Leaving this morning! It's going to be a two day drive and I expect to get there sometime Monday afternoon or evening depending on how far I get today.

We'll be staying at the Fairfield Inn in Dedham (thanks to 00 Trans Am!) and I'll have high speed internet access so I'll keep you posted (with pictures) on how it's going.

So keep your fingers crossed, he only has to out qualify about 140 other kids!!!

Good luck, to both of you.

Just remember the basics out on track. Smooth, focus.
Plenty of rest and stay away from fried foods.

Good luck!

Good luck guys! Have a safe trip!

GOOD LUCK!



And Have fun!

Have a safe, fun trip! I envy you guys!!

Good luck!!!!

Good luck guys. I look forward to the updates as it plays out.

That's great. Best of luck! :drive:

Good Luck Steve!!! :drive:

And just think, we'll all be able to say "we knew him when..."
Good luck!! But remember, this is all just for fun

Send pictures Steve. I'd love to be there, but I'll be wishing you guys well.

:drive:

Well, we made it! We got here Monday morning at 2am after a 20 hour drive. I decided to drive all the way through. We did have a lot of rain starting north of Richmond VA until Washington. Great weather after that. It was very hot today but temperatures are suppose to cool off starting tomorrow and expect highs in the 70's on Thursday!

All the kids were split into 7 run groups with about 15-16 in a group. The karts were "watered" down to make it more fair for all the kids. They were "locked" in to 2nd gear and the front brakes disconnected. I talked to Danny Sullivan today and he said that if the front brakes were working, the karts would just instantly stop and it would be too much for some of the kids.

Matthew ran two 10 minute sessions today and his best run was a 48.3 or 59.xx mph average around the track. Matthew said that when he went through the first turn at the end of the straight it was almost impossible to breathe. That's some g forces. He ended up 7th in his group. By the end of the day some kids were in the mid 46's so he's got some time to make up but most of it appears to be that first turn. So he knows what he has to do and we'll see how it plays out tomorrow.

I'll try to get some pictures off my camera in a few minutes. My internet access just started working today.

sweet!

Tell him to let'er rip ....

Ok, my pictures sucked. I'll get more tomorrow. I've got some pretty good video's and when I get back I'll have them transfered to something I can put on the internet.

One crash sent one kid to the hospital after he crashed into someone else and his kart flipped and threw him out. He's ok though and will be back tomorrow.

There are A LOT of VERY skilled and experienced drivers and many of those are 17-18 years old. Matthew feels very confident he'll be in the 47's pretty easily.

They keep all the parents completely seperate from the kids. The kids can come see us but we can't go up to where they are which is probably a good thing.

Steve,

I have the day off tomorrow and was thinking I'd come down to catch some of the action....

Well, talked to Steve today. Mathew made it through the first two days and into the finals today. Quite the accomplishment, although he didn't advance to the next rounds beyond here.

I'll leave the details to Steve when he gets back. He lost his internet connection and wasn't able to post updates for all you all!

Steve and Matt are on the way back to Ga tonight.

Hope you had a safe trip. Get 'em next year, Matt!!!

Congratulations....

Just got back about midnight last night... what a drive...

First, I'd like to thank everyone for their support and encouragement for Matthew. It was an experience that will be a lifetime memory for him.

Second, this was 150 of the very best kart racers from the east half of the country with people as far away as Texas. With 8 time national champions etc, these kids had EXPERIENCE. Out of the 150 only 24 had no open track experience with Matthew being one of them. Many of the best were 17-18 years old and have been doing this for most of their life.

We got here Monday morning at 2am after a 20 hour drive. I decided to drive all the way through. We did have a lot of rain starting north of Richmond VA until Washington. Great weather after that. It was very hot on Tuesday and Wednesday but temperatures cooled off on Thursday with the rain.

Tuesday and Wednesday were practice and qualifying. All the kids were split into 7 run groups with about 15-16 in a group. The karts were "watered" down to make it more fair for all the kids. They were "locked" in to 2nd gear and the front brakes disconnected. I talked to Danny Sullivan on Tuesday and he said that if the front brakes were working the karts would just instantly stop and it would be too much for some of the kids. He said he was still in pretty good shape but they flat wore him out.

Matthew ran two 10 minute sessions on Tuesday and his best run was a 48.3 or 59.xx mph average around the track. Matthew said that when he went through the first turn at the end of the straight and the 180 it was almost impossible to breathe. That's some g forces. He ended up 7th in his group. By the end of the day some kids were in the mid 46's so he's had some time to make up.

Wednesday he did even better. He got down to a 46.8xx which was right near the top of everyone. His qualifying race placed him in 8th but his kart wasn't working well and he could only run a 47.9, way off his pace from the day before. Even though the karts should have been equal there was a very large difference in the way they ran.

We found out on Wednesday they were taking the top 6 from last race from each group on to Thursday. That meant most of the kids weren't coming back. There were some parents that weren't too happy about that because in the information that everyone was given, it never said anything about that.

Even though the karts were "detuned", they were hitting 80mph at the end of the front straight and would take turn one flat out. The average lap speeds were 59-62mph. There were two serious wrecks, one the first day that flipped one kid out of the kart and sent him to the hospital, and one the second day that flipped another kart and broke one kids foot. These are definitely not Andretti karts. Had they not been detuned, they would have been hitting 110 at the end of the front straight.

Matthew ran his first real race ever on Wednesday afternoon. He started 8th based on his qualifying place (he had the 3rd fastest lap time) from the day before. It was a mad dash from halfway down the front straight to turn one and he dove inside and picked up two spots immediately. Heading into turn 4 he noticed someone in front had spun and the yellow flag was out. He raised his hand (you always have to raise your hand to acknowledge flags) and slowed but was immediately passed by 3 karts. He tried to get going again but because they were locked in 2nd it took a while. By that time 4 or 5 other karts had passed. We saw him pointing and waving his arm but couldn't tell what he was waving at. Anyway he finally got going again and ended up re-passing two of the kids before it was over. They were only taking the top 6 from each group and I figured he was done, he finished 8th.

I had to wait two races before he came back down to talk to me and he walked up with a long face and said " dad, I..... MADE IT!) When he got back from his race he talked to Danny Sullivan and complained because he was passed under yellow. After some discussions with the corner workers they agreed he was passed. Because of that he was allowed to compete on Thursday. So.... he became 1 of 46 kids left to compete. Matthew and one other kid were the only two of the 24 with no experience to make it to the last day.

Thursday morning came under rainy skies and low 60 degree temperatures. The boxes and boxes of rain tires had been mounted on the karts. Someone in their infinite wisdom decided it would be safer to de-tune the karts even further. Because of that, the karts were not equal at all. It became the luck of the draw as to which one was working well.

There would be two heat races with 23 karts in each race. The top 10 from each race would compete in the final race were the top six would go to Sebring. 4 kids from Atlanta made it to the last day. John and Mary Mossey, Drew Cattell and Matthew. Not a bad showing. Matthew and Mary were running the first race and Drew and John in the last.

Matthew had to start at the rear because of how he got there. Had he finished 6th where he was running when he got passed, he would have been mid-pack. Oh well. We both knew there probably wasn't going to be a chance for him to move to the top 10 but at least he made it that far. Not only that but with the rain, you figure the front group was going to be really dicey headed into turn one during the start. One of the rules was if you went off track, you were done. It didn't matter if you could keep going and get back on, your day was over. So it was critical that you kept yourself out of trouble and the wet made that even more difficult.

So they started! I know I was more nervous than Matthew as were all the parents. Even in the wet and detuned, they were flying!! Everyone made it through turn 1 without a problem and for the most part it was a pretty clean race. Matthew passed 6 karts to move up to 17th but not enough to get to the final race. Had he not gotten passed under yellow he would have started mid-pack and possibly have made the top ten. That's racing I guess. Mary started falling way back and I'm not even sure where she finished.

John and Drew made it to the final race though. Drew got bumped off the track on the last lap of his qualifying race so he had to start last, John started 6th. Drew went from 20th to 7th before he ran out of time, it was an awesome run. John had kart problems and eventually got run off the track. So the Atlanta kids really did an awesome job, I was very happy and proud for all of them. Drew and Mary can't participate next year (they're both 18) so John (14), Matthew and whoever else qualifies, will have to carry on.

Based on my observations and listening to the kids, I believe the Red Bull people manipulated who was going to win by giving them the best karts. Someone took the karts out that morning and raced each one around the track. I believe they were figuring out which one was the fastest. The kid that eventually won the whole thing just ran off and left the entire field, probably won by at least 10 seconds. He was good but not that good. The next four were grouped together VERY tightly and the rest were pretty far back. Every kids that made the last 20 spots was good and never would have been left behind so bad. IMHO.

But it was an awesome experience for both me and Mattthew and we will definitely try to qualify again next year. I wish there was a facility like F1 here in Atlanta. I'll get some pictures posted today but it is the most beautiful track in the country from what I hear from other parents, a first class facility. I spoke with the guy that owns it (Richard Valentine... he runs a Racer Group Porsche) about building one here. He said $5-6 million and he'd do it!! What a deal. I started to whip out my checkbook but figured the check would bounce before I left Boston.

But just to get to the final day with 45 other top kart drivers from around the country was an honor for him. During the first two days of practice, he had one of the fastest lap times of anyone so that alone was a victory for him.

I'm going to have pictures and videos posted on my web site. Pictures soon and videos once I can get someone to help get them transferred.

Matthew has many more stories to tell and obviously can tell you about them better than I can. But I'll warn you, once you get him started, be prepared!!! He could talk for days!!!

That really sounds cool Steve. How many of us wish we were young enough again to have a chance like that?

I sure do, I am just a few years to old

Give your son a big congrats for me, he really showed a lot of character and maturity in being able to come back, and drive well, after a few really bad breaks. That kind of attitude is what makes the great ones, great.

And the good thing is that he has at least 3-4 more years to try it again!! I can assure you, he will be in that final race if he has anything to do with it!

Here are some pictures that Matthew took...
http://www.crystalridge.net/matthew/redbull/index.htm

Congratulations to your son. I hope that I can have an experience like that with my son someday.

If only I got started back then.. Congrats to all!

Steve, first off congratulations to you and especially Mathew. IMHO the fact that he didn't win the whole thing isn't close to being as important as the fact that you two shared this great experience together and will be telling war stories and wondering "what if" for years to come. You both won.