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| July 27, 2009 News |
| Rock Island Grand Prix – The Top-15 Performances - Numbers 12 and 13 |
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The Rock Island Grand Prix - recognized as the world’s largest street race - will be celebrating its 15th anniversary when Labor Day 2009 weekend rolls around this September. From the previous 14 events - beginning with a cold, rainy inaugural race in 1994 and rolling through to last year’s bright, sunny and historic weekend – we have assembled a number of memories that drivers, crew members, and spectators will remember for a lifetime. To help commemorate the 15th running of the popular event, eKartingNews.com - along with the help of RIGP historians - has created a list of the 15 best driver performances of the Rock Island Grand Prix. We’ll be unveiling them as we draw closer toward the September 5-6 event, looking at numbers 12 and 13 today.
 | Scott Speed's King of the Streets victory was his last in karting before moving to Europe in his progression toward Formula One
(Photo: rockislandgrandprix.com) |
No. 12 - Scott Speed Wins King of the Streets - 2002
When the 2002 edition of the Rock Island Grand Prix took place, the event was certainly hitting its best stretch with record entry numbers as it motivated more and more big-name drivers from across North America to make their way to the Quad Cities. Competitors from as far away as California, Texas, and Canada joined many of the top guns from the Midwest in the headline King of the Streets division, a list that included former Superkarts! USA ProMoto Tour national champion Scott Speed.
The Manteca, CA native made his first visit to the Rock aboard his trusty Tony Kart/SwedeTech Honda package and was sixth after the qualifying session, fighting an engine problem throughout the run. His time, however, was not far off as the top-six were separated by just two-tenths. A great start to begin the 30-lap main event saw Speed jump into the third spot as the field entered turn one. Speed then found himself in second after dropping James Willis to third, running on the bumper of the leader, Bobby Wilson.
Speed tried on numerous occasions in the early stages of the race to get inside of Wilson, as he was super quick on cold tires. Eventually, Speed slipped by on the inside for the lead and for the next five laps Wilson hounded the new point man in an attempt to re-take the lead. The front-running duo would be joined by a charging Preston Peebles, which changed the complexion of the race. The Texan began pressuring Wilson and their fight for second allowed Speed to inch away. Unchallenged the rest of the race, Speed would go on to take the crown by a 3.239-second margin of victory.
In an interview with Go Racing Magazine, Speed recalled the win, “I definitely didn't have the best stuff and I ended up still winning. I came up through and actually won, not doing fastest lap times, just racing hard. That would be what I say is the peak of my karting career.” The King of the Streets victory was Speed’s last run in karting before heading over to Europe as part of the Red Bull Driver Search program, leading into becoming the first American Formula One driver since Michael Andretti.
 | Future Champ Car driver, Frenchman Nelson Philippe, became the second foreign-born winner at the Rock Island Grand Prix in 2002
(Photo: rockislandgrandprix) |
No. 13 - Nelson Philippe Wins 125cc Semi Pro in 2002
The same year of Speed’s conquering in the King of the Streets category, the Rock Island Grand Prix welcomed its second foreign winner in the event’s nine-year history, Frenchman Nelson Philippe. Making only his second start in North America with Fittipaldi Kart Racing, Philippe challenged the SKUSA Formula S1 star Nick Bussell in the 125cc Semi-Pro category at the Rock.
Philippe took to the streets of Rock Island very well and posted the fastest lap in the qualifying session. Bussell timed in second with Texan John Kindhart sitting third. The 20-lap feature, however, would be a great one-on-one battle between Philippe and Bussell. Swapping the lead back and forth, Philippe took over the point for a final time with just a couple laps remaining, moving into a defensive strategy for the run to the checker. The Frenchman took the flag first, edging Bussell to the line by 0.389 seconds.
After crossing the finish line as the victor, he then stalled the kart on the back straight and ran back around to the start/finish line. RIGP had promised him a make-good victory lap if he came back to defend his title, however, he graduated to the Barber Dodge Pro Series the following year and eventually Champ Car. Philippe returned to competition in the United States, qualifying for the 2009 Indianapolis 500 with HVM Racing.
14 - Alan Rudolph Bids Farewell to RBI with King of the Streets Win - 2006
15 - Loniewski Comes from Nowhere to Win TaG Senior in the Wet - 2005 |
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