RACE 1: 8th Place finish for TCR

Team Crisci Racing opened the season with a disappointing 8th place finish in the Mediums class at Oakland Valley Speedway. The team battled multiple setbacks all day, which ended with the engine blowing on lap 1 of the feature event.

After making hard contact with the wall in turn 4 at last week's practice, the #25 Millennium Charger broke the brackets off of the centrifugal clutch. GunCare USA teammate Pat Hayes was kind enough to let TCR borrow their old clutch to run for the day, until the original one can be repaired.

In the first Heat, the kart ran with B-55 tires for the first time. Previously, TCR had only ran 33s, a much softer compound. The 55s would set up for a smoother ride and faster speeds. However, after bad restarts in both Heats and a sour-sounding engine, Bob Hayes, GCUSA team owner and father of Pat Hayes, discovered that the carbourator was almost entirely closed, severely limiting fuel intake to the motor. After adjusting properly, it looked like the team was on tap for a fantastic finish in the feature.

However, when the green flag came out, the field pulled away from driver David Crisci, even more so than in the heats. The engine never reached a high RPM, and upon exit of turn 2, the motor blew. Crisci pulled off without completing one lap, and it was discovered that there was no oil in the engine. The interworkings welded themselves together, and then shot a gaping hole in the front of the motor.

TCR has purchased a new motor, and is having OVS kart shop owner and racing expert John Diotte, Jr. working on repairing the old one. The next race for TCR will be May 4th (which also happens to be driver David Crisci's birthday), as there is a bye this weekend and the team won't be racing on the 27th. A 16-race schedule is expected this season from the TCR group. Keep an eye on @TeamCrisciRacin on twitter for updates on the engine throughout the upcoming weeks.