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| August 30, 2008 News |
| EKN Trackside: Rock Island Grand Prix - Qualifying Report |
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 | Alex Speed earned the King of the Streets pole position for Sunday's main event
(Photo: Go Racing Magazine) |
The first day of action is in the books at the 14th annual Rock Island Grand Prix in Rock Island, Illinois. The weather was ‘Chamber of Commerce’ perfect for the day of practice and qualifying for the 14 classes on the docket for the event. Numerous drivers smacked the barriers as they were presented with two sessions of practice and timed qualifying, given the opportunity to lay down rubber around the 6/10-mile street circuit. Throughout the day, many newcomers were among the fast drivers, setting up for the starting grids for Sunday’s main events.
The SKUSA King of the Streets category opened up the qualifying sessions with a 15-minute run open for the 12 drivers on the entry list, however, many of the entries pulling off early after setting their fast laps. In his first-ever visit to the Rock Island Grand Prix, Alex Speed (Energy) earned the pole with a blistering 32.175-second lap time. Two-time King of the Streets winner Kyle Wiegand (Top Kart) was second on the time charts, but he was unable to get a clean lap during the session. PG Racing’s Derek Crockett was third in his Wild Kart entry, while the Mathewson duo of Cole and Kurt completed the fast five.
Four-Cycle Animal Heavy was the second class to hit the track for qualifying, splitting the 19-kart field into two groups. Scott Kleman (Coyote) and Travis DeVriendt (Coyote) ran nose-to-tail in the opening session to sit 1-2 in the provisional standings with Kleman’s 37.079-second lap standing at the top. In the second group, RIGP all-time win leader Gary Lawson (Arrow) hooked up with Taylor Moore (Margay) to lead the session. Lawson’s quick time was just two-hundredths of a second off of Kleman’s pace. During his sixth lap of the session, Lawson was able to post the new pole time and went even quicker in his final lap with a 36.973. Moore ended second with Kleman in third. DeVriendt and Steven Kilsdonk (Bandit) completed the fast-five, however, Kilsdonk was removed in the tech barn, putting Jason Trennepohl (Coyote) up to the fifth grid spot.
Oklahoma’s Drew Hockenson (Arrow) led the way in the opening TaG Masters group with a 34.611-second lap time. Scott Hamble (Margay) was second ahead of ‘06 class winner John Dixon (Birel) third in the group. Group two saw the return of ‘04 champion Mack McCormack (Arrow) to the RIGP event and it also included 2007 winner Brian McHattie (Kosmic). As the tires got warm and the session went on, they swapped the top spot in the second group, but were unable to best Hockenson’s fast time. That would change as the checkered flag fell as McHattie dug deep and pulled off a 34.561-second lap for the pole position. Hockenson would settle for second with McCormack in third. Hamble would fall to fourth with Dixon rounding out the fast five.
 | Kyle Wiegand fought back in the ICC division to top the qualifying charts
(Photo: Go Racing Magazine) |
Kyle Erdmann (Margay) was on the provisional pole in the Sr. Sportsman Heavy division, running in the first of two groups. That would change early during the second group session with the Margay’s of Tim Goettsch and Michael Dittmer running quicker early on. Joined by Gary Lawson aboard his Arrow, the trio ran close together with Lawson getting a great draft to stand on the top of the time charts. Lawson’s 36.226-second lap time would hold through the remainder of the session to score the pole position by just 0.003 seconds over Goettsch. Dittmer would end up third with Cale Wyse (Merlin) and Tony Neilson (CRG) completing the fast five. Erdmann would fall to sixth overall ahead of eight-time winner Todd Bolton.
Fourteen karts took to the track for the 125cc Moto Shifter division with Chicago’s Josh Lane (Energy) leading early into the 10-minute session and would hold the pole with a 33.172-second lap, edging Patrick Malacarne (Intrepid) by just two-thousandths of a second. 2007 winner Scott Barnes (Wild Kart) was third, however, left the track early in turn one. Two-time race winner Robert Pretts (Intrepid) was fourth while Derek Crockett (Wild Kart) moved up at the end of the session in fifth.
The ICC karts hit the track for their session with Wiegand leading the way early on, as Speed sat on the pit lane, waiting a few moments before hitting the track. Once Speed got some laps in on his new Energy chassis, he bolted to the top of the time charts. Wiegand quickly answered back, running a few lengths back of Speed on track. He then quickly pulled off the track, happy with his fastest lap. Speed ran a couple more laps but would come up short as Wiegand’s 32.504-second lap was enough to hold onto the pole. Behind them, the field would shuffle around in the top-five with Texan Collin Lynn (Birel) posting the third best lap ahead of Crockett and Alex Conlin (Birel), who moved up to the fast-five late in the session.
The 2-Cycle Pipe Heavy class was revised for 2008, injecting the HPV engine into the class along with the Yamaha KT100. The majority of the drivers were running HPV powerplant as they headed out for their qualifying session. The first group saw Erdmann once again playing the role as the rabbit, posting a 35.360 to kick off the fight. That time fell quickly as Goettsch was P1 on his out-lap and followed then that up with a first flying lap under the 35-second mark. With that lap, Goettsch parked his Margay and then waited to see if anyone could match his pace. Most of the fast guys pulled off early as well, giving Goettsch the pole position for tomorrow’s race. Erdmann’s time was good enough for second with Dittmer just coming short with the third best lap. Tony Jump (Margay) was just a bit off in fourth with Cale Wyse (Merlin) in fifth.
In the Tom Argy Jr. Sportsman division, early leader Sam Beasley (Arrow) got into the barriers in turn four after just two laps. Beasley’s time would hold until ’07 winner Justin Jennings (Margay) picked up the pace and began to close in on the track record in the class. Little by little, he would get quicker as the session went on. A slower kart hurt his momentum toward the end of the session and he would come just seven-hundredths short of the track record with a 37.381-second lap, however, would still earn the pole position. Beasley would hold onto second sitting on the sidelines after an early session ‘off’ with BJ Bates (Margay) running third quickest. TJ Keesy (Margay) was fourth, however, he got only a couple laps in as he went off in turn four as well. Rounding out the fast-five was Trey Lohr (Arrow).
The biggest class of the weekend - TaG Senior - would see a new winner as none of the former victors were entering in the class on the weekend as ’07 winner Caleb Loniewski earned an entry into the elite TaG SuperPro class. The field was split into two groups for qualifying. For a third time, Erdmann led the way in the opening group with a 34.142-second lap time, hoping to stay toward the front as the second group hit the track. The second group saw newcomer Michele Bumgarner (Margay) and Colton Aldridge (Birel) as the fastest drivers in the session. Bumgarner’s fast lap of 33.906 seconds would put her on the pole position while Erdmann’s time good enough for an outside row one start. Aldridge was third overall with Ryan Miller (Kosmic) and another RIGP newcomer Jonathan Evans (RBI) completing the fast-five.
 | Tim Goesttch was top qualifier in two classes on the day
(Photo: Go Racing Magazine) |
Just as many drivers entered in the Sr. Sportsman Medium class with former Jr. Sportsman winner Josh Call (Margay) leading the way with a 36.447 lap time. Goettsch again was the early front runner as he put his Margay on the provisional pole position. Last year’s winner Gary Lawson quickly changed that as he bumped Goettsch down. The following lap, Goettsch put in his quickest lap yet and continued to get quicker, along with the rest of the top-five in the session. Goettsch was running alone on the track when he posted his fast lap as Dittmer, Lawson, and Jump ran together around the circuit trying to overtake the pole. Goettsch would hold on for his second pole of the day. Lawson will start from the second spot with Jump, Dittmer, and Wyse rounding out the fast five. Call would end up tenth ninth overall.
The 125cc Stock Moto made their official debut in spectacular fashion during their qualifying session around the RIGP facility with the top-five clocking in a 0.024-second blanket. Former Rotax winner Jordan Musser (Birel) jumped to the Stock Moto ranks and made his debut on the pole with a 33.545 lap time. Voytek Burdzy (PCR) was second, just 0.005-seconds back with Nick Lucido (CRG) just four-thousandths back of Burdzy. Matt Zeis (Wild Kart) was fourth with Derek Crockett (Wild Kart) completing the tight fast-five, shaping up for an exciting race Sunday.
Another class making it’s debut is the TaG SuperPro division with the drivers chasing the $1,500 to win. The field looked like an old ICA lineup from a few years ago. Lap after lap, the drivers got faster and faster with the top seven swapping their place in the order. The second half of the session saw Johnny Johnson (Kosmic) and Chris Wehrheim (Top Kart) control the top spot as they went back and forth. Wehrheim thought he had the spot locked up on his tenth lap and pulled off however behind him Johnson got in his best lap of the session with a 33.590 lap time. Johnson would earn the pole by 0.043-seconds over Wehrheim. Loniewski would climb up to third with Adam Johnson (Kosmic) and RIGP newcomer Travis Firing (Margay) rounding out the fast five.
The ‘Rumble at the Rock’ Animal Medium class was split into two groups as well, however the timing sheet was dominated by the second group as more and more rubber built up around the track and the sun in the west. Lawson and Moore ran nose to tail to move into the top two spots. Lawson’s time of 36.612 gave him the pole position with Moore putting in a few extra laps to try and get quicker but didn’t, settling for second. Last year’s winner Scott Kleman was third in the standings while DeVriendt was fourth despite running only two laps after making contact in the final corner of the track. Fifth place, tied with DeVriendt was Steven Kilsdonk.
The final class of the day was the 125cc Masters Shifter division with a stellar field on hand. The first group had a number of drivers capable of the pole position with track record holder Shayne Shipley (Arrow) and Texan Collin Lynn (Birel) battling it out for the top spot. Lynn would earn the provisional pole with a 32.769 lap with Shipley a few tenths back in the second spot. The second group included two former winners, defending class winner Voytek Burdzy and ’06 winner Dan Roe (Intrepid) though Burdzy would not hit the track as engine trouble kept him in the pits. Roe needed the entire session to break into the 33s with he and Lance Lane (Veloce) the only drivers to get below the 34s in the second session. That gave Lynn the pole with Shipley starting alongside in second.
To follow updates throughout the weekend, visit the Official Discussion Thread with results for classes 1-7 HERE and 8-14 HERE. |
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