Jimmy G goes GoKarting against Ron Fellows and Scott Wimmer

A Day At The Races With Jimmy G

 

How does it feel to race against big time drivers? To go toe to toe with the pros?

Well, today I found out first hand not only how exhilarating speed can be but also how demoralizing poor performance on the track can feel. All in the space of just a few minutes at the Action 500 Go Kart Circuit on Hochelaga Street.

Let’s start at the beginning shall we? The NASCAR Nationwide Series was sponsoring a media event at Action 500 featuring two of my favourite drivers: Ron Fellows and Scott Wimmer. As always NASCAR put on quite a show, professionalism and pizzaz being their top traits. If the media had a request, it was fulfilled immediately. Being a reporter for the Team 990, I had requests.

I wanted to speak to Scott Wimmer: request granted. Scott wasn’t at the Busch series last August so I didn’t have the privelege of speaking to him then but I was much luckier today. The results of my conversation with Scott can be heard on tomorrow’s Montreal Forum hosted by Conor McKenna and Sean Campbell. I hope you enjoy.

Ron Fellows finished fourth in last year’s race and I was truly honoured to have spoken to him a few times, before qualifying, after qualifying and after the race, when he calmly answered my questions which were probably the last thing he wanted to do considering how controversially the race ended.

Well, I wanted to speak to Ron again and he didn’t disappoint. If you want to know how often he’s raced in Montreal, what his schedule will be like over the next 48 hours and what he thinks of the track, tune in to the Montreal Forum with Sean and Conor. I know you’ll enjoy.

But let’s face facts: talking to drivers is fun and all, but the members of the media wanted to race. I being no exception. When Press Liaison Max D’Orsonnens announced to the horde that Scott and Ron were going to race against any and all comers on the GoKart track, journalistic integrity took a back seat. There were only eight openings and the competition was fierce to get an invite. I got an invite.  Don't ask how or why, but I got an invite.

The need for speed engulfed me and the pursuit of glory on the racetrack became my passion. It may have been GoKarting as opposed to stock car racing but speed is speed and competition is everything.

...but before we could start racing there had to be....

The Meeting

You have to feel sympathy for these technical engineers. They stand in a classroom explaining all the precautions and the meaning of every flag but noone is paying attention.

The engineer knows that no one is paying attention, we know he knows that we don’t care and he knows that we know. A vicious cycle indeed.

We just wanna get to steppin’ and the only way that’ll happen is to end this meeting.  Now.

Some grumbling, a well placed cough, lots of clock watching and finally we are ready for...

The Race

.....but before the race...

The equipment issue had to be sorted out. Basically, you could wear a jump suit for protection or you could race dressed as you are.

I looked around and saw some of my male colleagues putting on safety suits and then I looked at the two women from the NASCAR Public Relations Department jumping into the GoKart without them.

Somehow I couldn’t see myself using any equipment except what God gave me and the clothes I bought from the sales rack at a department store.

Oh yes...now we were ready for....

The Race

....but first let me describe the race course.

Beautiful indoor track. Seven turns, three left, four right, a chicanery at the midway point and a nice long straightaway at the start-finish line. Three rows of tires three engulfed the entire course for safety purposes.

And of course there is....

The Competition

Thirteen drivers. The two NASCAR stars, Ron Fellows, Scott Wimmer. There was also former Canadian junior champ Benoit Godin and two female members of the NASCAR Public Relations department. And the eight media members (all men) who were lucky enough to beat the lineup and participate.

And so we finally got to.....

The Race

I was fired up and ready to go. My experience in GoKarting? None whatsoever but competition is competition and I like to compete and compete hard.

Lined up second to last with the Number 12 GoKart I had a simple strategy: Follow the GoKart in front of me for the first lap in order to get a feel for the track, and then try to determine which turns required me to go wide and which needed an inside feel. After that, my natural driving ability and athletic prowess would surely take over.

Well, you don’t need actual experience to have a smart strategy but you definitely need to be smart to follow a successful plan.

Trouble found me immediately. Leaving the pits to start the lead lap I jumped the gun and ran right into the number 3 car. No damage anywhere except to my confidence level.   I fell way behind quick and the delay in finding someone to follow left me in dire straits: I had to figure out the wide and inside turns on my own. That was way too much for an inexperienced driver to handle.

I finished the first lap with a time of 1:04, worst on the track. To put it in proper context, the Number 3 GoKart was the next worst, and he did a 40.5

My second lap was worse, if that was even possible. Around Turn 3 I got stuck in the tires when I ran too close on the inside and the yellow flag came out to slow the pace while one of the technicians gave me a push. Since I was so far from the lead pack, it didn’t affect the pace of the race too much.

The biggest problem with falling far behind is that there is noone to run with: it becomes difficult to judge your speed when you’re not side be side or chasing another driver. So I wasn’t too upset with my accident, since at least now I would find myself with the lead pack, since they found me. True, I was a lap down but at least I had others around me.

My second lap came in at 1:20 but after that I steadily improved. Over my final nine laps, I dropped from 36.1 to 34.7 to 33.4 to another 33.4 to 31.8 to 32.2 to a high of 30.6 and finally on the last lap a 32.1.

The top five media members (out of eight) ran laps between 26 and 32 seconds. I was part of the group of three that fell into the 30 to 36 range.

My finish was 12th out of 13 drivers, beating out only someone from RDS in the Number 3 car, the same GoKart I ran into at the start.

Oh and by the way, I had my brushes with NASCAR on a few occasions and I also learned what one of the flags meant.

Brush with NASCAR 1: Ron Fellows passed me on the inside of turn 5 halfway through the race. What was so special about that, you might ask? I was on the inside lane, and there couldn’t have been more than a car length between me and the tires surround the track. I guess that is why Ron Fellows is a pro, because he can squeeze into any opening.

Brush with NASCAR 2: Two laps later at approximately the same spot, both Scott Wimmer and Ron Fellows passed me at the same exact time, Scott on the outside and Ron on the inside. How was that even possible? A beautiful sight to see, even if it meant that I fell further behind. Watching two pros run by you simultaneously AND keep their speed AND avoid wrecking each other, what could be better than that?

Oh and I found out what the blue flag meant. When the technical engineer points the blue flag at you it means that you have to let someone pass you because they are faster than you. In other words, get the hell out of the way.

My performance, despite the improvement over the final nine laps, was still a disappointment. You don’t need experience to have high standards, but it certainly helps.

Both Scott and Ron were generous enough to grant me post race interviews in which they poked fun at me. Ron was especially gregarious, stopping to point out (with the tape running) that "gas pedal on the right, brake on the left" and "practice!" as well as indicating that it would take me "at least a hundred" tries to come close in a rematch.

That hadn’t been my question but I understood. I had asked how many rematches it would take for me to beat him but Ron just assumed that I could never beat him (accurate) so he just focused on me keeping it close.

All in all, I cannot say enough about the wonderful experiences that NASCAR brings to our great city. For the second year in a row I have been treated to the best that NASCAR has to offer: media accessibility, unfailingly polite drivers who understand the importance of local coverage and above all else, the opportunity to test oneself against the best racers in the world.

And to think, this was only a small part of what will most certainly be four days of NASCAR extravaganza.