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| July 27, 2008 News |
| EKN Trackside: WKA Manufacturer’s Cup Series - Norway Sunday Report |
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A solid weekend of racing is in the books as round four of the WKA George Kugler/Bridgestone Manufacturer’s Cup Series Driven by Mazda completed the Show Hauler Trucks Nationals on Sunday. Warm and sunny skies welcomed the racers all weekend long at the Sheridan, Illinois facility as the championships in the 15 categories have narrowed down the contenders. As on Saturday, a number of drivers earned their first win of the season while Zack Busch led all drivers on the weekend with three wins total after notching two on Sunday.
Ironman Travis Irving began Sunday with a dominant performance in the HPV Heavy division. Clocking in two-tenths faster than his closets rival in Streeter Super Stands Qualifying, Firing ran unchallenged in both the Prefinal and Final for his second win on the year in the class. Point leader Ryan Stewart (Birel) ran second to Firing in both races, extending his point lead over Corey Reeves who dropped back early on due to contact after running inside the top-five, eventually finishing seventh. Scott Kopp (Birel) ran third while Jimmy Digirolamo (Merlin) and Patrick Olsen (Birel) were your provisional top-five. Because of contact in the final lap with Chuck Tate (Margay), officials moved Digirolamo one spot behind Tate, moving Olsen to fourth and Matthew Bigos (Haase) to the podium.
 | Julia Landauer slid through to earn her first TaG win of the year
(Photo: Go Racing Magazine) |
As we are used to seeing, the Cadet Jr. Sportsman final had the parents along the fence on their toes for the entire 18 laps. It began with four drivers up front before it became six in the closing laps with the drivers shuffling positions each time by the line. When the checkered flag fell, Austin Self (Birel) picked up his second win of the year just ahead of Gresham Wagner (Birel) and Trent Hindman (Merlin). Contact behind them in the final lap put Jake Cole (Birel) up to fourth with Aidan Landauer (Birel) completing the top-five.
Each weekend, Zach Busch just continues to impress the paddock with his skills on the track while overcoming early defeats. HPV Jr. Heavy provided another one of his shining moments with an outstanding drive from the rear of the field. Unable to make a lap in qualifying as a tire came off on the warm-up lap, Busch started the Prefinal from the 23rd position. At the drop of the green, he picked off nine drivers on the opening lap and clawed his way to up to fifth with nearly a pass in every corner on the track. At the drop of the green, Tristan DeGrand (Kosmic) led the field to the opening lap and look poised to be in position for his first win of the year until on lap five he pulled off with powerplant issues. This gave point leader Tommy Andersen (Merlin) the point until Busch eventually put his Arrow at the point. Unable to retaliate, Andersen settled in to second as Busch cruised to a 1.5-second victory, his second on the year. Tyler Thomas (Top Kart) was quick all day and ran to third with top qualifier Justin Jennings (Margay) and Shawn Sharkey (Merlin) rounding out the top-five.
Yamaha Lite point leader Tony Jump controlled the standings despite earning a victory on the year. That would however change following Sunday’s action as the Margay driver led green to checkered for the class victory. After qualifying fourth, Jump worked himself up to the win in Prefinal to start on the pole for the Final. At the drop of the green, he continued to pace the field for the 18-lap event. Dousman winner Jason Foley (Merlin) challenged early but fell a few kart lengths back in the closing stages to finish second. A drive from the tail of the field Julia Landauer (Birel) as contact between her and Jump in the opening laps of the Prefinal put her 12th on the grid for the Final. With the quickest laps of the race, she worked up to fourth and got around TJ Koyen (Merlin) for third on the last lap through the Monza corner. Tim Goettsch (Margay) benefited from Ryan Stewart’s flat right front tire on his Birel to finish the race in fifth.
 | Mark Dismore Jr. held on to win his first Final of the year in Yamaha Sr. Sportsman Heavy
(Photo: Go Racing Magazine) |
The opening lap of the HPV Jr. Sportsman Final mixed up the entire field with many of the front runners on the day involved, including pole sitter Christopher Barngrover (KRT) and Trent Hindman (Merlin) among others. This allowed Streeter Super Stands top qualifier James Bennett (Birel) and Kyle Kalish (Merlin) to pull away from the rest of the field for a two driver fight for the win. Bennett held the top spot for the majority of the 18-lap race with Kalish on his bumper. On the final lap, Kalish looked inside multiple times but was unable to make a move, allowing Bennett to take his first checkered flag of the season. Kalish finished second with Kyle Crump (Birel) getting by Austin Self (Birel) for fourth on the final lap. Self would gain valuable points on championship leader Jake Cole (Birel) as he would be classified 30th after retiring on the warm-up lap. Jeremy Remick (Margay) completed the top five.
It was a wild one in TaG on Sunday. The top three from yesterday were poised to continued their battle in the Final after running 1-2-3 in the Prefinal with Travis Firing (Margay), Brian Jacobsen (Haase) and Saturday’s winner Caleb Loniewski (Kosmic). As the field took the green and headed into turn one, Jacobsen got the run on the outside into turn one and took the top spot. Firing was looking to slide in behind until Chris Keller (Gillard) - who started fourth - and him made contact and went off track. Both would see their races end early, Keller at that point and Firing on lap six after a second spin. This put Jacobsen and Loniewski in the top two spots.
Lap two would see the front change once again as Loniewski lost his brakes heading into turn eight, thus making contact with Jacobsen and dropping them outside the top five. Loniewski would retire a few corners later after realizing he had lost his brakes. Inheriting the lead would be Julia Landauer who was quick in her first weekend aboard a Merlin chassis with Scott Ferris (Margay) and Mark Dismore Jr. (Intrepid) second and third. With Ferris and Dismore battling each other, Landauer was able to put some distance between herself and them. As they fought, Jacobsen put down the fastest laps of the race to claw his way into the top five and eventually behind the fight for second. After getting by Dismore, Jacobsen drafted by Ferris down the long front straight toward the Monza. Dismore took the opportunity to follow through and as they entered the turn, the two made contact that resulted in Ferris going off track while Dismore lost ground to Jacobsen.
 | Two wins on Sunday gave Zack Busch three on the weekend to lead all drivers
(Photo: Go Racing Magazine) |
With two laps to go, Landauer had a large enough advantage to cruise to the win despite the late charge by Jacobsen, who recovered for second. CJ Lintner - also on a Merlin for the first time - was able to get by Dismore on the final lap for third with Billy Lewis (Arrow) rounding out the provisional top-five. Following the race, WKA officials moved Dismore behind Ferris in the final tally for the contact that sent Ferris off course, putting Dismore back to 13th. This put Brandon Adkins, the substitute for First Kart pilot Chris Larson, on the podium after starting last in the Prefinal after Larson qualified the kart, thus giving the championship leader a strong point day despite the injury.
Zack Busch earned his third victory of the event in Yamaha Jr. SuperCan Lite. Earning the Prefinal victory after qualifying third, Busch led the field to green flag and through the opening corner. Behind him, the field shuffled around with Sam Beasley (Arrow) advancing up to second and on the bumper of Busch. With Beasley applying tough pressure, Busch was able to hold off any advance and lead all 18 laps for his second victory of the day. Streeter Super Stands top qualifier Robby Bujdoso (Tony Kart) was a close third with championship leader Dakota Pesek (Arrow) and Nicky Defronzo (Margay) crossing the line fourth and fifth.
Like Dousman, the event ended with a barnburner of a final race of the weekend in the Yamaha Sr. Sportsman Heavy. The top five ran nose to tail for the full 18-lap event including Mark Dismore Jr. (Arrow), Travis Firing (Margay), Ryan Stewart (Birel), Ryan Phillips (Bandit) and CJ Lintner (Merlin). The group put on a great show with Dismore leading the majority of the race while Phillips seemed to be holding back for the right moment to take over the lead. With the white flag displayed, Dismore was able to get a small gap between him and Phillips while Stewart began to look for a way by for second. With a quick move into turn eight, Stewart dived in for a fast, clean pass on Phillips for second, allowing Dismore to run unchallenged to his first checkered flag of the year, Stewart second, Phillips third. Firing was able to hold of Lintner for fifth while point leader Kevin Nelson struggled on the day, finishing eighth.
 | James Bennett held off Kyle Kalish to earn his first checkered flag of the season in HPV Jr. Sportsman
(Photo: Go Racing Magazine) |
With six wins on the weekend, Birel takes over in the standings for the Manufacturer’s Championship Trophy with a total of 18. Margay falls into second with 16 wins on the year. Merlin is third with 13 while Arrow moved to fourth with nine (four on the weekend) ahead of First Kart’s six victories this season.
To discuss the event, visit the Official Discussion Thread while for all the daily reports, full results, and photos from eKartingNews.com and Go Racing Magazine, visit the Official Event Page. |
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