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| June 12, 2005 News |
| Small Fields at Black Rock Battle Rain in First Day |
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The second annual Black Rock Summer Shootout officially got underway Saturday with a disappointing 62 entries on hand for the event. Many on the paddock wondered that with $35,000 up for grabs, why more racers didn’t make the trek to Salt Lake City for the event. News is also working around the track that this will be the last major event at the Black Rock track as it is set to be pulled up within the next few weeks to make room for the expansive Miller Motorsports Park. Plans for the facility call for a karting track to be built along with a full sized road course.
There are five classes on hand for the Summer Shootout with the largest being the Rotax International class that features 21 entries total. Overall the grids are neither as large nor as deep as they were last year.
Leading the way in the Pro ICC action is reining ICC National Champion Alex Speed. He put his #1 Team Speed Birel on the pole with a 47.798 second lap. Running an impressive second was PTK’s JJ McTiernan (Tony Kart) who was .214 seconds off of Speed. Qualifying in third was Jason Bowles (Tony Kart).
 | | Pro ICC drivers getting ready for Heat #2 (Photo: Super Kart Illustrated) |
In the first heat, Bowles got a monster start down the inside and tried to out brake Speed into the first corner. Bowles was hard on the binders and pushing wide when Speed’s front tires hit the back of Bowles kart, sending the Birel into the gravel trap and out of the race. Bowles held on but not before falling back to third behind McTiernan and Bonnier Moulton (Tony Kart.) The three Tony’s ran up front until the race was red flagged in a nasty incident involving RBI’s AJ Whisler and Mike Beeny (Tony Kart). Whisler hit Beeny from behind and flipped. Whisler was taken to the local hospital and released later with a minor injury to his elbow.
Heat two was run in the rain and again it was Bowles and Speed racing to the first corner. Speed took the lead but Bowles tested him several times. It appeared Bowles was able to brake deeper but Speed was quicker off the corners. Speed would win the second heat with Bowles in second. Finishing third was McTiernan who in the process won the pole for Sunday’s Final. Bowles will start along side.
In the 125 Masters class, local driver Chris Farrell (Tony Kart) has been the driver to beat all day. He was more than a half-second clear of Chris Livingston (Italkart) in qualifying. Those two would finish in that order for the first heat with Randy Mitchell (Tony Kart) in third. The second heat was also a rain race and despite having never driven on wet tires before, Farrell was clean all the way through on his way to the win. A couple drivers tried running the race in dry tires but they quickly slid off the track. APD driver Kelly Baker (Trackmagic) was second and Livingston third. Farrell will start from the pole Sunday.
 | | Drivers had to deal with a wet track in the second round of heats at Black Rock (Photo: Super Kart Illustrated) |
In the large Rotax Class, Wes Phillips set the quick time in qualifying and as a result started from the point for both heats. Qualifying second was Moulton who looked strong in the Rotax class. In the first heat, there were no changes in the front two was Phillips drove to a solid win. Eddie Olpin (Tony Kart) was third in the heat. Heat two ran as the rain began falling and everyone opted for the dry tires. Missing from the front row was Moulton who had problems with his starter. The increasing rain led to tricky conditions and on the last lap, Canadian Scott Campbell (Vankart) snuck past Phillips for the win. Campbell was followed by Phillips and Olpin. Moulton drove from last to seventh.
Reigning Rotax Masters National Champion Andy Seesemann Birel) is on hand and showing why he holds the title. The Full Throttle Karting owner has swept the weekend thus far, taking the pole and winning both heat races. Bob Naylor (Monza) was second in the first heat with Gary Pesner (CRG) in third. In heat two, Pesner and Naylor swapped positions.
Rotax Junior too is being dominated by a single driver – Michael Self (Birel). The Salt Lake City resident has steamrolled the field scoring the pole and winning both heats. His cumulative winning margin in the heats is over 16 seconds. Austin Isaac and Keenan Schmitke (Invader) were second and third in the first heat while Tyler Bennett (Birel) and David Chapel (CRG) finshed second and third in heat two.
Up for Sunday are the Finals and there is rain in the forecast. Some reports have the rain coming early and being out of the way by late morning, but many in the paddock are prepared for a wet day of racing. EKN will have a wrap-up of the Finals posted Monday morning.
Saturday Results - Unofficial
| Pro ICC Qualifying | | | | | Pos | No. | Name | Chassis/Engine | Best Lap | | 1. | 1 | Alex Speed | Birel/SwedeTech TM | 47.798 | | 2. | 6 | JJ McTiernan | Tony Kart/Vortex | 48.012 | | 3. | 11W | Jason Bowles | Tony Kart/Vortex | 48.191 | | 4. | 49 | Bonnier Moulton | Tony Kart/Vortex | 48.349 | | 5. | 27 | Gary Carlton | Trackmagic/TM | 48.698 | | | | | | | Pro ICC Heat 1 | | | | | | Pos | No. | Name | Chassis/Engine | Best Lap | | 1. | 6 | JJ McTiernan | Tony Kart/Vortex | 48.36 | | 2. | 49 | Bobbier Moulton | Tony Kart/Vortex | 48.354 | | 3. | 11W | Jason Bowles | Tony Kart/Vortex | 48.328 | | 4. | 27 | Gary Carlton | Trackmagic/TM | 48.547 | | 5. | 22 | AJ Whisler | RBI/TM | 49.293 | | | | | | | ProICC Heat 2 | | | | | | Pos | No. | Name | Chassis/Engine | Best Lap | | 1. | 1 | Alex Speed | Birel/SwedeTech TM | No time | | 2. | 11W | Jason Bowles | Tony Kart/Vortex | 57.212 | | 3. | 6 | JJ McTiernan | Tony Kart/Vortex | 59.258 | | 4. | 87D | Marc Elliott | RBI/SwedeTech TM | 01:00.0 | | 5. | 27 | Gary Carlton | Trackmagic/TM | 59.284 | |
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