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| September 17, 2009 News |
| EKN Trackside: Rotax Max Challenge USA Grand Nationals - Thursday Report |
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The first day of official on-track action took place today for the ninth running of the Rotax Max Challenge USA Grand Nationals. The weather over the Oklahoma Motorsports Complex in Norman, Oklahoma has been changing nearly every hour since teams began arriving last weekend. Today was no different with a soaked track starting things off and drying out mid-way through qualifying. The rains stayed away long enough once again for the first full round of heat races setting the tone for the rest of the event.
Senior
As they were in practice yesterday, Joey Wimsett and Phillip Arscott led the Senior field in the qualifying session. Wimsett was first on the charts aboard his Intrepid until Arscott posted a quicker lap the next time by in his new Tony Kart. Wimsett returned the favor with a faster lap - 46.687, this time holding on for the remainder of the session. Arscott was just 0.060-seconds short, nothing compared to the one-thousandths of a second they were separated in Wednesday’s final practice. Behind them, defending champion Arie Ouimet (CRG) fell outside the top five early but late laps after some changes on pit lane put him up to third - within a tenth of the top two. Zach Beard (Birel) was a late charger as well, posting his fast lap on his 11th circuit to end up fourth in the order, however, he came across the scales underweight. That moved Gregory Liefooghe (Intrepid) up to fourth with Stepanova Nekeel (Mach 1) also advancing up late to complete the fast five. Victor Pedrosa (Tony Kart) was sixth with Clint Korte (Birel) in the seventh spot. Andrew Hawkins (FA Kart) was quickest in the first group and was eighth overall with Ben Naemura and Andy Dunne (Birel) rounding out the top ten.
Wimsett led the field to the green flag to begin the A vs. B heat race. Arscott slotted in behind as the majority of the field went through the opening corner with no issues. Lap two Arscott was able to work by for the lead with Wimsett returning the favor around the banked turn 10. Arscott then settled in on Wimsett’s bumper until the white flag displayed. That’s when Arscott pulled the trigger as he made a late braking move into the first turn and surprised Wimsett. This allowed Arscott to exit cleanly as Wimsett was a bit slower coming out. Arscott took the win by seven-tenths over Wimsett as Nekeel held off Pedrosa for third with Geoffery Roberti (Tony Kart) moving up from seventh to fifth.
The front four of Ouimet, Korte, Liefooghe and Hawkins out front away from the field to begin the C vs. D. Liefooghe made a move for second in turn 12 but slight contact between three of them allowed Ouimet to open up a solid lead. With the help of a lapped kart, Ouimet stretched out a little more and cruise to the victory. The same lap kart broke up the battle for second with Liefooghe taking second ahead of Korte and Hawkins. Ryan Kinnear (Intrepid) had a solid run as he moved up to fifth.
DD2
The DD2 qualifying session was an interesting 15-minute run with a changing track from beginning to end. Most began on rain tires but as the session went on, several began to dive into the hot pit for a change for the slick Mojo tires. The first to do so was James Carey (Arrow). The Colorado driver posted a fast lap of 48.023 as he was able to hold off the late charges of Carlos Duenas (CRG), Cody Hodgson (Tony Kart), Troy Castaneda (CRG) and Thiago Parazinho (CRG).
Lots of contact in the opening lap dropped Carey, Hodgson, and Castaneda back outside the top-five as Duenas was out front early until Erik Jackson (Arrow) and Parazinho worked by on the second lap. The top four, including Nathan Mauel (CRG), were out to a solid lead as they began to shuffle for position. Duenas and Parazinho worked together to both slide by Jackson for the front two positions and stretched out to a good size lead in the closing laps. In the end, Duenas held on for the win over Parazinho. Jackson crossed the line third with Mauel in fourth as Hodgson worked himself up to fifth.
Masters
With a complete dry track following the lunch break, the Masters group hit the track for their qualifying session. The early sessions laps were the determining factor as only a few drivers were able to better their best laps in the latter half of the 15-minute session. John Crow (Birel), looking for his first Rotax Grand Nationals championship, led the session early on as he has been near the front all through practice. Lap five however former Masters champion Andy Seesemann (Birel) went just a click quicker to hold the provisional spot. Crow came in on lap seven, making a few adjustments before hitting the track. Seesemann came in soon after, parking his machine and waiting out for someone to top his lap. As the time ran off, Seesemann locked in the pole position with his 48.383 lap. Crow held on to second - just 0.068-seconds off to start outside row one for the heat races. Jim Busby Jr. (Arrow) slide into the third spot in the middle portion of the session with last year’s pole winner Paul Bonilla (Birel) sitting fourth and David Busby (Arrow) rounding out the fast five until the tech barn where Busby was removed for coming in underweight. That moved yesterday’s fast driver Todd Ulmen (CRG) into the fifth spot to start the heat races.
The Masters group showed the rest of the paddock how to start a race to begin their opening heat race, nice and slow to the green flag. As they went through the first corner, Crow had the momentum from the outside to clear Seesemann for the point with Busby, Mike Daniel (CRG) and Bonilla slotting in behind. Seesemann returned to the lead with a draft by Crow on the third lap of the 10-lap event as the top five kept things close early on. Seesemann tried to shake Crow off his bumper and was able to do so in the last two laps, taking the win by 0.616-seconds. Crow crossed second ahead of Busby, Daniel and Bonilla as no one was able to change their position.
Junior
Split up into two groups, the Junior field took to the track with a fast drying track. No one was on rain tires as the conditions fit for slick Mojo rubber. The second group out were the top 19 drivers from Wednesday’s final practice. The track gained more and more rubber as drivers posted quicker laps. A number of drivers held the provisional pole position but it was Jesus Rios Jr. (CRG) that clinch the P1 spot with a 47.232 lap. Putting two Florida drivers on the top two was Nick Neri (Tony Kart) sliding into second, just 0.049-seconds back. Phil DeLaO (CRG) was third in the order with Rotax Summer Shootout winner Alec Udell and last year’s runner-up Taylor Miinch - both aboard Top Karts - completing the fast five.
DeLaO started on pole for the C vs. D heat race and was able to get away cleanly from the field as he established a large lead in the opening lap. Behind him, the field shuffled around with Louie Pagano (Birel) coming out as the second place runner after starting fourth. Pagano ran the quick laps of the race chasing down DeLaO. On the final lap, Pagano closed onto DeLaO’s bumper but was unable to make a move as they crossed the stripe separated by just a few feet. Mason Chelootz (Top Kart) came up from seventh to run third with Udell falling back to fourth, ahead of Dylan Lupton (Birel).
The outside line was not the preferred line for the Junior group as the A vs. B heat race got underway. Neri slid off course at the exit of the opening corner, allowing a number of drivers to pass by. Out front, Rios established a solid lead over Miinch, Ethan Ringel (Tony Kart) and Alessandra Madrigal (Kosmic). Lap seven saw an amazing move from Neri who worked himself up to fourth after his poor start. As he drafted down the straight, Ringel went to pass Miinch for second with Neri sling-shooting by both into the first turn to take over second. Behind him, they began to shuffle for third with Jake French (Birel) assuming the position after some jostling. Ringel slotted into fourth as Miinch fought a number of drivers for the fifth spot. Completing the 10-lap race, Rios took the win over Neri and French. Ringel held on for fourth with Miinch falling to sixth behind Sage Karam (Birel).
Mini Max
With the two groups out for the qualifying runs, the track began drying for the Mini Max drivers, however, it was not enough for slick tires. The second group, filled with the fast 20 from Wednesday’s practice session, led the way with Trenton May (CRG) scoring the fast lap honor to start on the pole for all three heat races. Last year’s Micro Max champion Patricio O’Ward (Arrow) was second on the order with Derek Scott Jr. (Birel), Jordan Perry (CRG) and Michael Davis (Birel) rounding out the fast five.
The first heat race saw O’Ward able to break away for a one-second victory in the A vs. B heat race however officials penalized him 10-seconds for a start infraction. This gave second place finisher Ethan Low (Birel) the win over Derek James Sobel (FA Kart) and Michael Womack (Birel). May crossed the line fourth with Garrett Sargeant (Kart Mini) moving up to fifth. O’Ward was placed 12th in the order and thus putting him in a tough position for the remaining two heat races.
The second heat race, with C vs. D, saw a great battle for the win including Perry, Blake Berryhill (Interpid) and Dalton Sargeant (Kart Mini) after a complete restart for a red flag on the first start attempt. Once restarted, Sargeant was able to make a late pass stick over Berryhill for the win. Perry led early but fell back to third with Pietro Fittipaldi Da Cruz (Tony Kart) and Thomas Issa (CRG) rounding out the top-five. Perry however was penalized for a starting infraction, moving him back to 12th and putting Scott into the top-five.
Micro Max
Logan Sargeant (Kart Mini) was the top driver in the qualifying session for much to run until Joshua Sirgany (Tony Kart) stole the position at the end, edging out by just 0.073-seconds on the wet track. Anthony Gangi Jr. (CRG) was third quickest with Juan David Bonilla (PCR) and Darren Keane (Tony Kart) completing the fast five.
The front two was able to break away clean at the start of the seven lap heat race. Sargeant used the outside line with the momentum to take the lead over Sirgany. The two then pulled out to a large lead with Sargeant earning the win by 4.492-seconds with a fast lap of 54.464. Behind them, a great battle for third took place with Enzo Fittipaldi Da Cruz (Tony Kart) coming up from 10th to third, edging out eight place starter Matthew Thomas (CRG) and Devlin DeFrancesco (FA Kart) - who started 13th. Gangi fell back on the opening lap after contact in the tight turn eight, finishing eighth behind Bonilla and Max Hewitt (Top Kart).
Friday will see the completion of the heat races as rounds two and three will take place including the Last Chance Qualifiers for Mini Max, Junior and Senior. To follow the action for the last two days, click over to the Official Discussion Thread and check out the Event Page. Photos from On Track Promotions will be coming soon. |
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