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| August 03, 2008 News |
| IKF 2-Cycle Sprint Grand Nationals - Day 4 Report |
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 | Miinch Motorsports and Position One became co-winners of the Lake Speed Achievement of Excellence Award
(Photo: Go Racing Magazine) |
Finally, the last day of racing at the Wayne Brown Memorial IKF 2-Cycle Sprint Grand Nationals. Somehow no matter how good or bad an event is you are always so glad to pack up and head home after the last checkered flag. Today was one of those days. Many of the teams had been in Santa Maria for over a week and though the weather was perfect, the racing good, and the event a success it is always nice to know you will be sleeping in your own bed soon.
Junior 1 again proved to be a class of all classes. For the fourth day in a row we have seen the fourth different winner. Sure, some of the same suspects were at it again, but Junior 1 was the only class all week to not have a repeat winner. Sunday’s Junior 1 race came down to five drivers all lined up nose to tail. Zane Smith, Brenden Baker and Austin DeMent took turns up front while Kyle Kaiser and Michael Davis made their way up to them. Davis was on a tear and found his way to the front with only a few laps remaining. DeMent found his way to the front on the white flag lap and they spread out five wide heading to the finish line. Davis had an incredible run coming down the front straight and stole the Duffy by 0.005 over DeMent. Baker finished in third, Smith fourth and Kaiser fifth, but half of the lead pack wrecked at the checkered flag while celebrating. Four classes and four winners, it really doesn’t get much better then that.
Taylor Miinch completed his Duffy hat-trick in grand style with the Junior Super Sportsman pole, prefinal win, and a dominating run in the final. Turn one mischief strung out the final early on, but it was no matter to Miinch. He went solo to the finish line as everyone else was left looking for best in class. Brendan ‘Mini’ Phinny was the runner up after dicing in the opening laps with Raquel Martinez and Kolby Araki. Araki had the best start of anyone, but it wasn’t enough to keep him out front. Third place went to Phil DeLao, the fastest kart on track. DeLao started the final from 23rd on the grid and had a spectacular run up onto the podium. Seems DeLao’s two best performances this week were when he came from the back. Maybe that should be his new race strategy.
 | In addition to the multiple Duffy's, Joey Licata won a trip to the IAME International Challenge in Spain with his IAME Cup victory
(Photo: Go Racing Magazine) |
Nick Johnston, last year’s Lake Speed award winner was one of only two drivers who were able to beat Joey Licata Jr. this week in Senior competition. Johnston was the HPV 4 pole sitter and he went on to beat Licata, Garrett Wright and Dylan Albiani in a close prefinal battle. The final was a basic repeat with Johnston just managing to keep Wright at bay for the 22 laps. Licata went out early, but it was clear from the drop of the green flag that this was Johnston’s race to lose. Albiani ran a close third for a while but eventually lost ground to the two leaders. Wright tried everything he could to make a move stick, but Johnston brought his A-game and would not be denied. Neil McCoy and Travis Lowe would complete the podium but they were 15 seconds back of the winner.
Licata had a remarkable week to say the least. His hardware count was as impressive as anything we’ve seen in recent years. Licata added another Duffy to his new found collection leaving him just one short of the required number of five to form a kick ball team. Besides another bronze man, Licata will be packing his bags for Spain later in the year thanks to Russell Karting Specialties. Licata will set sail for the IAME International Challenge team endurance race, a prize valued in excess of $10,000. Motel, airfare, entry fees, etc are all included in the package. Licata will represent North America in direct competition on identical equipment against drivers representing other countries running IAME single make series. Licata’s day started with a three-tenth advantage in qualifying over Dylan Albiani and Cody Hodgson. Hodgson moved up to second in the prefinal and after a valiant fight he would finish there in the final too. Hodgson earned every bit of the podium after doing 22 hard laps against Chris Scribner, Bryan Eady, Chris Wehrheim and Neil Alberico. Licata was only challenged in the opening laps and after the first few he settled into a pace and drove the trusty no.17 to yet another IKF Grand National win.
Miinch Motorsports added one more trophy, capping off a near perfect weekend. Miinch Motorsports and Jesus Vasquez of Position One became co-winners of this year’s Lake Speed Achievement of Excellence Award. This is the first time that the award has been presented to a team and to a motor builder. Rhonda Mims-Brown, a co-sponsor of the award, was thankfully on hand to arrange everything needed for this award to be presented. After a brief speech about the award and its place in karting she announced the winners. Certainly a fitting end for a team whose on track performances are only equaled by their class in the pits. They will do the award justice for the upcoming year and neither Miinch Motorsports nor Position One would have had quite the week they had without the other.
For photos, results or to catch up on things you've missed, visit the Official Event Page. To discuss the event or watch for updates from those there in the paddock, visit the Official Discussion Thread. |
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