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| July 26, 2008 News |
| EKN Trackside: WKA Manufacturer’s Cup Series - Norway Saturday Report |
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Fun and exciting were the words to sum up day one of action at the Concept Haulers Motor Speedway for round four of the WKA George Kugler/Bridgestone Manufacturer’s Cup Series Driven by Mazda. The Show Hauler Truck Nationals saw a bright and sunny day of racing at the Sheridan, Illinois circuit that provided great racing action in the nine categories that competed on the day. Following a day of firsts for many drivers on hand, it wrapped up at a local establishment where a handful of team members throughout the paddock enjoyed heated volleyball action.
HPV Lite kicked off the racing action for the day with Julia Landauer (Birel) earning the pole position in Streeter Super Stands Qualifying session. She however would fall to third in the Prefinal behind Ryan Stewart (Birel) and Travis Firing (Margay). The early portion of the Final would see six karts in the lead pack including Patrick Olsen (Birel), point leader TJ Koyen (Merlin) and Mark Vielgut (Haase). Stewart assumed the lead after swapping the spot with Firing while the others looked for a way to get ahead. Lap 10 of the 18-lap event, they bunched up in turn eight with Olsen getting up in air and landing on all four wheels. He would drop back to finish ninth. That contact split up the lead group and allowed Stewart - running the old breadbox style bodywork to cut some weight - to pull away in the remaining laps to take his first class win of the year. Koyen had a gap on Firing for second until the Margay driver charged forward and made a last lap pass for the position. Koyen settled for third ahead of Landauer and Vielgut.
An exciting 18-laps for the Cadet Jr. Sportsman as early on, it was a 10-kart lead group running nose to tail before contact separated the group down to two in the closing stages. Birel drivers Gresham Wagner and co-point leader Logan Bearden went at it in the final circuits around the CHMS course. Coming off his first victory in the Stars of Karting program just two weeks ago, Wagner earned his first WKA Cadet win of the year, holding Bearden off at the line. Jake Cole (Birel) was third with Jeremy Remick (Margay) and Stephen Kalogiannis (Merlin) rounding out the top five.
 | The top three in TaG put on an exciting show with Caleb Loniewski taking the win
(Photo: Go Racing Magazine) |
A couple early wrecks in HPV Jr. Lite put some of the top-10 runners on the sidelines and separated the field as the top qualifier and Prefinal winner Zack Busch (Arrow) and Shawn Sharkey (Merlin) ran up front alone for a one on one battle. After leading the first few laps, Sharkey sat on the bumper of Busch for most of the race. Lap 14 was his time to make the move with a great pass into the tight turn eight. They ran 1-2 until the final lap when Sharkey took the inside line into turn one and on the exit, Busch got the out and under into turn two to assume the point. Going down the long back stretch and through the Monza, Sharkey got a great draft and set up for a pass into turn eight again. That would be enough as Sharkey would hold on in the remaining corners to take his first win of the year. Busch gained a few points on championship leader Tommy Andersen (Merlin) who came up from eighth to third. Colton Ramsey (Margay) ran fourth with Sam Beasley (Arrow) finishing fifth. Daniel Chan (Arrow), James Sullivan (First Kart) and Cody Humphreys (Merlin) all benefited from the pile ups early on to finish sixth, ninth and tenth from the tail of the field.
The fourth first time winner of the event saw Chuck Tate with his best performance of the year in Yamaha Heavy. Tate put his Margay on the pole position in qualifying however finished second Dousman winner Jason Foley (Merlin) with Ryan Stewart (Birel) in the mix. Kevin Nelson joined the fun in the Final as the top four stood out from the rest to battle for the 18-lap race. Tate took the point at the drop of the green from outside row one with Foley falling in behind. Nelson got by Stewart for third and they ran that way, nose to tail, to the checkered flag for Tate’s first win of the year. Foley, Nelson, Stewart and Scott Ferris (Margay) completed the top five with championship leader Corey Reeves (Margay) running sixth.
Kyle Kalish put an end to the first-time winning streak on the day as he earned his second victory in the Yamaha Jr. Sportsman classes with a tough sweep. Kalish was top qualifier by just 0.051-seconds over Trent Hindman while edging James Bennett (Birel) in the Prefinal at the line. The Final came down to four drivers with Merlin drivers Kalish, Hindman, Stephen Kalogiannis and Birel driver Jake Cole after Bennett retired on lap nine. Kalish held the point as they got the white flag, running the inside line into turn one. Cole used the up and under to get inside for the lead into turn two. Kalish got a good run down the long straight with help from Hindman to take the lead through the Monza. Into turn eight, Hindman looked for a way by but was unable to make the pass. Kalish held on for his second straight class win. Hindman, Cole, Kalogiannis and Garrett Johnston (Margay) rounded out the top five.
 | Two wins on the day for Ryan Stewart - HPV Lite and Can Lite
(Photo: Go Racing Magazine) |
The Monza saw all the action in the TaG Final in day one with Prefinal winner Travis Firing (Margay), Brian Jacobsen (Haase), and Caleb Loniewski (Kosmic) in a three kart battle for the win. The first half of the 18-lap event saw little passing among the three. Following the half-way mark, the three got down to business. Lap after lap, each driver took their turn drafting by down the long straight to take over the top spot through the Monza. With about two laps to go, Loniewski took his turn getting by Firing. He was then able to put a little bit of track between himself and Firing to hold on for his second win of the season. Jacobsen was third while Hunter Short (Kosmic) was able to get by Mark Dismore Jr. (Intrepid) for fifth. Loniewski gained some valuable points over championship leader Chris Larson as the First Kart pilot retired on lap two with engine issues, finishing 28th.
More first timers continued in Yamaha Masters as Missy Nelson Tate earned her first pole position in Streeter Super Stands Qualifying. Defending champion Jeff Jewell however returned to his familiar spot at the front in the Prefinal, bringing his longtime rival John Dixon with him as Tate settled for third. In the Final, Steve Rumsey joined the fight to make it a four kart battle in the early portion. Jewell and Dixon would however break away and go head to head for the win. Jewell looked to have it covered, as he has in the previous three rounds until Dixon got by on the final lap to hold on for his first win of the year, shaking hands during the cool-down lap. Rumsey ran to third ahead of Tate - who had fast lap of the race - and Dale Roller (Birel).
It was a wild one in the Yamaha Jr. SuperCan Heavy division. Arrow drivers Zack Busch and Dakota Pesek lead the field to the green flag with hectic opening corners behind them. Several front runners, including top qualifier Tyler Thomas (Top Kart) who eventually recovered for tenth - were involved with nearly half the field getting sideways. This allowed Busch and Pesek to pull out to a comfortable gap while the rest of the field continued on - though half the field would eventually retire when the checkered flag fell. Busch and Pesek ran nose to tail in the opening laps before Busch put down some killer laps and pull out to a two-second victory. Busch dedicated the win to his fellow CKT Racing Engines teammate Adam Schatz - who recently passed away due to injuries suffered in an accident at Road America Super Nationals on July 12. Jordon Bachmeyer (Intrepid) was third with Shawn Sharkey (Merlin) and Shinya Michimi (Merlin) rounding out the top five. Nicky Defronzo (Margay) benefited from all the carnage to run from 27th to sixth.
 | Zack Busch dedicated his HPV Jr. Lite victory to fallen teammate Adam Schatz
(Photo: Go Racing Magazine) |
Travis Firing (Margay) was the real Ironman on day one running three classes, his last was the Yamaha Sr. Sportsman Lite division. In qualifying, he earned the fast lap but came up short in the Prefinal to Ryan Stewart (Birel). The Final started off with a red flag on lap three with Jason Foley (Merlin) spinning while running inside the top five. With no where to go, point leader Chris Larson (First Kart) made hard contact and went over. Able to get up with the assistance of Foley picking the kart off, Larson walked back to the pit with sore ribs and questionable for tomorrow’s action. At the restart, the top five ran nose to tail with Mark Dismore Jr. (Arrow) looking to be the driver on his game, eventually getting to the front. After jumping the curb in turn eight, Dismore dropped back to second but quickly reassumed the lead again. Taking the white flag, Dismore did what he could to hold off a charging Stewart but he left the door open into turn eight. Seizing the opportunity, Stewart took it and completed the pass. He would hold for his second win of day, first of the year in the class. Dismore held on to second with Margay’s Corey Reeves, Firing, and Stewart completing the top five.
For updates through out the weekend, visit the Official Discussion Thread. For daily reports, full results, and photos from eKartingNews.com and Go Racing Magazine, visit the Official Event Page. |
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