WKA Sprint National
Lowe's Motor Speedway
March 12, 2000

WKA Winter Nationals
Lowe's Motor Speedway at Charlotte
March 9-12, 2000

We arrived in Charlotte Wednesday night (technically Thurs. morning). We got a few hours of sleep and then we were off to the track. We worked on the kart all day and we were dropping .3-.5 seconds each time out. The kart felt real good and I was able to keep up with a lot of the other karters, which made me feel real good.

Friday we got to the track early again. We practiced more, changing different things to see if we could go any faster. I stayed steady at 45.7 second laps. One of the practice sessions we were working on the handling. I got loose in turn 4, a right-hander; I hit the rumble bump, but kept my foot in it. Then I hit the grass and looked up. There was another kart off of the track. I hit the brake, turned hard and shut my eyes. Next thing I knew. I was on my head with the kart on top of me. After I realized that I was okay I tried to get the kart off of me, and I couldn't. Finally the other karter came over (she wasn't in her kart when I hit it) and lifted my poor kart off of me. My motor was still running!

They red flagged the whole session and I had to talk to the ambulance people. I was truly okay; the kart on the other hand was going to need serious repairs. From what I can tell, I hit April's bumper with my side pod, which launched me and I must have landed on the right front wheel because the spindle (Margay's spindles are very thick) was folded over. It snapped the end off of the tie rod (at least I didn't bend it). The tire was sitting perpendicular to where it should be.
We went back to the trailer where we found more damage, in the process, the hole in the frame that holds the spindle on was ripped apart. Then dad proceeded to tell me we were done unless I could find a new frame! After a little convincing, he fixed it and I was back out for the last two practice sessions!

Of course race day turned cold, which I would welcome in Jacksonville, but certainly not at Charlotte. We aired up the tires and went for the first heat race. I started 15th. I got an okay start, no thanks to the girl behind me beating my bumper. I got tangled up in the first turn mess, but managed to just spin in it. I was the first one out of the mess. I finished 18th.

The second heat went a little better. I started 17th. The kart was still very loose and I was just hanging on. On the first lap there was a huge wreck in turn 7. Several karts were involved, one was upside down in the middle of the track! I managed to avoid all of that as well! I finished 18th again.

For the feature I managed to start 16th. I was pretty happy with that since last year I wasn't even sure if I was going to qualify and started 31st! My start was horrible. #31 was in front of me and he was very slow. I still managed to get a pretty good start. The feature was 15 laps, twice the distance of the heat races. I got stuck behind #77 and I could gain on him, once I got power but never enough to pass him. One time I tried to pass him at the end of the "straight" and I went way wide and four karts went by me. Eventually I passed #77 in turn 8 and left him. I almost caught another kart, but not quite. I'm not sure where I finished, around 20th, which isn't bad, but I was so proud of my qualifying that I was hoping to do a little better.