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| May 30, 2009 News |
| EKN Trackside: Championship Karting International Grand Prix of New Castle - Saturday Report |
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 | Gary Carlton will lead the KZ2 field on Sunday
(Photo: On Track Promotions - otp.ca) |
The first ever wheel-to-wheel action took place at the inaugural Championship Karting International event - the Grand Prix of New Castle - at the New Castle Motorsports Park. The racing action was furious as drivers contested three heat races for all six divisions as they are looking to be the first ever winners for the newly created national program. Former national champion Gary Carlton has put himself in the driver’s seat for the $3,500 check to win the KZ2 main event Sunday after earning victories in all three heat races. Canadian Michael Hogg has match Carlton’s performance in the IAME Senior group as the rest of the 28 drivers will look to make the right changes at a chance for the $3,000 pay day.
KZ2
After a slow launch of the grid, Gary Carlton (CRG) reassume the point in the opening heat race for the KZ2 field. Alex Speed (Tony Kart) held the spot briefly before Carlton retook the position. The race however was red flagged early when Alex Manglass (CRG) went off track mid-way down the long straightaway and made contact with a videographer on the infield. Manglass was shaken up while the cameraman’s injury was a broken foot. The race got back underway with a complete restart as Carlton and Speed showed the way once again. The race would be cut short on lap five after contact with Don McGregor (Italkart) and Brendan Phinny (Top Kart). Both walk away from the scary crash with McGregor putting together a backup machine for Sunday’s action while Phinny received a broken shoulder blade and will be sidelined for about four to six weeks. Carlton was credited with the win over Speed, Cole Mathewson (CRG), Gregory Liefooghe (Intrepid), and Alex Conlin (Birel).
Carlton cruised to the second heat race win as he would go unchallenged while Speed found himself battling Mathewson and Liefooghe. Mathewson would put his Evolution Karting entry into the second spot with Speed third and Liefooghe fourth. Manglass bounced back from his wreck to finish fifth.
The final race of the day Speed brought his A-game as he put pressure on SSC East driver throughout the event. Speed put down the fast laps of the race however it was Carlton that led all 10-laps for the victory. Speed however would lose the second spot as he would be found underweight at the scales. That promoted Mathewson to second with Liefooghe, Manglass, and Alex Grandahl (Top Kart) rounding out the top-five.
Carlton will have Mathewson joining him on the front row to start Sunday’s Prefinal with Speed slotted in P4, alongside Liefooghe.
 | KF2 thus far has been a battle between Fin driver Simo Puhakka and Arie Ouimet
(Photo: On Track Promotions - otp.ca) |
KF2
Pole sitter Simo Puhakka (PCR) was not to full song as the green flag waved allowing outside pole sitter Arie Ouimet (CRG) to slot into the lead through the opening corner. The entire outside lane got the better of the inside as Michael Hogg (Top Kart) advanced to second, dropping Puhakka and Alex Speed (Tony Kart) down the order. Once Puhakka adjusted the carb settings to his liking, he was back on pace, quickly moving into the second spot. Contact between Chris Wehrheim (Top Kart) and Speed allowed Jeremy Nelson (Kosmic) and British driver Josh Fielding - running onboard a Palm Beach International Raceway/Screaming Talent Tony Kart - to jump into the top-five. As the 10-lap heat race went on, Speed was the driver on the move, making multiple passing maneuvers to position himself back into the top-five. Up front, Ouimet and Puhakka ran nose to tail with the Finn stalking the young American. Puhakka made his move and went on to the victory with Fielding outrunning Speed for third with Hogg running fifth.
Puhakka got the better start to begin the second heat race, leaving SSC East’s Ouimet to play catch-up during the 10-lap race. Speed looked to challenge the Finnish champion but would not be able to mount a challenge. Instead, he was left trying to hold off Ouimet, who fell outside the top-five early on but posted the fastest laps of the race move to the back bumper of Speed. On the final lap, Ouimet got the job done and overtook the second spot and would go on to finish there, just under a second behind race winner Puhakka. Leading Edge Motorsports’ Jess Peterson (Intrepid) was fourth in the order ahead of Wehrheim.
Ouimet continued his momentum from the second heat drive to cruise to victory in the final race of the day. Puhakka and Speed were the early challengers until Speed fell victim to Wehrheim. Speed continued to fall in the order during the early portion of the race as too low of a tire pressure setting did not fit well with his setup. Out front, Wehrheim made the right adjustments and challenge Puhakka for the second spot. A couple of swaps and Wehrheim came away with the position in the end. Peterson earned another fourth place run with Speed able to reclaim a few spots that he lost to finish fifth.
Puhakka’s two wins earned him the pole position for the Prefinal with Ouimet again starting on the outside of the front row. Speed will hold his third starting spot with Peterson starting fourth while Wehrheim and Fielding fill up row three.
 | Michael Hogg was perfect on Saturday to start Sunday's IAME Senior action from the pole position
(Photo: On Track Promotions - otp.ca) |
IAME Senior
The IAME Senior group was anxious to get racing underway with the bulk of the field pushing and bumping the front few rows to try and get a jump on everyone. After a few failed attempts, the race finally got underway with pole sitter Michael Hogg (Top Kart) able to break away from the field early. He would go unchallenged to the win with Neil Alberico (Top Kart) sliding into second ahead of Comet Kart Sales and NCMP owner Mark Dismore Sr. (Arrow). Fourth place starter Eric Jones retired on lap two when his brakes locked up on his Arrow machine, continuing on from yesterday’s qualifying session. The fight for fourth was at least five karts deep with Mason Marotta advancing his Intrepid entry up from seventh to take the spot over CJ Lintner (Arrow), Tyler Wheeler (Italkart), Billy Lewis (Arrow) and Joe Paterson (Tony Kart). John Zartarian (Tony Kart) and Kyle Wiegand (Top Kart) completed the top-10.
Hogg continued to impress the paddock with another settler run in the second heat race. Dismore challenged early but lost ground to the Kartel Motorsports driver, who would go on to win by two seconds. Lintner put the elder Dismore back one position in the late goings of the race to cross the line second while Jones remedied his brake issues to run a strong fourth. Wiegand improved as well, charging up to fifth in the order ahead of Lewis. Zartarian put in another drive forward from his 16th starting spot as he run up seventh this time in front of Marotta. Alberico fell to ninth and Wheeler down to tenth.
Going three for three, Hogg wrapped up his sweep of the day’s action as he went flag-to-flag in the final heat race. Never making a mistake all day long, Hogg cruised to his third win. Dismore and Alberico had a great battle for second with Alberico taking the spot in the end. Jones ran fourth once again with Lintner in fifth. Champion Racing’s Joey Wimsett (Intrepid) put in his best performance of the day after a disappointing qualifying attempt Friday as he drove up to sixth. Wiegand was seventh with Marotta, Lewis, and Italian Motors’ Remo Ruscitti (Italkart) rounding out the top-10.
Hogg, Dismore, Lintner, and Alberico will fill the first two rows with Marotta and Wiegand starting in row three. Lewis, Zartarian, Wimsett and Neil McCoy (Top Kart) compete the starting top-10.
KF3
Phil DeLaO has been on point since jumping into the KF3 package with SSC East. Earning the pole position during yesterday’s qualifying session, DeLaO went unchallenged to a three-second victory in the opening lap. It was a great battle for second behind him with J3 Competition’s Tristan DeGrand (Kosmic) taking the spot over Taylor Miinch (Top Kart) and Shawn Sharkey (Merlin). British driver Sennan Fielding (CRG) fell back to fifth after starting second.
The second heat race however DeLaO was slow at the drop of the green flag which allowed Fielding to assume the point with DeGrand working by DeLaO to get into the second spot. The two put some distance between them and the rest of the field and began to fight it out for the top spot. About the halfway mark, DeGrand put it inside in the final corner to take over the lead. From there, he went unchallenged to just over one second advantage over Fielding. Miinch ran third with Sharkey crossing the line in fourth as DeLaO settle for fifth despite nearly running.
The third heat began minus one driver as Sharkey was unable to make it to the grid in time. The final KF3 race came down to DeLaO and DeGrand as the two went back and forth during the eight lap race with DeGrand coming out with the victory. Fielding led the rest of the field to finish third with Miinch and Sam Beasley (Arrow) rounding out the top-five.
DeGrand and DeLaO will start in row one with Fielding and Miinch in row two. Sharkey will start fifth despite his DNS in heat three alongside Brit Macauley Walsh (Birel).
IAME Junior
After multiple starting attempts - including a brief stoppage on-track - the IAME Junior field finally got going with their wheel-to-wheel action. After briefly losing the top spot, pole sitter Tyler Thomas (Top Kart) regained the position back, bringing along Team Top Kart USA teammate Taylor Miinch with him. The two stretched out to a four-second victory over the rest of the field. Austin Self (Birel) - still recovering from a broken foot from a non-racing incident - put in an impressive run from ninth up to third as he edged out Raquel Martinez (Top Kart) with Shawn Sharkey (Merlin) completing the top-five.
The fireworks went off for the second heat race as the contenders up front ran into issues in the opening laps. Thomas fell off on the opening lap with engine issues while Miinch dropped down the order after nearly spinning off track. This put Martinez at the point in the early goings until she was joined by a host of drivers making their way forward. The lead group was shuffled up when Californian Camden Geise (CRG) and Robby Seward (Tony Kart) went off into the last turn barriers. Fortunately, no one was hurt. Through the aftermath, Miinch had managed to work himself forward and inherited the lead. He would go on to win with DeGrand finishing second. Trent Hindman (Merlin) posted the fastest lap of the race enroute to his third place finishing, coming up from the 16th starting spot. Martinez ended up fourth with Sharkey crossing the line fifth.
It was ‘TnT’ showing the way in the final heat race as Thomas and Taylor went nose to tail throughout the eight lap race. Miinch looked as if he was going to mount an attack but never pulled the trigger as Thomas took the victory. Sharkey spent the entire race holding Martinez off and did just that to the checkered flag. Hindman benefitted from an opening lap incident to gain a number of positions in the first lap and then more as the race progressed to end up fifth.
Miinch’s finishes of second or better put him on the pole position with Martinez to start on the outside. Teammates Sharkey and Hindman will start from row two. Thomas will fall back to fifth in the order after his DNF in heat two, bring DeGrand with him to sixth.
Cadet
The North American Cadet drivers welcomed the three British drivers from the Formula Kart Stars program into the mix. George Russell (Top Kart) adapted to the New Castle circuit quickly and was able to challenge top qualifier Santino Ferrucci (Top Kart). In the opening heat, Russell was able to put a little bit of difference on Ferrucci for the win with Josh Saurino (Top Kart) ending up third. Saurino was closer in the second heat race, just 0.079-seconds short of stealing the victory from Russell with Ferrucci taking the third spot. The final edition saw Ferrucci end Russell’s win streak as he outran Ashley Rogero (Kosmic) for the win while Russell placed third.
Russell and Ferrucci will battle for the lead into the opening corner from the front row. Saurino and Rogero start from the second row with Austin Schoonmaker (Merlin) and Russell’s fellow countryman Alex Gill (Top Kart) in the third row. |
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