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| March 04, 2005 News |
| ProKart Challenge Bring in Big Names for Round 2 |
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Round two of the ProKart Challenge took place at Moran Raceway in Southern California this past weekend amid much speculation on whether the series would be able to build upon its terrific debut just one month prior at the same track. The series goal of 100 entries in seven classes was reached with just over that in total entries for the event. The fantastic showing was noted almost immediately in online postings just a day after the race, and the tone of those posts spoke volumes about the positives the series has brought to the So-Cal market place.
 | "Dash for Cash" running start
(Photo: PKC-MLP) |
Terrible weather again was the main story of the day, but thankfully the torrential downpour that ultimately did materialize, held off until 15 minutes after the final podium ceremonies were complete. Some of the top names in sport and more, including national karting champions Alex Speed, Matt Jaskol, Chris Carmondy along with top ProKart regulars Nick Halen and Shayne Shipley rounded out the Formula Premier class. The Formula Spec class participants saw current Red Bull/Cheever Indy Racing star Alex Barron take to the track in a new Tony Kart he built the day prior. The added presence of these top drivers certainly lent an air of sophistication to the event. ProKart Challenge’s mission to provide a fun atmosphere along with terrific racing has succeeded early.
The day kicked off early with what is a now becoming a PKC tradition: a walk around the track with the top drivers in the sport. Newly crowned 2004 SKI Driver of the Year Alan Sciuto led the debut race group around the track in January, and this month’s driver- or better yet, drivers- proved to be equally impressive. This time, not one, but three top guns - Rocky Moran Jr., Alex Speed and Alex Barron - walked the challenging circuit with nearly all the racers in tow. The cold, damp conditions did nothing to deter racers from sipping coffee while picking up pointers from the threesome as they toured the 1-mile long facility. Moran Jr. did most of the talking, as he and his father are responsible for designing the challenging layout. The soft-spoken Speed, who is so amazingly quick through turns two and three, filled in the blanks, while Barron did a lot of one-on-one talking to the group. It’s Barron’s knowledge of karting that most are in awe of - and his presence at the PKC was something special for all the participants.
Running like clockwork has been a key factor to this series success, and again it was the order of the day. From the first practice laps to the final checkered of the day, with organization comes the promise of an extraordinary amount of seat time for the money. And for that reason it was the TaG group that was showcased this weekend, most notably with a special “Dash-for Cash” implemented just after qualifying. The top five qualifiers in both Senior and Masters were combined - inverted based on qualifying time - then off with a Lemans style start for a three lap event to determine who was going to stuff some cash in their driving suit pockets. It was certainly exciting with John Crow taking home the top prize of $200, Travis Irving with $100 and Scott Koumis with $50.
 | Alex Speed looking to repeat in '05
(Photo: PKC-MLP) |
Formula Premier
Matt Jaskol piloted his CRG to the pole position in qualifying with a lap time of 1:03.825 while Stars of Karting ICC National Champion Alex Speed (Birel) was within one thousandth of a second of Jaskol. Some drivers however elected to run non-spec tires in preparation for their national campaigns in a few weeks, including Speed. That decision proved to be a bit controversial to racers on the grid, and because of that decision, the national drivers disqualified themselves out of the final standings at the end of the day. Some were questioning if they should have been moved to the back of the field after each heat but they were not. This development caused some to complain and will cause the series to address this issue for future events. However, it goes without saying that the racing was clean and a lot of fun, all while stepping up everyone’s game.
PKC points leader Shayne Shipley (GP) was the real star of the day, turning in stellar heat one and heat two performances that allowed him to take the win after the disqualification of final winner Speed and second place finisher Ryan Phinny, who also was running the non-spec tire. Chris Carmody (CRG) elected to run the spec tire and finished second overall because of the choice. PKC regular Nick Halen (Van Speed) was removed from his third finishing position for being one pound underweight after the final. Fernando Diaz (GP) moved from a mid pack qualifying spot to the third spot in the final that turned a lot of heads. Diaz moved into second in overall points with the amazing drive. John Bates took the Formula Premier 2 win in the two kart field.
 | Alex Barron
(Photo: PKC-MLP) |
Formula Spec
Formula Spec was fittingly dominated by the man who is credited with starting it all, Alex Barron. Nearly four years ago Barron came up with the Barron Super Spec Series in Southern California, a series that pioneered the shotgun riding spec Honda motor. The series was a way to help with the kart shop he started in between Champ Car and one-off IRL drives at the time. The series was a lot of fun, affordable, and it really leveled the playing field amongst competitors with the concept. Barron has since focused his sights upon his second full year with Eddie Cheever’s Red Bull team in the IRL, and beginning this Saturday he has the IRL Championship in mind!
As for Spec 1 race action, Matt Kimball (Tony) was the only serious Barron challenger all day - the duo drove away from everybody every race. Greg Marlow was quick, but no match for top two finishers. In Spec 2, relative newbie Travis Whitehead (Tony Kart) showed everyone how it was done with an unchallenged wire-to-wire victory. Second place finisher Jim Baltutis (Tony Kart) worked his way up from the 23rd spot through two heats for a solid second place finish in the final. Harris Koenig rounded out the podium.
 | | The start of the TaG final |
TaG Senior / TaG Master Classes
The TaG turnout on Saturday showed the debut numbers were no fluke with a total of 35 entries in the two groups. The racing was exciting all day, and after two fantastic heats, the Senior final saw Shaddow Smith bust off from the rolling start and never look back. John DeMartino made the most of his day making a move from way back in the seventh spot all the way to second in the main. The Masters result saw Crow walk away with the top spot, making his day all the sweep after winning the dash earlier in the day. Dennis Hunter and Jim Shafer rounded out the top three.
Formula V
The Formula V class again was solid with a lot of new faces in attendance. Randy McKee was quickest in Formula V1 qualifying with a 1:05.575 with Jason Campbell (1:05.927) and Tom Auayfuay (1:06.536) not far behind. The top two spots would remain the same in the final. The surprise of the day was Christopher Painter’s drive out of nowhere for a third place finish in the final. Formula V2’s Brad Dhesi began the first heat in fourth, the second in third, and drove to victory over Kevin O’Connell and Jeff Jeppesen in the main.
PKC has announced the postponement of the March 19th Las Vegas date at X-Plex due to limited hotel space in the city. The date will be rescheduled in September either at X-Plex or another facility. The April Grange date has been moved up to Saturday April 2 in order to avoid conflict with the newly announced Kart Sport Grand Prix, which many of the PKC racers have expressed interest in running. |
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