Fifth Annual Mid-South Shootout

June 11, 2016 - Atoka Raceway Park (ARP), Brighton, Tenn.

 

It was a tough race! We ran well at times and struggled at others. It was really difficult trying to get Elliott hooked up with a little input as he could provide - he was the head scorer and announcer for the event! That meant he turned a few laps of practice and ran straight back to the tower so there was little time for debrief. We made it work, though.
We had a visitor in the pits with us for the race, Dan Hodgdon, of OneDirt magazine. He was there to talk to the boys and get some pictures for a future article in the magazine. Our sponsors, especially Tomar Racing Clutches, is going to love that! Thanks for coming out, Dan! It was great meeting you.

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Qualifying.
Elliott was in the Clone Light class and qualified in the eighth position. The kart was loose so we had to tighten it up before the race started.
Franklin qualified second in Clone Super Heavy but was having a hard time finding a good path through the hole that was developing in turns one and two. He was happy with the kart in turns three and four but getting through the pesky hole was the challenge.

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Feature races.
Elliott's class was out first and after making a crossweight change and reducing left side weight, we hoped it was the right move. It was. At the drop of the green flag, Elliott took off and raced his way to fifth in the first few laps and was making a move to the fourth spot when he got crushed against the guardrail in turn three destroying the wheel and blowing out the left front tire. The body was crushed as well. Elliott kept going despite the blown tire and slipped back through the pack to finish eighth. He was disappointed with the finish but kart had a great potential so he was happy about that. Even without that trouble, no one had anything for Jeffrey West - he was a rocket.

Franklin's race a racy event! We tweaked the Tomar clutch to engage a little different and try to pull his 410-pound machine out of the hole a little better and it helped. He started behind Cody Hays and after the green dropped, he rode in second for a few laps until two karts got underneath him and they went three wide into turn three. Franklin braked hard and let the two karts to his inside dive in low and deep and they slid up the track. Franklin turned down underneath them and took the two spots back to move back into second. Cody was running away at this point. A quick caution slowed things but they got underway and the race resumed. Franklin was having a hard time getting through the hole and slipped back to fourth and when the checkers fell, that's where he was.
We had a great time, didn't get the finishes we hoped for but having fun was the name of the game!

Next for Ashe Racing is a trip to the Agricenter in Memphis on June 25-26 for the Blues City Kart Nationals indoor race. It's going to be a good one!

 

Stay tuned!