We found out on Wednesday they were taking the top 6 from last race from each group on to Thursday. That meant most of the kids weren't coming back. There were some parents that weren't too happy about that because in the information that everyone was given, it never said anything about that.

Even though the karts were "detuned", they were hitting 80 mph at the end of the front straight and would take turn one flat out. The average lap speeds were 59-62 mph. There were two serious wrecks, one the first day that flipped one kid out of the kart and sent him to the hospital, and one the second day that flipped another kart and broke one kids foot. These are definitely not Andretti karts. Had they not been detuned, they would have been hitting 110 at the end of the front straight.

Matthew ran his first real race ever on Wednesday afternoon. He started 8th based on his qualifying place (he had the 3rd fastest lap time) from the day before. It was a mad dash from halfway down the front straight to turn one and he dove inside and picked up two spots immediately. Heading into turn 4 he noticed someone in front had spun and the yellow flag was out. He raised his hand (you always have to raise your hand to acknowledge flags) and slowed but was immediately passed by 3 karts. He tried to get going again but because they were locked in 2nd it took a while. By that time 4 or 5 other karts had passed. We saw him pointing and waving his arm but couldn't tell what he was waving at. Anyway he finally got going again and ended up re-passing two of the kids before it was over. They were only taking the top 6 from each group and I figured he was done, he finished 8th.

I had to wait two races before he came back down to talk to me and he walked up with a long face and said " dad, I..... MADE IT!) When he got back from his race he talked to Danny Sullivan and complained because he was passed under yellow. After some discussions with the corner workers they agreed he was passed. Because of that he was allowed to compete on Thursday. So.... he became 1 of 46 kids left to compete.

Thursday morning came under rainy skies and low 60 degree temperatures. The boxes and boxes of rain tires had been mounted on the karts. Someone in their infinite wisdom decided it would be safer to de-tune the karts even further. Because of that, the karts were not equal at all. It became the luck of the draw as to which one was working well.

There would be two heat races with 23 karts in each race. The top 10 from each race would compete in the final race were the top six would go to Sebring. 4 kids from Atlanta made it to the last day. John and Mary Mossey, Drew Cattell and Matthew. Not a bad showing. Matthew and Mary were running the first race and Drew and John in the last.

Matthew had to start at the rear because of how he got there. Had he finished 6th where he was running when he got passed, he would have been mid-pack. Oh well. We both knew there probably wasn't going to be a chance for him to move to the top 10 but at least he made it that far. Not only that but with the rain, you figure the front group was going to be really dicey headed into turn one during the start. One of the rules was if you went off track, you were done. It didn't matter if you could keep going and get back on, your day was over. So it was critical that you kept yourself out of trouble and the wet made that even more difficult.

So they started! I know I was more nervous than Matthew as were all the parents. Even in the wet and detuned, they were flying!! Everyone made it through turn 1 without a problem and for the most part it was a pretty clean race. Matthew passed 6 karts to move up to 17th but not enough to get to the final race. Had he not gotten passed under yellow he would have started mid-pack and possibly have made the top ten. That's racing I guess. Mary started falling way back and I'm not even sure where she finished.

John and Drew made it to the final race though. Drew got bumped off the track on the last lap of his qualifying race so he had to start last, John started 6th. Drew went from 20th to 7th before he ran out of time, it was an awesome run. John had kart problems and eventually got run off the track.

Based on my observations and listening to the kids, I believe the Red Bull people manipulated who was going to win by giving them the best karts. Someone took the karts out that morning and raced each one around the track. I believe they were figuring out which was were the fastest. The kid that eventually won the whole thing just ran off and left the entire field, probably won by at least 10 seconds. He was good but not that good. The next four were grouped together VERY tightly and the rest were pretty far back. Every kid that made the last 20 spots was good and would have never been left behind so bad. IMHO.

But it was an awesome experience for both me and Mattthew and we will definitely try to qualify again next year. I wish there was a facility like F1 here in Atlanta. I'll get some pictures posted today but it is the most beautiful track in the country from what I hear from other parents, a first class facility. I spoke with the guy that owns it (Richard Valentine... he runs a Racer Group Porsche) about building one here. He said $5-6 million and he'd do it!! What a deal. I started to whip out my checkbook but figured the check would bounce before I left Boston.

But just to get to the final day with 45 other top kart drivers from around the country was an honor for him. During the first two days of practice, he had one of the fastest lap times of anyone so that alone was a victory for him.