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| August 24, 2008 News |
| EKN Trackside: Stars of Karting - Western Finale - Sunday Report |
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 | Coming down to the wire, Michael Vincec earned the ICC Western Division championship
(Photo: On Track Promotions - otp.ca) |
A lot can be said about the type of drivers and crews that compete in the Snap-on Stars of Karting presented by IndyCar series. No matter what type of track you present them, they always come through with some of the best racing in North America. The racing this weekend during the Seattle Grand Prix to wrap up the Western Division schedule is something we love to see week in and week out as the five groups put on spectacular exhibitions during both dry and wet conditions during the two finals ran during the final day. With the Stars crew again putting on another smoothly coordinated event, the racers did their job on-track with the five divisional champions decided in stunning fashion.
ICC
Shortly after the green flag flew to begin the opening final for ICC, a slight rain brought out a red flag. With a short ten minute break, the field took the track for a complete restart. Unfortunately for David Jurca, his race ended in turn two as he ended up in the barriers. Gary Carlton (CRG) showed the way with Clayton Snow (Energy) in toe. What looked to be a challenge ended up with Carlton pulling away with the victory as Snow ran a comfortable second. Behind them, the two championship leaders went at it with Michael Vincec running third ahead of Jordy Vorrath. For most of the race, Vorrath situated his Intrepid on the bumper of Vincec’s CRG. It was lap 26 of the 30-lap event where Vorrath made his move in turn four with a deep out braking maneuver to overtake the third and final podium spot. Vincec had to settle for fourth, losing five points to Vorrath heading into the final race. Cody Jolly (Intrepid) ended in fifth while Ron White (GP) put on a display from 11th to sixth.
 | Bryan Eady clinched the TaG ICC Western title ahead of Jose Zanella and Michael Hogg
(Photo: On Track Promotions - otp.ca) |
With rain coming down for the final race of the day, the ICC field hit the track with Vincec and Vorrath both looking for the Western title. Same as the first race, Carlton was mistake free and grabbed the holeshot on his way to win number four on the West. Vincec began his quest for the crown as he slotted into the second spot ahead of Jurca, Snow and Vorrath. Snow would however fall out of the picture after going off in turn four and falling to the tail of the field. This put Vorrath on the bumper of Jurca until lap seven when he got around for the spot. Carlton and Vincec both put some distance between themselves and the fight for third, thus forcing Vorrath to put it all on the line to catch Vincec. As the laps continued to click off, Vorrath would gain a little each time by the line but when the checkered fell, it was not enough. Vincec would hold onto second and Vorrath would be third to tie in points. With one victory to Vorrath’s zero in the win column, Vincec wins the tie-breaker and is the Western Division champion. The CRGs of Curtis Fox and Fritz Leesmann completed the top-five on the track as Jurca fell to sixth.
TaG ICC
The first TaG ICC final was not as exciting as the heat races were on Saturday as Bryan Eady (Intrepid) was able to get away from the line with the holeshot and lead all 24-laps for the win. That gave him the provisional Western Division championship with a chance to improve his point total in final two. Jose Zanella (Tony Kart) ran second with Italkarts of Michael Hogg, Scott Campbell and Don McGregor completed the top-five as the entire field was spaced out throughout the run.
With the rain on and off, it was late calls by the TaG ICC drivers as to what set-up to run. First final winner Eady was among them and was late to the grid and was forced to start last. This allowed Zanella to go green to checkered for his first win on the year by just 0.824-seconds over Hogg. Campbell ran third, holding off a late charge by Eady in the late stages of the race. Daryle Redliin had his best run of the year in fifth.
TaG
It was GP and Energy leading the TaG field to the green flag with Jason Toft and Tony Loniewski show the way. They came across the line the first time that way with Joey Wimsett (Intrepid) and Neil Alberico (Top Kart) in chase as the rest of the field went single file. On lap four, Alberico would retire early after he lost his chain, this put the front three on a gap over now fourth place Stepanova Nekeel (CRG) and championship contender Michael Self (Sodi Kart) in fifth. Lap 10, Wimsett got inside of Loniewski in turn four to take over the second spot as Nekeel and Self close the distance to make it a long train lead group. At the halfway point, Wimsett put the same move on Toft for the lead, again in turn four. That triggered room for Loniewski and Nekeel to drop Toft back to fourth. Lap 20, it was an uncharacteristic spin for Loniewski in turn five as he dropped back to sixth from second spot. Out front, Wimsett cruised to a 1.5-second victory over an impressive run by privateer Nekeel in his first Stars outing. Neil McCoy (Top Kart) took advantage of Loniewski’s spin to end up on the podium. Self was fourth with Iannucci coming up from tenth to fifth. Points leader Chris Scribner (Top Kart) came from 17th on the grid to finish eighth behind Toft and Scott Saunders (CRG).
 | In dramatic fashion, Chris Scribner earned himself the TaG West crown on the final lap of the day
(Photo: On Track Promotions - otp.ca) |
Heading into the final race, Self had a point advantage over Scribner, who would need another great charge from the back of the field and that is just what he did. The field came through the first set of corners bunched up from about the third row back as Alberico scurried away with the lead. That was short lived as Wimsett quickly assume the point on lap two. With Wimsett pulling out to a big lead, the focus became on Self and Scribner. At lap three, Self was running sixth with Scribner already up to eleventh. As the laps wound down, Scribner picked off drivers one, sometimes two at a time as Self moved up into the top-five. Loniewski, who got shuffled back at the start, worked himself up to Alberico after the halfway mark and was able to get by for second. His luck would however come to an end as his right rear tire snapped off the hub through corner five, ending his chance at podium.
This in turn put Alberico at the lead of a large group that included now both Self and Scribner. Self moved up to third by lap 16 and Scribner continued to chase as he reached P7. Getting by Saunders and Toft with some amazing moves, he set his sites on Iannucci and Self. On their bumper as they got the white flag, Scribner made what could be the best overtaking move of the year as he went to the inside of both Iannucci and Self at turn five. The move not only gave Scribner the third place spot, but also the Western Division championship by nine points. Not to overshadow his performance, Wimsett cruised to a six-second victory to sweep the day with Alberico putting together his first podium on the West Coast. Iannucci crossed the line fourth with Self in fifth.
JICA
From the pole position, Brendan Phinny (Top Kart) got a clean get away at the drop of the opening JICA final with Phil DeLaO (Tony Kart) coming through for second. Miles Maroney (CRG) fell back to sixth from the outside of row one with Brett Felkins (Intrepid), Taylor Miinch (Top Kart) and Gustavo Menezes (Tony Kart) completing the early top-five. The top four were nose to tail with Menezes trailing a few seconds with Maroney and Tristan DeGrand (Kosmic) and his bumper as they hit the halfway mark. No change in the running order up front has DeLaO looked to be comfortable running on Phinny’s bumper until lap 22 when he got a good draft and slide by into turn one for the lead. That would be all he needed as he would go on to take his fourth West Coast win and clinch the divisional title. Phinny held on to second with Felkins putting in his best finish on the year with a third ahead of Miinch. Menezes ran along in fifth as DeGrand muscled by Maroney for sixth.
 | Phil DeLaO will be the overall JICA leader heading into the National Finals
(Photo: On Track Promotions - otp.ca) |
With rain still over the area, JICA hit the track on wets for the first time. Trouble however would hit Miinch as his clutch nut came off during the warm-up laps, forcing him to retire. When the green flag waved, the field got through the opening corners until Felkins spun exiting turn four and fell to the tail of the field. Phinny would get away with a large lead in the opening corners ahead of Mason Marotta (Intrepid) and DeGrand. The driver to watch however was Timmy Bachman. The Leading Edge Motorsports driver started 12th and was up to fourth by lap three. He quickly got around Marotta and DeGrand with a bold move in turn five. The gap between him and Phinny was consistent until the end when Phinny’s lap time began to get slower and Bachman continued on the same pace. On the final lap, Bachman was able to get by Phinny through turn four and went on to take his first Stars victory. DeGrand held on to third in front of Menezes - who lost his chain as he crossed the finish line - and Marotta. DeLaO, already with the championship in hand, ran eighth.
Cadet
The Cadets got the racing underway on Sunday with their first of two 18-lap finals. Trent Hindman (Merlin) led the field to the green however it was Mason Chelootz (Top Kart) that came across the line first for the opening lap. Hindman reassume the top spot on lap four and put some distance between him and now second place Andrew Murray (Birel). Chelootz ran third in front of Luis Tyrrell (Top Kart) and Santino Ferrucci (Top Kart). Murray began the charge on Hindman, running the fastest laps of the race to close on his bumper by the halfway mark. Getting a great run down the front straight, Murray was able to draft by to take the lead on lap 15. The next time around, Tyrrell had run down the top two and squeezed by Hindman for second. Still moving forward, Tyrrell used the draft to get by Murray for the top spot. Tyrrell was then able to get away after Murray bobbled coming out of turn three on the final lap for Tyrrell to take his first Stars victory of the season. Murray held on for second ahead of Hindman, who clinched the Western Division championship with his third place finish. Ferrucci was able to get by Chelootz for fourth.
 | With a perfect score, Trent Hindman has both the East and West Cadet divisions in his first year in Stars
(Photo: On Track Promotions - otp.ca) |
A steady rain began to fall during lunch with Cadet’s first to hit the track for their final race on the Western Division with Ferrucci unable to take the green flag with mechanical issue. Adapting to the rain quickly, Hindman led the field in the first rain race of the weekend. The field spread out quickly with Chelootz, Tyrrell, Murray and Reyes the early top five. Murray was the driver on the move, jumping to third on lap three and slowly working on gaining ground to Chelootz. Hindman was well out in front to go on for a four-second victory, giving him a perfect score on the West to one up his East total heading into the Nationals Finals. Murray caught Chelootz and the two swapped positions, allowing Reyes to catch up and join the fight. On the final lap, Reyes went from fourth to second heading into turn four. As they exited the corner, they were three wide into turn five. Murray was able to come out in front with Chelootz following through. They would complete the podium with Reyes coming up just short of the third step. Tyrrell completed the top-five as he ran alone in fifth.
The series will now gear up for the final event of the season, the National Finals at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway on October 10-12. To follow the entire Seattle weekend coverage, visit the Event Page where you can find complete results from Saturday’s action along with a link to the Official Discussion Thread and the Photo Gallery. |
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