Nick Socha Continues to Make Promising Improvements

Heading down for the Stockton Outlaw series to get seat time on an unknown track ended up being exactly what we were looking for. We are still getting acquainted with this unfamiliar kart and class of motor but are making promising improvements in the two times we've been out and are very close to where we want to be. After a long day of practice Saturday, we worked out a set up that we were happy with for the following day. We were able to try out some improvements we had made since our first race in Davis and further cut our teeth on setup and tuning. I think we'll be ready when we come back to the Gold Rush Series.

  On Sunday morning everything was working well, and we had qualified 4th in the 21 kart field, the top 5 were separated by 3 tenths of a second. The Stockton track has a first turn that can be a day ender, and it was intimidating thinking of trying to navigate it in the second row outside of an 11 row field. I was nervous, the saying: "your not going to win it in the first corner but it could be all over right there if you weren't careful" was in the back of my head.

    After a few start attempts we got the green and were on our way.  I maee it mid way through the turn and sure enough there was the start of a tangle up on the inside as I left the turn. Luckily, I was able to leave it behind and the top 4 broke away from the pack. There was action at the front the whole race, top 4 nose to tail. Midway through the race I was able to take 3rd place at the end of the back straight. By the following lap I was able to pass for 2nd in the same spot, but couldn’t maintain it when the now third place kart ducked inside of me and we scrubbed speed allowing 4th place to shoot up into 2nd. I couldn't catch back up in time and ended the heat in 3rd, which was actually the perfect spot to start the 18 lap Main event.      

  Sitting right behind pole position I was in the perfect position to take the 2nd spot right off the bat. It went flawless and the inside 3 karts worked together to freight train to the front. After a few laps I could feel the pressure, the track conditions had changed enough that it was noticeable that the 3 behind me had a leg up. The motor was jetted wrong and the kart was a handful. It's a long race to hold them off for 15 laps and I was passed up mid race. Finally, near the end the engine was coming back to life and on the final lap I went for he pass on 4th on flag stand straight, just ending up 5th by a foot.

It was good experience and we were encouraged to see that our rust was wearing off having closed the gap on the leaders since Davis. We're looking forward to applying what we've learned here and heading to the Atwater Outlaw race June 18-19 to test our last unknown track before the upcoming Gold Rush Series.     

You Tube Video of Nick Socha Practice:  Forward to Min 4: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=umMqxArKvTI