timhollowell.com  

[Home] [Up] [TADD Motorsports] [WKA Daytona] [KRA Race 1] [KRA Race 2] [WKA Beaverun] [KRA Race 3] [KRA Race 4] [KRA Race 5] [KRA Race 6] [KRA Race 7] [KRA Race 10] [KRA Race 11]

2004 Daytona Manufacturer’s Cup Race

Round 1 of 4 for 2004-2005 season

Day 1

Qualification:  14th

Prefinal Finish:  11th

Race Finish:  13th

Day 2

Qualification:  12th

Prefinal Finish:  10th

Race Finish:  11th

Day 1: Practice 12/27/04

We completed the finishing touches on the ICC kart and were able to make first practice. The first practice was a motor break-in for me. I was surprised to feel the difference between an 80cc and 125cc motor. The motor pulled a lot stronger and you have to really roll on the throttle.

By the second session, I was up to a normal pace and was learning a lot about the motor. Although my motor builder, SRA Karting, was not able to make it to the race, MRP was still able to help us with the engine tuning. Chris told us the basics about tuning the motor and we were very surprised to find out that the motor tuning isn’t that difficult. You are only really changing one jet most of the time and you can do that with an air density guage.

The rest of the day went pretty well and it looked like we were about mid-pack. We were working a lot on finding more rear grip.

Day 2: Race Day #1 12/28/04

Since WKA only gave us one day of practice, there were three days of racing. The ICC Final 1 and 2 was on the last two days of racing, so today was a work day. We mounted tires and made finishing touches on the kart for race day. I was able to watch a lot of the races and gain valuable information about where the grip on the track is.

I was pleased to see that one of my good friends, Eric Morrow, qualified on pole and one his pre-final and final race in Yamaha Jr. Supercan. In the past year, they have learned and taught us a lot of valuable information about the 100cc motors. Eric ended up winning all of his classes making him the only triple-class winner of the weekend!!

Day 3: Race Day #2 12/29/04

It was good to see that there was a lot more grip on the track today, so the times picked up considerably. Practice looked good but we ended up with some problems in qualifying. The silencer cradle mount came loose and started dragging the ground. We ended up qualifying 14^th out of 23. I was a bit disappointed but I knew I would move up in the pre-final.

I got a great start in the pre-final and made some moves and ended up 11^th. In the final, I got another great start, but I ended up on the outside of Josh Schreiber going into turn three. Since turn three has very little grip on the outside, I was forced to let a couple people by me. I fell from 9^th to 11^th. I quickly got back into my rhythm and started working on getting to tenth place. Unfortunately, the tires started to get worn and the kart got loose, so it looked like I just needed to hang on. I made a small bobble coming out onto the straight and one guy got by me. It looked like he was a little faster, but his kart started going away on him. After a couple mistakes, I was able to charge a counter-attack. I got alongside him, and assumed my position. It looked like he was going to let me by, but he just had to cause an accident. In the middle of turn one, his front wheel connected with my rear, and the mayhem started. I went over his front wheel and had to correct from his mistake. He got by me and another kart came on my outside. I tried to force him wide in turn 2 but he held on. I was about halfway up on his sidepod going into turn three and wasn’t going to give the position to him. This caused the next accident. He came down on me and once again I had to correct. Only now, I had a bent tie rod which made it more difficult to drive. I was able to finish thirteenth.

Day 4: Race Day 3 12/30/04

We qualified 12^th today with the lap times still increasing. I didn’t get the lap I really wanted in qualifying. I could have probably gone a bit faster. In the pre-final, I finished 10^th and was really moving. My lap times were now about 8^th or 7^th fast. In the final, the temperature cooled off and the track was getting dark very fast!! I got a great start (these starts are really easy in the ICC) and remained in tenth. I was in a pack that ranged from 7^th to tenth. Schreiber got knocked out in the pre-final, so he caught our pack and went by with ease. This put me into 11^th. I really couldn’t make any moves because I wasn’t completely alongside anyone. The sixth place guy started falling back toward the end of the race, and I caught him on the last couple of laps. I wasn’t able to set him up and finished 11^th. It was kind of disappointing because my best lap was top five fast. I learned a lot this race about ICC and I am confident we will be even faster at BeaveRun.

I need to thank my sponsors and people that helped me this weekend. I would first of all like to thank my dad for being mechanic this weekend and helping me get the setup right. I would like to thank TW Racing and Tony Wiltshire for allowing me to use his trailer this year. I would also like to thank the crew at MRP Motorsport and Chris Lobaugh for all their help and advice. Although we are not under the tent this year for financial reasons, MRP has still helped us everywhere we go.   Finally, I would like to thank SRA Karting for giving me a great motor that really kicks.

Transponder Data:

Race 1 (Look under ICC):   click for transponder data

Race 2 (Look under ICC):  click for transponder data