Torchmate's Gwen Garwood Prepares for Kid Kart Season 2012

In the last week, the Torchmate CNC Cutting Systems Kid Kart driver 5 yr old Gwen Garwood has put in a ton of laps getting ready for her run at a couple of different championships. Gwen has made huge improvements as a driver, we rarely see her miss her marks on the track. Gwen is a little bit down on horsepower at this point , but the team has no doubt that Magnum Racing Engines will get her motors where they need to be. In the next few weeks leading up to the first race of the season, Gwen and her mechanic/dad will be at the track at least 1 time per week testing motors and carbureator combinations and fine tuning her driving skills so Gwen can occupy the the podium as much as possible in only her second season of racing.

Nick Socha Bids for Back to Back Gold Rush Wins

This past weekend Nick Socha traveled to Davis, Ca for his second race of the Northern California Gold Rush Series.

 Nick is coming off a last to first victory in his series debut at Prarie City SVRA and was looking to take control the technical Davis track. Nick holds 3 back to back championships at the track from his former karting years and was looking to make a statement to his current competitors this weekend.
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Nick Socha Pulls Out An Unexpected Win at Prairie City Gold Rush Series

The weekend had it's ups and downs but it's one of those cases where you remind yourself to never give up no matter how bad things look. We practiced Saturday and finished the day looking like one of the fastest in the field, we were definitely confident going into race day. On race morning I was dialed and I put down my best qualifying session yet, I qualified 2nd of 14. It was a bittersweet feeling, you'd almost want to be 1st or 3rd and there is a reason why. My first heat ended in the first 50yrds.,  I was hung out to dry and put into the barriers. This was a bad feeling with how well we were running. With the result of the first heat being the start position for the main I was starting dead last!
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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.
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Nick Socha Gets Back In a Kart and Runs To the Front

It was a good test weekend for the upcoming Gold Rush series. The competition was definately there but we realistically battled ourselves this weekend. We worked on set up and getting reacquainted with the track after several years. We got the kart pretty tuned in and running with the leaders during the previous day's practice but had issues with a new clutch which dropped us to 9 of 12 during qualifying on the day of the race.  In the first heat I battled up to 5th place and had just reeled in 4th place but ran out of laps to take the position. In the main event we made a change that went the wrong way but was able to maintain for the 5th place finish. Overall, it was a great prep race for further series events.
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Gwen Garwood and the Torchmate Kid Kart racing team will compete in round 4 of the All-Star Karting Championship

Gwen will be driving a new kart that her Crew chief Josh (dad),Kartel motorsports and Magnum Racing Engines put together for her this week! The new chassis is over 20 lbs. Lighter than her old kart putting her at the minimum weight of 150 lbs kart and driver. The change of chassis should put Gwen closer to the front of the pack.
Gwen's last race in the Torchmate Kid Kart ended with a poor result. Gwen finished 7th after a couple of spins in turn 1. Although it was a poor finish, Gwen was the only kart to successfully go through turn one on throttle without touching the brakes. Factory BMW driver Joey Hand complimented Gwen on her aggressiveness. With more seat time Gwen will be a threat to win every race!!!

Nick Socha Grabs the Wheel of a Championship Kart

Nick Socha is heading to the Blue Max Kart Club in Davis, CA for the Outlaw Series as a reintroduction into Championship Kart racing. “I raced Karts for 7 years when I was younger, with Jim Socha as my meticulous head mechanic,” said Socha. “We are expecting strong competition and a large class but the Davis track was one of our strongest tracks and we have expectations of a strong start to the 2011 season.” The team had numerous Northern California championships before leaving the sport including four consecutive Season Championship podiums, 2 second place finishes and 2 season championships respectively at the same track they are heading to on April 16-17, 2011.
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Gwen Prepares for the All-Star Karting Championship

The Torchmate CNC Cutting Systems kart of Gwen Garwood will be joining Nick Socha on Saturday in Davis,CA for practice at the Blue Max Kart track. Gwen will be testing for the All-Star Karting Championship next month at the track. Gwen showed great speed at Blue Max during a mid-week track session at the beginning of winter.

The WKA Outlaw series will be taking to the Davis track this Sunday. Gwen will be celebrating her 5th birthday. But Torchmate Racing's Nick Socha will be competing in the clone class. Jim Socha will be Crew chief this weekend and Gwen's dad, Josh will also help Nick and the Torchmate Racing team go for the win in the biggest and most exciting class in Northern California.

Gwen Garwood Turns Heads at Kinsman Kart Track in Dixon, CA

This weekend Gwen Garwood Racing headed to windy Dixon, CA for the 2nd race in the All-Star Karting championship. The team arrived at the Kinsman Kart track late on Saturday night to setup the pit and get a good rest for Sundays race.
Gwen started off Sunday morning once again turning the heads of her competition. Gwen's dad sent her out in the back of the pack for her first practice session so she could practice passing the other kids. Practice concluded and moms, dads and spectators were commending Gwen on how fast she was in practice.
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The First Full Season of Kart Racing Starts Off With a Bang

March 13th marked the start of 4 yr old Gwen Garwood's 1st full season of Kart racing and her run at the All-Star Karting Championship. The weekend started out with a bang when Gwen's Saturday practice session caught the eye's of her competitors , other dad's were commenting on how much Gwen had improved in the off season. Sunday started off with the same carburetor issues the team experienced 2 weeks ago causing Gwen to qualify torwards the rear of the 8 Kart field. Gwen's mechanic Josh (dad) got to work, cleaning the carburetor and changing all the gaskets. That proved to fix the problem when Gwen moved from her 7th place starting position in the heat race to battle for the 6th place position. Gwen would finish the heat in 6th. Starting the main event in 6th Gwen moved all the way up to the 4th position before getting tangled up with another Kart coming down the "corkscrew " dropping Gwen to 8th. Gwen did work her way back up to to 7th position for the day and showed everyone that very soon she will be the ONE to beat. Gwen is anxious to get back to the track and work on some of the more technical sections of the 14 turn Prairie City Kart Track. Gwen Garwood Racing would like to thank Torchmate CNC Cutting Systems, Kartel Motorsports and Magnum Racing Engines.

Torchmate Kart Racing Revs Up This Weekend

Gwen Garwood will start her quest for the All-Star karting Championship this weekend at the Prairie City Kart track in Sacramento CA Sunday, March 13th. Two weeks ago the team was in dixon CA to shake down their new kart and motor. The found a few bugs and have got them worked out. As always, 4 year old Gwen is excited to race and is hoping to score as many points as possible towards her championship run.

First Full Season of Asphalt Sprint Kart Racing

On February 20th Gwendelyn Garwood will begin her first full season of Asphalt Sprint Kart racing in Dixon ,CA. The Hello Kitty, Torchmate, Kartel motorsports racing team will use this race as a warm up for their run at the All-Star Karting championship in a few weeks at the Prairie City Kart track.
The team is hoping to shake out any bugs this weekend with there new Kart and test their cold weather, low grip set up and hopefully cone away with a top 5 finish.

UPDATE FEB 22, 2011: The Hello Kitty , Torchmate , Kartel Motorsports Racing team competed in the Nor-Cal Outlaw series this weekend at the Kinsman Kart Club in Dixon , CA. Gwen Garwood piloted her kart to a 7th place finish this weekend after battling carburetor issues and a broken spark plug wire. The team used this race as a "shakedown" race for their new equipment and definitely found some bugs they need to work out before their next race , the All-Star Karting championship on March 12-13 at the Prairie City kart track