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| June 17, 2011 News |
| EKN Trackside: 2011 IKF Road Race Grand Nationals - Friday Report |
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 | SWRA Stock 125 Heavy was dominated by Coy Dayton
(Photo: studio52.smugmug.com) |
The 2011 edition of the IKF Road Race Grand Nationals put the third day of action in the books on Friday, June 17 with another full day of action at the Eagles Canyon Raceway in Decatur, Texas, hosted by the Southwest Roadrace Association. The weather was as predicted…very hot. The wind picked up, blowing from the southwest and brining in warm air as competitors and crews were unable to escape the heat unless inside the air conditioned buildings on the grounds. Five more Duffy’s were awarded on Friday with Mike Mantel earning two of them with Waylon McCulloch scoring his second of the event.
SWRA Stock 125 Heavy
The SWRA Stock 125 Heavy division began the action on day three with their opening heat race. Allen Fleming Sr. grabbed the holeshot to begin the race but Coy Dayton pulled around the opening lap as the leader with Weston McCulloch joining them. Dayton put down a solid first few laps and broke away from the duo to hold a five-second lead after four laps. Continuing to stretch out his lead all alone, Dayton drove to a seven-second victory. The battle for second came down to the wire with McCulloch able to work by for the position ahead of Fleming. Dale McCulloch placed fourth with Brad Johnson completing the top-five.
Just as he did in the opening heat, Dayton powered away in the opening lap to secure a solid lead to begin heat two. The gap was already five-seconds after 2.5-miles with Fleming in second over Dale McCulloch and Weston McCulloch. As the three battled for the runner-up spot, Dayton continued to stretch his lead and run the fast laps of the race aboard his Tony Kart machine. In the end, Dayton put down consistent 1:56 lap times to score the win and the Duffy with a margin of victory over 26-seconds. Dale McCulloch was able to win the battle for second over Fleming as Weston dropped off in the final few laps in fourth with Johnson rounding out the top-five.
S5 Junior Stock 125/Formula 80 Jr.
Chris Clark was the lone entry for the S5 category, however, was unable to make it pass the first few corners as his tire broke off his kart. In the 80 category, Ryan McCollum grabbed the holeshot and drove away to a dominant victory in the opening heat race, outrunning Joe Taylor by just over 10-seconds.
Unable to start the second heat with mechanical issues, Clark was a DNS as McCollum and Taylor continued their battle. Taylor kept it close again, but McCollum was too strong as drove on to score the win by just 1.839. Taylor put down the final two fast laps of the race trying to close the gap to finish strong.
 | Tom Jackson earned his first career victory in Yamaha Ltd. Light Sprint in just his seventh kart race
(Photo: studio52.smugmug.com) |
Yamaha Ltd. Light Sprint
Tom Jackson was able to get off the Le Mans style grid to begin the 30-minute Yamaha Ltd. Light Sprint race. As they emerged to complete the first lap, Phil Harris held the top spot with Jamey Brown and Anthony Honeywell making up the lead group. Tom Jackson trailed them, losing the draft some with Brian Rahn off the course near turn six. As they completed the second lap, the trio went three wide into turn 11 with Harris able to hold the lead on the exit, allowing Jackson to stay within striking distance grabbing a bit of a draft off them. Honeywell was able to take the lead after three laps with Brown holding ground on his rear bumper with Harris dropping back a half-second. Through lap four, Jackson was able to close in on Harris and drafted by him as they entered turn 11, now three seconds back of the top two. Lap five, trouble struck from Brown as he spun at the exit of turn one, entering turn two, dropping him well behind Honeywell with Jackson and Harris working by as well. Through the middle portion of the race, Jackson inched closer to Honeywell while Brown posted the fast laps of the race as he reeled in Harris. By lap 10, Brown was around Harris for the third spot while Jackson cut Honeywell’s lead down to just five kart lengths. Going through turn four and five, Jackson went inside of Honeywell and stole the lead. Honeywell, now in the second position did not match Jackson’s lap and fell to six-tenths back on lap 11, but made it back up on lap 12 to close back on the bumper of Jackson. With the pressure on, Jackson stepped up to pull out to another six-tenth lead as they took the white flag. Putting down a solid final lap, Jackson held off to take the Duffy by six-tenths over Honeywell. Brown recovered strong from his early mistake to end up just five-seconds back of the leader with Harris crossing in fourth.
TAG Enduro/Yamaha Sportsman Heavy/FKE II
Casey Bartram ran uncontested in the FKE II division with his dual engine laydown kart. Tom Harris was victorious over Bobby White in the Yamaha Sportsman Heavy category while Tim Kyser also ran uncontested in the TAG Enduro class.
 | Waylon McCulloch earned his second Duffy of the event with victory in Formula 125
(Photo: studio52.smugmug.com) |
Formula 125
Waylon McCulloch grabbed the holeshot to begin the opening heat race for the Formula 125 division. He was able to get away quickly, establishing a 1.377-second lead over the opening lap with Mack Dayton in the second position with Mike Smith, Brekk Harris and Chance Pool trailing. McCulloch was able to pull the lead out to two-seconds with Dayton now running alone in second as Smith fell back a few seconds, just ahead of the battle for fourth. Smith’s troubles continued as he spun around in turn one as he began lap four, taking him out of the race. Completing the 15-minute moto, McCulloch drove to an 11-second victory over Dayton with Pool closing the gap in the final few laps in third as Harris was the final finisher in fourth.
The second heat race was a mere carbon-copy of the first one as McCulloch powered away from the drop of the green to a large lead over Dayton. As the race went on, McCulloch stretched out his lead, going on to score the win and Duffy by six-seconds. Dayton fought strong, posting the fast laps of the race coming to the checkered flag. Pool easily drove on to another third place performance with Harris fourth and Stephen Lamana retiring after four laps in fifth.
Formula 80 Sr. Heavy
Day two class winner Mike Mantel jumped out the box with the holeshot to begin the first heat race for the Heavy division with Thomas Muth trailing after the opening lap. Allen Fleming was running third with Jacob Kantor and Ari Feustel making up the top-five. Mantel stretched his lead out to two-seconds after lap two, leaving Muth alone in second as Fleming and Feustel began a dice for the third position about three seconds behind him. At the halfway point, Mantel continued to drop fast laps to make his lead five seconds over Muth as Fleming and Feustel continued to battle for the third position. As they were coming to the white flag, Muth pulled off into the pit lane, turned-around and then went back out onto the track and then stopped. With the strange ending, Mantel drove away to a large margin of victory for the heat win. Despite Feustel’s attempts, Fleming was able to hold him off for second with Feustel in third with Kantor fourth and Trace Bartley fifth.
Troubles in the gearbox for Muth in heat one kept him on the sidelines for the second heat with Mantel grabbing the holeshot once again for the final 15-minutes to decide the Duffy. Mantel’s lead was 1.267-seconds after the opening lap with Kantor up to second with Fleming ahead of Feustel, who was slow to get off the line. Feustel was on the move early, working by Fleming on lap two and closed up onto Kantor’s rear bumper. At the halfway point, Mantel’s lead was over seven-seconds with second, third and fourth in pack, dicing it up for position. Coming to the white flag, Kantor was in the third spot as Feustel was able to work by but Kantor struck back exiting corner 8 – posting his fast lap of the race in the process. Feustel came back to jump on his rear bumper as they completed the final lap. Out front, Mantel powered to his third Duffy of the event with a 10-second victory. Heading to the final corner, Feustel was able to drag-race Kantor to the apex and with a great exit, powered to the line for the second position. Fleming settled for fourth with Bartley in the fifth spot.
 | Mike Mantel earned Duffy's 3 and 4 with wins in Formula 80 Sr. Heavy and Rotax Max Light
(Photo: studio52.smugmug.com) |
Rotax Max Light
The 30-minute event for the Rotax Max Light division was decided off the starting line as Mantel rocketed from the Le Mans-style grid to a large lead. Bristol Gunderson and Ari Feustel slotted in behind in second and third. Adam Kelley was slow off the line, moving up to fourth after Aden Feustel dropped out on the opening lap. Mantel continued to push lap after lap, running under the 2:00 mark to pull away to a over 30-second victory over Gunderson. Feustel ran third with Kelley dropping out on lap 10, finishing fourth.
The fourth and final day of racing will take place Saturday at Eagles Canyon Raceway to wrap up the 2011 IKF Road Race Grand Nationals. Starting at 10:00am CST, SWRA Stock 125 Lite II, TaG Heavy, Formula 80 Sr. II, Formula 125 Ltd. Heavy II, SWRA Stock 125 Heavy II, and Yamaha KT100S Light Laydown. For complete coverage of the event, click over to the EKN Trackside Live page to view the live scoring and listen to the live audio during the racing hours, and of course the links to all the information you need to follow the action in Texas. |
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