Go Karting

Yesterday we had a Company outing to Fast Times go kart track. Fast Times is an indoor, two-level track here in Indy. It was a blast! We've done this before as a corporate outing, and the last time I didn't do very well. This year, I've dropped some weight, and I had a better idea of how to handle the car. I think we also had a superior car to the one we drove last year. In any case, I drove really well, and had a fastest lap time of 26.001 seconds. That was the second fastest time out of our group, and the 15th best time for the entire week. Some pretty serious drivers go there throughout the week, so I was pretty proud of my time.

I paid a hefty price for our good time though. I had a couple of spin outs, and one spectacular wreck into the wall. At the top of the ramp leading to the lower level, I lost my grip on the wheel and slammed head on into the wall. I was travelling at a pretty good clip, and my rear wheels lifted off the ground due to the impact. I've got a really nice belt rash on my neck now, and a couple of big bruises on the inside of my leg from where I braced myself. Everyone who went was a little sore today, but it was so much fun. I have a couple of blisters on my palms from gripping the wheel, and it is making it a little difficult to type.

We ran a LeMans style race. We were broken up into teams of two, and each team determined their own driver swapping strategy. I was paired with our intern Scott E. We both did really well out there. I drove for the first 20 minutes, then Scott took over for the next 30. I drove for another 20 minutes, and Scott finished up the race. They cut the race a bit short at an hour and 20 minutes. Everyone was exhausted, and some people needed to leave. Rather than strand drivers on the track without relief, they called the race. Scott and I finished third, 5 laps back from the leader and only a few seconds back from second place. Jason and Dave were on the winning team. Dave is an amateur race car driver, and really knows how to race. We all knew that he was going to blow us all away.

I felt really proud of my improvement this year. Last year my team finished 9th, due in large part to my inability to get the kart around the track in a timely fashion. Finishing third was a huge ego booster for me. I'm really looking forward to our next trip out. One of the staff brought a camera, and when they send out the pictures from the event, I'll be sure to post them here.