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| July 17, 2010 News |
| EKN Trackside: US Rotax Max Challenge Grand Nationals - Saturday Report |
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 | Senior national champion Stepanova Nekeel
(Photo: Cody Schindel - Autosports Media Group) |
The final day of action at the 2010 US Rotax Max Challenge Grand Nationals was filled with drama and exciting racing around the popular New Castle Motorsports Park. The Prefinals and Finals for all six groups took place around the 1-mile circuit in central Indiana. In the DD2, Senior and Junior categories, drivers were competing not only for the national championship but spots on Team USA to take part in the Rotax Grand Finals at La Conca, Italy later this year. Those categories, along with Masters, Mini Max and Micro Max provided spectacular action throughout the day to keep everyone on their toes.
Senior
The first turn to begin the Prefinal was a LA traffic jam as everyone was into the back of everyone else. Pole sitter Phillip Arscott (Tony Kart) was one of the victims and saw his dreams of a repeat vanish. Out front, Daniel Formal (Kosmic) came away with the lead with Andy Dunne (Birel), Jeremy Kane (Birel) and Mark Pellegrini (CRG) on his bumper. Andrew Hawkins (Kosmic), Louie Pagano (Birel) and Victor Pedrosa (Arrow) were among the victims after starting in the top-five. By lap three, Kyle Demeter (CRG) was into the top-five, moving Pellegrini to fifth as the top six ran together with Stepanova Nekeel (Tony Kart) joining the fight. At the halfway mark, the front six remained together with Formal still leading over Kane with Nekeel now up to third over Dunne, Demeter, and Pellegrini.
On lap eight, Nekeel briefly held the second spot with a great move into the I-70 corner before Kane, Dunne and Demeter all drafted by down the long straight. Nekeel was able to work back around Demeter with the top four now in a break away of their own with Formal still leading Kane and Dunne. With two laps to go, Kane tried to slide by Formal but he held off. The result allowed Dunne to move up into second as they made their way around to the white flag. On the final circuit, drove a defensive line on the straights when he could. At the line, Formal held on to take the win over Dunne, Kane and Nekeel. Pellegrini was fifth with Fabio Orsolon (Tony Kart) up to sixth over Demeter. Michael Pagano (Maranello) benefitted from the carnage to move up from 19th to eighth with Louie Pagano recovering to ninth ahead of Joey Wimsett (CRG).
Aside from some contact, the entire field made it through the opening corners of the Final start. Formal was out to a big lead from the pole position with Nekeel into the second spot over Dunne and Kane. The fourth place position changed as Jesus Rios Jr. (CRG) came up from the 13th position and continued his charge. By the end of lap two, he was in third and looking to track down Formal and Nekeel. Dunne fell to fourth with Pellegrini in the fifth spot. Eyes were also on Arscott as he was charging also. The top driver through qualifying and the heat races started 21st and was up to ninth by the third circuit. After six laps were complete, the front six were two by two with no changes in the running order as they settled in for the remainder of the 19-lap event.
 | Now two-time defending DD2 national champion Cody Hodgson
(Photo: Cody Schindel - Autosports Media Group) |
The challenge then began on lap eight with Nekeel making his move for the lead for the first time at the end of the long straight. Orsolon followed suit as he went by Pellegrini for the fifth spot. Completing lap nine, Orsolon then worked by Dunne for the fourth position. The fastest driver on the track however was Arscott. The Oregon driver was up to seventh and on the rear bumper of Pellegrini. The two however made contact as Arscott was trying to overtake him for position on lap 10 and the two went off track, losing ground to the top six. Arscott continued on in seventh with Pellegrini ducking off to the pit lane. Lap 12, Nekeel’s lead grew to about seven-tenths over Formal and Orsolon. During all that exchange for position, Sam Beasley (Arrow), involved in the Prefinal wreck and started 32nd, had knifed his way forward as well, getting around the Arscott/Pellegrini situation and taking over the fourth spot.
By lap 14, Formal continued dropping back as both Orsolon and Beasley had taken a position away from him to move into the top-three. At the same time, Arscott was coming as well as Formal was next on his hit list after working around Dunne and Rios. Lap 16, Nekeel’s lead continued to stretch as both Beasley and Arscott advanced for position, moving to second and fourth respectively as the fight continued on for the final podium position. The following circuit, Arscott moved to the podium position as he was able to work by Orsolon in the I-70 corner and distance himself down the straight. Coming to the white flag, Nekeel held an eight-tenths lead over Beasley with Arscott now looking fend off Orsolon and Formal for the coveted third spot. Heading into turn seven, Orsolon made a desperate move inside of Arscott for the third position with contact made. The result put them out of contention and a sour end to an amazing drive by Arscott. Out front, Nekeel would go on to hold off Beasley for the victory and his first Rotax national championship. Formal would end up third, completing the podium and the three representatives for Team USA in the Senior category.
Dunne was fourth across the line with Rios in fifth. Pagano, Kane, Marotta, Pedrosa and Hawkins completed the top-10. The crazy ordeal for Nekeel was the fact that the Seattle driver had bought his Tony Kart frame used for $1,000, including new graphics and a suit after borrowing some money at the event after having issues with his original chassis. He will also be the second straight Pacific Northwest driver to claim the title after Arscott won it last year. Beasley drive from the tail of the field was one of amazement with his progression through the field one to remember. And Formal, the 2008 Junior national champion who was unable to represent Team USA that year, will now have a chance to make his mark at the international event.
 | DD2 Masters national champion - Todd Ulmen
(Photo: On Track Promotions - otp.ca) |
DD2
Derek Wang (CRG) and Nathan Mauel (CRG) led the DD2 field to the green flag to begin the Prefinal run. Wang and Cody Hodgson (Tony Kart) got through the first corner in the first and second position as Mauel dropped in to third with Riley Turk (Birel) and Marc Miller (Birel) trailing. By the completion of lap one, Miller was around Turk for fourth and looking to track down the top-three. After three laps, Wang was still pacing the field with Hodgson and Mauel in tow while Miller lost a bit of space to them, running about two-tenths a lap quicker. Coming to the white flag, Hodgson took the point from Wang after sitting on his bumper for a number of laps. Wang looked for a way back behind coming to the checkered but just came back short as Hodgson took the win. Mauel ran alone in third as Miller fell back lap after lap with what was found out to be a bent rim that was losing air. He eventually retired on lap 12 and will go from shotgun position for the Final (18th). Kristian Vondran (CRG) ended up fourth with James Carey (Arrow) up to fifth. In DD2 Masters, Jim Busby (Tony Kart) led the way in that category, running eighth overall with Todd Ulmen (CRG) in second and Steve Schiewer (Birel) in third.
The main event began with Wang getting a slow start at the wave of the green flag, allowing Hodgson, Mauel and Carey by for position in the opening corner. By lap three however, Wang was right there on Hodgson’s rear bumper in the second position. The top two drivers ran nose to tail as Mauel and Carey exchanged positions. The defending champion pushed his OGP machine to the fullest with Wang matching his pace through most of the event. As they ran 1-2, eyes turned to the progression of Miller, who was running laps similar to the leaders. Making his way up to fifth, Miller had to overcome a large deficit to the third and fourth place karts. Up front, Hodgson was able to continue the pace as Wang fell off just a bit toward the end. At the line, Hodgson scored an impressive title defense victory to make a return to the Rotax Grand Finals. Wang put on an impressive performance and will head to Italy as the USA runner-up. In the closing laps, Miller had caught Mauel and Carey. On the white, Miller was able to get by Carey however ran out of time in catching Mauel, who crossed the line third and will represent Team USA once again in the DD2 category. Though Miller recorded the fast lap, he missed out on the transfer spot but put in a strong performance none the less. For DD2 Masters, Busby ran into trouble on lap seven and was forced to pull off, leaving Ulmen to take the lead in class and score the victory in the category to earn a spot on Team USA. After a race long battle, Henry Malukas (Birel) won the battle for second over Schiewer and will join the rest of the drivers on Team USA.
 | Masters national champion Eric Jones
(Photo: Cody Schindel - Autosports Media Group) |
Masters
As he did for the past two days, Eric Jones (Arrow) broke away early from the field as John Dixon (Tony Kart) and Keith Karr (Birel) battled for second to begin the Prefinal. Dixon was able to get past Karr after they swapped the position a few times in the first two laps to try and run down Jones, who already established a one-second advantage. Karr then came under the pressure from Sean Scott (Birel) with Russ Hamel (CRG) holding fifth. With Scott on his bumper, Karr was able to run down Dixon once again as Jones extended his lead more. At the halfway mark, Scott made his move to work around Karr as Hamel closed in on the battle to take advantage as well, moving Karr back to fifth. Jones lead however continued to grow with him dropping the fast lap of the race on lap eight, holding a 3.5-second lead. Dixon and Scott were able to break away from Hamel and Karr, who now were pressured by John Bonanno (Haase), Andy Seesemann (Birel) and DJ Ortiz (Alonso).
On lap 12, Scott was able to work around Dixon for the second spot after dropping a wheel off in turn three, falling back to fourth behind Karr. Dixon continued falling back into fifth with Bonanno moving around into fourth. At the line, Jones took the victory by six-seconds with Scott able to hold off Karr for second. Dixon slide by Bonanno for fourth in the last corner before the white flag and hang on with Hamel, Ortiz and Seesemann coming across the line behind them.
Jones brought the field down one final time at the slow pace. The outside line was a sitting duck despite Scott on the outside lane. Karr was able to slide by into the second spot ahead of Scott with Bonanno, Dixon and Ortiz making up the top-five after the first circuit. After two laps, Jones lead was only six-tenths but grew the following circuit as both Scott and Dixon were able to get around Karr for position. After four laps, Jones lead was up to two seconds as Scott began to feel pressure from Dixon for that second spot. At the halfway mark, Jones had built up a lead of nearly five seconds while Bonanno had worked around Scott for the second position. The battle continued for the second spot as the final two steps on the podium were up for grabs. Karr lost some ground as Bonanno still led Scott and Dixon for the second spot after 13 laps. The battle raged on while Jones enjoyed a solo run out front, still posting consistent lap times in his BTK Motorsports. Coming to get the two to go signal, contact was made in the fight for second with Karr getting spun around. This put Scott into second with Bonanno and Dixon trailing. On the final circuit, Scott ran to the inside line and was able to defend Bonanno’s criss-cross attempt for the second spot. Jones would score the victory by over 11-seconds with Dixon and Hamel capping off the top-five. Defending champion Mike Daniel and Seesemann retired on lap 10 after contact.
 | Junior national champion Andrew Palmer
(Photo: Cody Schindel - Autosports Media Group) |
Junior
The field was scrambling through the opening corner with Sebastian Ordonez (Kart Mini) climbing the back of outside pole sitter Jake French (Birel). The two went off the corner with the rest of the field scrambling. Coming around to the line for the first time, pole sitter Dore Chaponick Jr. (Alonso) was the leader with Ethan Ringel (Tony Kart), Alessandra Madrigal (Kosmic), Shawn Sharkey (Merlin) and Pietro Fittipaldi (Tony Kart) making up the top-five. French fell all the way outside the top-25 and out of the race with a broken radiator while Ordonez was unable to continue. Lap three, Ringel was able to get around Chaponick for the lead but he came right back the next lap to retake the position. The front three, despite their shuffling, were able to break away from the battle for fourth, which saw Ryan Rupp (Tony Kart) into the mix from the 11th starting spot along with a host of others.
At the halfway mark, the front three still ran nose to tail with a three-second gap over Sharkey in the fourth spot as he and Rupp broke away with Fititpaldi to form a second three-kart pack. Completing lap nine, Fittipaldi tried a late break move to overtake Rupp and the two made contact. Both went off into the grass with Rupp able to continue on at the back while Fittipaldi done for the race. With two laps to go, Madrigal helped push Ringel to the lead as the came through the last corner, dropping Chaponick back to third. Coming to the white flag, Madrigal pulled the move on her own, sliding by Ringel for the lead with Chaponick going through as well in the exit. Down the final straight, Madrigal held off Chaponick and Ringel to the line with Sharkey alone in fourth. Andrew Palmer (Kosmic) worked up from 12th to end up fifth ahead of Alec Udell (Top Kart), Mason Chelootz (Top Kart), Ashley Rogero (Tony Kart) - from 18th on the grid, Bristol Gunderson (Top Kart) and RC Enerson (Birel).
Unlike the Prefinal, the drivers were smart about getting through the opening corners of the Final with no incidents aside from one driver spinning off mid-pack. Out front, Madrigal showed the way with Palmer on her bumper. Ringel had Sharkey putting the pressure on with Udell as Chaponick fell to sixth in the order from row one. The top two were able to get a sizable lead in the first two laps. Madrigal and Palmer exchanged the top spot while Ringel was able to get away alone in third on lap three, trying to chase down the top two. By lap five, the top three had a sizable space between them while Chaponick had worked his way back up to fourth with Sharkey falling back to seventh behind Rogero and Udell. On lap eight, Chaponick’s bid for a spot on Team USA went away like his chain did, exiting the final corner and ending his race. Meanwhile, Palmer continued to put down consistent lap times to extend his lead over Madrigal and Ringel. Rogero took over the fourth spot with Chaponick out and Sharkey moved up to fifth ahead Udell and Dakota Dickerson (Birel).
In the end, Palmer scored the victory to become national champion in only his second Grand Nationals start. Fellow J3 Competition driver Madrigal crossed the line second to become the first junior female driver to be part of Team USA. Ringel ended up third, scoring his second straight ticket to the show. Rogero concluded an impressive Junior debut to end up fourth with a last lap, last corner skirmish deciding the final spots in the top-10. Tristan Nunez (Tony Kart) moved from 17th to claim fifth over Jack West (Tony Kart), Dickerson, Sharkey, ’08 Mini Max champion AJ Myers (Tony Kat) and Rupp.
 | Mini Max national champion Jordan Perry
(Photo: Cody Schindel - Autosports Media Group) |
Mini Max
Jordan Perry (CRG) and Dalton Sargeant (Kart Mini) led the field to the green flag for the start of the Prefinal. Devlin DeFrancesco (Alonso) and Logan Sargeant (Kart Mini) trailed the top two through the first lap of the 11-lap battle. By the end of lap two, Dalton was able to work around Perry as the two broke away from third and fourth. Dalton and Perry continued to extend their lead lap after lap while Logan and DeFrancesco fell back into a pack of six, including Kyle Kirkwood (Alonso), Cole Glasson (Alonso), William Myers (CRG) and Thomas Issa (CRG). Dalton would be able to hold off Perry for the win with Kirkwood able to work by Logan for the third spot. DeFrancesco ended up fifth with Myers, Glasson and Issa crossing the line behind them.
The same front four showed the way to begin the 14-lap main event for the Mini Max. Dalton held the point with Logan able to work by Perry before they completed lap one with Kirkwood in tow. DeFrancesco and Glasson joined the front four to form a six kart lead pack. Certainly the drivers were not set to settle down for the long haul as they went three-wide down the long straight to complete lap two. DeFrancesco came out with the position with Logan to third and Glasson to fourth. Meanwhile, Dalton gained a near one-second margin out front as they continued to battle for the second spot. At the halfway mark, Sargeant’s lead was cut to just over half a second with Perry leading Glasson, Kirkwood and DeFrancesco while Sargeant lost the draft back in sixth. Watching on track, the gap between one and two was shrinking with Perry charging the group forward. On lap nine, Perry got a great run down the long straight to sling-shot by Sargeant for the lead. Able to slot in front of Glasson, Sargeant went to second and began his run in the challenger position. The next time by, Sargeant went back to the point as he and Perry exchanged positions. Completing lap 11, Perry again went around Sargeant, this time bringing Glasson with him as Sargeant fell to third. The top four stayed that way as the field took the white flag with DeFrancesco losing the draft. Glasson looked into the final corners but Perry would prove to be too much, taking the checkered flag for the victory. Sargeant fought off Kirkwood for the final podium position as DeFrancesco rounded out the top-five.
 | Micro Max national champion Anthony Gangi Jr.
(Photo: Cody Schindel - Autosports Media Group) |
Micro Max
Anthony Gangi (CRG) was able to knife his way forward with Joshua Sirgany (CRG), Nicholas Bruechner (CRG), Justin Sirgany (Birel) and Juan David Buitrago (Tony Kart) making up the top five. Ryan Lewis (Birel) was spun around on the exit of the opening corner, losing his fourth spot and falling to the tail of the field. Four karts were able to break away with Justin Sirgany losing the lead draft. Bruechner lost the draft as well near the halfway mark of the 10-lap Prefinal. In the end, Gangi took the victory over Sirgany with Buitrago in tow. Bruechner ran alone in fourth with Justin Sirgany able to hold off a pack of karts for the fifth spot, including top qualifier Camden Donaldson (Birel).
Gangi and Sirgany led the field to the green flag to begin the 12-lap Final with Justin Sirgany up to third over Donaldson and Buitrago to complete the opening lap. A seven kart lead group formed at the front with Thomas and Darren Keane (CRG) joining the fight. The front pack ran pretty much static through the halfway mark with the front four able to put a gap on fifth through seventh. That however quickly vanished on lap nine as they grouped back together. On lap nine, the shuffling began as both Sirgany and Donaldson drafted by Gangi for the top two positions. Gangi recovered one spot the following lap as the received the two to go signal with Sirgany still leading. White flag waved and Gangi drafted by Sirgany down the long straight to take over the lead for the final circuit. At the same time, Donaldson was left out of the draft and fell from third to seventh in a blink of an eye. As the field went into the I-70 corner, contact was made and Gangi escaped with the lead and went to cross the line first for the victory. Buitrago was able to move up to second with Justin Sirgany in the third spot to complete the podium. Donaldson came across fourth with Joshua Sirgany in fifth. Thomas and Keane were involved in the incident with Keane crossing 18th and Thomas unable to continue.
For those lucky 11 drivers, they will now be able to represent their country at the ‘Olympics of Karting’ - the 2010 Rotax Max Challenge Grand Finals in La Conca, Italy - November 15-21. For those looking to be part of the team next year, planning and preparation will be the focus over the next year so that they too can possible earn a national championship or stand on the podium of the 2011 US Rotax Max Challenge Grand Nationals. |
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