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| September 21, 2003 News |
| Wilson, Pecorari Stay On Top As Others Battle For Championships |
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 | | Kevin LaCroix is battling for the Eastern Division Stars championship. |
Stars competitors converged on the 103rd Street Complex in Jacksonville, Florida for the final rounds of the Eastern Division championship. The event brought some surprise contestants and one famous name to highlight the concept of the “ladder system”.
Racers in the ICA direct drive class have already set their sights on accumulating points for Fontana by virtue of Robbie Pecorari’s domination. Points runner-up Michael Giessen took the pole Saturday with a time of 33.330 on his ninth lap of the session. Pecorari turned a 33.521 - good enough to join Giessen on the front row.
Not surprisingly, Pecorari took the win in the heat race, but it was not as easy as Robbie may have been accustomed. Giessen and Barber Dodge Pro Series Star Daniel DiLeo gave chase to Pecorari’s J&J Racing Biesse kart.
The ICA final started out with a three-way fight for the lead and looked like DiLeo or Giessen might have had something for Pecorari over the 26 laps. During the scuffle for the lead DiLeo made a pass on Giessen going into turn one, but the bump at the apex caused DiLeo to clip the front of Giessen’s kart and send them both off track. This sprung Pecorari to run alone for the win.
Frederico Montoya, younger brother of Juan Pablo, who was in attendance, started the final in tenth place. With the retirements of Giessen and DiLeo Montoya soon found himself in second. Former Stars champion and top Barber-Dodge rookie Colin Fleming returned to the seat this weekend and finished on the podium only to have it revoked for a loose exhaust. By virtue of Fleming’s disqualification, Christopher Stage of Palm Beach Gardens, Florida took over third.
Bobby Wilson, who is the hottest kart racer in the country right now, ran away with ICC qualifying by turning a lap half a second faster than his closest competitor. First Kart teammate James Hinchcliffe posted his fastest time of the session on his first lap to join his teammate on the front row for the pre-final.
Wilson won the pre-final by nearly three seconds over Canadian Phillipe Gelinas and got another great start in the final. Wilson drove off into the sunset again, never feeling any pressure from behind. Gelinas and Jan Velez-Walter, from Guaynabo, Puerto Rico tailed Wilson for the first few laps and fell into a rhythm of their own to finish second and third, respectively.
Kevin LaCroix is trying to win a championship in 80cc Junior and the only thing standing in his way is Kyle Rahal. LaCroix has to win both events here to have a chance at the Eastern title and Kevin started things off the way he needed to by capturing the pole with a time of 32.965 while his chief rival was good enough for only seventh.
LaCroix had a clean run in the heat to sit on pole for the final. Keith Spicer and Zachary Schiff followed LaCroix to the line in the heat race while Rahal remained back in the pack. Kyle needs to finish second or higher in either race to ensure the title.
Things got dicey behind the leader LaCroix in the final. Schiff didn’t complete a lap while Spicer set off after LaCroix. Matt Lee moved up from fifth to gain third in the late stages, but Kyle Rahal was on the move too. Rahal made his move to take third from Lee on the white flag lap going into turn one. Spicer had escaped the heavy fighting going on for third place but was unable to run down the leader.
Chris Keller is also right on top of his first stars championship in Junior Superbox. Keller started on pole with Paulie Harraka joining him on the front row. This was Harraka’s first race in the Stars program and he was determined to make a statement. He did so by winning the pre-final over Keller and by leading the first four laps in the final. Keller took over the point with Harraka in tow. Harraka stayed glued to Keller’s rear bumper knowing that if he gave up an inch Joey King was waiting for the opportunity to pounce.
 | | The Easykart Dash for Cash pitted some of the best drivers, including (L to R) Adam Pecorari, Frederico Montoya, and Bobby Wilson. |
Running in the lead train was Dominic Scheer, Matt Lee, Patrick Barrett, and Corey Smith. Smith ran the fastest lap of the race, but was unable to make any late race moves to better his position. Things behind the lead trio changed on nearly a lap by lap basis, but Harraka was just biding his time for the white flag lap. Harraka pulled out to make the pass early and drafted by into the lead. The pass was so early that Keller almost was able to pass him back before the end of the 900 foot straight. Keller playing it smart and thought of the championship, which he captured by virtue of his second place finish. King came away in third, just ahead of Lee, and Scheer.
With only four drivers in Rotax things were not too exciting. The pole sitter Jesse Mason was DQ’d after qualifying for a spark plug infraction, and started the heat in the back. He moved into the clear lead after only a few laps. Skip Barber regular Burt Frisselle also made his Stars debut in Rotax and finished in second. Dan Hagenbuch was third.
Anthony Llopiz had a good day in the Grand Products Cadet class. Llopiz qualified on pole and won the pre-final, but Robert Thorne led most of the final. Thorne waited patiently in the pre-final to see the white flag and make his move, but a white was never thrown to the racers in the pre-final. Llopiz did the same to Thorne in the final, but this time they saw a white flag. The waving white was the signal to Llopiz’s right foot and he made the pass. Chip Challis followed Llopiz through to take over second place. Thorne was relegated back to third as he looks for the Eastern Division championship.
This weekend offered a special event, the Easykart Dash for Cash. The Easykart is a spec chassis/engine package that is represented in three different classes based on competitor age and performance. The aim is to provide karting competition to a greater number of people based on the concepts of stable, low cost/high performance racing packages.
After the five lap warm up and the official weigh in the ten drivers, five top Stars pilots and five regional champions from the Florida Easykart championship gridded for their rolling start. Bobby Wilson took an early lead followed by Frederico Montoya, Doug Boyer, Adam Pecorari (standing in for his brother Robbie), and Michael Giessen.
Montoya, whose father, Pablo is the president of Easykart America, made try after try to get by Wilson in turn one only to see Wilson slam the door on him. At one point they went three wide into turn two, and two wide with Montoya and Wilson side-by-side through turns three, four, and five. Eventually Montoya made it stick, proving simultaneously that good drivers can drive anything and that the Easykart is an excellent racing package.
Montoya put a small gap between himself and Wilson to take the win and the winner’s check for $250. Williams-BMW F1 driver Juan Pablo Montoya presented his brother Frederico with the check.
Sunday presents another full day of racing at the Jacksonville circuit.
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