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| December 29, 2004 News |
| EKN Trackside - WKA KartWeek - Day 1 |
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The cobwebs have been cleared and the rubber is going down at this year’s WKA Kart Week as the drivers have all brought their programs up to speed. A full slate of racing was put into the books on Tuesday, both on the full Daytona road course and the temporary sprint track laid out in between turns three and four of the big track. The weatherman cooperated as well as only a light sprinkling of rain midway through the day hampered the proceedings. By the end of the day, blue skies dominated the horizon.
Manufacturer’s Cup – Day 1
 | | Ryan Fowler walked to the win in Easykart |
The 2005 edition of the Manufacturer’s Cup East kicked off today on the sprint track with a total of six classes hitting the asphalt. Multi-time WKA champ James Perkins (Gillard) got things going with a solid win in the Yamaha Masters category, winning over Jonathan Ferris and Christopher Rock. In HPV Jr. SuperCan, Stars of Karting Cadet frontrunner Will Tenney looked good in his graduation to the Junior level, winning in a close fight over Christian Pahud. Eric Morrow would follow suit in Yamaha Jr. SuperCan, beating Brandon Bealer by just over two seconds.
The HPV Lite category featured an exciting knockdown, drag-out fight for the win as Paulie Harraka (KRT) emerged victorious over Joey King (Margay) with a last lap move to take an impressive triumph in his first senior race in WKA competition. Harraka has a long resume of wins in Junior racing and will now work to add Senior victories to his pedigree. Corey Reeves (Margay) ran to third over Brandon Adkins and David Kraeer.
 | | Rideless just four weeks ago, Joey King steered his Margay to a Formula Y victory |
Harraka was back behind the wheel in the spec Easykart main and was in the fight again, although not for the outright win. The opening lap of the race was highlighted by several incidents that took drivers out of the 20-lap event, including a first corner pile-up. These assorted melees allowed Ryan Fowler to pull away to a dominating victory as the Florida driver was never challenged en route to a 4.823-second win. After working his way to third, Harraka would battle with Stars of Karting Easykart champion Carlos Duenas for the runner-up position. Harraka completed his run to second immediately, getting by Duenas in turn one but Duenas came back and re-took the position just a few laps later. The duo would remain attached and, in the end, Harraka would win out and take the position at the checker. Nick Heden and Jon Branam would cap the top five.
The final race of the day was all Margay’s Joey King. The Silvis, IL driver did not have a ride heading into the 2005 season but a concerted effort by a supportive motor builder - Cook Racing Engines - re-fired King’s successful association with Margay. King paid his backers with an impressive win in the Formula Y Senior opener. King led from flag-to-flag and crossed the line with the Birel-mounted Michael Giessen giving chase. Corey Reeves (Margay) took third while Chris Stage (Gillard) delivered a strong performance to finish fourth over Mark Vielgut (Haase).
National Road Race Series – Day 1
 | | WKA 125cc road racing is always this tight |
The CIK 125 1 race was a wild one with a nine-kart draft pack leading the way during the first few laps. Of the 30 drivers chasing the victory, Chad Roe (Energy) found the right set-up for the ever-changing weather conditions to take his first Daytona win. Defending series champion and reigning SKI Road Racer of the Year Chad Dokken (Rocket) was in the hunt but experienced carburation troubles each lap in the infield, hindering his ability to run up front. The CKT pilot would end up fifth in the opening 125cc run of the weekend. Owen Wharton (Intrepid) took second over Rob Morris (Birel).
The Piston Port Can Lite class turned heads in pit lane as a six-kart lead pack diced around the 3.6 mile course from the drop of the green all the way to the checkered flag fell. In what was going to be a big victory, Lindsay Walkup-Fox took the checkered flag as the winner but was then disqualified in the tech barn - the back of her exhaust 'can' had worked its way loose and did not make it back to the paddock. This gave the win to defending series champion Terry Russell, who made the long trip from California with car owner Tom Harpur, racing under the LAD tent.
The TaG class main – identified as Spec 125 Sprint 1 in the WKA package - did little to calm the controversy that has surrounded the program. While an impressive field of 33 drivers took the green, it was the dominating performance of Bret Spaude on the Sonik-powered Veloce that caused much of the discussion. The WKA is taking considerable heat in their equivalency program for the TaG engines and many believe that the Sonik is simply too quick for the competition. Spaude romped to a 43.261-second win over TS Racing teammate Brad Zoeller, who was running a Parilla Leopard on his Veloce. The most telling fact was that Spaude’s fastest lap was over 2.5 seconds quicker than his closest competition. The young pilot’s natural talent makes it tough to truly gauge the engine’s performance. Although, as an emerging category in the WKA program, you can be certain that the organization’s tech staff will be closely monitoring each race.
 | | Mike Spear Jr. clinched the SKI F125 title with his Daytona win |
Although it may have been the beginning of the 2005 season for the WKA NRRS paddock, Tuesday’s Formula 125 race was also was the finale event for the Super Kart Illustrated Formula 125 Enduro Challenge. Winner of two series events during the season, Arkansas’ Mike Spear Jr. (Emmick) put in a dominating performance to earn the victory and the championship. After a smoking launch off the wall to start the 45-minute main, Spear was able to work his way around lapped traffic to put distance on second place man Brian Wilhelm (Owl) as Spear recorded the second fastest lap of the race, topped only by 250 Twin winner Johnny West. Spear knocked off a quick lap of 2:02.641 en route to the championship-clinching victory. Heading into the event, defending SKI F125 champion Scott Fiesler (Emmick) had the point lead but he was be unable to hold onto the crown following an uncharacteristic opening lap spin. He would later succumb to ignition troubles that would send him to the garage. We’ll post a complete story on the SKI F125 Enduro Challenge finale next week.
The track is hot again today and we’ll be back this evening with a full report of the day’s action. We’ll also lay down our predictions for the second Manufacturer’s Cup ICC main event, which will wrap up the week on Thursday. To access our complete WKA KartWeek coverage from the Daytona, click on the EKN Trackside Event Page via the Features section on the EKN homepage. |
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