspeedway.com bring your transponders, gates open at 6pm, free admission for spectators.

Team Sheridan had the camera this week. Thanks for the pictures

Assistants Rayce Meyer and Nick Sheridan handing out awards to speedster Brad Perrott

Honest, we'll be good. It wasn't me. He started it.

Tuesday May 31 2011 had to be the hottest stickiest day ever and considering we were wearing coats the week before, not many of us were accustomed just yet. Luckily it cooled off as the evening progressed and it actually was quite nice hanging around after the races.

The race surface started out a bit slimy as the humidity did not really let it dry down. It was interesting watching the kids throw the karts into a slide on the straight and carry the power slide all the way around the corner. That neat little trick is why our drivers adjust so well at other race tracks. They learn to be an active part of the car to get around the track in Tillsonburg. Simply being a passenger while going for a ride won't cut it.

Practice went smoothly regardless and by the end, the track had settled in for the night with good traction everywhere.

As always, the Beginners were up first. With # 66 Colby Bennett home sick, # 55 Jack Tipper/Scotland and # 57 Bryson Green/Ingersoll split the wins in the first two races but Jack was able to hold off Bryson in the final race to take the overall win this week. # 01 Jamie Hall/Wilsonville, who can run quite fast is still trying to solve the puzzle of getting by # 93 Rayce Meyer cleanly. Once that piece falls into place she will be a front runner for sure. None the less, Jamie is only 2 points behind Jack for first place in the Spring series. Speaking of Rayce, his post race entertainment is something because when he sees his chance to do donuts on the infield you just know he is going to take it. Maybe some spike strips will slow him down. LOL Regardless, all the beginners can be found in the pits with BIG smiles on their faces. Hanging out with their friends and parents. What could be better?

The Junior action was a heck of a show this week. For me the most memorable moment was watching # 48 Andrew Marshall go wall to wall , some how without wiping out half the field and somehow without loosing a position. I wanted to cover my eyes but had to watch to see the carnage, but nothing bad happened. WOW. Elsewhere on the track there seems to be 3 male racers that somehow are convinced to pass someone you need to push them around the track until they finally move. Slowly they are starting to see the error in their method. You cannot pass a kart if you are stuck directly behind the kart you are trying to pass. # 10 Cameron Davidson/Brantford found out that the 3rd time you stick your wheel inside someone's kart causing a caution each time gets you black flagged and watching the action from the side lines. # 0 Cole MacDonald/Mississauga found out that playing the rough game eventually takes you out of the action with a mechanical problem. # 52 Jacob Sheridan/Mt Brydges found out that if you push someone around long enough that when there is a spin out you get blamed for it. # 48 Andrew Marshall/Dorchester found out that if you rough someone up enough you will likely find the wall is kind of hard. OH WAIT , that's 4 male racers. LOL # 77x Alex Hill/Wilsonville seems to be more often than not receiving the pushing around the track. Interestingly, that means she is the one in front. Alex is a good enough driver that the pushing does not mess her up much and when said male finally actually tries to get by, Alex has quite nicely shown them that she does not appreciate getting pushed around the track. While all this was going on, # 55s Scott Hall/Wilsonville took the opportunity to run away from most of the field. # 93 Amber Meyer/Tillsonburg broke her dry streak and took the 10 lap sprint win with Marshall taking the 25 lap main. The final 30 lap main could have ended with 4th place winning as 1st, 2nd and 3rd were running 1/2 a second apart for the final 10 laps in a group so tight that a miscue by any one driver would have taken out all three. By a hair, It was Hall, Marshall and Sheridan in that order. When the results were totalled it was Hall, Marshall and Hill standing in the top three for the night.

Up next, the Seniors. We have a dog fight going in this one for the Series championship. Veterans against rookies, girls against boys, light weight against hmmmm, not quite as light. Veteran heavyweight female # 79 Bea Courtnage has a good grip on this class and is the one to beat if you want to move up in the standings. Its oh so close with sister # 39 Kate Courtnage and # 87 Brad Perrott tied in 2nd and # 20 DJ McRae is just behind them. This week # 87 Perrott took some good starts and turned them into perfection with a perfect night of 3 wins. That will set him up next week for a big challenge as he needs to work his way up to keep from loosing ground in the series. Working from a bit farther back in the pack, # 39 Bea Courtnage was able to make enough passes to wiggle up into 2nd by going 3,3,2. # 20 McRae managed 3rd with 4,4,3. Consistency in this group pays off as #10 Blake Westman and # 39 Kate Courtnage each had a good finish but were not able to back it up with another. This is a good group to watch. No muss no fuss. Just a group of racers all trying to win.

This week the Experts had a lot of restarts which kept the action tight and exiting. Anything can happen when the green flag waves. Fast time in qualifying went to # 34 Scott Chesterman but there were 4 drivers with sub 8 second times. Surprise in there is # 75 Dylan Chesterman who has gotten quick in a hurry. Dylan managed to turn some front row starts into a Tie with cousin Scott Chesterman for his first ever overall, (albeit a tie) # 19 Cody Coburn managed to pull off a VERY close 3rd for the night (1 Point off a three way tie) despite getting rifled to the rear once or twice by the Officials. Scary driver award this week goes to # 37 Scott Kelly who coming out of every corner on the back two wheels went hard left or hard right without much warning. It certainly stopped a driver from trying to pass for fear of one's life. LOL That's my story and I am sticking with it as a slow qualifying time and stalling the kart twice in traffic landed me in last place for the night.

Amber Meyer ended up with the camera this week. Thanks for the pictures

The track is only available until 2 pm this Saturday due to a bulldozer scheduled to dig it up. anyone wishing to practice should be here early.

Seems the weather gods were kind to us this week with the sun coming out for race night and then going back into hiding.

Following report covers the May 24 2011 race in Tillsonburg at Chesterman Power Products Indoor track.

The Beginner division is where young drivers learn the ropes and this group is learning fast. # 57 Bryson Green/Ingersoll took the 10 lap sprint win followed with good results in the mains, 1,4,3. leaving him in 3rd for the night.Watching Bryson he is the smoothest passer in the group when he comes up to slower karts. When Bryson picks up the pace he is going to be hard to catch. # 01 Jamie Hall/Wilsonville grabbed 2nd overall while winning the 2nd main. 2,1,4. Jamie also is making passes cleanly and is picking up the pace each week. Looky here, # 55 Jack Tipper/Scotland has already made his way to the front this week by going 3,2,1 for the overall. Jack is taking to this group quickly and could very well be a contender for the spring series. Fastest driver on his own is # 66 Colby Bennett/Port Dover and just needs to figure out passing smoothly before he is tough to beat. Add # 93 Rayce Meyer/Tillsonburg into the mix and you have some great racing. This small group has the largest following of Grand Parents and spectators of any division and the building fills when they go on the track. A fun show for sure.

The Juniors had us watching the video replays this week to make the correct call for what we all saw on the track but could not decide what the cause was. The 10 lap sprint went smooth enough with #48 Andrew Marshall/Dorchester, # 52 Jacob Sheridan/Mt Brydges and # 10x Cameron Davidson/Brantford crossing the line in that order. The 25 lap main was the one up for debate as the racers in this group are all very fast but are still experimenting with what works and what doesn't on the track. 10x Cameron Davidson was running up front with 52 Jacob Sheridan trying to get by. After running several laps very close, Sheridan was able to pull along side Davidson and the two ran two wide for two more laps. Coming out of the back corner it appeared to some that Davidson cut off Sheridan who then cut the track and re-entered in front of Davidson. Another point of view was that Sheridan tried to make a pass where there was not room and had to cut off before the corner to avoid wrecking, again re-entering in front of Davidson and continued on his way. After debating the possibilities and watching the action, Sheridan got a 1 position penalty to undo the pass resulting from cutting the track.The two made contact which took out the back end of Davidson's kart and initiating the chaos. Later in the same race # 48 Andrew Marshall made contact with the wall while trying to make an outside pass on the 77X Alex Hill kart. The race was called on the final lap after he contacted Hill and put her into the wall as well. Ruling sent Marshall to the rear and Hill held the position and the race was called as complete. The final main was less eventful with # 0 Cole MacDonald winning. For the night it was Davidson, 3,1,2 in first, Sheridan 2,2,3 in second and MacDonald 5,3,1 in third. Sheridan has a good lead in the series but several racers are banging on the door. This one's not over yet.

# 79 Bea Courtnage 4/2/1 came out on top this week in the Seniors but it was no cake walk. This group races hard core and the start of the race has lots of action especially when the tight group of experienced drivers has a rookie thrown into the mix. That made for several failed starts before two of the races got under way. The start of the 2nd main took # 20 DJ McRae 2/8/2 out. He returned for the final wingless. Taking last place points in the 2nd main still left him tied for 2nd overall for the night with # 17 Brandon Norris 8/1/3. # 51 Matt Anderson/Ridgetown 1/7/4 won the 10 lap sprint but it was not enough to get him into the top three this week. This group is exiting to watch. Every week we see new leaders. Who is going to be on top when the series is done? That's anybody's guess but # 79 Bea Courtnage is starting to pull away. One mistake and her lead could be gone.

The Experts provided a lot of tight action with # 19 Cody Coburn taking the time trials but big surprise # 75 Dylan Chesterman was 2nd fastest only 26/1000 ths behind. That's pretty darn close. That put # 1 Holly Porter and # 37 Scott Kelly up front for the starts of the 10 lap sprint and the 30 lap main. # 34 Scott Chesterman managed to get to the front from his 2nd row starts in both races with # 19 Cody Coburn getting up to 2nd from his 3rd row starts. Had Coburn settled into 2nd place in the final he had the night won but that is not how racers think. In a move to take the lead, Coburn ended up in dry dock with all four wheels in the air as he sat on the track on top of a tire. That left # 75 Dylan Chesterman and # 19 # Cody Coburn tied for the night in 2nd. Porter, who gave up a lot of points this week is still sitting in 2nd for the series and with her motor running three weeks in a row has the ball rolling. Coburn is capable of being fastest on any given night, Dylan Chesterman as made it through his rookie weeks without giving up many points and Scott Kelly is right there if he can get hold of the reins on that horse. My best hope is the fast ones take each other out and then I am right there. Consistency is needed to take this Championship. Next week marks the half way point for the Spring Series.

Next race is May 31st 2011 in Tillsonburg, rain or shine 7pm

Tillsonburg Outlaws dodge the rain for the 2nd of 8 race series in Tillsonburg at Chesterman Power Products Indoor track on May 17 2011.

As on any given night there are always lots of stories unfolding as the races progress. Fast forward to the Expert division, time trials determine the starting order for the night. It's a simple enough process with 4 or 5 racers on the track at a time all trying to get a faster lap time then their competitors. 5 laps are allotted with the racers fastest lap being used to score the field. You would think the simple act of driving around the track would be easily accomplished but on the 5th lap the # 7 kart (that would be me) slid up the inside of the back turn and when the traction increased the kart stalled and came to a quick stop. Normally no big deal but sitting in the wrong spot at the wrong time, the 88 kart of Devin Jarvis was unable to avoid the parked kart and the two connected with a solid hit side to side. On goes the story as the 7 got pushed off the track and ultimately up to the pits to put the axle back in place where it had been before the collision. So much for the 10 lap sprint that was up next for the Experts. While in the dark "Man Cave" fixing the kart instead of watching the racing of the other divisions, I managed to put my weight on a set of allen keys that were laying on the ground with my hand. Ouch, of coarse there was a very small allen key pointed up that got my attention. Good thing I didn't lean on it too hard. Hmmmm, it's bleeding, guess I did lean on it harder than I thought. Ultimately, after getting the axle shifted, the motor repositioned, the brakes lined back up and the wheels back on, I had time to see the Seniors 35 lap main before running the 30 lap Expert feature myself. And so went my night. Lesson learned?? Maybe pay more attention to driving successfully around the track so that I don't have to spend the night fixing?

The Beginners were smooth enough last week that they went with a fully inverted starting grid based on last weeks results. That put 5 year old Rayse Meyer on the pole with rookie Jack Tipper beside him. When the track went live for the start Rayse Meyer is the one to set the pace but after moving a few feet he noticed the # 55 kart of Tippers did not follow along and he stopped. Normally the left side of the field would have pulled away leaving a big mess to get sorted back out. Hats off to Rayce who, even at 5, already knows he has to keep the kart beside him, beside him, to start the race. So what else happened? It seems # 57 Bryson Green was having so much fun playing with his "race" friends that he forgot he had a kart to get into. Mom Stephanie worked up quite a sweat finding her side tracked driver and wouldn't you know, that is always the time the seat belt refuses to cooperate. Eventually Bryson got on the track with Mom's help with no shortage of laughter on my part. Sorry Stephenie but it was awful funny. Last weeks winner # 66 Colby Bennett was feeling pretty fast running the outside of the track, passing karts easily until he finally tempted fate just one too many times and clipped the wall coming out of the near corner. Dad Mike, who is still new to this kart thing (which occassionaly involves watching your kid kart wheel down the track) was concerned that the kart or the driver might not be able to finish the race. Well, after a minute, the kart was pointed the right direction and the driver ready to go. Interestingly Colby's preferred driving line was a lot lower on the track after that. Despite the set back, Colby was able to tie for the night in first place with # 01 Jamie Hall who quietly made her way into 2nd place in each of the 3 races. That leaves rookie # 55 Jack Tipper in third who was able to take the second race win following the Colby's mishap. Lets see what next week brings as this group hits their stride.

Last week # 55s Scott Hall got initiated into the Juniors. This week he took 3rd place for the night. That is one quick learning curve. Seems Mom put new rear axle bearings in his kart on race day and it made Scott faster. Or was it his driving? Incase you are noticing, yes, there are a lot of Mom's in the pits working on karts, keeping their racers in the action. Another guy getting up in the action this week by keeping all 4 wheels on the track (for a change) was # 48 Andrew Marshall who was able to take a so so finish in the 10 lap sprint and back it up with a 1st and a 2nd in the mains. Edging out Andrew by a mere point was # 52 Jacob Sheridan who spent the night working his way through traffic after being seeded near the rear and also took a win and a 2nd in the mains but finished one position better than Marshall in the 10 lap sprint giving him the win for this week. With Sheridan already a repeat winner, who will be the next to take the top spot?

Already there is a pattern showing in the Senior division. The Courtnage girls are in it to win it. Their experience on the track is noticeable. Being seeded in the rear of the start grid this week, they were able to work their way well up the pack. And who the heck is this Brad Perrott kid? # 87 Brad Perrott moved up from Junior and is not interested in taking 2nd fiddle to a pair of girls. He ended up more or less sandwiched between them when the night was done. What was most noticeable to me this week in the Seniors is the fact that everyone can run lead lap speeds but the field is not yet equal at passing. Two races had leaders that looked to be sure winners until they came onto lapped traffic. In a split second they dropped 4 or 5 positions (or worse) as a mistake made while passing gave the pack of thundering racers their chance to move up a spot. Being able to pass a lapped kart before said kart even knows there is someone trying to get by is a skill that takes some time to develop. At this point in the season it is separating the winners from the not winners. Interestingly the fastest two laps in the

Seniors both came in the final 35 lap race with Brad Perrott ripping off an 8.751 and # 20 DJ McRae with an 8.864 second lap. Hmmmmm. So how did the night end? # 79 Bea Courtnage tied with # 87 Brad Perrott for first place. # 39 Kate Courtnage was one point behind in Third. How close is that? After two weeks it is Kate and Bea in the lead tied for 1st. Will it stick?

For the second week in a row # 1 Holly Porter took the time trial fastest time. # 34 Scott Chesterman and # 37 Scott Kelly were close but not close enough. Since my misadventures took me out of the 10 lap sprint, the top 4 inverted leaving Scott Kelly and Dylan Chesterman to lead the charge. The finish order changed only in that # 34 Chesterman managed to wiggle up to the front by the checkered. The final race of every night is the 30 lap for the Experts. This week the exitment in the drivers seat lasted a bit longer than normal. The starts are something to behold as they jocky for position in the corners, often with the front wheels in the air high enough to be on top of someone's hood. Steering?, Thats an option that is not used much. So with # 19 Cody Coburn still thinking about his girlfriend, he seemed to be having trouble driving around the track without spinning out. Start, restart 1, restart 2, and restart 3. Is that right Cody? Anyway, the starts are more fun than should be legal. Fully up to speed this week was # 37 Scott Kelly who rubbed lime green paint all over two of the fastest drivers. The first 4 or 5 laps it was the Scott's that seemed intent on running over the other. Chesterman finally broke free, but Porter picked up the battle and the Kelly/ Porter show went on from there. At that point I was right behind figuring that surely they would wipe each other out giving me the chance to move up into second. No such luck and Porter finished second with green tires. Kelly stayed in third. That was also the order for the night's results when the 3 competitions were totalled.

May 10 race highlights

While the skies attempted to foil a perfect night, they instead provided the coolest rainbow followed by a sheet lightening display in the distance. The racing was just as fantastic as the young racers seemed to never have missed a week as they put on a great show.

First thing on the agenda was to get the drivers settled down after the winter off and not crumple all the nice new paint jobs. Possibly the concern was unfounded as the group responded with one of the most professional nights racing that I can recall. There are several "Adult" tracks that could be so lucky to have such a bunch of skilled drivers. The night went off without a hitch and the stage is now set to settle who is the fastest week in and week out.

In the Beginners # 66 Colby Bennett showed he means business this year taking all three race wins for first overall but # 01 Jamie Hall with 2nd and Rookie # 55 Jack Tipper who tied with #57 Bryson Green for 3rd overall showed they do not intend to let that happen again with some very close finishes as the night progressed. Don't rule out # 93 Rayce Meyer this year (who paid his dues in 2010 as a 4 year old) showed a big speed increase over the winter, Hmmmm, I wonder what he was eating? This group have all the basics down and certainly we will see lots of racing from them as the year progresses.

The Juniors are going to be hotly contested this year with last years speedsters either moved up or opting for other pursuits. The starting order on the grid had a significant influence on the results showing that it's anybody's race from week to week. Nothing less than perfection is going to take a win with this division with no less than 7seven racers in the hunt. Consistancy is going to take the Championship. We will see who can put together the best performance average. This week it was up and comer # 52 Jacob Sheridan from Mount Brydges. who narrowly beat out # 77 Alex Hill from Wilsonville and # 0 Cole MacDonald of Mississauga. We are quickly becoming a Provincial club. This is a group to keep an eye on as it will have some very hot racing every night.

With the Seniors we were less sure what to expect as 3 Juniors moved up and a rookie was thrown into the mix with 4 hard charging returnees. Always up for a tight race, the Courtnage sisters were choosen to get the season underway by starting on the Pole. The oportunity was not lost on them as they traded wins in the first two races with # 39 Kate Courtnage finishing just in front of sister Bea in the final taking 1st overall for the night. That put # 79 Bea Courtnage only a point behind in 2nd. Substitute driver and last years Sr Champ, Josh Beecroft drove neighbour # 51 Matt Anderson's kart into 3rd place. Matt will be back next week to continue the Spring Series. What doesn't show up on the top 3 sheet is the three Junior graduates. Don't rule them out just yet. # 87 Brad Perrott stomped the field in the final race leading from flag to flag and # 20 DJ McRae was just a spin away from 2nd place in the final. # 17 Brandon Norris seems to have adapted to the extra power as well and will be looking to move up too. These three are going to have their share of top three's this year. Stay tuned next week as I predict your will be able to throw a blanket over this group they will be so close. Rookie # 92 Austin Giles got the formality of a mandatory tip over out of the way so next week will be ready to be in the mix as well. This is getting more interesting every season.

Last but not least is the Experts. For 2011 the class has attracted 3 graduating Seniors. It will be a week or two but once adjusted to 5 times the power they had last year. Already only 10ths of a second off the pace. Notable was the almost non existence of the back karts getting lapped by the lead kart. With laps that are dipping well below 8 seconds, this is very close racing. Last years champ # 34 Scott Chesterman has already be pushed into a tie for second with #19 Cody Coburn when # 1 Holly Porter beat them both in the time trials. Coburn bounced back by winning the 10 lap sprint with Chesterman taking the 30 lap main. Veteran, # 7 Dave Chesterman was in the hunt after having to rebuild his kart following a prospect Demo test a week earlier that went really wrong. Chomping at his rear bumper were # 37 Scott Kelly, # 88 Devin Jarvis and # 75 Dylan Chesterman who seem to be up to speed quickly this year. # 4 Cody Day and # 15 Josh Beecroft had some mechanical problems that will need to be sorted out before we know just how fast they are.

So there it is. Race one of the Tillsonburg Oulaws Spring Series is in the record books. Good weather, good racing and good company.

On a final note. Team Coburn were spyed with their kart as well as Dylan Chesterman's and Devin Jarvis' on a very busy London Corner Promoting the Tillsonburg Outlaws. Thanks go out for their effort all day Wednesday.

April 27 2011 Update

Time to get serious about the upcoming season.

Expert Meeting and Practice is Tuesday May 3(free), track time 5-8pm with the meeting following. Memberships ($75) need to be purchased before driving on the track. Bring your waivers signed by BOTH parents if you are not 18 yrs old. For those that need it, we have the new 105 Octane Unleaded Non Oxygenated fuel for the 500's.

BEG, JR & SR practice and meeting is Saturday May 7 (free), track time is noon to 5pm but we will be stopping for the meeting at 3:30. Waivers signed by both parents are needed for the kids. Print it off from the link and bring it along. Memberships ($75) need to be purchased before going on the track.

First Race is Tuesday May 10 2011

March 26 2011 Update

The season is fast approaching. Teams should have at least looked at their karts by this time in preparation of the looming Practice dates.

Any teams that need their Subaru engines converted for changing classes should drop off the engines to us by April 15th. If there is any question as to broken seals your motor should also be dropped off by this date even if you are not changing divisions. Any Subaru's that need refreshing should also be dropped off soon.

Expert Practice/test/tune is Tuesday May 3 with the track available from 5pm to 8pm. The Expert division meeting will be at 8pm and all expert teams should plan on attending.

BEG/JR/SR Practice is on the following Saturday May 7 with the track available from Noon to 5pm.

Meeting for this group will be at 3:30pm on the same day. A portion of this will be with the parents and drivers having separate segments. All teams should plan on attending. This includes the Mom's.

On another note. Multiple teams expressed an interest in attending the World of Outlaws tuesday night pre race to see Tony Stewart run on July 26 at Ohsweken so to accomodate there will be no racing in Tillsonburg on July 26. That means all divisions will race in Ohsweken on July 1 and in Tillsonburg on July 12 and 19th. The Experts also have a July 8 race at Wonderland. Still lots of racing considering there are two nights off in Tillsonburg.

That's about it for this update. See everyone soon

2011 Tillsonburg Mini Outlaw update

The season's schedule is falling into place and it looks like lots of fun racing.

Here's how we see the season going.

Tuesday May 3 2011 will be practice night for the Expert Division

Saturday May 7 2011 will be practice day for the Beg, Jr and Sr Divisions

Opening race of the 8 race Spring series will be Tuesday May 10 with the final Spring series race on Tuesday June 28th.

Friday July 1st will be the Ohsweken 4-50's race. That's right, each of our 4 divisions will be racing a 50 lap feature on the "Sprint Car starting track" that will be prepared for us to run a full race program before Ohsweken starts their Friday night racing on the big track. Look for a 3 pm start time. This will be a non-points race but will have Banquet night awards for each division.

July 5th and July 26 will be a well deserved nights off in the Summer Series.

July 12 will be the first race of the 12 week Series with Sept 27th being the last.

The final race will be the Thanksgiving 100 on Saturday Oct. 8. which seems fitting for the Potluck final.

As promised at the banquet, the 2011 rule updates are online and if you have not seen them already, they may be viewed at the link provided. Nothing really substantial in changes, just fine tuning to steer in the direction the club is going.

The Canadian Motorsports Expo in Toronto is the first event racers may want to consider. Chesterman Power Products will be there displaying the QRC karts and promoting the Mini Outlaw Series in Tillsonburg. Running January 21,22,23, there should be more then enough stuff for your winter racing fix.

Again a reminder to racers that the QRC season booking order will be going in at the end of January and any teams in need of items for the next year are asked to help us by submitting their needs by this date.

Of late, we have confirmed there will be at least 9 Expert teams this year which will make for some wild action in the class. In addition, Wonderland Speedway in London has confirmed they will host a 4 race "mini series" for the Expert division in 2011. This will include 3 Friday night events and a Saturday 50 lap race at their 100 lap Season final. This will not be tied to the Tillsonburg Series but will use our rules and karts with the Wonderland Race format. Should be fun to stretch the legs of the expert engines on the bigger track.

We are still working on a "special" event for the Juniors and Seniors and details have not been finalized. Stay tuned for more in this area.

That's about all the new news at this time.

See you soon.

The Staff