tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-146326872012-01-23T09:12:31.642-06:00Determined to become one of today's top racing talents, <br>Sam Marmurowicz has shown himself to be a serious contender <br>in the WKA.<br><br>Driving the #89 Pegasus Auto Racing/ OMP Merlin, Sam has <br>proven he's quick and consistent while earning his latest<br> Midwest Sprint Series Championship in Rotax Senior. With the<br> dedication of Inch-Hi Motorports and the continued support <br> from our business partners, this combination can only <br>strengthen our bid for future success.Mnoreply@blogger.comBlogger1081100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14632687.post-43850789281722918102011-12-29T14:00:00.015-06:002011-12-29T14:49:49.306-06:00

What I do know is that the kart is in a hundred pieces all over the shop floor and it is getting a complete rebuild regardless of what we decide.This being our send off year, we have established the fact that if we do anything we're doing it all for fun.  No pressure and nothing to prove here.  We just want to spend our possible last summer at the track with the friends we've made over the past

Mnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14632687.post-12965188664573029942011-10-10T12:30:00.008-05:002011-10-11T13:14:50.657-05:00

From an owner, mechanic, and father's point of view.It's usually around this time of the year when I pen our tearful goodbyes to the racing world for another season.  As relieved as we are to say that we can now have our weekends back for other productive chores or fun-filled adventures, to realize that it's over again leaves us a bit heavy hearted.To anyone who has followed us to the track or on

Mnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14632687.post-26172539465187398442011-10-04T12:28:00.013-05:002011-10-06T12:44:48.660-05:00

Just a day in the life of a kid going sixty miles an hour around a track on a Sunday afternoon.  I submit to you, one fantastic round at Badger Raceway this past weekend. Gridded 12th (of twelve) we faced an uphill battle in our final round of the 2011 Bridgestone Race Series.  Disappointed would be an understatement if you asked us how we felt about this, seeing that we were gridded second

Mnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14632687.post-60671016695366136382011-08-11T15:14:00.008-05:002011-08-18T14:22:26.015-05:00

We've reached the midway point of our 2011 season and we're finding ourselves with many thoughts and ideas that keep crossing our minds.  Was TaG the right direction to move in?  Should we have stayed with the Rotax series?  Could we have experienced more success had we traveled the Road Race tour instead? All good questions, but when you get down to the heart of the matter I don't believe we

Mnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14632687.post-50213913704604848442011-07-11T16:05:00.006-05:002011-07-11T16:39:59.141-05:00

The size nine stiletto of one miss Lady Luck kicked us square in the chops this weekend as we lost our first engine of the season.Sixteen thousand RPM's one second, and absolutely nothing the next.  And as it usually goes, the catastrophic failure always occurs on a high speed stretch of the track so to anyone who has experienced this before you know it can be quite the horrific moment.After all

Mnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14632687.post-32981312217274257902011-07-08T15:24:00.004-05:002011-07-11T16:01:06.775-05:00

Ughhhh!One word can sum up the season so far and that's pretty much it.  Actually we could very well insert another single word into this mix but doing so would seriously compromise our PG rating on this website.Some of you might be saying it can't be all that bad can it?  And my response to you would be that you're right, it could be far worse.  So what could all the trouble be? In a nutshell,

Mnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14632687.post-42259814000751724412011-06-06T16:50:00.010-05:002011-06-14T14:07:52.790-05:00

We're sorry everyone but we haven't been very excited to bring you the latest news after the Pegasus Auto Racing Grand Prix of Dousman two weeks ago.  Being the host sponsor of the first round of the Midwest Sprint Series had us proud and excited to show the out-of-towners how it's done.  But old lady luck had other plans for us that weekend.It's tough on everyone when you find yourself running

Mnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14632687.post-40510092959120754232011-05-18T12:31:00.002-05:002011-05-18T12:43:29.044-05:00

If that's not the case, we could sure use a do-over on the season so far.A third, fourth, and a sixth all in our last three weekends.  And in that order I might add!  I don't know how we can be slipping this far behind so soon but the frustration level is at an all time high and we'd better hope we can shake it before the Midwest Sprint Series rolls into town this weekend.Several drivers that we

Mnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14632687.post-41785288058385664032011-04-08T16:47:00.004-05:002011-04-11T14:16:08.361-05:00

The 2011 season is upon us with a non points race this weekend at Badger Raceway.  Although we're not planning (or ready) to be out there this weekend, we will most likely be hitting the track for some much needed practice in the next week.Our LM30 Merlin chassis has risen from its long winter's nap and got just about every fastener replaced on it.  It will again be skinned in its familiar

Mnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14632687.post-51985571853400233922011-01-17T10:44:00.010-06:002011-01-18T14:08:26.885-06:00

With the 2010 racing season behind us, we took a break from our busy winter rebuild schedule this past weekend to meet with friends and fellow competitors from the Midwest Sprint Series at their annual awards banquet in Rockford Illinois. Tim Koyen and his son T.J. have put together one heck of a race series, and the festivities on this particular night proved just as entertaining for the large

Mnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14632687.post-47337552072472267162011-01-06T15:12:00.005-06:002011-01-07T16:56:23.187-06:00

A much needed rest from racing just came to an end last night as we began tearing into the #98 Merlin chassis for its annual ground up rebuild.  Remarkably enough the chassis looks straight and with the exception of your usual suspects who are slated for replacement: bearings, throttle cable, and the assorted fastener, all looks pretty reusable.This is a good thing for us since we spent an

Mnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14632687.post-16224716032055168212010-11-04T14:48:00.008-05:002010-11-04T17:30:50.339-05:00

The sun goes down on another summer and with it, our racing season too.  It's hard to imagine that all of the work and countless weekends away from home are just another memory now as we head into our long winter hibernation from the track.For the past five years we've been saying to ourselves that we are going to head down to Daytona in December for the Winter Classic but I feel pretty confident

Mnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14632687.post-15623554300534614412010-09-01T09:35:00.003-05:002010-09-02T13:28:45.332-05:00

It's hard to say what was tougher on us heading into series race number thirteen at the Badger Kart Club this past weekend in Dousman Wisconsin.  Sam having his wisdom teeth pulled just two days before we got there, or the fact that our race season would come to an end after this event.As previously mentioned, the Rotax Max series ended for us in late July and with our switch to the Leopard TaG

Mnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14632687.post-23412324966312196822010-08-16T15:38:00.011-05:002010-08-18T10:02:09.968-05:00

Happy doesn't even begin to describe how we were after our final this past Sunday. As we sat there eyeing up the side pod on our LM30 and the remnants left behind from contact between a few of the drivers I couldn't have been more proud. We finally finished a race with what looked like a kart that had gone through battle. And it didn't just look that way, it actually did this time.I've been

Mnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14632687.post-52307346168415062122010-08-02T13:31:00.014-05:002010-08-03T10:42:45.007-05:00

So our Hiatus from racing lasted two weeks.  Did anyone really think we were going to stay away from it longer?  I mean c'mon, most people need food and oxygen to survive, all I need is rubber and racing fuel.With our Rotax schedule being sealed up for the season we switched our attention to what could be next for us.  We knew we couldn't continue with our current power plant seeing that most of

Mnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14632687.post-38511952385582635472010-07-20T14:04:00.012-05:002010-07-26T10:08:55.131-05:00

Many different emotions are conjured up when we reflect on our past week in Indiana at the Rotax Max US Grand Nationals.  If I was to sum it up in a single word, Wow! is the most fitting G-rated thing I can say.Unfortunately for us the lows far outweighed the highs for the better part of our stay but some very positive things that I can say about the whole experience is that Mark Dismore has one

Mnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14632687.post-30491024155843437332010-07-07T08:49:00.004-05:002010-07-26T10:12:10.324-05:00

Road America has always held a dear spot in my heart as one of my most favorite places on the planet.  The vast size of the place, the food, the scenery, and the sounds generated in some areas of the course make this a first class facility in many enthusiast's book.I raced on the road course over two decades ago when I was a young formula ford pilot with F1 aspirations.  Now we find ourselves

Mnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14632687.post-65800989823357440082010-06-07T15:07:00.009-05:002010-06-07T16:54:59.277-05:00

Things can certainly change fast in this business.  One day you're hot, the next day you're not.  And boy how prevalent this was yesterday when we visited the Badger Kart club in Dousman Wisconsin.In an attempt to get some much needed seat time we decided to throw a set of Bridgestone tires on the Pegasus Auto Racing/OMP Merlin and jump in with the Tag Senior boys for a day.  But in hindsight I

Mnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14632687.post-59959454875941292442010-05-17T11:52:00.011-05:002010-07-26T14:24:35.692-05:00

Could things really get any better than this?  Maybe, if we find ourselves lucky enough to be the chosen few from the states who get to compete in Europe this November.  But even if we don't, things are looking good for us lately and for a change we have much to be thankful and happy about.  In a sport where so much can go wrong and end an otherwise good day, it's a nice change to have a weekend

Mnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14632687.post-59827219298597382172010-04-29T13:01:00.005-05:002010-04-29T14:41:26.780-05:00

I might be exaggerating a bit, but seeing that our introduction to the Rotax Max Series was contested in solid rain over the weekend, it goes without saying that the old girl really handed us our tails.We arrived at MRP in South Bend Indiana on a low note to begin with.  Nearly everyone in the family was suffering from some sort of cold or sinus infection.  And with the weather being cool, damp,

Mnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14632687.post-49949590610824743232010-04-12T13:39:00.003-05:002010-04-12T14:34:49.487-05:00

No time for excuses here.  We fell flat on our faces this year in not providing any of you with the updates that were always so common in the past and I want to personally apologize for this.The series has been chosen, and the Rotax Max Challenge is where we'll focus most of our attention this year.  The chassis will be from Merlin, an LM30 to be exact, and we couldn't be more excited.  Sam

Mnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14632687.post-18910268524349545172010-01-18T10:43:00.002-06:002010-01-18T10:46:08.060-06:00

Could it be? Are we going to? When will it arrive? All of these questions and many more should be answered within the next few weeks.  We'll be sure to keep you updated.

Mnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14632687.post-86729751710871202702009-12-02T13:40:00.009-06:002009-12-02T15:19:26.430-06:00

It's funny not having anything to work on during the off season.  Not funny ha-ha but funny as in a fish out of water.  At every season end for the past six years we would engage in the same ritual.  Clear the trailer of everything, move it to our basement, and begin the tear down and build up process.  Not this year though.Those test days behind the wheel of that Rotax powered Merlin had one

Mnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14632687.post-11052404954024188072009-10-12T16:06:00.004-05:002009-10-19T16:53:48.082-05:00

Wow, did this one go by fast!The 2009 season actually came to a close for us back on September 27th.  We clinched our final position in the standings back on September 20th and because of this, chose to run a totally different kart/engine package in the final event.  More on this later.So even after all the frustration of several consecutive DNF's this past season, Sam managed to hold on to the

Mnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14632687.post-42884434858784421222009-09-21T08:47:00.008-05:002009-09-21T09:31:35.313-05:00

More than six weeks after we finished our last race we returned to the Badger Kart Club this past weekend with what we hoped to be a new lease on our racing life.  Past problems with our ability to keep a chain on our vehicle resulted in five DNF's (Did not finish) which began back in July at round three of the Midwest Sprint Series.Driver and crew are happy to report to you today that it seems

Mnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14632687.post-26096472274983098712009-08-26T08:59:00.013-05:002009-08-26T10:31:55.179-05:00

That's right, another disappointing weekend in a long string of DNF's.  Four of them to be exact with a newly earned DNS this past Sunday.  Yep, it's gotten so bad for us that now our days are over before the green flag ever falls on us!  And with three races to go in our season we might be tempted to throw in the towel at this point and just cut our losses.The problem with that is in quitting

Mnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14632687.post-12141232760347721082009-08-17T09:17:00.004-05:002009-08-17T09:36:42.830-05:00

With a season like the one we're having right now I can't say that I'm disappointed in the fact that this year is winding down on us.  We have been plagued by problems for the past four weeks that are testing our patience and taxing our resources and frankly it's beginning to be darn near unbearable for all of us.That chain skipping problem that we expected to lose by this weekend, well it ain't

Mnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14632687.post-46938188788980006382009-08-04T12:45:00.003-05:002009-08-04T13:26:35.940-05:00

Why is it that I can't even buy a break sometime?  I'm a pretty nice guy for the most part.  I could stand to go to church a bit more than I do but I give back to the community, I help people who are in desperate need of help, and I hold the door for the elderly.&nbsp So why in God's name can't we finish a Midwest Sprint Series race?Turn the calendar back one year ago and you would undoubtedly

Mnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14632687.post-71559143323710522592009-08-04T12:28:00.005-05:002009-08-04T13:27:57.246-05:00

We've been quite busy lately with all things racing and non-racing related, so accept our apologies for our being tardy with our duty to bring you up to speed on our efforts.Sunday June 21st found us in 6th place at the end of our day.  For the most part the event went well all day until of course the final arrived.  Dueling with another driver for 3rd place, Sam got the short end of the stick

Mnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14632687.post-79465567243025511652009-06-10T15:31:00.009-05:002009-06-10T15:38:30.552-05:00

Like drag racing?Go to 3AM with Gus for more information on how we spent our week off from the track.

Mnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14632687.post-45602798568358698492009-06-01T08:24:00.002-05:002009-06-01T10:43:19.931-05:00

This past weekend at Badger Raceway was very productive for us and heartbreaking all at the same time. So much good could have come from our efforts, but being in the wrong place at the wrong time would end our charge prematurely.To our surprise, and our pleasure, eleven competitors showed up for our class on Sunday. It was the most HPV's we've seen in one place outside of a national event and

Mnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14632687.post-555747611847560692009-05-26T10:25:00.005-05:002009-05-26T11:32:52.709-05:00

May 10th and 17th at Badger Raceway netted us two fourth place finishes in HPV Junior. What sounds and looks good on paper though isn't always how it seems.Sunday May 10th was virtually our first time out on a dry track so it took us some time to find our legs again. Several new drivers have found their way to our class this season and they are proving to be very fast right out of the box. A

Mnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14632687.post-44151088407367170702009-04-27T12:27:00.002-05:002009-04-27T12:36:48.846-05:00

Mother nature did it to us yet again. Round two of the BKC Bridgestone Championship series was rained out for the second straight weekend. We arrived on Friday evening and immediately went to work on the kart, rebuilding the carb and clutch. What we hoped would have been a great day of testing on Saturday turned into a waiting game with countless hours of TV and board games. After everything was

Mnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14632687.post-32570884107957546412009-04-22T09:57:00.003-05:002009-04-22T10:06:50.415-05:00

In grand fashion and what has historically happened for years, the season opener at Badger Raceway was a rain out. Only three classes were awarded race points with the rest of us receiving 200 rain points.Not too disappointing seeing that we had to scramble to get the kart even drivable on Friday. Saturday's weather was fantastic but between broken parts and upwards of 40 karts being on the track

Mnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14632687.post-71273378759216785082009-03-13T14:26:00.002-05:002009-03-13T14:42:56.159-05:00

If I may ask, please direct your attention to the side bar on your right as you'll find our 2009 schedule has been assembled. Even though our primary focus right now is more toward the regional and national level, current events could force us to stay closer to our local track this season.  As stated previously, this schedule is subject to change should we find ourselves in a situation that

Mnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14632687.post-74699906048046025482009-03-12T13:34:00.001-05:002009-03-12T13:34:45.028-05:00

Mnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14632687.post-47512306526813044842009-03-10T10:41:00.006-05:002009-03-10T12:28:49.252-05:00

Hello everyone and thanks for being so patient with us over the past few months.  My normal chatty self had very little to say since we had no idea of what our season would look like, and if we were going to have one at all.Our first obstacle (which we really haven't cleared yet) was whether or not a certain division of my wife's company is planning to strike like they've been threatening to do

Mnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14632687.post-70855728501486242552008-12-26T10:30:00.004-06:002008-12-26T11:04:05.466-06:00

Wow, that's a mouthful. If it even made sense at all!It's been quite a while since we last posted anything on our site so we first wanted to wish everyone a happy holiday and hope your Christmas brought everything your hearts desired. Good luck to all of our friends who made the trek to the WKA season opener in Daytona, (I swear one year we'll do it too) and we hope your trip is a safe one. What

Mnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14632687.post-18796893750292437722008-10-14T11:56:00.006-05:002008-10-14T12:01:47.806-05:00

Want to see more? Go to 3AM With Gus for more details.

Mnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14632687.post-51677654391156226142008-09-23T12:54:00.014-05:002008-11-13T16:48:52.381-06:00

That's all she wrote for 2008. Our season at the Badger Kart Club, and karting in general for this season has finally come to a close. Third place in the points is where we landed and like every year at about this time you can almost hear the collective sigh of relief from fans and competitors alike. But as always we find ourselves asking each other how it came and went so soon. It seemed like

Mnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14632687.post-64120121447106123972008-09-16T14:23:00.003-05:002008-09-16T14:33:52.761-05:00

Points Race #14 at Dousman this past weekend left a bit to be desired. We managed to run our fastest time of the season thus far, a 39.44, but couldn't seem to put anyone behind us in the process. We had a good turnout for a change with ten entries in our class. Coming off our high from the Road America event we felt confident in our abilities to finally run with the faster drivers who might

Mnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14632687.post-65111285146238889482008-08-26T14:27:00.012-05:002008-08-27T14:06:46.432-05:00

When I said in our last post to hang on because we've just begun I wasn't kidding. This past Sunday at Road America Sam has proven that it's his turn to be a major concern to others on the track as he posted a well deserved fourth place finish in his HPV Junior class of nine drivers."I'm just shooting for a top five finish" he said, before heading to the grid for his feature race. After all we

Mnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14632687.post-62573149775165612812008-08-20T13:50:00.005-05:002008-08-21T12:45:05.003-05:00

Wow! What a difference that change made. We decided to try a different engine builder (our third in two years) and I think we got it right this time. Saturday we got to the track late in the day hoping there would be some sort of a track to work with. The club had been off for two weeks and people had been saying that times were off due to no rubber on the track. We found no break either as we

Mnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14632687.post-13063549177738541732008-07-28T12:19:00.004-05:002008-07-29T13:58:33.545-05:00

Although the amount of money spent this weekend wasn't nearly as much as last week's, the amount of frustration seen from driver and crew was just as high.It all boils down to seat time. And when priorities with one of my three jobs or scheduling conflicts in our personal lives should interfere with this it's easily noticed on race day. We only managed to finish a couple of hours of testing time

Mnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14632687.post-1803385339280143852008-07-20T21:42:00.009-05:002008-12-09T18:34:43.400-06:00

I know I've said it before and with my luck I fear today won't be the last, but this was by far the worst week we've ever had to date. Beginning this last Tuesday our intention was to get out and dust off the cob webs after a six week hiatus from racing. We planned on practicing each day out at our local track leading up to this past weekend's event. But all too often we find that what you plan

Mnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14632687.post-81180334642297980772008-06-09T11:23:00.005-05:002008-12-09T18:34:43.547-06:00

We only came to practice. But after the spot where our truck and trailer was parked literally turned into a running stream we decided to white knuckle it through the night and try leaving in the morning.We just can't seem to catch a break here in Wisconsin. What first appeared to be a winter that was never going to let go quickly turned into the Great Lakes Tsunami season. Saturday we only

Mnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14632687.post-39837349105643534182008-06-02T16:09:00.006-05:002008-12-09T18:34:43.673-06:00

Congratulations to us is due in the fact that we've broken yet another record in our illustrious career in karting. We've managed to spend more money at this past weekend's Midwest Sprint Series Race at Badger than we have in any race to date and with absolutely nothing to show for it.Round two of the MWSS headed to Badger Kart Club this past weekend and we felt confident that we could run not

Mnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14632687.post-80730535759183917442008-05-13T12:46:00.003-05:002008-12-09T18:34:43.886-06:00

Nothing of much importance to report about our last event. Sunday May 11th was rained out. We did manage to scuff in some new tires and complete a few laps on Saturday before the weather went away on us. The temps fell and turned the track in to a slippery mess so we threw in the towel early in hopes of the weatherman being wrong about Sunday. I'm very surprised to say that for the first time one

Mnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14632687.post-87275040336762693122008-05-05T11:24:00.009-05:002008-12-09T18:34:44.337-06:00

Sorry everyone! I haven't been able to update all of you on our progress so far this year. Obligations with work and family have made it nearly impossible to keep this site up to date as well as my own personal page over at 3am with Gus.I'm serious about passing the torch to our illustrious hero that I write about every week and make him bring these installments to you with his very own words.

Mnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14632687.post-42339806204396556412008-03-07T14:36:00.002-06:002008-12-09T18:34:44.665-06:00

If you stared out the window every day for the past three months and all you seen was this you wouldn't be too hopeful that the 2008 racing season is about five weeks away either.At the rate this weather is coming at us I think we're going to take the month of April off and just hit the ground running in May. More news as the date draws nearer.

Mnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14632687.post-63780800836461467702007-12-19T15:07:00.004-06:002008-04-10T13:41:41.253-05:00

Subject to change. The following dates are a starting point of where our schedule should take us next year. We're going to try and make four of the five Midwest Sprint Series races with a career first for Sam in the Dunlop Tire Road America Supernationals. Because of this we are most likely going to compete in only half of the scheduled Bridgestone Point Series races at Badger, but as we've

Mnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14632687.post-3740611460001043452007-12-06T13:52:00.000-06:002008-12-09T18:34:45.771-06:00

This past November the Badger Kart Club hosted it's annual awards banquet again at the Olympia Resort in Oconomowoc Wisconsin. As in years past everyone in attendance was treated to a fine night of food and festivities leading up to the awards ceremony.This year we got the big one! Class Champion in HPV Jr. and although I myself voted earlier in the year for a change in the awards, mainly to

Mnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14632687.post-78154090875017217542007-11-06T12:37:00.000-06:002008-12-09T18:34:47.285-06:00

All year I wrench on my son's kart and envy him for having the opportunity to do this at his age. Ever since I can remember I wanted to have something to do with racing. And when an uncle of mine purchased a kart and began competing with it back in the 70's I knew where I wanted to be. So I pestered my father and saved my money but nothing ever came of it. Whether it was a lack of money, a lack

Mnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14632687.post-30602180724873452252007-10-22T16:24:00.000-05:002008-12-09T18:34:47.588-06:00

The 2007 racing season is in the books with Sam finishing first in points and earning himself his first class Championship in HPV Junior.This year was his third year in karting. It was also his third different chassis in karting. And to top it all off this was the third different powerplant sitting behind him so the learning curve had to be repeated every season. Just when he would get

Mnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14632687.post-54979588505254484702007-10-08T11:01:00.000-05:002007-10-08T11:34:38.027-05:00

Only one event left to go and this past Sunday in the books! Second place was ours again but in the hunt for the championship it all adds up. Any way we can get it we'll take it. There really isn't a lot to report other than it was another average day at the track. It usually starts out with me chasing my tail for the first couple of sessions and slowly comes together, or somewhat together, by

Mnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14632687.post-70253866047659381512007-10-03T12:26:00.000-05:002008-12-09T18:34:47.755-06:00

Just in time for christmas and for 2008. We've now added a calendar to our online store with team photos spanning our first three years in this sport. Check it out at the Inch-Hi Motorsports Online Store.

Mnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14632687.post-6616207266544184282007-09-27T12:57:00.000-05:002008-12-09T18:34:47.914-06:00

photo courtesy Mike WeaverThree weeks is far too long to be off. We shared a half day of testing back in August with a coach to help us get our times down and to polish up our act. The day was very useful to both of us, but when you're out of the seat for over three weeks you become a bit rusty.Actually I was far worse off than Sam. I couldn't remember settings, I forgot the usual set of tools I

Mnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14632687.post-83440207318538400672007-09-06T11:47:00.000-05:002008-12-09T18:34:48.097-06:00

It took a while, but we reached one-thousand visitors to date on Sam's Race Page. Thank you to everyone who stops by from time to time to see our progress. We hope you continue.Unfortunately I don't have the name of the lucky individual who checked out the site and helped us reach this milestone. If I had, I'd be giving them the keys to a brand new 2008 Chevrolet Z07 Corvette with all of those

Mnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14632687.post-564646467188467462007-08-31T10:23:00.000-05:002008-12-09T18:34:48.221-06:00

Congratulations Sam!We've been trying to break the elusive 39 second mark all season long and finally did it last Sunday.I just received an e-mail from a friend of mine informing us that our fast time on Sunday was posted as 38.93 seconds. I didn't realize this at the time since we were in such a hurry to leave. I threw the kart in the trailer without checking any data on his gauge and off we

Mnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14632687.post-88490627886680302172007-08-27T16:03:00.000-05:002007-08-27T16:32:00.673-05:00

Sunday August 26th. Badger Raceway, Dousman WI.A very wet past ten days gave way to sunny skies and 80 degree temperatures once again at Badger Raceway in Dousman Wisconsin for round #13 of the Bridgestone Championship Race Series.An early fuel delivery problem scratched our attempt at our first morning practice, but once we discovered and fixed the problem we took to the track with a little

Mnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14632687.post-50271232459726405892007-08-23T10:48:00.000-05:002007-08-23T10:59:04.033-05:00

The September 8-9th MWSS Event in New Castle Indiana has been released from our schedule.It was a hard decision for us (well, mostly me) to do this but seeing that Sam is leading the Points series at Badger, The fact that school is in session, and a date was needed to put on a party for my daughter's birthday, we really felt it was the right thing to do.This particular track is one of which I was

Mnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14632687.post-4615076914414593922007-08-20T09:12:00.000-05:002007-08-20T09:16:34.875-05:00

Thanks to our recent monsoon season arriving early this year, round twelve of the Bridgestone Championship Points Series was rained out at Badger Raceway this past weekend.Racing will hopefully resume on Sunday August 26th.

Mnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14632687.post-19178007153273903812007-08-13T11:08:00.000-05:002008-12-09T18:34:48.492-06:00

The Bridgestone Championship Series round #10 event at Badger Raceway was a hot one on and off the track. Temperatures in the 90's and yet another three class combination made our day tough to say the least. Sam won his race but because of a first lap skirmish with another driver not even in our class (and gridded behind us) he finished with a battered kart.Someone once told me that when you run

Mnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14632687.post-68810295218700499522007-07-23T14:08:00.000-05:002008-12-09T18:34:48.701-06:00

This past Sunday we posted another 2nd place finish and bettered our time to within .03 of a second of our class record. As happy as we all are on the tremendous amount of progress we've made, it's bittersweet in the fact that once the front runners return from their trek to Pennsylvania that record is more than likely to fall in the mid 38 second range. No worries though as we'll be there very

Mnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14632687.post-25311913528839745172007-07-18T15:42:00.000-05:002008-12-09T18:34:49.325-06:00

I wish I could say that last week's carb issues were a thing of the past but we're still struggling a bit to find out what the situation is. The kart is definitely quick once it gets up to speed, hence our personal best lap time of 39.14, but it still struggles to move on the low end. The carb was rebuilt, settings were changed, and we even began to teach Sam how to reach back and tune the darn

Mnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14632687.post-72353493760310207302007-07-18T13:47:00.001-05:002008-12-09T18:34:49.519-06:00

Our once pristine kart now has it's first set of battle scars. When practicing for last Sunday's race, Sam came upon a slower driver who was not very aware of his surroundings. When he went to overtake him on the inside of "the boot" at Badger, this driver came right across the track and chopped off Sam's line and a good portion of our nose in the process. Nothing mechanical was damaged in the

Mnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14632687.post-14157491459189917112007-07-10T12:03:00.000-05:002008-12-09T18:34:49.675-06:00

I've learned a long time ago to "leave it at the office", and not to bring my work home with me. I can't say I've been the best at it but nonetheless I've tried. The same holds true for racing. You have your highs and lows and you learn to live with both of them. And up until now I think we've all done pretty good. So then why does the disappointment of this weekend not want to go away?A lot of

Mnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14632687.post-83789849805276915782007-06-27T16:36:00.000-05:002008-12-09T18:34:49.897-06:00

It sounds alot more exciting than it actually happend. But like we've said before, we'll take them any way we can. This past Sunday was another good day as we've shown improvement in a few areas of concern as well. We're so close to breaking the 40 second mark we can taste it. And all of the test time that we've spent trying to get through a couple of key areas quicker has really begun to show.

Mnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14632687.post-75938643586933872932007-06-21T10:36:00.000-05:002008-12-09T18:34:50.116-06:00

Due to a scheduling conflict with a family comittment, the July 28th Route 66 Series race at Norway has been dropped from our agenda.

Mnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14632687.post-43970051136231748862007-06-12T11:18:00.001-05:002008-12-09T18:34:50.661-06:00

Undeniably the best track that we've seen, and probably will ever see in our time. Someone told me that the USA International Raceway in Shawano was nicknamed "Little Laguna Seca" and it couldn't be more true. The elevation changes here are enormous compared to any other track that we've been to. The racing surface is quite smooth, it's wide, and the course offers a variety of challenges found in

Mnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14632687.post-80498402368318345562007-05-21T12:26:00.000-05:002007-05-21T12:34:12.401-05:00

I apologize to anyone who may have ventured out to the Badger Kart Club to see us on Sunday May 20th. Scheduling conflicts and personal committments made it impossible to attend the race like we had planned. Our next scheduled event is in Shawano Wisconsin on June 9th and 10th. We will most likely be using this time beforehand to test at Badger not only for this event, but mainly the Midwest

Mnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14632687.post-58644248265651824712007-05-09T12:58:00.000-05:002008-12-09T18:35:23.103-06:00

That's what I felt like at least, and I'm sure Sam felt a bit that way himself. These kids that came to compete in the WKA Man Cup's Zoom Zoom Nationals sponsored by Mazda were the real deal. They were undoubtedly some of the best in the country, and a few from beyond our borders. Because I didn't know that's what's to be expected at a Manufacturer's Cup event, it made for a long stress filled

Mnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14632687.post-14663022528451603402007-04-25T13:25:00.000-05:002008-12-09T18:35:23.313-06:00

Elation and exhaustion. Two words that come to mind when I think of this first race of our season that took place at Badger Raceway in Dousman this past Sunday. It's sure nice to see the winter weather finally breaking and the season upon us once again. The exhausting part comes from selling your old kart 3 weeks before your first race and having a virtual mountain of things to do before heading

Mnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14632687.post-77840919878180163272007-03-14T13:48:00.000-05:002007-03-14T14:23:25.212-05:00

Six weeks. That's all we have until the kart needs to be back together and running. Right now it's a bare frame waiting for our engine, seat, steering, and - well just about every single piece that it takes to be a fully functional kart!We're planning on going out to our local track to break the new engine in before heading right out to South Bend for the Man Cup race on the weekend after. The

Mnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14632687.post-38781037899555214602007-02-19T14:32:00.000-06:002007-02-19T17:09:54.913-06:00

It's time for me to jump on my soap box again and bang the drum of reason.At the risk of sounding like some tree hugging hippie I have to say that I'm appalled at how our uptight, self-centered, antagonistic, blood thirsty society is spiraling out of control. People just aren't happy anymore unless there's drama in their lives. And when they can't get it themselves by forcing you off the road for

Mnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14632687.post-12751483549461463442007-02-15T13:28:00.001-06:002007-02-15T13:59:50.609-06:00

This is our third class in our third year. HPV Junior is where he'll be competing this season. The class is for 12 to 15 year old drivers and uses the same powerplant that we had last year but with a much larger carb and pipe combination. Larger carb + Larger Pipe = Large Power. We started with a 4-cycle Briggs and took an entire season to get up to speed. We then started our second season with a

Mnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14632687.post-41059207246933343692007-01-04T13:02:00.000-06:002008-12-09T18:35:23.493-06:00

It's been said "Be careful what you wish for, you just might get it". Most of the time when the phrase is used it's intended to strike home in someone thinking negative or malicious thoughts. Kind of like when you were young and wished death on someone for messing up your sandbox. Or when you thought how great it would be to date the prettiest most popular girl in school only to find that her

Mnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14632687.post-81045777407190802172007-01-03T16:13:00.000-06:002008-12-09T18:35:23.704-06:00

We wanted to wish you and yours a very merry christmas, and hope you'll enjoy a great new year. Pray for good health and prosperity, a safe and quick return for all of our troops fighting overseas, and that my son will return to normal some time soon.God bless us all!

Mnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14632687.post-1163711776850509182006-11-16T15:16:00.000-06:002008-12-09T18:35:23.852-06:00

JUST IN TIME FOR CHRISTMAS!We are very excited to let everyone know that we've just launched the Inch-Hi Motorports online store. And now as of 11/20/2006 it's up and fully functional. Check out the apparel and other items that have been customized with team logos and pictures and remember, all proceeds from the sale of these goods benefit two very deserving causes. One being the Help Sam secure

Mnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14632687.post-1163709391907698742006-11-16T13:33:00.000-06:002006-11-16T15:28:10.146-06:00

  The Badger Kart Club held it's annual awards banquet on Nov. 11 at Olympia Village Resort in Oconomowoc, WI this past weekend. This year was quite special for us for several reasons. First was the fact that Sam finished second in points in both the HPV Jr. Sportsman class and in the Junior Summer Series. The runner-up trophy is a monster. Sam was barely taller than it! The Junior Summer Series,

Mnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14632687.post-1160425684581904342006-10-09T14:30:00.000-05:002006-10-23T12:22:05.376-05:00

  That's it, we're done, there is no more! We've officially ended our 2006 season 1 race before the club calls it quits. Prior committments that I have personally are forcing us to miss the last race scheduled for next weekend but all of that aside, I think it's still the right time for us to hang it up for the year. We've been going almost non stop since April and it really takes a toll on you

Mnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14632687.post-1158604231926895732006-09-18T12:54:00.000-05:002006-11-21T13:08:59.620-06:00

  Points race #14 was held at the Briggs and Stratton Motorplex nestled inside the confines of Road America Raceway in Elkhart Lake Wisconsin. To anyone who hasn't seen this facility you are missing an absolutely beautiful place to enjoy a race. To those of you who have you'll agree when I say this is by far the best race track in the country.A big plus for us was the fact that the Elkhart Lake

Mnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14632687.post-1156788630994336412006-08-28T12:32:00.000-05:002006-08-28T14:05:15.326-05:00

Another day, another lesson learned. Loose is fast! Tight is not.It's not that I never knew this. I mean it's more or less the mantra of karting. It's just that I thought we had the kart as loose as we were ever going to be. What I learned this weekend is what I learn any other time that I become complacent and feel I know what I'm doing and that is, I'm wrong again.My son and I were just talking

Mnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14632687.post-1156446185524517792006-08-24T13:10:00.000-05:002006-09-19T13:35:09.583-05:00

All I can say is that it's good to get back to some kind of normalcy. Even if it was a bittersweet weekend of sorts.In our usual fashion we finished second in our feature and managed to consistently bring our lap times down session after session. This, combined with the fact that we had relatives in attendance who flew in from out of town for our family reunion, made for the sweeter portion of

Mnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14632687.post-1154965655312046742006-08-07T10:46:00.000-05:002006-08-07T15:24:57.900-05:00

Anyone who has ever been involved in any form of motorsport will read this post and immediately relate to it. Resting on the old adage: "That's racing". In no way was I myself or my son ever promised that anything in this life comes easy. We've never expected it to be but it would just be nice to catch a break every now and then. I've written about bad times before but nothing compares to this

Mnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14632687.post-1153763788732409192006-07-24T12:22:00.000-05:002006-07-24T12:59:26.443-05:00

What originally looked like an average day at the races turned into yet another personal best for Sam today. He had a lap time of 42.71 in practice and a pretty good dog fight with a new driver to the track. We thought we finally had someone that we could race with a little more closely but that all fizzled quickly once the feature came. This driver ran away at the start and just about took the

Mnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14632687.post-1151352511831348392006-06-26T13:18:00.000-05:002006-06-28T16:15:21.953-05:00

What a relief! What once looked like another rain out for us turned out to be a pretty good day. Our first 2nd place finish, a personal best lap time, and a world of lessons learned.In our last post I explained that I was struggling to get this kart working for him, and that I had talked to everyone and read everything that I could. Well I was wrong. This weekend we had the luxury of having Jim

Mnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14632687.post-1149870803980623332006-06-09T10:54:00.000-05:002006-06-09T11:34:16.833-05:00

Oh well, another third.What makes this one different from the other third place finishes is that we are a little bit closer to second, and alot better on lap times.At the sake of saving face, I'm not going to go into detail about how I've managed to be sending us in the wrong direction over the past few weeks. Let's just say I was told one thing and instead of checking to see if it was correct, I

Mnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14632687.post-1149014322879478712006-05-30T12:52:00.000-05:002006-05-30T13:38:42.920-05:00

Remember the popular old fishing bumper sticker, "A bad day of fishing.....? Well you can pretty much insert any hobby or past time into that phrase and it carries the same impact. But in my case I can honestly say that a bad day of racing is certainly not better than a good day at work. At least not last Sunday the 21st. That day I wished to god I was back at the office.It was a colder than

Mnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14632687.post-1147214620529758002006-05-09T17:28:00.000-05:002006-05-09T17:43:40.550-05:00

A pretty uneventful weekend in general. I learned that the slew of sprockets that I purchased and brought to the track were not the right ones for our application. Knowing this we had to forge ahead with basically the same set-up as last week. Sam was not very happy with the fact that he'd be chasing his tail again this weekend. Aside from experimenting with tire pressures we had nothing in our

Mnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14632687.post-1146499809271186302006-05-01T10:52:00.000-05:002006-05-01T14:06:50.286-05:00

This past Sunday was our first rain-out. Frankly Sam and I didn't want to go to the track this weekend anyway so it worked out fine for us. Allergy attacks made life miserable for me so the rain was a welcomed contributor to this cancellation.We got first place points though! Unfortunately so did everyone else. How, you may ask? Well the club has a rule where if a race is cancelled and you do not

Mnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14632687.post-1146166837109904662006-04-27T13:44:00.000-05:002006-04-27T14:42:52.853-05:00

Sunday April 23rd was the first points race in our 17 race season. Although we find ourselves not only in a relatively small class, the few who run it are light years ahead of us. Aside from the fact that we are only in our second season, and the fact that we are 4-cycle transplants, we have a lot of learning to do. This kart and the class we run in are much faster than anything we're used to.

Mnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14632687.post-1145907886536017822006-04-24T13:51:00.000-05:002006-04-24T14:46:48.796-05:00

Sorry about the long wait everyone, but we finally got the new chassis and engine delivered to us about two weeks ago. We made time to go out and shake everything down to see how it works and are pleased to say how very happy we are with how it handles. Everyone at Margay who had their hand in building this kart, as well as Kent Laukitis of Laukitis Racing engines has done a marvelous job. Our

Mnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14632687.post-1139872022652860532006-02-13T17:00:00.000-06:002006-02-13T17:07:02.700-06:00

I've had an overwhelming amount of requests by people who are looking to contact me directly. Just for the record, my e-mail address is mjm@pegasusautoracing.comFeel free to contact me at your leisure. On any subject, whether it's race related or not. Keep me in line too. I'd like to think that when my son allows me to ramble on, I'm being as unbiased and unopinionated as I can. If I offend

Mnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14632687.post-1135120692013500242005-12-20T16:25:00.000-06:002006-01-24T13:35:04.503-06:00

My son and I are pretty much gearheads by nature. He likes building things and tinkering with stuff about as much as I do. Our tastes in all things mechanical are very similar. We both like Hot Rods, Choppers, Semi Trucks, and Airplanes. We both enjoy racing on many different levels as well. We obviously love Karting, and we rarely miss a chance to watch F1 and European Rallying when it comes to

Mnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14632687.post-1135117538159451582005-12-20T16:16:00.000-06:002005-12-28T10:09:18.830-06:00

Well it was just released! The tentative '06 racing schedule. We're looking at combining a couple of series this year, so we might have to juggle the Badger Kart Club Bridgestone Point Series with some others. We are also very excited about possibly competing at the Rock Island Grand Prix this year as well. It's become quite apparent that it's going to be one busy season for us. If you're looking

Mnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14632687.post-1134495004750063682005-12-13T10:19:00.000-06:002005-12-13T17:01:18.006-06:00

From all of us to all of you, we wish you and your family a Merry Christmas and fantastic New Year. The holiday season gives us time to reflect on all that we have and the people that we share this with. It gives us a chance to put down the wrenches and be thankful for the things that really matter in our lives: our family and friends. If just for one brief moment, we stop brainstorming over

Mnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14632687.post-1129759406173996702005-10-19T15:45:00.000-05:002005-11-28T15:26:15.926-06:00

God I'm glad it's over! Something that a self-proclaimed race fanatic like myself would never dream of saying. It's just been a long season and I'm happy that it's finally finished. My lawn and my house, (both being in sad states of disrepair) are more than thankful too.With 18 championship point races and 1 race outside of the series, we've spent a lot of time at the track this past summer and

Mnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14632687.post-1129736708242973792005-10-19T09:49:00.000-05:002005-10-20T11:30:09.280-05:00

Last Sunday my race season came to an end. The final count is in, and I finished 6th in the standings with just 11 points over my friend Kathya. Let me tell you it wasn't easy.We arrived at the track with the same settings that we had used a couple of weeks earlier. My dad said everything was identical to what we had used the weekend that I got my 4th place finish. Aside from the weather being

Mnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14632687.post-1129129344446373352005-10-12T10:01:00.000-05:002005-10-12T11:25:01.546-05:00

That's what I had to explain to him as we drove home on Sunday. He was pretty disappointed and he had every right to be. For the past few weeks we have been enjoying a very good streak of success. He's managed to keep his two closest rivals behind him, and make a steady gain on the 5th place spot in the championship run. And the kart could do no wrong. It seemed like all set-ups were working

Mnoreply@blogger.com