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| December 28, 2011 News |
| WKA Daytona KartWeek Kicks Off Today |
| Article by: WKA PitBoard |
The following is the third and final preview provided by WKA on the upcoming Daytona KartWeek
The best sprint karters in North America traveled to Daytona Int’l Speedway this Christmas weekend for the World Karting Association George Kugler / Bridgestone Manufacturer’s Cup Series driven by Mazda’s Margay Sprint Championships, where around 700 entries are expected for what is one of the biggest annual 2-cycle sprint events in the country.
This year marks the ninth time the Manufacturer’s Cup Series has run its season opening national at Daytona. Disregarding a year hiatus in 2007, the series has been a staple event at the World Center of Racing every December since 2002.
Twenty classes will go off Thursday and Friday at the 0.7-mile DIS Sprint Course, ranging from 7- to 10-year-old youngsters in the Yamaha Rookie division all the way up to the popular TaG-powered divisions, which will feature some of the best karting talent in North America along with a few professional racing ringers in the form of NASCAR Sprint Cup stars A.J. Allmendinger and Jamie McMurray.
Gates for the 2011 version of WKA Daytona KartWeek swing opened Tuesday morning, Dec. 27, a day that include pit pass sales, parking, pre-tech and registration. Wednesday marks a full day of controlled practice before two days of racing conclude KartWeek Thursday and Friday.
Here’s a quick preview of each category that will be on track next week for the Sprint Championships:
Yamaha Rookie
Twenty-two youngsters have pre-entered for the pair of Yamaha Rookie Sportsman events, which already will be the largest field WKA has seen for the Rookie class since its series debut at Daytona a year ago. Many Rookie shoes from the 2011 series have moved on to the Cadet, Yamaha and Komet Sportsman divisions, including David Ilavia, Tommy Burke, Grant Griesbach and Ben Varner. Others will return for another crack at Rookie feature wins and a national title, including Connor and Tyler Ferris, Jason Welage and Max Kaeser.
A host of new faces and former Kid Kart racers will be in the Rookie fields, as well. Rookie races go off sixth on Thursday and fifth Friday, sponsored by the New Jersey Sprint Series and Mike Doty Racing.
Junior Sportsman
Similar to the Rookie category, many top Jr Sportsman chauffeurs have advanced to the Komet and Yamaha Jr divisions for 2012, including Grant Quinlan, Emerson Reed, Ryan Raffa and Zane Smith. With the door wide open, it will be interesting to see which racers step up to solidify themselves as top forces in Cadet, Yamaha and Komet Sportsman for the new season. Good bets include Leonardo Stoia, who won a Cadet main last summer and looked stout on many other occasions aboard his PCR chassis, David Malukas, who was fast several times in 2011 and will move from Birel to Arrow beginning at Daytona, and Jared Cordova, a perennial contender who has a good amount of experience running toward the front in Jr Sportsman. Others to watch include up-and-comers Zach Holden, Brandon Lemke, Braden Eves and Kaleb Allison, all of whom ran strong at times in these divisions last season.
Cadet mains, sponsored by RLV Tuned Exhaust and Grand Products / Top Kart, run second both Thursday and Friday. Adkins Speed Center Komet Sportsman goes off tenth on Thursday afternoon, while Comet Kart Sales Yamaha Sportsman Heavy is fifth Thursday and MRP / Birel Yamaha Sportsman Lite is the seventh class Friday.
Junior
The Komet and Yamaha Junior classes produced some of the most spirited, hard-nosed and exciting racing you’ll see at any motorsports event in 2011 Man Cup. There should be no difference come next week, when the aforementioned 2011 Jr Sportsman top racers – Quinlan, Reed, Raffa, Z. Smith – will look to challenge established Junior class guns like Triple Crown champion Joel Jens, Ashley Rogero, Kyle Kalish and Mike McAndrews. Some of the most intriguing battles will be set to take place in these four divisions, and nearly every top chassis manufacturer will be represented with talented racers at the front of the field. Others to keep an eye on include former WKA Triple Crown champion Skylar Robinson, Santino Ferrucci, Garrett and Jake Johnston, Austin Osborne and Matt Solarczyk.
Orlando Kart Center Komet Jr Heavy is the third class out on Thursday; Woltjer Racing Engines Yamaha Jr Lite runs seventh Thursday; PCR Komet Jr Lite is fourth Friday; and the Manufacturer’s Cup events of Daytona KartWeek conclude with Verde Speed Resources Yamaha Jr Heavy, the last class to run Friday.
Yamaha / Komet Senior
Last year saw several different winners in the SuperCan and Komet Senior classes, including three-time Triple Crown champion Sam Beasley, Ryan Stewart, Shinya Michimi and Patrick Olsen. Of those four only Olsen is pre-entered for Daytona. Beasley normally enters at the track and will be one of the favorites in these classes as well as the TaG categories. A couple of former junior racers will join the Komet Senior fray in Jacob Donald and Raquel Martinez. Defending WKA national champion Mason Chelootz is pre-entered for the pair of Komet mains, as well.
The APPCO Yamaha SuperCan classes kick off Thursday and Friday as the first divisions each day. TSRacing.com Komet Heavy is ninth Thursday and Komet Lite is sixth Friday.
TaG / Leopard
Over 30 pre-entries are in for TaG and Leopard-only TaG, the fences are sure to be full of onlookers when these mains hit the track. A host of heavy hitters in the field make it anyone’s guess who’ll be at the front when the checkered flag waves. Robert Bujdoso is the two-time defending TaG champion and he’s certainly earned the right to be viewed as one of the favorites. Chris Wehrheim, T.J. Koyen, Kyle Smith, Chelootz and last year’s TaG 1 Daytona winner Beasley will return. McMurray and Allmendinger were both strong at last year’s KartWeek TaG affairs and both will run TaG 1, TaG 2 and Parilla Leopard. Surely ’Dinger and Jamie Mac would love to best karting’s top sprint racers and add a Daytona KartWeek win to their ultra-impressive racing resumes.
Franklinkart.com TaG Final 1 runs fourth on the Thursday schedule with Grand Products / Top Kart Parilla Leopard in positioned as the eighth division out later in the day. OTK Kart USA will be the third race on Friday.
TaG Masters
One of the only class structure changes for 2012 Man Cup comes with the dropping of Yamaha Masters and the addition of a second TaG Masters. The TaG Masters division will run a final one, final two format for one national champion. Fifteen racers have signed in early for next week’s TaG Masters meets, and that number is sure to grow when at-track registration opens Tuesday. Drivers to watch include veterans John Ferris III, Chuck Tate, Bobby Cummings and Steve Schiewer. Florida’s Hector Rodriguez is pre-entered, as is TS Racing’s Brad Zoeller, a WKA road racing champion who’ll try his hand at the sprint track at KartWeek.
DRT Racing TaG Masters Final 1 will conclude Thursday’s action at the Sprint Track while Margay Racing Products TaG Masters Final 2 will run as the second-to-last class Friday. |
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