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| June 28, 2009 News |
| EKN Trackside: Championship Karting International Grand Prix of New Jersey - Sunday Report |
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 | Gary Carlton was nearly perfect on the weekend and extends his KZ2 championship lead with the main event victory
(Photo: On Track Promotions - otp.ca) |
The second round of the Championship Karting International series completed Sunday afternoon after three days of competition at the New Jersey Motorsports Park in Millville, NJ. The F1 New Jersey facility hosted the Grand Prix of New Jersey on the 1.03-mile circuit. The new elite championship series continues to develop their image after making its debut at the end of May. Just five weeks old, the atmosphere around the paddock is a positive one with many looking forward to what is in store for the future of the program. The weather on the final day was picture perfect with many different stories unfolding each time on track.
KZ2
A lost neck brace was the only thing that slowed down two-time national champion Gary Carlton in the KZ2 division. After earning the top qualifier honors Friday afternoon, Carlton’s only trouble of the event came in the opening heat race Saturday when his neck collar fell off. From there, he would go on to dominate the rest of the weekend. On Sunday, Carlton grabbed the holeshot from the P1 grid position. Fritz Leesmann, who started outside of row one, was the early challenger for the current number one ranked driver by eKartingNews.com. Posting lap times quicker than his track record pace in qualifying Friday, the SSC East/CRG driver stretched it out to six-second victory in the 12-lap event. Leesmann was beginning to pick up the pace as well but would have to settle for second. Gregory Liefooghe was able to hold off SSC East’s Alex Manglass for third as they ran close the entire race.
In the main event, Leesmann put his PSL Karting/CRG on the back bumper of Carlton in the opening lap but on cold tires, Carlton was just too much and began putting space between each other. Eventually, the margin would be nine-seconds after the 18 laps with Carlton on top of the podium for the second straight CKI event. Leesmann, who had not competed in a kart since March, muscled his way to the second place position. The race to watch in the final was for the third spot as Manglass continued to pressure Leading Edge Motorsports driver Liefooghe. In the end, Manglass was able to make a pass stick and cross the line third for an all CRG podium. Don McGregor ran a solid fifth in his Italian Motors entry after early battles with local driver Michael Rivera aboard his privateer Birel machine.
 | Arie Ouimet nearly led all the laps on the weekend in the KF2 category and now leads the championship with the feature win Sunday
(Photo: On Track Promotions - otp.ca) |
KF2
Similar to his SSC East/CRG teammate Carlton, Arie Ouimet was nearly untouchable in the KF2 division. After dominating the heat races on Saturday, Ouimet was projected to repeat that feat on Sunday. The rest of the KF2 field had other thoughts as they stepped up the pace, beginning with the 10-lap Prefinal. Richard Benitez was the challenger in the Prefinal, starting third behind Ouimet. Posting the fast lap of the race, the J3 Competition pilot kept Ouimet in his sights the entire race however was not able to overtake for the lead. Ouimet took the win with Benitez a close second. Brett Felkins was third as he continued to show consistency aboard his Leading Edge Motorsports Intrepid entry while New Castle podium finisher Chris Wehrheim (Team Top Kart USA) was fourth.
In the feature, Ouimet would find himself in an unfamiliar position in the early goings of the 14-lap event. Felkins used the inside line to overtake the lead position in the second corner of the opening lap while Benitez would demote Ouimet to third later in the lap. Ouimet however showed the poise and maturity of a veteran driver at the young age of 18 and made the calculated moves to return to the point before the halfway mark. From there, the rest of the field battled hard for the second spot as Ouimet posted the fast laps of the race to break away to a three-second victory and secure the championship lead. Felkins won the battle for second with Benitez completing the podium. Shin Iguchi (J3 Competition) over came an early spin to retain the fourth spot after Wehrheim retired on lap eight with a mechanical issue.
 | Brazilian Andre Nicastro came from 15th to first in a wild IAME Senior Final
(Photo: On Track Promotions - otp.ca) |
IAME Senior
Italian Motors’ Andre Nicastro was making the headlines in IAME Senior in the first two days of the Grand Prix of New Jersey and he continued to do so on Sunday however in a more exciting fashion. The Brazilian dominated the first two days and was well on his way to a weekend sweep until the rest of the field caught up Sunday morning. Starting the Prefinal from the pole position, Nicastro felt pressure from Top Kart drivers Neil Alberico and Kyle Wiegand. Alberico was the first driver to demote Nicastro on the weekend, assuming the lead in the 10-lap race. Wiegand then began to pressure Nicastro as the two engaged in a heated battle that resulted in Nicastro sliding off-line in the ‘Lightbulb’ section of the F1 New Jersey circuit with help from Wiegand. Nicastro would then be forced to pull off the track when his neck collar fell off and was black flagged, classified in 15th. With help from Wiegand and Nicastro bunching up the top ten, Alberico was able to slip away to a comfortable gap while fellow Top Kart driver Neil McCoy began to make a charge forward from 11th. Knifing his way toward the front, the Team PKS driver eventually found himself on Wiegand’s bumper, After moving by him, McCoy set his sites on Alberico, putting down the fastest laps of the race. Once to Alberico, it was a quick pass into turn one that helped him assume the point and from there pull out to a two-second victory. Alberico and Wiegand completed the top three with New Castle runner-up Joe Paterson and winner Mason Marotta into the top-five.
The start of the feature event saw a few contenders get collected as Marotta and Michael Hogg - who started seventh - were the victims and assumed positions at the tail of the field. Up front, McCoy controlled the point with Wiegand slotting into second ahead of Alberico. The driver to watch however was Nicastro as he was up to sixth by the end of the opening lap. From there, he picked off a position one by one, eventually making it up to third. Wiegand took one look over his shoulder and saw Nicastro on the charge and began to pick up his pace. Once by McCoy, he gave a good tap on the helmet to get McCoy to work together. That however would not help the two as Nicastro crept in and made the lead group a three kart battle. McCoy fought to keep Nicastro at bay but it would be for not as the 20-year karting veteran assumed the second spot and then set his sights on Wiegand. Many expected some type of retaliation for the Prefinal jaunt however Nicastro made an aggressive but clean pass on Wiegand for the lead. From there, Wiegand and McCoy mixed it up in a few corners, allowing Nicastro to pull away and take the victory. Wiegand crossed the line second with McCoy third. Paterson was able to get his Team PBIR/Screaming Talent Tony Kart machine by Alberico for fourth to help keep him near the top of the championship standings.
 | With the win in KF3, Taylor Miinch positions himself in the championship chase
(Photo: On Track Promotions - otp.ca) |
KF3
Aside from a spin in the opening heat race, Phil DeLaO looked as if he would be the driver to beat in KF3. The SSC East/CRG driver started the Prefinal on the pole position after winning two of the heat races. Getting a great start, DeLaO lead the field around but would not see a gap form after the first circuits around the track. Heat one winner Taylor Miinch put his Top Kart on the bumper of DeLaO and kept it there for the entire 10-lap race. At the checkered flag, the two were separated by just 83-thousandths with J3 Competition’s Tristan DeGrand moving up from fifth to third.
DeLaO however would see the racing bug strike as he lost power while leading in the opening lap. That bunched up the field behind him as the scattered to avoid running up the back of his CRG. That caused contact with Maranello drivers Evan and Madeline Komar and collecting Shawn Sharkey as well. The result of DeLaO’s trouble would be a bad carburetor gasket. Out front, DeGrand assume the point with Miinch a close second. With two to go, Miinch finally made his move and was able to put inside his Top Kart for the lead. DeGrand fought hard to regain the spot back but nothing would materialize as Miinch went on to earn the checkered flag. With DeGrand second and winning New Castle, the championship chase tightened up with the two locked at the top. Sharkey was able to climb back up to third as he was able to get around the Tony Kart of RC Enerson with Evan Komar in fifth.
 | Miinch redeemed his DNF from round one in IAME Junior with victory in New Jersey
(Photo: On Track Promotions - otp.ca) |
IAME Junior
The odds makers in Atlantic City had a tough time figuring out just who was the best bet in the IAME Junior division with a number of drivers in the hunt all weekend long. CRG privateer Camden Geise was the most consistent of the 14 drivers and sat in the P1 slot for the 10-lap Prefinal. The early laps saw at least eight drivers making up the lead group until contact between Geise and Birel driver Austin Self shuffled up the running order and allowed Taylor Miinch to break away from the field. Miinch put in solid laps and stretched out to a two-second win. Phil DeLaO came across the line second with Tyler Thomas moving his Top Kart up from tenth to third - recording one of the best passes of the weekend when he went by two drivers in turn three with a deep braking maneuver. New Jersey driver Trent Hindman was fourth with Mark Pellegrini making the big jump from 14th to fifth with the quickest laps of the race. It would be all for not however as he would be bounced in the tech barn for a radiator violation. That moved Self up to fifth ahead of Geise.
Riding off the victory in KF3 moved the momentum over the to IAME Junior feature where he started from the pole position and led all 14-laps to his second victory of the day. DeLaO pressured early however was not able to keep the same pace as Miinch and run comfortably in second until a charging Pellegrini made his way to third and closing fast. Starting last after the Prefinal disqualification, Pellegrini repeated his performance in the Prefinal as he zigzagged his way forward once again. Recording the fast lap of the race once again, Pellegrini made his way to DeLaO with about two laps to go and took over the second spot into the first corner. On the exit he would wash up high and DeLaO took advantage to slide back underneath into the next corner. DeLaO stepped up the pace a bit and held off Pellegrini in the final stages to secure the second spot while Pellegrini recorded his first national podium finish and second straight top-five result. Geise moved up to fourth, edging Thomas for fourth with New Castle winner Sharkey in sixth.
 | Ryan Raffa was the feel-good story throughout the weekend and came through for the Cadet feature win
(Photo: On Track Promotions - otp.ca) |
Cadet
The Cadet category was exciting, as always, but Sunday’s events did not follow the standard formula right through to the end. The Prefinal was regular fare, with many overtaking moves and loads of drafting. A lead pack of six cars developed early, with local driver Ryan Raffa leading Gresham Wagner during the final circuits. Wagner had shown great poise in working his way to second place in the late going of the eight-lapper, putting himself in a position to take the victory. Wagner resisted the urge to attack and stayed attached to Raffa’s bumper, finally pulling the trigger at the start of the final lap in turn two. He would hold off the former leader to secure the pole position for the main event. Behind the lead duo, Ashley Rogero bounced back from a Saturday flip to steer her way into the lead pack, taking a solid third place finish to re-establish her goal of a race win. Heat race winner Josh Saurino was fourth ahead of Austin Schoonmaker, who was continuing to pick up his pace.
The final was quite a different story. Instead of seeing a large draft pack slinking around the NJMP circuit, a few over-aggressive moves early in the race shook up the order, putting local driver Raffa at the front of the field with a small advantage. Wagner saw his shot at the win go away when he made contact with Santino Ferrucci in the ‘Light Bulb’ corner after diving inside Saurino for a position. Ferrucci would spin and come back to cross the line in ninth, but upon review by the officials, Wagner was eventually penalized two positions to fifth while Ferrucci was penalized for other incidents during the course of the final and penalized two positions as well. Back up front with Raffa enjoying a slim cushion, the remaining challengers began to scrap for the head of their group, which allowed Raffa to run away to a very popular win. Saurino and Schoonmaker would complete the podium, while Zane Smith and Wagner capped the top-five.
For Raffa, it was the cap to an amazing weekend. Assisted in attending the race by several local karting families, Raffa performed extremely well under pressure and steered clear of any incidents, taking the largest win of his young career. After running so well against some of the top Cadet drivers from around the country, you can be certain that he won’t be intimidated at any club or regional race again. He has been tested and he came through with flying colors.
 | Russell Hamel dominated the local option Rotax Masters division on the weekend
(Photo: On Track Promotions - otp.ca) |
Rotax Masters
Russell Hamel put in a clean sweep for the local option Rotax Masters division at the Grand Prix of New Jersey. The CRG driver won all three heat races Saturday after scoring the pole position on Friday. In the 10-lap Prefinal, Hamel was chased by Maranello pilot Christopher Rock, scoring the victory by just one-second. In the final race of the weekend, Hamel felt some pressure early on from Rock but was able to stretch out to a six-second victory. Thomas Healy was able to run to comfortable third place finish after Tim Hannen retired on lap two with mechanical issues with Ed Oberholtzer completing the top-five.
The series will now gear toward the third round, set for August 7-9 at the CalSpeed Karting facility in Fontana, California. For many, this will be the first visit to the semi-temp circuit outside the Auto Club Speedway formerly known as California Speedway. A host of others will hope to use the home track advantage to stand on top of the podium and gain the need points toward the series championships. |
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