Winners Briggs Gas Animal Light

This weekend was the first of eight IKF Region 6 Northwest Gold Cup races.  This season opener was at the Richland, Washington track is familiar to the Robb family, as it was our most visited track last year in preparation for the four cycle Grand Nationals where Sting Ray won his first Duffy.  The weather was chilly and windy, but very bearable compared to the last two races at Calspeed and Sonoma, where we endured near tsunami conditions.  On Saturday Sting Ray nailed the qualify effort with the fastest time in Junior 1 Animal (light), recording a blistering time that was half a second faster than the field.  He went on to win the pre-final and the final ahead of his buddies, Justin Demars, Kyle Adams, Trey Manker, and Daytona Arnzen by 8 seconds.

In the mean time he qualified Third in Mini Max behind Davey Manthei and Kyle Wick.  Those three packed ahead of the rest of the 10 kart field but promised a formidable competition in the two remaining heats.  In Heat one Sting Ray got the hole shot but couldn’t outlast Davey.  He held on to second, even though Kyle was charging hard.

Mini-Max Winners

In heat 2, Sting Ray got the hole shot again but in turn 2 went a little wide as the seasoned multi-time National Champion Davey Manthei smartly took the inside line and wedged his way to the lead.  Sting Ray went off track and started up the hill to turn three in last place.  He charged hard, passing 6 competitors (Matthew Morgan, Adam Spikes, Sara Brinkac, Seth Appel, Mason Morgan, and Devin Smith) before time ran out, finishing in fourth behind Cole Franchini, Kyle Wick and Davey Manthei.  The next day he got to start in third and the race finished there for his second podium of the weekend.

On Sunday in Junior 1 heavy, Sting Ray blazed ahead with times equal to or better than the day before, even though he had an extra 20 pounds of lead on his kart, (50 total pounds of diving weights). The heat and final were equal to the day before, and his victory 11 seconds ahead of the pack, the second win of the weekend, and the third podium.  St the trophy presentation Sting Ray thanked God for all He has done for him, and thanked Blake Choquer (BBR Karting) and the Red Apple Racing Team for all their help.

That was an awesome weekend for us all.  The mechanics didn’t mess up one time, and Sting Ray drove fast and consistent, which is the key we have been striving for all year.  Way to go, Sting Ray.  We hope the next IKF race in Chilliwack will be as successful.  In two weeks though, we will be headed to Tucson for a Skusa race in the Mini ROC Cadet class.  This is the class he ran in Italy last year and at the Supernats last November in Las Vegas.  He likes the engine package, and who knows, we might even keep his kart together.

By: Larry Robb

Patience: Calmly accepting difficult situations when the going gets rough.

The Lake at "tic tak toe"

James 1:2-4 — “Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds.  You know that the testing of your faith develops your perseverance.  Perseverance must finish its work, so that you may be, mature and complete, not lacking anything.”

When Sting Ray brings home the “assignment of the month,” I always marvel at how closely the message is needed in whatever we are doing, and how we should apply it to our racing.  Much more importantly, how we should use it in our daily walk.  This week’s “word” was patience, and the “scripture” was James 1:2-4.

The Sonoma race at Infineon Raceway required about all the patience we could muster.  We have raced in rain before, as recently as round 3 and 4 of the Gatorz race in Fontana, but last weekend was the biggest brother of the rain we have experienced ever. 

Courtesy GatorZKarting.com “From the start, Robb was untouchable, and he began to pull away from the rest of the field. Robb dominated the fourteen lap race until the tenth lap, when he was blackflagged after his rear bumper came detached from his kart. The attention then focused on the new leader, Huffaker, who had Kami Moreira-Laliberte giving chase. However, a mistake never came, and Huffaker took the win with Moreira-Laliberte in second and Garrett Gulenchyn in third.”

Sonoma was round 5 and 6, and the final weekend of the series.  We were in sixth place in the point’s race, even though we were finally in the “fast” category in Fontana.  In race 3, Sting Ray had qualified 3rd, finished 3rd in the heat race, and ran unchallenged in 2nd in the final until two laps left.  Lapped traffic, (they had already been blue flagged) tangled with Sting Ray and spun him out in what should have been a clean pass. He still finished 4th, even though his engine died in the spin out and he got back on the track in 6th, rallying in the last lap.  Race 4 was his first pole of the season, and in the final his throttle linkage broke.

Interesting Paint Job

Sonoma wasn’t much different.  Sting Ray qualified 1st in race 5 on Saturday.  He went on to win the pre-final fairly easily.  Our hopes were high, anticipating a win: finally.  As the group of 18 rounded turn 1 during the formation lap, Sting Ray was leading the pack, slowing down for the start, and was pummeled from behind by another driver just as they entered “tic-tac-toe”, and tricky s-turn that on this weekend had a river running through it.  I’m not kidding.  NO BRIDGE.  Sting Ray spun and went off the track.

He really had to hustle to get back to his pole position before the green flag flew, indicating the start of the race.  He got there in time, took the lead for 5 laps, and we noticed the officials waving the meatball flag at him.  We noticed his bumper was riding low and dragging a bit after he was rear ended, but I knew it was safety wired on.  Taking all the dramatics out of the long story that ensued, he came in, and upon inspection, we had to agree with the officials.  The rear end collision was violent enough to snap the 3/8′s inch bolt that holds the bumper in the frame, destroying his opportunity to win, again.

Where is the silver lining? In races 3, 4, and 5 he qualified 3, 1, and 1.  He was third in a pre-final, and first in another.  In those three finals he was spun out once, broke a throttle cable once, and was black flagged while leading, (for a bolt broken off in an unnecessary collision.)

Next week we start the Region 6 IKF season in the Tri-Cities.  Sting Ray will be competing in Mini Max, Junior 1 Animal light, and Junior 1 Animal Heavy.   His 4-cycle kart is nearly complete with Sting Ray stripes and new Red Apple stickers.  We think we have been patient, and as in the book of James, our perseverance is certainly being tested.  Being the fastest kid on the track doesn’t win races, but I’ll bet perseverance does.

By: Larry Robb

"Idaho Life" Interview

It has been a year since Sting Ray competed in his first Rotax Mini Max race. It has also been 2 years ago this month, since his first Junior 1 Animal competition, which we started when he was seven.

Although we have learned buckets full of information I feel fairly inept when I anticipate the next race, especially when I am the head mechanic that weekend. I will always feel that Sting Ray could have done much better with a go-kart experienced dad at the helm of his program. (The dozens of coaches and knowledgeable people that have helped us were priceless.)

Our first kart showed up at our house in a box, nuts and bolts scattered around the bottom with unrecognizable kart parts in bubble wrap and newspaper clippings. I HAD NO CLUE how to put this thing together.

In spite of my lack of knowledge, Sting Ray would finish the year without being challenged much in any local race. We even went to Utah to try another track just to see if he was proficient against other kids in bigger numbers. He still won, but only by a couple feet, entirely due to a lack of power in his totally stock Comer 50 kid kart engine.

I was totally surprised when I found out that the “competition” had a modified engine, built by a guy that holds a couple Bonneville Salt Flats records. I would later discover that I had the kart set up totally wrong. Sting Ray just figured out how to drive it the way it was. I actually had the front wheels set as wide as the rear end. Camber, castor, toe-in, weight distribution, tire pressure, etc. were all terms I really knew nothing about.

Sting Ray 1st Nationals

Fast forward to Junior 1. We went to Tri Cities for our first Gold Cup IKF race. There we met Artie Carpenter and Jesse Brown. Jesse took Sting Ray under his wing. Jesse’s son, Tyler had won a National Championship in 2008, and as time went on we were able to glean some of what Jesse and his inner crowd were trying to teach us.

I think Sting Ray was close to last place in every heat in that race. It was miserable. The weather was windy and cold. Occasionally snowflakes flurried passed or into our hooded ski jackets and Sting Ray complained about frozen and numb fingers.

He hung in there against a field of older and more experienced kids. Sting Ray was in the first grade, while some of his competitors were sixth graders. It wasn’t until the last IKF race of the season, at Pat’s Acres in Portland that Sting Ray finally got an IKF win.

Today is a rainy day in March. Contemplating this weekend’s race at Infineon brings me back to the last 12 months of karting. I always think we had a mediocre year of results, and curiously went to mylaps.com to kind of recap how we did. Hopefully we can improve this year. The following is what I came up with. I am fairly certain of the accuracy, but guessing on some.

50 events
25 podiums
11 event wins
10 poles
3 track records
2 regional championships
1 national championship

We raced in Washington, Oregon, Idaho, California, Arizona, Nevada, Indiana, Canada, and Italy. What an incredibly exciting and blessed year. Without 1 win, 1 podium, etc. it would have been awesome. I am hopeful God will continue to bless us with our racing endeavors. The people we have met, (so far) and the fun we have had. I have said that if I could sponsor 100 kids, I would do it.

This is an inspiring sport. Total family involvement is so important in a world of chaos and turmoil. Bring your families and friends to this sport if you can. And if you ask for help, I will give what little knowledge I can to help you get started on the right foot. Most of the people in the sport share my views.

As for Sting Ray, well, he’s 9 now. As for last year,,,, not bad for an 8 year old.

By: Larry Robb

One of my favorite movies (and Sting Ray’s ) is Kung Fu Panda. Many of the lessons taught about life can be applied to Karting. Sting Ray and I have watched this fable many times in our travels to and from the tracks around the west and can apply one of those lessons directly the races we have attended since mid January, namely the Gatorz GoKart series in Phoenix and Calspeed, (Fontana, California).

Cookin Up Secret Ingredient In The Kitchen

Even though we were reasonably successful in MiniMax racing last year, we were not very close on a national level. We did very poorly in Indiana, Calspeed, and Phoenix last year and I felt that a lot of the reason was we did not hit “Turbo” on the race tracks with long straits where the Rotax engines on the fast kid’s karts revved to as much as 14,100 rpm. We hardly ever went over 12,500.

This year we signed up for the Phoenix race in hopes that a year of experience under our belts would provide us with a better performance. It was also clear we were getting killed on the straight by more than a few GoKart lengths. We finished 7th and 8th out of about 20 kids and went home with our tails between our legs.

While we were at the Gatorz race in Phoenix I asked Blake Choquer, our coach, if we should sign up with the Tony Kart West team for the next race at Calspeed and find out what the secret ingredient was, since they always had someone in the winner’s circle. It seemed that the top 3 finishers always hit Turbo. So I left them an engine, asked them to freshen it up, and plan on us coming to Calspeed, and working with them under their tent.

The great thing was the weekend before Calspeed Gatorz race was a club race with LAKC at the same track. We made arrangements to test and tune at that race and learn the track before the Gatorz race on the 19th of Feb. That way we could be really fast and for sure know what the secret ingredient was to hit Turbo.

To make a long story short, we didn’t hit Turbo but one time during that entire weekend. So back we went to the next weekend for the Gatorz more frustrated than before. I even heard one dad say he wasn’t going because THEY couldn’t hit Turbo either and it was a waste of money and time to even try.

Buddy Rice & Sting Ray

I was even more determined to get the job done so we tested all day Thursday. No Turbo. We must have changed 20 things. Friday….. no Turbo. Even with 20 more changes. Saturday was forecast for rain. Not much chance to hit Turbo with rain and rain tires, but Sting Ray was hopeful because he likes driving in the rain, besides; it takes Turbo out of the equation and leaves it up to the driver.

We still made a pot-full of changes though, and it did rain. Sting Ray Qualified 3rd out of 19 and ran 3rd in the pre final race. He was running 2nd in the final until a last lap spin out and the killed motor stuck resulting in a 4th place finish.

That night we made even more changes! In my estimation, we were not even driving the same kart we had a week earlier, but we would not give up. Sunday morning Sting Ray and I prayed over the kart and asked God to help us perform our best and promised we would give Him the Glory. I sat (stood mostly) between Auntie Kathie and Kyle Wyck’s mom as the grid emptied like a stirred up bee hive. Kyle’s mom had an I-Phone and knew how to get live lap times. It showed Sting Ray in first place. Conner Wyke was sitting next to me and with each progressive lap I squeezed him a little harder, but didn’t want to jinx it. I just knew someone was going to knock him out of the top spot. When the checkered flag flew we still didn’t know because the phone took a minute to update. Then it said the word FINAL on it.

Sting Ray must have hit Turbo. We must have found the SECRET INGREDIENT! YAHOO! The first thing I checked when we got the kart out of tech was the Mychron to make sure we had and be assured that our rpm range was over 13,500. It seems the Mychron has a limit to how much information it can store and It registered 5,000 rpm.

We raced the pre main but Sting Ray was so nervous with his new found fame that he drove very poorly, pulling himself forward on the steering wheel which shifted the weight forward and loosened the rear end on nearly every turn. This left the door open on several turns and Sting Ray eventually finished seventh. The good news was he was hitting Turbo.

In the Final Stng Ray got a poor start, fell to 9th and then started to relax. He was moving up through the field and through lap 10 was the fastest kid on the track. It was then that his throttle cable broke and he was done for the day.

He had made it to 6th before the cable broke during lap 12. KYLE Wick Recorded the fastest lap by a few hundredths. I thought Sting Ray would be really upset. But when he showed up on the rescue quad he was singing. No kidding. He knew we had found the “secret ingredient”.

What a great weekend.

Source: BBR Karting - Blake Choquer - 1/27/2011

Sting Ray at Gatorz Challenge

It was the first race of the year for BBR Karting and we had 3 drivers running under our tent including veteran Sting Ray Robb in Minimax, 6th place at the Rotax Grand Finals Bryce Choquer and Derrick Lee running in senior too.

In Minimax Sting Ray’s goal for the weekend was to finish in the top 7 both days. His stellar performance on Saturday after a DNF in the prefinal brought him from 15th to 6th in the final. On Sunday he did not disappoint qualifying 5th He had a great battle in the pre final to finish 4th, but in the final Sting Ray had a battle on his hands with two competitors. He fell back to 7th on the closing laps and remained there.

Overall it was a great weekend for the 9 year sensation from Idaho. For the 2nd race Sting Ray will be competing on his new 2011 Tony Kart looking for a pair of top 5 finishes.

Bryce Choquer BBR Karting

In Rotax senior Bryce struggled in the pack of 32 with his engine. Bryce’s #1 engine lost compression and he found himself running mid pack 12-18th and 4 tenths off. In the end it was a weekend he will remember not for his glory but for the struggles and hard work required trying to get back up to speed. The competition is the deepest it has been in years, so having top performing equipment is critical.

Bryce will also be driving his new 2011 Tony Kart EVRR in the 2nd round of Gatorz.

For Derrick this race was about gaining experience and he got exactly what he was looking for.To say the least Derrick battled every lap, and in some cases beating big names like Joey Wimsett and Chris Glover. Derrick had a great trip and he will be back for the 2nd round.

The BBR Karting team enjoyed some great evenings including watching a ASU basketball game, Phoenix Suns vs. Trail Blazers and two of the most famous restaurants in Phoenix including Rustlers Roost, Pinnacle Peak.