Finally the warm weather has arrived and along with it comes the first lapping day of the season. On Sunday, Shelby and I packed the kart and all the associated gear into the back of the Xterra and headed up to Mosport. This was our first visit to the new Mosport International Karting Academy track and we were excited. We had heard a lot about the layout of the track, along with the healthy elevation changes. We did not race last year, so this was Shelby’s first time driving in a year & a half so the plan was to just get out and run as many laps as possible before having to head home for Easter dinner.

The first session saw it’s share of spins, due to a rusty driver and old, hard tires. Then she was gone. I could just see her head bobbing around over the hump of the esses leading into a left hand Monza curve. The chain had come off & she was moving the kart off to the side of the track. Dad was in trouble. After damn near killing myself pushing the kart back across the infield, I readjusted the chain and out she went for the next session.

Overall, the kart ran well all day and Shelby’s driving steadily improved as the day went on. The track looks great and Shelby had a blast driving it. She says she likes it better than the other tracks over at the Mosport Driver Development Track and she really likes those.

We are waiting for Glen Arnold over at Arnold Racing Engines to complete our new engine for the season and then we’ll be ready to roll. It’s looking like we’ll miss the first few races of the season, but then the points chase will be on.