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| April 10, 2010 News |
| EKN Trackside: WSK North American Series by CKI - Saturday Report |
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 | Arie Ouimet began his KF2 title defense with a victory in the opening day of the New Castle round
(Photo: On Track Promotions - otp.ca) |
The first day of action completed for the opening round of the WSK North American Series by CKI today at the New Castle Motorsports Park in Indiana. The six divisions battled on the illustrious 1-mile circuit outside the Indianapolis area to begin the six-weekend national championship chase. With weather questionable for the month of April for the Midwest, CKI and the competitors enjoyed clear skies and comfortable temperatures. On track, the early season contenders showed their talent on the first day of racing with six different drivers scoring the inaugural wins in the new national series.
KF2
The KF2 category, the fastest group on the weekend, certainly showed speed in the qualifying session. Mounted with the Bridgestone YJB compound tires, the times were over a second quicker than last year’s CKI event in May 2009. Early on in qualifying, KF2 rookie Phil DeLaO (Top Kart) set the bar for the group as he was quickly into the 1:03s. As DeLaO made laps, defending champion Arie Ouimet (CRG) sat on pit lane waiting for the final half of the session to take to the track. On his out lap, Ouimet held the provisional pole but DeLaO would strike back. After swapping the spot a few more times, DeLaO secured the position with a 1:03.520 lap. Ouimet would have to settle for second with SSC East teammate Joey Wimsett (CRG) just a tick off in third. Former ICA national champion Joel Miller (Kosmic) was fourth in the order with Kyle Knecht (PCR) in fifth.
After two failed attempts, the green flag was waved with DeLaO leading the field through the opening corner. Ouimet was shuffled to the outside and lost two spots with Wimsett and Miller getting by. DeLaO put some space between he and Wimsett while Ouimet gained third back from Miller to start charging toward second. Getting around Wimsett, Ouimet began cutting into the 1.5-second advantage DeLaO had gained. Posting fast lap after fast lap, Ouimet found himself on the bumper of the leader. Turn four is where Ouimet gained a ton of real estate and with two to go, made his move by DeLaO for the lead in that section of the track. Striking back, DeLaO retook the position in turn seven. Coming to the checkered, DeLaO was able to get to the line first by 0.088-seconds with Ouimet and Wimsett on his bumper. Miller was alone in fourth with Madeline Komar (Maranello) in fifth as Knecht was unable to start the race with mechanical issues on pre-grid.
Ouimet got the jump at the drop of the green for the start of the 18-lap Final and DeLaO nearly put him sideways as they entered the corner. After collecting themselves, Ouimet continued on with Wimsett up to second, although shuffled back to fourth with DeLaO and Miller going by before completing the first lap. The next time around, DeLaO was on the chase and cutting into Ouimet’s early lead. By lap five, DeLaO reassumed the point and looked to be well on his way to victory until lap nine when his throttle stuck wide open and spun in the fast left-hand turn 10. Limping back to the pits, DeLaO saw a possible win slip away. This gave Ouimet the lead as he continued to outpace his teammate Wimsett. The two ran to a CRG 1-2 finish at the checkered with Miller piloting his J3 Competition entry to the third spot. Komar held fourth for all but the final lap when her clutch failed, handing the position to Knecht.
 | An impressive run by Neil Alberico earned him the TaG Senior victory
(Photo: On Track Promotions - otp.ca) |
TaG Senior
Wrapping up the qualifying round for the day was the TaG Senior field with another tight battle for the pole position. The early challengers were last year’s Junior champion Taylor Miinch (Top Kart) and fellow Senior rookie Robert Bujdoso (PCR), who switched to TaG following engine issues in KF2 on Friday. Both were near breaking the 1:06 mark, however, it would be Neil Alberico’s Wild Kart that would dip into the 1:05s. Powered by a Rotax engine, Alberico posted a 1:05.909 lap with five minutes left and pulled in. He sat on pit road, waiting for someone to better his time though no one would be able to challenge in the final minutes. Miinch and Bujdoso would go to second and third to make it three different engine makes (Rotax, Leopard, Vortex) in the top three. Kyle Wiegand (Top Kart) was fourth in the order as the top four were within three tenths of each other. Making it three rookies in the fast-five was Mark Pellegrini (CRG) to wrap-up the fast-five.
Clean through the opening corners of the Prefinal start, Alberico led the field around the first few corners with heavy pressure from Miinch. Coming to the stripe for the first time, Miinch got a great draft by Alberico to lead across the line. Behind them, Wiegand held third briefly until losing the spot to Pelligrini with Bujdoso dropping to fifth. Completing lap two, Wiegand was back into third as he found himself a full second behind Miinch and Alberico. On lap six, Wiegand was in chase mode when his race would come to an end as the chain broke off his Top Kart machine, putting him at the tail of the field for the Final. Meanwhile, Alberico mapped out a draft by Miinch to take over the top spot and extend a lead with some fast laps following the pass. Miinch then came under some pressure from Pelligrini while Conor Daly (FA Kart) had worked himself into fifth behind Bujdoso. On lap 10, Miinch was overcome by the constant pressure from Pellegrini to overtake the second spot. The following lap, Bujdoso went around Miinch in the inner-hairpin and then drafted by Pellegrini to claim second. His run at second would be short-lived as he dropped off the track and lost the same two positions. The remainder of the race went unchanged with Alberico taking the win over Pellegrini, Miinch, Bujdoso and Michael Politis who making his debut aboard a Merlin.
Two failed attempts from Alberico and Pellegrini to start the 18-lap Final forced officials to put Miinch and Bujdoso to the front row. After getting the green, it was three wide into the second corner with Pellegrini stuck in a bad position and spun to put him to the tail of the field. As the field settled in, the early top five was Miinch, Alberico, Bujdoso, Colton Aldridge (Arrow), and Wiegand who knifed his way to fifth from dead last. The top three ran together with Aldridge fighting off Wiegand in the early goings. Bujdoso was on the charge early and took over the point on lap four. Miinch would regained the spot on lap seven, only to have Bujdoso return the next time by, all happening before the halfway mark. As the race progressed, Alberico and Bujdoso swapped the fast lap of the race. With Bujdoso out front, Alberico was charging as he put Miinch back to third and was gaining on the leader. Lap 13, Alberico made his move at the inner hair-pin to take over the top spot. The two continued to swap the fast lap of the race however Alberico continued to show the way out front. With the end near, Alberico was the more consistent driver and went on to score the victory by half a second over Bujdoso. Miinch held on to third with Wiegand able to move up to fourth ahead of Aldridge.
 | Dominating the field in his KF3 debut, Mason Chelootz scored the win
(Photo: On Track Promotions - otp.ca) |
KF3
The qualifying session for the KF3 category was a shuffling act with drivers jumping around the order through the entire session. Doing the double duty on the weekend, Alessandra Madrigal (Kosmic) would come away with the pole position following a battle for the spot with Mason Chelootz (Top Kart). The two fast laps would be separated by just 0.070-seconds at the end of the session. As the checkered waved, Broc Yocom (Intrepid) snuck up the order as he bettered his time to steal third spot ahead of the PCRs of Kyle Smith and Andrew Bujdoso. In the end, the top eight would be separated by nine-tenths, signifying the competition level in the category.
Madrigal and Chelootz led the field to green flag to start the 12-lap Prefinal and the two made slight contact through the opening corner, resulting in Chelootz dropping off the track and falling to the tail of the field. Madrigal led the field through to the scoring loop for the first time with Yocom a solid second ahead of Smith. By the end of lap two, Chelootz had worked himself up to fifth behind Top Kart teammate Raquel Martinez as the quickest driver on the track to that point. He continued to get faster as the race went on, getting by Martinez and Yocom to begin reeling in Madrigal. Martinez, who started eighth, certainly made the right changes as she held strong on the bumper of Chelootz with the duo catching the leaders. With three laps to go, Chelootz made his move into turn five, getting to the inside of Madrigal. Martinez followed through to push Madrigal back to third. Dropping into single file, Chelootz put some distance between he and Martinez to cruise to the Prefinal win. Madrigal was a close third with Yocom in a solid fourth while Bujdoso held off Andrew Palmer (Kosmic) for the fifth spot.
Clean through the opening corner, the Top Karts of Chelootz and Martinez showed the way through the opening circuit with Yocom able to hold the third spot from the outside line to put Madrigal back to fourth. The early charge was from Palmer, making his first start in the KF3 category in his first visit to the New Castle facility in his maiden voyage aboard a Kosmic kart. He and Madrigal dropped Yocom to fifth and then he would get around his J3 Competition teammate for third. Madrigal went wide through the last corner on lap two, allowing Yocom to reclaim fourth as she lost more ground to the front runners. As Chelootz and Martinez ran alone out front, Palmer felt pressure from Yocom, who continued to show improvement during the season opener. By the halfway mark, Yocom found himself losing positions while Madrigal was the driver advancing forward. Out front, Chelootz continued to post the fast laps of the race, the only driver under the 1:07 mark to produce a three-second margin at that point. The fight for third heated up again as Madrigal had caught Palmer and was now looking for a way by for the position. As the two ran close together, Smith saw the battle for the podium in front of him and began make headway forward. With two to go, he was on Madrigal’s bumper when he went in too deep into turn 11 and went off track. Out front, Chelootz drove to a seven-second victory over Martinez for a Top Kart 1-2 finish. Palmer was able to hold off Madrigal for a podium finish in his CKI debut. With Smith driving off, Yocom advanced to fifth as he held off Evan Komar (Maranello) to the checkered flag.
 | Camden Geise gained the Leopard Junior victory in the final straight
(Photo: On Track Promotions - otp.ca) |
Leopard Junior
The first group on the track for the qualifying session was the Leopard Junior class. With temperatures in the low 50s, no track records were going to be broke in the session however times certainly improved from the morning warm-up after the drivers entered the track with fresh Bridgestone rubber. CKI rookies Joel Jens (Merlin) and Dore Chaponick (FA Kart) led the way early on in the session until the tires warmed-up and times began to drop below the 1:08 mark. Local driver and Junior rookie Karl Weber (Birel) used his home track knowledge to post the quickest lap of the session with a 1:07.646 lap time. Weber was quick all day on Friday and in the morning warm-up, and his time would withstand the challenges from CKI Grand Championships 2009 winner Alessandra Madrigal (Kosmic). The J3 Competition driver was just two-tenths off the MKP pilot’s time. Making it two females in the top-three was Raquel Martinez as she was able to post a sub-1:08 time to put her Team Top Kart USA entry on the third spot for the Prefinal. Jens ended up fourth in the order with Chaponick completing the fast five.
Weber got the jump as the green flag waved to begin the 12-lap Prefinal. The inside line benefitted Martinez as she put Madrigal back to third through the opening corners. Completing the first lap, Madrigal was able to draft by Martinez to retain the second spot through the final corner with Chaponick and Jens in tow. With three laps in the books, Madrigal caught up to Weber who extended a small lead early on. That would diminish to nothing and the two swapped positions on lap four. The dicing around by the top two brought Chaponick, Martinez, Jens and a charging Sebastian Ordonez (Kart Mini) from ninth on the grid to the tail of the lead group. As the group battle for third, the lead duo put down some fast laps to stretch out to a good lead again by the halfway mark. Madrigal worked by Weber for the lead and held off a late challenge for the win. Martinez broke away from the pack to a comfortable third while Camden Geise (CRG) was able to knife his way through to fourth ahead of Chaponick and Ordonez after starting eighth.
The start to the 18-lap Final saw Weber shuffled to the outside from his row one starting spot. As he looked to exit the opening corner, he would get turned around and Kiel Spaulding climbed over the side of his Birel and both went off track. Weber pulled off and ended what could have been a win in his WSK debut while Spaulding continued at the tail of the field. Early on the lead group was five karts with Madrigal, Chaponick, Martinez, Geise, and Ordonez. By lap three, Madrigal was back to fourth as the group continued to shuffle. Martinez and Geise each took a turn at the point as the lead group became six with Jens joining the fight.
At the halfway mark, the race look to be anybody’s for the taking. As they continued to shuffle for the lead, the group lost two drivers. Martinez and Geise had contact entering the last corner on the 1-mile circuit. The result was Martinez losing tons of ground to the lead group as Geise continued on. Jens was the other driver to drop out of the lead pack as his chain popped off exiting turn four. He was able to continue on at the tail end of the field after reattaching it. Geise and Madrigal established himself themselves as the top two, exchanging the lead a number of times. Madrigal held the lead at the white flag lap and through to the final straight. As she exited the corner, her throttle stuck halfway open and with low power, Geise pounced and took the point en route to the checkered for his first CKI victory. Madrigal limped to second as Ordonez edged out Chaponick for the final step of the podium ahead of Martinez.
 | Rotax Mini Max was all Dalton Sargeant as the CKI Florida Cup champion celebrated his victory
(Photo: On Track Promotions - otp.ca) |
Rotax Mini Max
Things were close at the top of the Rotax Mini Max qualifying order as three drivers were separated by just over a tenth of a second at the end of the session. Texan Cole Glasson (FA Kart) posted the fastest lap of the session with a 1:09.417 to edge out defending CKI Florida Cup champion Dalton Sargeant (Kart Mini) and DeFrancesco Racing teammate Patricio O’Ward (FA Kart). Logan Sargeant (Kart Mini), a defending Micro Max national champion one year ago, was fourth in the order with Blaine Rocha (Wild Kart) in fifth.
Glasson was able to hold back the field as the green flag waved to begin the 10-lap Prefinal. The Sargeant brothers worked the outside line to slide into second and third with O’Ward dropping to fourth. Both Sargeants attacked early as they put Glasson back to third by turn five. Dalton then shot out like a cannon to put some distance between he and Logan. With Dalton alone out front, Logan was pressured by the FA Kart trio of Glasson, O’Ward and DeFrancesco. The field stayed static for the remainder of the first half of the race and entering the second half, DeFrancesco was the quickest driver on the track. First getting by his teammates O’Ward and Glasson, Devlin drafted by Logan for the second spot as they came to the two laps to go signal. Out front, Dalton cruised to the victory and the pole for the Final. Glasson, who moved up to third at the white flag, pressured DeFrancesco in the final circuit. As they worked the final straight, contact between Glasson and Logan sent the Texan into the grass. At the line, DeFrancesco was second with Sargeant third ahead of O’Ward and Rocha. Glasson would end up ninth in the unofficial order however following a penalty Logan was placed behind Glasson for the contact, putting them eighth and ninth to start the Final.
The field shuffled through the opening corner with some jostling for position to begin the 12-lap Final. Dalton Sargeant was at the point while DeFrancesco fell to fourth with O’Ward and Rocha getting by. O’Ward slotted himself into second and Rocha was third until falling back to sixth on lap three. This put DeFrancesco back up to third and Glasson fourth from his eighth starting spot while Sargeant was up to fifth, closing in on the front four. At the halfway mark, Dalton’s lead was 1.5-seconds as the trio of FA Karts ran nose to tail behind him. The top two stayed unchanged for the remainder of the race with Sargeant taking the win by 2.260-seconds over O’Ward. DeFrancesco and Glasson went back and forth for the final podium step with Glasson earning the spot after a slight off track excursion in turn four by DeFrancesco. He would continue on to finish fourth ahead of Logan Sargeant.
 | Blaine Rocha held on to score his first Comer Cadet national victory
(Photo: On Track Promotions - otp.ca) |
Comer Cadet
Pacing the Comer Cadet field in the qualifying session was Davey Manthei Jr. Making his WSK debut aboard a Wild Kart machine, the Kartel Motorsports driver posted a 1:17.663 lap to secure the position. The Top Kart’s of Zane Smith and Hunter Corbitt set the bar early as the two worked the track together. Corbitt would spin following the halfway mark on the session and would end with the time he recorded. Manthei, using Smith as a rabbit, posted his fast lap just as the session was closing. Smith would end up second on the order with Corbitt in third. Leonardo Stoia (PCR) and CKI first time driver Blaine Rocha (Wild Kart) rounded out the fast five.
Following a false start, the Cadets took the green flag with Smith able to jump ahead of Manthei who was slow to hit the gas. Corbitt jumped from inside to the outside to get around Manthei as well while getting through the opening corner. The two Top Karts ran nose to tail in the opening lap while Manthei paced a group behind him. By the halfway mark, Manthei showed why he had the pole position by posting the fast lap of the race to that point to reel in the lead duo. Getting by Corbitt first, Manthei then worked by Smith for the lead. As the laps clicked off, Rocha and Stoia closed in to the top three to make it a five-kart lead pack with one lap to go. Leading down the final straight, Manthei ran the inside line but would see Smith and Rocha draft by on the outside. Entering the final corner, Rocha jumped inside Smith to go side by side through the corner. At the line, Rocha took the win by 0.219-seconds over Smith. Manthei ended up third with Corbitt and Stoia fourth and fifth.
A similar lead group battled it out for the 12-lap Final, minus Corbitt who retired on lap three with a carburetor issue that put him on the sidelines. Manthei, Rocha, Smith and Stoia were nose to tail for the majority of the race with some shuffling for position. Coming to the checkered flag, Rocha led the way ahead of Manthei and Smith, who went side by side into the final corner. At the line, Rocha took the victory by 0.389-seconds with Smith holding the inside line to claim second. Stoia was able to slide by Manthei as well as he dropped his outside tires off the track. Completing the top five was Camden Donaldson (PCR).
Sunday will host a second day of racing where those who performed well hope to continue their momentum into the new day. Those who struggled will have a second chance at gaining valuable weekend points with the WSK to award prizes to the overall event winner and podium finishers. Weather for the day is projected to be perfect with warm temperatures and clear skies. |
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