Don and Karl at VIR
Finally an Update - 7/8/2021
It has been nearly 3 years since my last update. But, no fear, you have not missed much. Since the last update, I have basically "hung up my helmet". Unlike that "this is my last year" thing or "my final race", It took me 2.5 years and a series of unexpected events before I realized it was over. Bottom line, my last race weekend was Sept 21 - 23, 2018 at The Gold Cup SVRA race weekend at VIR (see details and video on Videos tab.
At the risk of boring the crap out of you, this is what happened after the "Gold Cup" weekend:
1. Next race was "Goblins Go" at VIR in Oct 2018 - believe it or not, it was snowed out (daaah)
2. That took me right up to my first knee replacement surgery on October 31, 2018
3. The weeks following that were a bit torturous and I was good for nothing😒
4. The October race had been rescheduled for early December. Although it was still too early for me, that race was also snowed out ....what the heck !!
5. Next up was second knee replacement in February 2019.....same drill
6. Due to knee replacement recovery, I was unfit for March 2019 Spring race at VIR and Karl drove in the May 2019 SARRC/MARRS.
7. By the 2019 "Gold Cup - SVRA Race" at VIR I was fully recovered and ready to go. Long story short, that ended in first practice session with a blown engine.
8. The October 2019 "Goblins Go" was not held due to "National Run- offs" being held at VIR in 2019 - so much for 2019.
9. Once 2020 came around, we were into the pandemic and life came to a standstill. In addition, Karl received an offer he could not refuse and sold the car. Having done that, he re-outfitted Allen's #11 Miata to look just like the #80. It was a spitting image except now the top was black instead of green.
10. By second half of 2020, some races were getting back online, but attendance was restricted.
11. The new #80 was pretty much ready for "Goblins Go" October 2020. I had not taken the car on track but had some discomfort with it. Seat was uncomfortable and it would take time to get comfortable with small things like door opening, steering wheel removal etc. Plus the fact that this was no longer Karl's car and I had no agreement with Allen.
12. Nevertheless, the handwriting on the wall continued. Karl had trouble with the ECU and could never resolve it. That was the end of 2020.
13. Next opportunity would be VIR spring race early March 2021. Wouldn't you know, due to National Run-Offs scheduled once again at VIR, this race was cancelled.
14. I think that was the last straw. At 78 (not going to meet Paul Newman's 84 record), with all that happened in past 2 years and little pressure from my spouse, it seemed time to "hang it up". Very difficult to do. I loved racing and under the right circumstances, still feel I am up to it. Nevertheless, we do what we have to do.
15. So at this point, I would love to get a restored 1950 Ford to fiddle with and update this website with currently unpublished videos of some races at Lime Rock Park with d/m racing. Stay tuned
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02/23/2016
I am just getting around to doing final updates for 2015.
In terms of SARRC point standing at the end of 2015 (referenced below), we moved from 17th to 13th overall in the SeDiv and from 3rd to 2nd in NC Region. Good run but no cigar :-)
Videos for 2015 were nothing to write home about. I had some camera problems, not the least of which was missing the Sunday race at Daytona which was awesome but forgot to charge the cam ..daaah. However, the Saturday Daytona race video was pretty good. I just loaded Goblins Go last October. It is a combined look at qualifying and race. It only show a few laps of an uneventful Q and the same for race since I lost tranny in first lap and completed race in 4th gear only. However, the good news is that I had my new GoPro installed and the video is excellent.
Be sure to view the "back in the Day" tab. Some interesting material for you old timers and you know who you are.
09/17/2015
I finally got caught up with updates. All videos to date are loaded. After reviewing the March VIR video, I determined it was not watchable. I want to show a little competition and excitement. That video had neither.
For now, we are preparing for Roebling (Savannah) SARRC Championship race on October 11. That will signify the official end of the 2015 season.
NOTE: Going into the Championship, we are currently 17th out of 86 in the Southeast Division (SeDiv) Improved Touring A (ITA) cars. We are 3rd in the North Carolina Region (NCR) right behind last years champion Michael Sperber and Patrick Pardee.
Thanks for following us and stay tuned for Roebling results.
02/25/2015
At this point all of the 2014 events have been updated and any new content added. Please see the NEW section above for specific new content and my official race schedule for 2015. The highlight, of course, will be our trip to Daytona. I expect this to be much like Charlotte but longer. As with Charlotte, the challenge is making a smooth but fast transition to the infield course and, with Daytona, we have the added challenge of the backstretch chicane. If you have ever watched the Rolex 24 Hours at Daytona, you will understand.
Racing season starts March 7th at VIR ....."Boogity Boogity". Look for 2015 updates after that.
10/05/2014
Although some additional updating may be done, most recent videos from Roebling and Charlotte have been posted. Had to withdraw from the October racing at VIR due to a major family event conflict. Now next race not until March 2015 at VIR.
06/06/2014
Updated the schedule to delete Daytona. The double points are very tempting but too many other logistical problems in making that happen. To not make it a complete loss, we replaced Daytona with Charlotte. It is still a double SARRC (2 races) and I get to experience a major speedway.
Also please find race updates so far for 2014. As indicated, the Gallery and Blog has been updated for Memorial Day weekend at CMP and finally the video for, at least, the Saturday race has been updated.
02-21-2014
Please see new tab called "Back in the Day". I moved some photos that were hidden under the "Racing Photo Gallery" tab and added a couple of video links showing the West Peabody Spectator car in Ipswich and another showing a few minutes of pre-race warmups at West Peabody Speedway in 1960. Finally, a few minutes of video showing some actual racing during the same period at Hudson Speedway.
02-03-2014
It is February and the 2014 racing season is approaching fast. This year, as opposed to years past, I plan to run totally for SARRC (South Atlantic Road Racing Championship) points. Note that the SARRC races are all 30 minute duration races. Below is my proposed schedule under the Karl Burke Racing (KBR) banner. The driver and crew names are KBR and our associated Porsche racing teammates. Other drivers listed may be running listed series other than SARRC. For newbies and/or people not familiar with SCCA or Southeast racing, please see a brief description below.
The Southeast Division (SEdiv) is composed of individual SCCA Regions geographically located from middle Virginia to the Mississippi line west all the way down to Key West plus Puerto Rico. The SEDiv includes tracks such as Road Atlanta, Daytona, Sebring, Homestead Miami Speedway, West Palm Beach Raceway, Barber Motorsports Park, Virginia International Raceway, Nashville Speedway, Roebling Road & Carolina Motorsports Park.
As in any race series, you have to race to get points, so we are entering as many SARRC races as my budget and schedule can handle :-))
1.) Two Races at the Buck Muse Memorial Double SARRC/Double CCPS (Carolina Cup Pro Series (45 mins)) at Carolina Motorsports Park (CMP) Kershaw, SC March 29-30. Drivers: Allen, Don, Ken Crew: Karl, John
2) Two races at the Jim Stark Memorial Double SARRC/Concurrent SECS at Roebling Road Raceway (RRR), Savannah, GA April 26-27. Drivers: Allen?, Don, Ken? Crew: Karl, John
3) Two races - Double SARRC/Double CCPS at CMP on Memorial Day weekend (May 24-25). Drivers: Don, Ken? Crew: Karl, John
4) Two races - Double SARRC/ECR (90 min Enduro Championship Racing) June 28-29 at Roebling. Drivers: Allen?, Don, John, Ken, Paul Crew: Karl?
5) SIC (SARRC Invitational Challenge)/ECR Finale at Daytona (double points) Sept 27-28. Drivers: Allen?, Don, John, Ken, Paul Crew: Karl
6) Virginia International Raceway (VIR), Alton, VA - NCR "Goblins Go" SARRC/Double TCPS (Tarheel Cup Pro Series (45 min)) October 18-19. Drivers: Allen, Brad, Ken Crew: Karl, John
01-24-2014 - I have been such a slug. Finally got to editing and loading the October race video from Goblins Go at VIR. Note that qualifying and the race are in the same section. This qualifying and race were a bit interesting. Since it was raining on Saturday and I had new Hoosier rain tires, the Q was awesome and I qualified way up in the top 10 (out of 40 overall) ahead of large number of faster cars. It would have been great if it rained on Sunday for the race ha ha. No such luck :-).
Consequently you will notice at the green flag, I was immediately passed by those faster cars. Nevertheless, once things settled out, we ended up with a Podium finish with Allen in 2nd and me in 3rd. A two / three finish for Karl Burke Racing.
09-22-2013 - Added photos to Photo Gallery for past weekends Goblin's Go race. Open photos to view captions. Video footage of qualifying in the rain and a pretty competitive race will be added shortly.
09-02-2013 - added memorable photo section - note PLN's last victory lap. Hover cursor over or open photos to see captions.
08-29-2013 - Added "Bad week" section to Photo Gallery
08/24/2013 - Welcome to my webpage. Video links are all fixed or deleted. I plan to add some videos of previous events at Lime Rock (Miata and Formula V) and New Hampshire (FV). Finally, as I make updates to the content, I will include the date and what was updated so you avid followers will know what and when anything changes.
Please don't hesitate to contact me using the contact section below or posting something on the blog. It gets pretty lonely out here by myself ha ha.
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