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| July 28, 2012 |
| Team News: Team CRG-USA Bag Numerous Top-10 Performances at SKUSA SummerNationals |
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The CRG-USA race team contested the second stop of the Superkarts! USA Pro Tour this past weekend (July 20-22) with strong results from the 16 drivers carrying the team’s colors. The Grand Junction, Colorado-based operation continues to grow in just its second season, welcoming new drivers each weekend to its program while continuing to improve the pace of its team members. The weekend at the Miller Motorsports Park was challenging, battling a record number of 190 drivers in eight categories. Thanks to help from the entire CRG-USA staff and the racing families, the drivers were able to record a number of top-10 finishes to represent the CRG brand well.
The top driver on the weekend from the CRG-USA garage was S2 driver Sabré Cook. Leading the series championship heading to Utah, Cook kept her championship lead following the weekend despite heartbreak on Sunday. Sabré was among the contenders all weekend and was in the fight for the lead on Saturday for round three action. She drove to her third-straight runner-up finish in the feature race, adding to her point lead. Sunday was much of the same with Cook near the front of the field. Waiting for the opportunity to take the lead in the feature race in the closing laps, her carburetor had worked itself loose and began falling off, cutting her engine power and eventually her race short. Despite the setback, she enters the series finale with a 45 point advantage.
 | Sabré Cook retains the championship lead in S2 with her third straight runner-up finish
(Photo: On Track Promotions - otp.ca) |
Another podium finish came from S5 Junior Stock Moto pilot Ryan Rudolph. The #3 SKUSA plate holder was inside the top-three for much of round three, leading the opening laps of the feature race in wet conditions. As the track dried out, Rudolph’s lead shrunk until losing the position with two laps to go. Unable to gain grip with worn down rain tires on the dry surface, Rudolph settled for second place, earning his second podium finish of the season. Sunday, Ryan returned in the top-three again until the second heat when he suffered a mechanical issue, dropping him to ninth for the start of the feature. Rudolph recovered to finish sixth. The weekend was the debut for the second CRG-USA S5 driver, Mianna Wick. She made the transition from TaG Junior to S5 in the last two months and made her Pro Tour debut in the class. Running near the top-five on Saturday, the wet conditions threw off her momentum and she ended up ninth in the feature race. Sunday proved to be her best showing thus far, running up near the front of the field. In the 16-lap feature, Mianna fought for the final podium position, just missing out by a few lengths at the finish line. Still, it was an impressive weekend for both Rudolph and Wick.
The CRG-USA S4 contingent fought hard all weekend long in one of the largest fields of the weekend. California’s Robert Marks recorded his best results of the season to lead the team. Texan Mike Mantel represented the CRG brand strong, placing tenth and fifth. Both will enter the series finale with a chance at a top-three finish in the championship standings. David Conyers, Jet Davis Darrell Tunnell and Scott Allen completed the CRG-USA S4 roster with best finishes of 11th, 12th, 13th and 17th respectively.
 | Ryan Rudolph enjoyed the podium Saturday with a runner-up finish in S5
(Photo: On Track Promotions - otp.ca) |
Drivers’ making their Pro Tour debut with strong success was a storyline throughout the weekend, including CRG-USA TaG Cadet pilot Cody Dempster. The Colorado driver worked his way forward during Saturday’s action, coming from 11th in qualifying to end the main event in the fifth place for an impressive first day. Looking for a repeat, Cody ran into issues and was involved in a couple incidents that kept him from the upper half of the order, placing 14th in Sunday’s main event. Riley Cook contested the weekend as well, placing 13th on both days.
CRG-USA drivers Jack Bradley and Ben Schermerhorn made their Pro Tour debuts on the weekend, each placing inside the top-10 in S2. Bradley advanced his way forward throughout the weekend, coming from 19th to 14th in Saturday’s main event and held the eighth position through the 20-lap event on Sunday. Schermerhorn was just as impressive, advancing from 16th to 10th in round three and up four spots to 12th in round four. In S1 Pro Stock Moto, Jimmy McNeil and Kyle Hathcox made their first ever starts at the Miller Motorsports Park facility. McNeil was wrecked at the start of Saturday’s main event and rebounded the next day with improved pace to finish seventh. Hathcox struggled to match the speed of the leaders throughout the weekend and ran to hard-fought finishes of 10th and 11th.
Austin Versteeg capped off the Junior driver roster, putting in an up and down weekend. The Utah driver was among the contenders in the 27-kart TaG Junior field as the class rookie put his CRG on the pole position in qualifying. During the first heat race, he was involved in an incident that sent him back to 20th. Through the second heat race and the main event, Versteeg drove up to an impressive 10th place. Austin battled to break into the top-10 throughout the day on Sunday, managing to end up 11th at the final checkered flag, keeping him in the top-five for the championship chase.
CRG-USA - an official K1 RaceGear and MG Tires race team - is currently accepting Arrive-and-Drive requests for the SKUSA Pro Tour finale, set for November 14-18 in Las Vegas, NV. The company is also spreading their dealer network to new locations throughout the United States. If you are interested in becoming part of the CRG-USA network, or becoming part of this growing professional race team, please contact Stacey Cook at info@CRG-USA.com or phone 855-TEAMCRG.
 | TaG Cadet driver Cody Dempster place fifth in his Pro Tour debut
(Photo: On Track Promotions - otp.ca) |
About CRG-USA:
Located at the Grand Junction Motors Speedway in Colorado, CRG-USA is the newest importer for the CRG chassis brand and Maxter-Sonik Sport engine program. Operated by Stacey Cook, the company will focus their distribution and marketing on the western and central portion of the United States. In addition, the operation is fielding a national race team program through the 2012 season at all the major karting events on the year. If you want to race with the best product in karting, jump on board with CRG-USA today. Visit http://www.crg-usa.com or phone 855-TEAMCRG (832-6274). |
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