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| May 10, 2012 |
| Industry News: Comet Racing Engines Win Six at WKA Manufacturers Cup Series Event |
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It was a great weekend for Comet Racing Engines as the team returned to the newly renamed Pittsburg International Race Complex for the third of five rounds of the 2012 WKA Manufacturers Cup series. With Comet Racing Engines customers scoring 7 wins at Kershaw in March and numerous podiums, anticipation was high for another strong showing and the weekend didn't disappoint.
Ashley Rogero continued her hot streak in the KPV Junior classes by claiming the pole in Komet Jr Heavy as she was joined by five fellow Comet Racing Engines in the top 10! Ashley would take the win in the final by a commanding 4.8 seconds on her Tony Kart EVRR, she was joined on the podium by 3 fellow Comet Racing Engine KPV racers with Gresham Wagner in 3rd, Kyle Kirkwood on his Arrow X1-E in 4th and Jake Johnston in 5th. Skylar Robinson finished 10th after starting the final in the middle of the pack.
Komet Junior Lite seen Ashley Rogero start on the outside of the front row but contact in the final sent her off course and an early retirement from the race as Gresham Wagner finished 3rd for the second day in a row with brothers Garrett Johnson and Jake Johnston taking 5th and 7th. Skylar Robinson had a tough race but picked up Fast Time honors in the final.
Looking for vindication after a tough first two rounds in the Yamaha Junior class, Ashley Rogero put her Comet Racing Engines KT100 on the front row in Yamaha Junior Lite qualifying with Skylar Robinson on his Tony Kart EVRR qualifying 5th and Kyle Kirkwood in 6th. In a thrilling last lap battle in the Final, Ashley took the lead with only a couple corners remaining to bring home her first Yamaha Junior win of the season. Kyle Kirkwood on his Arrow X1-E was 5th, Gresham Wagner came home 6th and Skylar Robinson, after claiming a 3rd place finish in the prefinal and fast time finished 7th.
Looking for her second win in the Yamaha Junior class of the weekend, Ashley Rogero again qualified in the 2nd spot for Yamaha Junior Heavy missing the pole by a scant .034 seconds. In the Final it was evident from the first lap that something was wrong on the #17 of Rogero as she slid farther and farther back. At the front of the field fellow Comet Racing Engines racer Kyle Kirkwood was on a steady move through the field before catching the leader at halfway. Kyle was content to ride until the end of the race to go for the win but was unable to find a way past the leader for the victory. Kirkwood crossed the stripe in second with Skylar Robinson posting fast race lap and a solid 3rd place finish to join Kirkwood on the podium. Gresham Wagner finished 7th with Ashley Rogero in 11th. With a quick examination of Ashley's kart after the race a flat right rear tire was the culprit.
After claiming three wins at the Kershaw WKA National, Junior Sportsman driver Zach Holden was looking to add to his win total this season. The first race of the day was Cadet Final 1 and with Zach in contention the entire race it was down to a last lap shoot out for the victory. In a thrilling photo finish Holden on his Arrow Cadet with Comet Racing Engines K80 missed the top step of the podium by a mere .018 seconds! Following Zach across the line was Michael Cruz in 8th and Garrett Moran in 10th with their Comet Racing Engines K80's.
Zach Holden took the pole in Komet Sportsman and after an extremely tight race among the top 4 in the Komet Sportsman class it once again came down to a battle for the win on the last lap. With Holden leading the majority of the race he was a sitting duck with one to go as 2nd place went low and Garrett Moran in 3rd went high. As the top 3 went three wide into the first corner it was anyone's guess who would come out of there unscathed. Moran and Holden would lose some momentum on the outside as 4th place ducked under both of them to move to second. With only a lap to regroup it was Garrett Moran in 3rd and Holden in 4th with Michael Cruz crossing the line in 7th.
Garrett Moran had a strong run throughout the day in Yamaha Sportsman 1 qualifying in the second spot and finishing 3rd in the prefinal. In the Final, as was the norm for all Sportsman races this weekend, it all came down to the last lap. With Holden leading the entire final until the white flag it was another wheel to wheel fight for the win. With Holden coming off the last corner in second it wasn't looking real promising for the victory as Zach tried to use the draft to slingshot by the leader but with perfect timing Zach made his move and took a unlikely win by only .005 seconds at the line on his Arrow X1-Junior kart! Garrett Moran finished 7th and Kaden Harter in 10th.
Yamaha Sportsman 2 started out well with Zach Holden qualifying second and Simon Sikes on his Arrow Junior and Comet Racing Engines KT100 qualified in the 3rd position. The final was a nail biter as Holden was at the tail end of the top 4 for most of the race. With three laps remaining Holden made his move to take over the lead. After some jockeying for position Holden passed the white flag in 2nd and in dramatic fashion moved in first as they all raced side by side through the esses to take his second win of the weekend and 4th in a row in the Yamaha Sportsman category! All of Holden's Yamaha Sportsman wins are on a one disk Patriot clutch. Garrett Moran finished 7th only 1.6 seconds back from the lead pack.
Michael Cruz had a strong qualifying run in the Cadet 2 class with a second place starting spot. In the prefinal Zach Holden finished second with Michael Cruz in third and was positioned for another great run in the Final. Unfortunately coming to the green flag Holden's #2 machine came to a halt with a fuel pickup problem and never started the final. Simon Sikes on his Tony Kart Cadet and Comet Racing Engines K80 would go on to finish 6th after starting the final in 16th and front row qualifier Michael Cruz finished in 10th.
KPV Senior continues to be dominated by Mason Chelootz with his Comet Racing Engines KPV and Top Kart chassis. Mason took the pole in KPV Heavy and after a 4+ second win in the prefinal, Mason proceeded to win the 13 lap final by 6.9 seconds! Mason followed up his win on Saturday with a 2.4 second victory in KPV Lite. With two wins this weekend, Mason is 5 for 6 in KPV Senior win's this season!
Kyle Smith had a strong weekend in the TaG Category with his Comet Racing Engines Leopard. Kyle qualified on the front row in Parilla Leopard and proceeded to win the prefinal on Saturday and taking second in the Leopard final. Kyle also finished 3rd in the highly competitive TaG Final 1 with Jacob Donald on a Comet Leopard and Arrow X1-E in 5th. Kyle Smith took home 4th in TaG Final 2 on Sunday.
All of Comet Racing Engine's wins this weekend were using Avenger Extreme Castor Oil.
All in all it was a great weekend and we continue to thank our great customers for making it possible. The final count on the weekend for Comet Racing Engines was 9 front row qualifying spots, 3 poles, 6 wins, 14 top threes, 23 top 5's and 35 top 10's! We are already hard at work on the test track and dyno preparing for the 4th round in South Bend, Indiana on July 6th to 8th.
For more information on Comet Racing Engine's please visit http://www.cometkartsales.com or call 317-462-3413. For more information on Patriot Clutches please visit http://www.patriotclutches.com |
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