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| July 17, 2008 News |
| EKN Trackside: IKF Road Race Grand Nationals - Thursday Report |
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 | Three Duffy's on the day for veteran Scott Holmboe
(Photo: EKN) |
It was another bright and sunshine-filled day at the 2008 International Kart Federation (IKF) Road Race Grand Nationals as the third day of competition was completed for the host Portland Karting Association. The day began with slight overcast conditions until the races started and the sun began to shine down. The highlight of the day saw Scott Holmboe take home three Duffys while Terre Rothweiler earned his second of the event.
Race Group One hot the track for the first of their two 20-minute heat races for the Formula 125 Limited and Unlimited/FKE III divisions. Chris and Ryan Hegar paced the 125s around for the entire race as they went 1-2 after 15 laps. Brent Harper ran third with Terry Hulbert and Jonathon Shaw completing the top-five. Canadian Riley Will outran the rest of the 250 Superkarts to take the Heat #1 victory. Larry and Ryan Kurpiewski ran near Will in the opening laps until both experienced engine issues to put them on the sidelines. Bill Busacca moved up and finished second with Kyle Rice, Kevin Sackville, and Ken Driver rounding out the top-five.
The second race of the day had two photo finishes with the IKF Briggs World Formula Heavy class and TaG Heavy each coming down to the final inches at the line. Making up for his DQ yesterday, Chris Abbas again edged the field by just 0.059-seconds over Brian Bluhm in World Formula. The top-six, including Diane Perry, Jay Buchanon, Mike Schorn, and Bryan Green crossed the line within half a second. In tech, Bluhm's engine was found to not be up to spec, moving the field up one spot and putting Bryan Green on the podium. TaG Heavy was the biggest class of the event thus far with 17 drivers taking the green flag. Up front, it was a Swiss Hutless 1-2 with Scott Holmboe beating Phillip Arscott to the line by 0.147 seconds. Alex Stout was alone in third with Gene Bircher and Mark Steneide completing the provisional top-five until Steneide was removed for coming in under weight, putting Joe Beaudoin on the podium.
 | Canadian Riley Will earned his Duffy in Unlimited-FKE III
(Photo: Kart Art) |
In the same race, which had a total of 36 karts on track, Terre Rothweiler won his second Duffy of the event as he put in another dominant performance in the Yamaha Limited Heavy Sprint class. Rothweiler was able to put a full lap ahead of the rest of the field that included a great battle for second that saw David Koomjan beat Jim White and Ray Bobo to the line. Terry Clauson rounded out the top-five.
For his second Duffy of the day, Holmboe had a 22-lap battle against four other drivers in the West Coast Super Stock CR125 division. Arscott joined him along with Scott Beaudoin, Chris and Rob Hegar. The five drivers changed positions multiple times around the 1.9-mile circuit but lost one on lap 17 as Chris Hegar dropped out with engine issues. At the line, Holmboe earned another photo finish over Arscott by 0.070-seconds. Beaudoin was third with Rob Hegar and Dan Konold finishing fourth and fifth.
Back for their second 20-minute heat race, the Formula 125 Limited and Unlimited/FKE III went at it for round two on the day. The Hegars went 1-2 again, this time with Ryan on the winning end, thus earning the class Duffy. Frank Lyons bounced back from a DNF in heat one to finish third in front of Harper with Hulbert completing the top-five. 250 Superkarter Ryan Kurpiewski repaired the bad cylinder that failed in heat two to put down the fastest lap of the weekend (1:16.656) en route to the heat two victory in Unlimited. Will settled for second and with the points calculated, he was awarded the class Duffy. Larry Kurpiewski also repaired his machine and went on to finish third in the race with Busacca and Dennis Critchley completing the top-five. Busacca was second overall with the Kurpiewski duo third and fourth.
 | Now an IKF Expert, Terre Rothweiler earned his second Duffy of the event
(Photo: Kart Art) |
Race Group Four was filled with all Rotax as the Senior and Junior divisions took to the track. In Senior, Holmboe would again find himself battling Arscott for a third straight race. The two shuffled around multiple times until Arscott’s tires went away toward the end, dropping a wheel and falling back to allow Holmboe to cruise to his third Duffy of the day and fourth overall. Robert Linse was third behind Arscott - his third runner-up finish of the day - with Joe Kitterman edging out Guy Wilson for fifth. The Junior category was all Zach Sharp as he put down fast laps throughout the 20-lap race for a 22-second victory over Brandon Scheiber. Scott Mueller beat Aaron Bizier to the line for third, while Kyle Byers finished fifth.
The final race of the day was the 45-minute event for the 125cc-150cc/FKE II and Yamaha KT100S Heavy classes. Bill Shields put down an impressive pace, lapping the 125 field twice despite a badly blistered right-rear tire toward the end of the race. Craig Hargiss was third ahead of Tim Doll, Lee Storgaard - who pitted to fuel - and Dave Storgaard. The Yamaha group had a three-kart lead group for the early portion of the race that included David Lehmann, Bill Gulick, and Donald Meyering. Gulick was able to break away and win by 15-seconds over Lehmann. Meyering ran third with Ken Oliver and Terre Rothweiler in a sit-up kart in fifth.
The final day of the event is set for tomorrow with another full day of races scheduled. For a complete schedule of events this weekend, load the Event Schedule in PDF format. To follow updates throughout the week, watch the Official Discussion Thread along with the Official Event Page that will include a photo gallery from the week. |
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