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| May 03, 2009 News |
| EKN Trackside: WKA Manufacturer’s Cup Series - South Bend Sunday Report |
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 | Canadian Marco DiLeo celebrated his second TaG victory of the weekend
(Photo: On Track Promotions - otp.ca) |
The second round of the WKA George Kugler/Bridgestone Manufacturer’s Cup Series driven by Mazda completed its final day of action at the Michiana Raceway Park in South Bend, Indiana. The MRP Speed School Nationals was two full days of racing with the WKA and track staff producing a smooth sailing ship to get all the action in. Canadian Marco DiLeo is now in the driver’s seat after scoring his second TaG feature win to establish himself as the championship leader. Sunday was also a day of first with four different drivers scoring their first victory of the season.
First class on the docket for Sunday was the Yamaha SuperCan division, which produces tight racing action and qualifying was no different in the Light category as Brandon Adkins (Tony Kart) scored his second Streeter Super Stands pole award after scoring yesterday’s Heavy pole position. His quick lap was just 11-thousandths of a second quicker than Saturday’s big winner Ryan Stewart (Birel). Tony Jump (Margay) was just a click back of them and joined them in a four kart lead pack in the Prefinal, bringing CJ Lintner (Arrow) with them. Stewart would get the best of Adkins in the 12-lap race while after starting fifth, Linter moved up one more spot to third to put Jump fourth. The front half of the field changed dramatically in the opening stages of the Final. Jump went off-roading on the opening corner and lost his chain to end his race early. Contact between Lintner and Stewart resulted in Lintner spinning, collecting Jason Foley (Merlin), both retiring early. Cody Robinson (Arrow) was the next casualty when he lost his chain as well. All the shuffling allowed Adkins to go unchallenged to a near four second victory after leading all 16 laps. Stewart came across second with Josh Call (Margay), Richie Kuhn (Margay) and Brandon Newey (Top Kart) completing the podium.
 | Jamie Thiel earned her first career series victory in the HPV Heavy feature
(Photo: On Track Promotions - otp.ca) |
Cadet Saturday winner Aidan Landauer (Merlin) secured the pole to begin Sunday’s action but his reign at the top would not be long after turn one contact sent him to the tail of the field in the early portion of the Prefinal. This allowed Kyle Kalish (Merlin) and James Bennett (Birel) to escape from the rest of the field to show the way in the Prefinal. Austin Osborne (Birel) won the battle for third over a host of drivers on his bumper. For the final it came down to just drivers, following the opening lap skirmish - Kalish and the charging Santino Ferrucci (Top Kart) who qualified 10th and was fifth after the Prefinal. The two swapped the top spot after breaking away from the field but in the end it would be Kalish who held of Ferrucci for his third win of the season by just 0.229-seconds. Derek Sobel (Top Kart) won a great battle for third over Osborne and hard-charger winner Gresham Wagner (Birel) - who advanced from 16th to the podium in the fifth spot.
Nick Neri (Tony Kart) scored his third Streeter Super Stands pole award of the event when he posted the quickest lap in the HPV Jr. Lite session. He and Heavy feature winner Sage Karam (Birel) formed a two-man lead group in the Prefinal with Karam edging Neri at the line for the win. Behind them, Olivia Beam (Arrow) and Shawn Sharkey (Merlin) made contact while battling in the top-five and fell outside the top-10. Sam Beasley (Arrow) ran to third with Robby Bujdoso (Tony Kart) and Austin Self (Birel) moving up to the top-five. Self has been driving with a broken left foot all weekend after an off-track injury four weeks ago. Karam would go untouched in the Feature as he went wire to wire for his second victory on the weekend. Neri ran alone in second as he was able to get away from the rest of the field. The race to watch was the battle for third as Trent Hindman (Merlin) worked himself up to the spot after starting seventh but would lose the spot in the closing stages to Beasley. Hindman would finish fourth with Self crossing the line fifth.
 | Sage Karam scored both HPV victories on the weekend, earning the feature win in the Lite category on Sunday
(Photo: On Track Promotions - otp.ca) |
The competition committee for the series addressed the TaG division following Saturday’s action in their event meeting and adjusted the weight of the Rotax engine from 350lbs. to 365lbs. - matching the weight of the Leopard engines. In qualifying, it was three Leopards that showed the way in qualifying with CJ Lintner (Arrow), Chris Wehrheim (Top Kart) and Jose Zanella (Tony Kart) - who switched over night - the quickest in the session with the Sonik of Hunter Short (Kosmic) slotted in fourth. The top Rotax was Zach Beard (Birel) who completed the fast-five. Lintner and Wehrheim swapped the lead in the Prefinal with Wehrheim coming out on top with a move in the final stages of the race. Saturday’s winner Marco Di Leo (Intrepid) advanced from sixth to third with Short finishing fourth. Behind them, it was heavy traffic with Beard escaping with the fifth position.
Following a red flag involving Beard, Cody Robinson (Arrow), and a host of others, the TaG Feature was moved further down the race order to allow competitors to repair their karts. Those involved would have to start the race from the tail of the field. Once the class was on track for their final race, Wehrheim led the field to the green flag. His time at the point was short-lived as DiLeo was able to grab the position early on. Lintner would put Wehrheim back to third as the trio pulled out to a good size advantage over the rest of the top-10. The fight for fourth was a great battle to watch on track as Short continued to fight off Michelle Bumgarner (Margay), Cole Mann (Merlin) and Brandon Jones (Arrow). The top three looked evenly matched over the course of the second half of the race with neither able to gain enough ground on the other to make a move for position. At the line, DiLeo scored his second win of the weekend by three-tenths over Lintner and Wehrheim. Short posted the fastest lap of the Final to finish fourth while Bumgarner completed the podium. Kyle Wiegand benefitted from the red flag after he was a possible DNS due to a warm-up incident that bent his axle. The Top Kart driver advanced from 13th to sixth with Mann putting in another solid top-10 performance to finish seventh, edging Scott Ferris (Margay) at the line. Jones and Ryan Miller (Margay) rounded out the top-10.
 | Sam Beasley put in an impressive run to score his first win of the season in Yamaha Jr. Heavy
(Photo: On Track Promotions - otp.ca) |
Saturday’s Yamaha Sportsman Heavy winner Kyle Tilley (Margay) was riding high off his first Manufacturer’s Cup Series win as he showed the way in the Sportsman division in Sunday qualifying. Gresham Wagner (Birel) gave chase in the Prefinal but Tilley led all 12 laps for the win. Jake Johnston (Margay), Kyle Kalish (Merlin), and Garrett Johnston (Margay) were in the mix as well. Tilley would not go unchallenged in the Feature as Wagner took his turn at the point early on in the 16-lap race. Twin brothers Jake and Garrett would eventually find their way to the front of the pack, bringing Jeff Myers Jr. (Birel) with them. Jake held the point at the white flag with Garrett as his wing man. The two held off Myers attempts and finished 1-2. Kalish was fourth at the line as he beat out Wagner with Tilley crossing in sixth. Point leader Santino Ferrucci (Maranello) managed to advance to 10th after starting 18th, but the finish will hurt his championship chase.
The Yamaha Masters division put on an exciting show in once they went green flag racing in the Prefinal as Streeter Super Stands pole award winner Lawrence Ubell (Kosmic) battled John Dixon (Birel) and defending champion Jeff Jewell (Haase). Steve Rumsey (Arrow) and Missy Nelson Tate (Margay) were among the front runners as well until the two made contact on lap 10 and went off into the turn one crash pillows - which did their job as both were able to walk away. On the final lap, the top three went three wide through the inner section of the track with Jewell escaping with the lead and going on to take the checkered flag. Dixon was second with Ubell third. The same trio went at it for the final round in the 16-lap feature. Jewell held the point with Dixon applying some pressure until Ubell slide by for the second position. The top three spread out some and positions remained unchanged. On lap 13, Dale Roller (Birel) flipped alone on the exit of turn one. Though he was conscious, he complained of neck pain and required medical assistance (details of his condition not known at time of publication). That ended the race early, giving Jewell his second straight victory. Dixon and Ubell ran second and third with Michael Burrell (Birel) winning the battle for fourth over Scot Carapellatti (KRT).
 | Twin brothers Jake and Garrett Johnston went 1-2 in Yamaha Sportsman
(Photo: On Track Promotions - otp.ca) |
Neri captured his fourth pole award of the event in Yamaha Jr. Heavy, sweeping the Junior divisions on the weekend. The field would bunch up at about mid-pack through the esses on the opening lap, mixing up the running order. In the Prefinal it would be the Arrow machines of Dakota Pesek and Sam Beasley however that would show the way in the 12-lap Prefinal. Pesek showed the way early on until Beasley stole the spot in turn eight with two laps to go. He would take the win with Pesek holding off Neri for second. Front runner Sage Karam came through the LCQ after not having a transponder on his Birel and thus not recording a lap in qualifying. Starting 34th in the Prefinal, Karam escaped the opening me lay with a few bumps but climbed up to 14th in the order. Beasley and Pesek led the field to the green flag with a number drivers bunching up the field through the esses, putting Shawn Sharkey (Merlin) and others on the sidelines. Neri and Hindman ran third and fourth until Hindman began to post the fast laps of the race to put Neri back to third and begin his chase to the point. Neri would relinquish the fourth spot on lap 10 when his rear bumper began to fall off and he would receive the meatball flag. Beasley however would benefit from Pesek and Hindman battling for the second spot to pull out to a two-second victory. Hindman was able to edge Pesek for second while Karam continued his charge forward to end up from 14th to fourth. Posting the fast lap of the race in the closing stages, Shinya Michimi (Merlin) worked himself up to fifth after starting 10th.
The final class in the day’s order was the HPV Heavy division with Ryan Stewart (Birel) showing the way in qualifying. He and Jose Zanella (Tony Kart) would be moved back one row after two false starts. That put Mark Vielgut (Haase) and Jamie Thiel (Margay) on the front row for the start. Vielgut led the way the entire 12 laps with heavy pressure from Stewart. Thiel was able to slide into second with a great move in turn nine on the lap, moving Stewart to third. Zanella was in the lead group mix early on until he lost his chain on lap three. Thiel got the jump on Vielgut to lead the first few laps of the Feature until Vielgut recaptured the point once again. Stewart was quick out the gate as well, putting Thiel back to third and began pressuring Vielgut for the lead. Once by, Stewart pulled out to a three-second margin of victory. Thiel tried to get by Vielgut numerous times but it would be the final lap that she would score the pass through turn one. Foley joined the fight and slide by for the third spot into the esses. Vielgut came back and the two went side by side through turn five. The two lost the momentum and allowed Wyatt Gooden (Arrow) to slide through for the third spot. Stewart’s good luck however turned into bad as he lost weight ballast during the race and came to the tech barn underweight. His disqualification put Thiel on top of the podium for the first time in her career with Gooden, Vielgut, Matthew Bigos (Haase), and Foley.
 | Kyle Kalish earned his third Cadet victory of the season to continue leading the championship
(Photo: On Track Promotions - otp.ca) |
The Manufacturer’s Championship Trophy standings did not change dramatically from yesterday’s action with Birel leading with eight wins, Margay now alone in second with seven. Merlin and Arrow are keeping it close with six and five a piece while Tony Kart moves into the top five with three victories thus far. The series will now look toward the month of July when the program travels to the Briggs and Stratton Motorplex inside the historic Road America facility in Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin for the Zoom Zoom Nationals. The event will be action packed on both the sprint track and the 4-mile circuit with the Dunlop Road Racing Series contesting their fifth round of the season. For complete coverage of the MRP Speed School Nationals, visit the Official Event Page. |
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