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| August 14, 2009 News |
| Rock Island Grand Prix – The Top-15 Performances - Numbers 8 and 9 |
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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 8 and 9 today.
 | John and Kyle Wiegand enjoy the first King of the Streets win in 2004
(Photo: EKN) |
Number 8 - Wiegand Wins First King of the Streets - 2004
Coming into the 2004 Rock Island Grand Prix, Kyle Wiegand had already tasted victory at on the streets in 2002 twice in the Intercontinental C (ICC) and now-defunct Biland division. Making his King of the Streets debut in 2003, Wiegand posted the quickest lap in qualifying to secure the pole position. A mid-race error however in a rain-dampened feature cost him his shot at the coveted crown. The next 364 days, he and his father John prepared like no other to make sure there was nothing left on the table when the final checkered flag waved.
Wiegand’s route to victory began like it did in ’03, securing the pole position with a new track record over Nick Green and then SKUSA CEO Joe Janowski - the winner of the first two editions in the SKUSA King of the Streets reign. At the drop of the green, Wiegand grabbed the whole shot as Green and Janowski would fade away and eventually retire. Chasing down Wiegand was RIGP veteran Alan Rudolph as he looked to keep it close and put pressure on the youngster. As the laps progressed it was Wiegand who emerged as the one putting down the quicker laps, slowly building a gap on Rudolph.
With the laps nearing the end, Wiegand had stretched out to a five-second advantage over Rudolph and completed his task when he took the checkered flag on lap 30. After receiving the checkered flag for his parade lap, he then demonstrated his donut making skills on the front straight with perfect circles. He would then surprisingly pull into the scales area where his father waited to greet him with open arms. Wiegand then walked to back up to the podium and crowning ceremonies at the start/finish line, where he was welcomed by a host of family members, including an excited mother-in-law, Cindy. Kyle would go on to repeat the victory in 2005 to add his name to list of repeat winners - Rudolph and Janowski.
“It felt great to win the King of the Streets for the first time, and a pretty good size winner’s check also” stated Wiegand when asked to recall the victory. “With the error the year before and a broken chain two years later, I wonder ‘what if’ as I could be the only driver with four in a row. Either way, I’ll continue to return to the Rock each year to keep adding victories and more King titles.”
 | Eric Jones, now team manager for BTK Motorsports, is guiding the new generation of drivers, no doubt using his experiences at the RIGP where he won four races in 1996
(Photo: EKN) |
Number 9 - Jones Claims Four Victories at RIGP - 1996
The Rock Island Grand Prix began to make history in just its third event in 1996 with the performance of the Granger, Iowa native Eric Jones. The then 19-years old driver was among those that made up a small group of street racing elite in the Midwest area. Driving for the famous California based Emmick Enterprises, Jones was able to bag four wins at the ’96 RIGP, nearly pulling off a fifth.
First up for Jones was the 2-Cycle Senior Sportsman division. With a large numbers in the class, it was split up with Jones taking the victory in the A main. The race was called after a red flag incident on lap 11 of the 15 scheduled laps with Jones awarded the victory ahead of California’s Joey Hand. In the Super Sportsman category - with 29 karts entered - Jones took the victory over two Illinois drivers Clint Ashmore and Kevin Snyder. He jumped out of his Yamaha-powered machine into a 4-Cycle Box Stock entry, taking the win ahead of John Grave and Tom Norris. His fourth victory came in the 4-Cycle Stock Medium category over another famous street racing - Brent Smith of Indiana. Smith and his brother Brian got the better of Jones - who finished third - in the Stock Light feature as they ended his chance at five on the event.
Added to the two wins he earned in the inaugural event in 1994 and his win total was boasted to six, where it still remains to place him eighth in the all-time winners list. Jones’ last visit to the Rock as a driver came in 2007 when he placed third, one spot behind his brother Brandon in the very competitive TaG Senior division.
“That event (1996) is one I’ll remember for a long time,” stated Jones over the phone from his current occupation as team manager at BTK Motorsports in Alabama. “Joey (Hand) came out to race with us as we had gone out west to race with him and the rest of the Emmick crew. The crazy thing about the Rock back then was they did pea-pick for starting positions instead of qualifying and luck was not on my side as I started near the back in every race. Then in the races where I had no teammates, I felt like a lone ranger out there with the Smith Brothers and the rest of the tough competition. It was some intense racing and those wins will always be with me as we had to work for all four of them.”
10 - Lawson Bags Three for Second Time at RIGP - 2005
11 - Birdsell Wins Record Five of Nine Races - 1998
12 - Scott Speed Wins King of the Streets - 2002
13 - Nelson Philippe Wins 125cc Semi Pro - 2002
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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