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| October 10, 2008 News |
| EKN Trackside: Stars of Karting – Friday Report |
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The first day is in the books for the Snap-on Stars of Karting presented by IndyCar Series National Finals at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway in Las Vegas, NV. Six sessions were given to all the divisions on hand with the slick track grabbing rubber as the day went on, challenging the drivers and teams with changing track conditions. With the final sessions at the end of the day, the usual suspects were found up front to post the fast times of the day.
Paddock Notes
Not seen too often now on the national circuit is a double-duty driver however this weekend Italian Motors driver Michael Hogg will run the TaG ICC division where he is challenging for the championship but also in the Stars TaG class. Not effected too much during the practice day as the classes run back to back but come race time he may see some fatigue.
Making the Stars debut is the Vemee chassis, designed by the father/son duo of Vince and Lorenzo Mandarino. Behind the wheel is a two-time National Finals winner in the category Devon Sandeen, the reigning national champion.
Stars TaG championship contender Joey Wimsett switched engines for the weekend, going from Parilla to the Rok TT, engineered by SwedeTech. When speaking with him, he felt he had nothing to lose with the change and is hoping to challenge Victor Cabrera for the title.
Banquet Notes
Following the Happy Hour hosted by Formula BMW, the banquet attendees enjoyed their meals before Rob Howden opened up the ceremonies. The welcome speech was given by Kyle Zalud, son of Stars of Karting president Paul Zalud who was attending to a family emergency back at his Seattle home. The younger Zalud addressed the Stars of Karting competitors and teams with a letter prepared by the series president.
Series race director Kevin Williams introduced the new Stars management members, that were introduced in earlier in the week while also announcing tentative plans for the 2009 season. The schedule shows the East running at Florida and New Jersey facilities in the months of March and June while the West division will travel to California and Washington set for April and August. The Race of the Americas is set for May in Indiana with the National Finals - scheduled for October - to be announced soon with the PRI Show to wrap up the 2009 season. Classes for '09 will include those from this year with the addtion of TaG Junior and a possible local option class. More details will be released in the near future as Stars works out the final touches.
During the award presentation portion of the show, Cadet double division champion Trent Hindman gave an outstanding acceptance speech while the rest of the title winners who spoke also represented themselves and their respective teams and sponsors in a professional manner.
To follow complete coverage of the National Finals - including complete results from Friday’s final two sessions, visit the Event Page that includes a link to the Official Discussion Thread for updates throughout the race day. |
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