After a 6 week hiatus on our road trip around this astounding country, we finally arrived back to Las Vegas on 8/12. Luca jumped into the Kart the following day for the final Summer Series Night Race before the points season restarts on August 23rd. With no points at stake, this was a perfect opportunity to get some valuable track time, especially as he had been out of the kart for so long.

His team mates had used the off-season to practice and were sharp – while Luca was happy just to be back in the kart, that would not temper his competitive streak.

He wants to win … every time. Hard racing with the commitment to race hard makes for a lot of drama.

The speedway maintenance crew had cleaned the track the day before in preparation for the next day’s racing but that night a thunderstorm had dropped a lot of dirt making it very dusty. Basically, it would be like driving in the rain – the racers would need to drive with a lot of finesse on this surface. This would be another excellent opportunity for Luca to broaden and deepen his experiential vocabulary and he would not disappoint.

Substantial work had been done on the kart while we were away to re-balance and to optimize its performance. It felt like a new kart and his pit crew advised Luca to be cautious at the beginning of his practice session to familiarize himself with any performance changes. On the slippery surface, any mistakes would be unforgiving. Tall Paul seen here giving advice about performance and handling to the young drivers – they all look up to him in more ways than one. He looks exclusively after Luca’s kart and is helping develop his technical jargon so that he can communicate to his mechanic what is going on with the kart when he is out on track.

Lee decided to join us for the evening. It was really nice to have her energy around and Luca really appreciated it. Poor Mum though. She was so tense when Luca was out on track, she could not get herself to watch. I must admit, my heart pounds too – especially with those rolling starts! Also my personal thanks to her for the photos that I am using today. I had left my cameras home so these were all taken on our iPhones. She even got a couple of me which is so rare.

Out on track, the conditions are slippery. Lap times are slower than with a clean track – the drivers are struggling for grip. The practices will help to clear up some of the dust but leaving the racing line will surely be precarious.

A lot of the drivers span off during the practice and qualifying sessions, miscalculating the conditions. It was really challenging, even for those experienced drivers. Luca starts off slowly but gets progressively faster as his confidence grows. He’s been out of the kart for so long that he has nothing to prove except to himself. He keeps it together, qualifying a respectable fourth on the grid and first in his class.

when looking at the time sheets, what stands out is that the drivers in all classes were lapping generally 12 seconds slower than on a clean track.  Luca usually laps in 31 seconds so his qualifying time of 45.777 seconds just shows how treacherous it was out there.

He was to bring those times down to 42 seconds during the races – about 2 seconds behind the leaders from the 4 seconds in qualifying, so a promising improvement.

In Race 1, Luca gets off to a bad start, dropping a place as he reaches the first turn. Kart 92 is a driver in his Junior 1 class that Luca has never raced against and he’s fast. He will push Luca hard during the entire race, making it his most competitive race to date. There are some spectacular overtaking moves between them that has me at the edge of my seat. Luca’s Mum has her heart in her mouth! The lead changes many times as both drivers capitalize on little mistakes on the slippery surface.  Each as committed to the win as the other – it is brilliant to watch. Luca finishes 1st in his class but he was made to work very hard to get it. Good stuff & great racing.

In Race 2, Luca gets off to a very good start pushing hard for 3rd place for the first turn but ultimately, he has to cede the position to the faster class kart. The race with Kart 92 continues where they left off in race one and the leads keeps changing between them as they battle it out on the track. Again, some impressive overtaking moves and committed racing, all this with a maturity that is surprising for the young age of these two drivers. They are literally driving on the edge and at the limit of their capacities but not once did they touch or bump their karts. It is really impressive to watch, very exciting.

And then … drama!

Kart 92 and Luca are overtaking back markers, racing hard against each other. Luca goes for the outside on a back marker on the most treacherous turn of the track and he gets off the racing line. He begins to lose the back and spins off! It’s the end of his race, especially as he has bent the brake sprocket and is now riding the brake. He is bitterly disappointed. I understand why he tried – he was looking to to put some air between himself and Kart 92 by putting the back marker between them for that turn. The miscalculation cost him the race and overall placement over the 2 races, finishing 3rd in his class. Kart 92 finishes 1st.

A harsh but necessary experience that didn’t cost him any points and from which he can only learn. A fun night … and intense. It’s easy to forget that he is only ten!

Next race is August 21st. GO LUCA!