|
 |
|
 |
| June 12, 2009 News |
| Jones and Harris Each Gain Second Duffy of IKF Road Race Grand Nationals |
| |
 | Mike Jones earned Duffy number two of the event in a wild Super Stock CR125 heat 2
(Photo: Hart Photography MotorSports) |
It was another long day at the Eagles Canyon Raceway with 14 different races taking place at the third day of the 2009 IKF Road Race Grand Nationals. The day was a smooth one with no incidents or bad weather to halt the action as the Southwest Roadrace Association (SWRA) kept the day on schedule. Nearly every class was decided in the final moments of their race with a number of Duffy winners decided by inches at the line.
Super Stock CR 125
Fresh off his Duffy win yesterday in his Rotax machine, Mike Jones jumped into his Stock Moto ride and led the field through the opening lap of the first heat. Nick Lucido and Stuart Robinson held second and third as the first seven karts were within reach of each other. Lucido drafted by Jones as they completed the second lap with Mike Smith now running in third. As they came by the next time, Smith was credited for leading the lap as the top four, including Cody Jolly began to put some distance on fifth, sixth and seventh. Lap four Jones and Lucido held the top two spots with a couple kart length advantage over Smith and Jolly. On lap seven they began to get a little more racey as they entered turn one three wide after Jones got a great draft down the straight. They continued to dice it up for the remainder of the race, which came down to just three with Jolly losing the draft. Jones led them through the first half of the track and as they came down the hill after the long back straight, Smith held the point. He would be able to hold off the charges of Lucido and Jones. Jolly caught back up but finished fourth with Bill Glick beating Mark Beville to the line for fifth. Smith however came in underweight and sat out the second heat.
Things got crazy for round two with Jones, Jolly, Lucido, and Beville breaking away for a four kart war around the 2.5-mile circuit. Exchanging the lead lap after lap, drivers began drafting bumping one another to try to break away. The turning point of the race was the beginning of lap nine when the head flagman displayed a black flag and kart number on the board Jolly for aggressive bumping. Lucido, who crossed the line first, believed it was the checkered flag, raised his hands in the air in what he thought was victory. Jones, Jolly and Beville continued on at pace while Lucido slowed. As they came through turn 10 near the pits, Jones began slowing as did Beville. Jolly drove on into the pits while Jones and Beville continued on around to the front straight. Lucido followed Jolly into the pits however and found out his mistake. He got refired and rejoined the race back in fifth. Jones would be able to get away from Beville and ran to the checkered flag for his second Duffy of the event. Glick moved up to third in the order with Justin Davis ahead of Lucido.
With Jones on top of the podium, Lucido earned the second place trophy despite his error. Beville earned the third spot with Gulick and Davis completing the podium.
Unlimited FKE III
With the late entry of Jayce Haghihi, the Unlimited division was eligible for the Duffy. Haghihi and Ryan Kurpiewski looked to battle for the first heat however Kurpiewski parked his ride at the end of the straight on the opening lap with mechanical issues. Haghihi went unchallenged to the win with Larry Kurpiewski running second in front of Casey Bartram and Glenn Ingram.
The second heat began with Jayce and Ryan running nose to tail and could have been a great battle to the end until Kurpiewski retired again, this time on lap four with more troubles. Haghihi went on to take the heat and overall victory for the Duffy. Larry Kurpiewski was second again with Glenn Ingram moving to third after Casey Bartram was unable to finish.
 | Russell Pool held off the Formula 80 Senior field for the overall victory
(Photo: Hart Photography MotorSports) |
Formula 80 Sr.
Competing in three classes, Mark Beville began his second class of the day lead the 80 Senior opening heat race. After he got out to a solid lead in the opening two laps, Russell Pool and Thomas Muth were able to gain the ground to make it three for the lead. Pool and Muth were able to breakaway for a two-kart battle. Muth paced himself behind Pool the entire race to set up a sling shot to the checkered flag. By 29-thousandths of a second, Muth took the victory. Beville ran third with Allen Flemming and Chance Pool rounding out the top-five.
The fight for the second heat win was a fight between three drivers - including Muth, Pool and Flemming after Beville retired on lap three with a loose water hose. The lead trio went back and forth for the top spot through the entire 20 minutes and decided it in the final few feet. A little bit of lap traffic could have played a factor in the final trip around the circuit but the leaders got around with no problem. Flemming held the lead as they came around the final half of the track with Muth losing a bit of ground. As they came around the last corner - turn 11 - Pool got a great draft and got to the line first by 0.049-seconds over Flemming. Muth crossed third with McAlister and Chris Reudelhuber rounding out the top-five.
Pool would add another Duffy to his trophy case with his performance. Muth was placed second overall with Fleming third. McAlister fourth in the final order with Beville earning the fifth place.
Formula 80 Junior
The opening heat race for the 80 Junior field was all Jared Trengrove as he put down a blistering opening lap to pull out a three second advantage over the rest of the field. Trengrove was able to record a sub-two minute lap time enroute to a 19.144-second victory over Bristol Gunderson. Thomas Waddington challenge Gunderson in the early portion but lost ground as the race went on and settled for third. Alex Tartaglia was slow off the line and managed to climb back to fourth ahead of Brekk Harris.
Trengrove found himself under pressure in the second heat with Gunderson able to pick up the pace to run on his bumper the entire 20 minute race. It looked as if Gunderson was buying her time, waiting for the right moment at the end however a missed shift cost her some real-estate on the leader. Trengrove took the heat win and overall victory for the Duffy. Both he and Gunderson ran their fastest lap on the final circuit with Gunderson earning the second step on the podium. Jack Murray also picked up the pace and won the fight for third to the line over Harris with Waddington falling off the pace a bit to fifth.
With the top two decided, the final three spots on the podium came down to a three way tie between Murray, Harris and Waddingham. The second heat result were the tie breaker and they would be placed on the podium in the same positions as they finished.
 | Jamey Brown rebounded from a spin to win the Yamaha KT100s Light Laydown division
(Photo: Hart Photography MotorSports) |
Rotax Max Light
The 30-minute Rotax Max Light race was not a repeat of the Heavy events on the opening day. Gabriel Bargas got a great jump from the LeMans start and was out nearly a three-second advantage by the time he came across to complete the first lap. The distance between him and Heavy winner Kelleher remained about the same for the entire race and Bargas went unchallenged for the win. Mike Jones was closing in on Kelleher but the jetting on his Rotax slowed him in the second half of the race, crossing in third place. Bill Gulick recovered from a slow start to end up fourth however was removed in the tech barn. Terry Prather moved up one spot with Taylor Bertram completing the podium.
Yamaha KT100s Light Laydown
The Yamaha Light Laydown race was decided in the final inches after the long 45-minutes of racing. Yesterday’s Heavy winner Michael Sampson looked to have the win in hand after stretching out to a good lead in the early portion. A cut tire however would cost him a chance at his second Duffy of the event on lap seven. The fight for second then became the battle for the win with four karts taking a shot in the early goings. The four spaced out some after the halfway mark. In the final laps of the race, Craig McLain was leading with Jamey Brown looking to track him down. Brown continued to cut into the gap and would finally catch McLain down the back straight on the final lap with a sling shot move. McLain kept on Brown’s bumper through the finals corners to plan a sling shot pass of his own on the front straight. The two weaved side to side like you would see at the end of the Indy 500 with Brown getting to the line by just 0.132-seconds. Taylor Bertram inherited third after Mike Sampson retired on lap 16 after spinning in turn seven. Donald Meyering then won the battle for fourth over Tim Kyser as the duo kept close the entire race.
 | Waylon McCulloch redeemed his heartbreak from day two by clinching the Formula 125 Ltd Duffy
(Photo: Hart Photography MotorSports) |
Formula 125 Ltd
The opening heat race for the Formula 125 Limited saw Waylon McCulloch and Russell Pool dicing for lead in the early portion of the race. The two swapped the position a few times before settling in into a rhythm for a late race dual. Poll’s pace however began to fall off with about five minutes to go as the powerplant began to smoke. He would eventually pull off to end his race and chance at a Duffy early. This allowed McCulloch to cruise to the heat win. Todd Vandermolen ran alone to second after Kyle Piepenbrok - who ran the fast lap of the race - retired on lap three when his water pump belts broke. Mike Smith crossed the line third with Danny Howie and Coy Dayton following.
The lead group to begin the final heat was most of the field until after the two laps when the front four of McCulloch, Howie, Vandermolen, and Piepenbrok. Smith was with the leaders but was black flagged off on lap five for losing his front nose piece. Howie and McCulloch put a little distance from third and fourth however it closed back up with two laps to go. Howie fell from the lead to fourth with Piepenbrok slotted into the second spot behind McCulloch. As they came back into view from the back straight, McCulloch and Howie were at the point with Vandermolen sliding into third ahead of Piepenbrok. Coming to the final corner, Howie went deep in the braking zone but slide wide on the exit. McCulloch pulled the over-under to pull inside down the straight. The run was good enough that McCulloch beat Howie to the line by two-tenths. Piepenbrok slipped by Vandermolen at the line for third but was bounced at the scales. Scott Rister was moved up to fourth with Weston McCulloch advancing from the tail of the field to fifth.
Waylon earned the Duffy with his two heat wins with Vandermolen placed in the runner-up spot. Howie was third in the order with Rister and Dayton rounding out the podium.
125cc-150cc Open/FKE II
The same division where he won his Duffy in 2005 at Oak Hill, John Kindhart repeated the same feet by running the full 45-minute race with a modified fuel tank to make the distance. Anthony Honeywell ran his laydown machine to second with Tim Kyser, Casey Bartram and Stuart Robinson filling out the podium.
 | Phil Harris won a thriller in Yamaha Ltd Heavy Sprint to wrap up day three
(Photo: Hart Photography MotorSports) |
Yamaha Ltd Heavy Sprint
To complete the long day of action, the final race on track provide a great bit of excitement in the 30-minute race for the Yamaha Limited Heavy Sprint group. Following the LeMans start, four drivers made up the lead group, comprised of John Dale Brown, Jamey Brown, Phil Harris and DJ Ortiz. The lead train was locked into a solid draft but on lap three, Anthony Honeywell dropped done a monster lap alone to catch the pack of four. With five now in the mix, the racing got even better as plenty of three-wide action was seen around the course. Lap eight Ortiz however lost the draft as the lead group slipped away more and more each lap. Two laps later, Honeywell spun around in turn five, dropping him out of contention. The last round of the fight came down to three. In the final corner, John Dale went through the corner hot and lost the momentum while Jamey and Harris drag raced side by side to the line. After a bunch of bouncing in their seats for some extra horsepower and a couple tire doughnuts on the sides of their machines, Harris was first to the stripe by 0.037-seconds. The Brown duo settled for second and third while Honeywell was advanced to fourth after Craig McLain was black flagged for bumping. Ortiz would complete the podium.
For complete coverage of the IKF Road Race Grand Nationals, visit the Official Event Page where you can find reports, results and photos. To keep up with the event as its happening or to comment, click over to the Official Discussion Thread. |
|
|
Go Top
|
|
|
|
|
