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| October 11, 2008 News |
| EKN Trackside: Stars of Karting National Finals - Saturday |
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The Snap-on Stars of Karting presented by IndyCar Series National Finals put in a full day of action at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway in Las Vegas, NV. Qualifying and three heat races took place throughout the day. Five drivers put in strong performances to put themselves on the pole, four of them winning all three of their heat races.
ICC
As we saw by the practice times in the final session of the ICC class, the Gatorz Pole Qualifying did not disappoint with the stacked field going back and forth for the top spot. Early on after the core group of the class hit the track, Phil Giebler (Sodi Kart) led the way early before the young Jacob Neal (CRG) sat on the provisional pole with a 44.625. Defending champion Gary Carlton (CRG) then hit the track and was only ninth in his out lap with Alex Speed making his return to Tony Kart chassis just behind Neal in his first circuit. Lap two for Carlton put him to P1 with a 44.621 but did not last as Jordy Vorrath (Intrepid) posted a quicker lap, just three-thousandths of a second faster. Carlton came back, six-thousandths quicker. It look to be Carlton’s to have until championship leader Michael Vincec (CRG) - who sat outside the top-five - put in a magic lap of 44.470 for the pole. Carlton countered but came up one-hundredth short. Speed settled third with Vorrath and Neal completing the fast five.
Carlton grabbed the holeshot and would hold Vincec at bay with Vorrath in tow. They would run that way for the 12-lap race with Speed and David Jurca (Italkart) completing the top-five.
As the green flag dropped, Neal stalled from the fifth starting grid spot the scrambled the field behind him. Up front, Carlton would earn the hole shot while Vorrath slid by for the second spot in front of Vincec. Vorrath pressured Carlton in the first half of the race, once getting inside through turn one but was unable to complete the pass. This allowed Vincec to push Vorrath as they began to fight it out for second. This gave Carlton a easy pass to the win while Vorrath held off Vincec for second. Speed and Jurca again completed the top-five.
Making it three for three, Carlton took the third heat win to set himself on the pole position for the Finals on Sunday. He along with Vorrath and Speed ran out front with Vincec getting shuffled back to fourth. Vincec was well off the pace compared to the front three, who challenged one another but no positions were changed, held on for third at the end with Ron White (GP) coming through to fifth from tenth with his best performance of the day.
TaG ICC
The top three championship fighters lead the way in qualifying however it was the chaser who topped the charts in the 15-minute Gatorz Pole Qualifying session. Jose Zanella (Tony Kart) posted the top time early on while Bryan Eady (Intrepid) and Michael Hogg (Italkart) gave chase. Eady improved each lap as the session closed but came up just two-thousandths of a second short of earning the pole position. Hogg settled for third with Scott Campbell (Italkart) and Don McGregor (Italkart) rounding out the fast five. Eady however would be penalized three positions for conduct during the session and will start fifth in each of the three heats.
Zanella went on to cruise to the opening heat race for nearly three-second victory over the charging Eady who made up for the penalty. Hogg finished third with Campbell and McGregor completing the top-five.
Round two had Hogg pull out with the holeshot with Zanella falling in behind and eventually Eady in third. Zanella pressured Hogg in the first corner in the opening laps, finally making it stick on lap three, bringing Eady with him. Zanella and Eady battled for the top spot until Zanella put in the final pass with a couple laps to go to earn win number two. Eady, Hogg, Campbell and McGregor rounding out the top-five.
The third heat saw Zanella and Eady go at it again with Zanella trying for his third heat win. The duo put on a great 10-lap show with Eady taking the win at the line by just 0.148-seconds. Hogg was two-seconds back in third, holding off McGregor and Campbell completing the top-five.
TaG
The 15-minute Gatorz Pole Qualifying session was interesting for the championship chase. Western Division champion Chris Scribner (Top Kart) and Joey Licata Jr. (CRG) got a great run early on to sit 1-2. Many challenged but were unable to knock them down the standings as the duo will start on the front row for all three heats. After missing a transponder, Kyle Wiegand (Top Kart) came through to move up to third with Andrick Zeen (Sodi Kart) and Will Martindale (Tony Kart) advancing late in the session into the fast five. Licata however would be penalized the five positions for participation rule, and start seventh to move Jason Toft (GP) into the top five. Championship leader Victor Cabrera (Kosmic) ended up eighth with challenger Joey Wimsett (Intrepid) however he would be found underweight at the scales, thus moving to the tail of the field in 22nd on the grid.
With the pole position, Scribner pulled out to a good lead with Wiegand sliding into second. After crossing the line for the first time heading into the tight hairpin turn one, Toft climbed the back of an unknown driver while Zeen drove off the track later on in the lap, dropping them in the running order to put Martindale third and Wehrheim fourth. The front group ran in line until the final laps when Wehrheim picked up the pace and got by both Martindale and Wiegand in consecutive laps and crossed the line alongside Scribner at the checkered. Licata advanced to fifth with Cabrera running eighth and Wimsett up to 12th in the ten laps.
The action heated up as the top five of Scribner, Wiegand, Zeen, Toft, and Wehrheim put on a great 10-lap battle for the win. Wiegand would eventually earn the spot, edging Scribner to the line by just 0.049-seconds. Toft crossed third ahead of Wehrheim and Zeen. Wimsett only managed to advance to 14th while Cabrera retired on lap five with a engine related issues.
The third heat win clinched the pole position for Scribner as Top Kart finished 1-2-3 in the last race with Wiegand and Wehrheim crossing the line second and third. Toft broke up the group, running third at one point until Wehrheim got around for the position. Zeen ran a clean race to finish fifth, unchallenged. Issues continued for Cabrera as a broken steering component put him on the sidelines on lap two, classified 22nd.
JICA
Continuing from the final session in Friday’s practice, Taylor Miinch (Top Kart) lead the way in Gatorz Pole Qualifying to put his entry on the pole for the heat races early and parked it. Spencer Pigot (Gillard) put in his same fast lap on the same lap as Miinch, just 0.088-seconds short and was not able to improve. Gustavo Menezes (Tony Kart) put himself in a great position to battle for the championship with a third quick time in the session with Sage Karam (Birel) and Tyler Thomas (Top Kart) completed the fast five. Point leader Phil DeLaO (Tony Kart) ended up in ninth with second in points Brendan Phinny (Top Kart) back in 20th as he struggles to find the speed in Vegas early on.
The opening heat saw a group of kart collected in turn three including DeLaO, who stalled after locking up the brakes thus not continuing on and finished 24th. Up front, Miinch and Thomas led the way and go unchallenged to a 1-2 finish. Pigot would end up third with Menezes fourth and Miles Maroney (CRG) advancing from eighth to fifth.
Miinch would again show the way in heat two to take a 1.672-second win. Pigot and Karam ran second and third until Menezes came through to overtake the position. Angel Caban (Kosmic) ran fifth ahead of DeLaO who moved up from ninth to help his starting spot for the main.
Also three for three was Miinch as he clinched the pole position for JICA however he had to fight it out with Menezes, who got a great start and challenged from the opening lap. Menezes held the lead for a couple laps until Miinch grabbed it back and edged him at the line 0.082-seconds. Former Cadet rivals Thomas and Karam ran third and fourth with championship leader DeLaO putting in his best result of the day. Phinny also saved the best for last with a drive up to eighth.
Cadet
Split up to three groups, the fast session was the final pairing which saw the fast driver on Friday - Luis Tyrrell (Top Kart) put down a blistering lap of 54.690. The lap was six-tenths quicker than Gresham Wagner (Birel). Third was championship contender Andrew Murray (Birel) with Broc Yocom (Intrepid) and Logan Bearden (Birel) completing the fast five. Point leader Trent Hindman struggled in the session to end up 14th on the time sheet.
The opening laps of the first heat looked to include the entire field until eventually Tyrrell and Murray broke away and battled with Tyrrell getting the victory. Yocom was third with Bearden and BRDC Stars of Tomorrow driver James Armitage (Top Kart) coming from 19th to fifth. Hindman would not advance any positions and finish 14th.
Tyrrell went on to a solid heat two victory. Murray was second to hold off Wagner. Bearden won the battle for fourth over Yocom. Hindman had a better second heat race to finish tenth, up four spots from his starting position.
Tyrrell went three for three in the third heat. Yocom led the opening laps but Tyrrell quickly assumed the position and pulled out to a two-second win. The drive of the race was from Hindman, who used some opening lap contact to move into the top-five and eventually third to better his starting spot for the main events. Jake Craig (Top Kart) was fourth with Murray falling back to fifth.
To follow complete coverage of the National Finals, visit the Event Page that includes a link to the Official Discussion Thread for updates throughout the race day. |
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