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| December 30, 2004 News |
| EKN Trackside - WKA KartWeek - Day 2 |
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The second day of this year’s WKA KartWeek was completed on Wednesday as the paddock enjoyed blue skies and safe racing on the hallowed grounds of Daytona International Speedway. The shifterkarts made their first appearance on the sprint track in both 125cc and 80cc configuration while the high banks of DIS saw another slate of assorted enduro classifications.
Manufacturer’s Cup – Day 2
 | | Logan Gomez notched a breakthrough ICC win |
Powered on by the set-up of chassis expert Tim Lobaugh and the engine tuning of Dave Talbot, Birel driver Logan Gomez turned in the sweep of the ICC proceedings on the sprint track yesterday, scoring his first national 125cc triumph. Although the field was not quite as strong as it has been in the past, Gomez defeated both Wesley Boswell (Birel) and Josh Schreiber (Biesse) to take the well-deserved victory. Making his debut with J&J Racing aboard a Biesse, Schreiber needed to come from the tail of the field in the Prefinal after trouble in qualifying. After improving his position by a couple of spots in the heat race, he pushed hard in the final and diced hard with Boswell to the checker as Gomez capitalized on the clear track in front of him.
The ICA offering drew a solid 22 entries to Daytona and after a first corner incident collected a handful of the front-running contenders, MRP’s Michael Giessen picked up where he left off by dominating the race en route to a big win. The Deer Park, NY driver praised the support of legendary engine man Lynn Haddock following the race and also told EKN that much of his pace came from a quick set-up right out of the trailer.
 | | Michael Giessen and Mark Vielgut occupied the ICA front row |
Corey Reeves (Margay) took his place at the head of the Yamaha and HPV fields, winning the Yamaha Lite category over Brandon Adkins and Tim Goettch as Margay swept the top six positions. Paulie Harraka continued his impressive senior debut on his KRT but ended up in sixth after tagging an apex haybale. Reeves matched the run in HPV Lite, edging Harraka by just under a second. The front four drivers, with Kevin Nelson (Margay) and Chuck Tate (Margay) added to the mix, ran together from start to finish.
Eric Morrow (Margay) continued a great week with a 3.5-second win in Formula Yamaha Jr. over Chad Finley (Margay) while Sage Karam (Birel) turned in an amazing performance by walking away from the Cadet field. Karam’s father Jody was back home in the hospital undergoing a kidney operation and refused to begin the procedure until hearing from his son following the race. He is no doubt extremely proud of is son’s fine performance. Reid Jefferies took second over Bijon Spinazzola as the Jon Nevoso camp finished with a sweep of the next sixth positions.
In the 80cc Junior category, Zach Schiff made an exciting debut with the First Kart team as he romped to a dominant win. First Kart took the top two positions as Ontario star Michael Vincec stepped up late in the game to best DL Racing’s Hayden Duerson (Tony Kart).
ICC Race #2 Predictions – By Super Kart Illustrated’s Rob Howden:
Heading into today’s ICC final, the primary players for the win are easy to identify: Logan Gomez, Wesley Boswell and Josh Schreiber. Gomez will be looking to complete an amazing season-opening weekend with another win but his competition will very likely rise to the occasion. I look for Boswell to step up to the plate as Schreiber continues to come up to speed in the Biesse, winning the last race of the week after a heated battle. Schreiber will take second as Gomez backs up his Tuesday win with a podium today.
National Road Race Series – Day 2
 | | Russell vs. Spaude; a family feud on the big track |
The Spec 125 Sprint 2 class came down to a battle of two road racing families with a pair of different generations. TS Racing’s Bil Spaude (Veloce) found time to put his driver’s suit on and jump into a kart for competition. Battling the karting pioneer was Jim Russell Jr. (Rocket), who hails from long time road racing supporter Russell Karting. The two found themselves in a four-kart battle for the top spot at the end of the race with Russell edging out Spaude at the line. Just behind them were Dean Boyd and Andrew Noyes in the third and fourth positions, respectively.
The CIK 125 Sprint 2 race started out just about the same as yesterday’s opening main as at one time a lead pack of 12 karts screamed through the tri-oval. The finish was much different, however. Rob Morris (Birel) improved on his third place finish from yesterday by edging out Chad Dokken (Rocket) and Lance Lane (Veloce) for the photo finish victory. The lead pack eventually dwindled down to the three veteran road racers as they worked together and separated themselves from the rest of the pack. Yesterday’s winner Chad Roe (Energy) and runner-up Owen Wharton (Intrepid) were disqualified for pushing in the draft, a no-no that has been stressed for all classes at every drivers meeting. Shaun Cain (CRG) and Tim Richardson (Margay) rounded out the top five.
 | | Tight racing action on the high banks during Yamaha Sportsman Heavy |
The Unlimited class doubled its numbers from Wednesday to 24 on the grid, filled with many different blends of classes that ran the previous day. Ron Miller took his Rotax-powered Dominator to the sweep of the category with another victory. Miller held off Formula 125 driver Brian Wilhelm (Owl), who went home with two runner-up finishes for the week. B-Stock driver and race director Robby Harper rounded out the top three.
A great on-track battle in the Yamaha Medium ended up not determining the final results. Nate Grindell and Scott Buerman engaged in a 45-minute chess battle with Grindell declared as the winner. Grindell was not awarded the win, however, as he was disqualified in the tech barn when his engine was found to be uncompliant with the motor specifications. This handed the second position to Brandon Fry with Dave Hechler taking the third position. Grindell would come back at the end of the day to post a runner-up finish to road racing legend Randy Fulks in the Yamaha Sportsman Heavy class.
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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