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| July 31, 2005 News |
| EKN Trackside: Barber Pro Kart Invitational – Sunday Report |
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 | West, Osborne, and Taylor making up the Formula E podium
(Photo: Dennis Lathem - photobama.com) |
In front of nearly 10,000 race fans who had already settled into their hillside seats at the Barber Motorsports Park in Birmingham, Alabama for the Grand American Rolex Series Porsche 250, a total of over 130 karts provided some exciting racing to kick off the day’s action. Organized and promoted by Robbie Harper and his Big South Road Racing crew, the Pro Kart Invitational held a coveted spot on the support card for this big event and the reaction by the karters was overwhelmingly positive.
Headlining the event was the U.S. Superkart Championship and when the checkered was displayed, defending champion J.R. Osborne (P-1/Yamaha TZ) earned his second Formula E win of the season after a dominating 16-second triumph. The Colorado resident earned the pole position during this morning’s early qualifying session, which was shortened due to a light rain shower. Running in the second half of the morning’s one-hour time slot (the 125cc shifters and TaG karts hit the track during the first half hour), Osborne set a new track record with a smoking 1:25.252, a time that set the paddock on its ear. During the morning session, Osborne could have run 17th in the 20-car Daytona Prototype grid.
 | Andy Kiker and Marc Miller put on a show toward the end of the USSC event
(Photo: Russell Fulmer - photobama.com) |
Texan Derek Eastty steered his Nemesis/FPE package to second on the time sheets despite losing second and third gear early in the run. A 1:27.179 was good enough for second over Chris Taylor (Turfrey/Yamaha TZ). ICE drivers held the next three spots on the time sheets before Reggie Brown (P-1/BRC) was found in seventh overall, fourth in the Formula E class ahead of Johnny West. As stated, the ICE top three was extremely quick with reigning champ Andy Kiker (Anderson/Honda) showing the way to fourth overall with a 1:28.558. ICE title contender Jim Ingram (PVP/GasGas) was second in class, ahead of the Honda CRF450-powered Anderson of Tim Richardson. SKI Project 250GP driver Marc Miller had transponder issues and sat 13th on the grid, fifth in ICE behind Randy Domikis (Anderson/Honda).
Gridding up on the pit lane, the field was minus Eastty at race time as he and his team was unable to repair their gearbox issues. This was a shame as Eastty believed that he had what it took to challenge Osborne for the win. The Nemesis squad will need to wait for round four at the Texas Motorsports Ranch in Cresson, TX to seek their revenge. Also failing to join the lead group for the start was Richardson, who stalled during the pit lane formation and then knocked the carb out of its boot as he motioned to his crew. The resultant repairs put him over a half-track behind the field as it took the start.
When the group took the green flag to start the 10:30 am main event in front of the assembled Rolex Grand-Am fans, Osborne jumped out into the lead unchallenged and never looked back. Brown got a good start to slip into second, but his day was done at the end of the first lap when battery issues left him without power. As the field settled into place, Osborne led Taylor and West in FE while Kiker assumed the ICE lead over Ingram and the quick-starting Miller. The fight had begun.
 | The USSC ICE podium
(Photo: Dennis Lathem - photobama.com) |
Osborne proceeded to pull away to a 16-plus second win over Taylor, who enjoyed an even larger gap over the third place finishing West. The best fight was for the ICE win as after Kiker assumed the early lead, Ingram asserted his speed and took over the point during the first half of the 12-lap run. Problems with Ingram’s exhaust hindered the power output of his GasGas engine and he would be reeled in first by Kiker, and then Miller, before dropping to third at the checker. The dice between West and Kiker for the third position overall allowed Miller to close in on the fight, first passing Kiker on the outside of turn one and then West on the brakes heading into the left-hand hairpin turn six. Miller’s pace surprised Kiker, who proceeded to settle in and go after the challenge for the win, eventually running down and re-taking the lead. Kiker would go on to take the ICE victory, third overall, while Miller would find measurable success in the debut race of the Super Kart Illustrated project car with a strong second. Ingram held on despite his mechanical issues to take third, sixth overall.
Jerry Echols (Anderson/Yamaha TZ) and Michael Denzinger (MSR/Honda RS) rounded out the top five in Formula E while Domikis took fourth in ICE ahead of Clark Gaynor Jr. (Anderson/Honda).
The Super Kart Illustrated Formula 125 Enduro Challenge was on-track with the Superkarts and ’03 series champion Scott Fiesler (Emmick/Honda) showed the way all weekend to take the win. Gateway winner Brian Wilhelm (Owl/Pavesi) chased Fiesler all the way to finish up second ahead of point leader Kyle Schreiber (SLK/Pavesi). Todd Behrens finished up fourth while Rory Pederson capped the top five. Ken Johnson ran his beautiful new TaG laydown with the group, finishing fourth in the order, but as a non-shifter, he is not part of the SK F125 point tally. It was a fine run nonetheless.
The Unlimited class ran with the Superkarts as well and the victory in their dice was won by Jim Farr over Todd Ellerbee. Ardalan Sadeghi took third while Ken Forsa and race director Robby Harper rounded out the top five.
 | 125 shifter class winner Chad Dokken
(Photo: Dennis Lathem - photobama.com) |
A total of 61 125cc shifters took to the track in the opening race of the day and while a fight for the win did not appear in the cards during the early going, the last few laps saw a rapid increase in excitement. Off the standing start, Chad Dokken (CKI/TM Moto) bolted into the lead with Rob Morris (Arrow/Honda) in tow as the duo built an early gap. Dokken was a rocket from the get-go however as he simply pulled away from the entire field, building a solid lead through the opening laps as Morris found himself busy with a charging Jayce Haghighi (Tibi/Honda). Making a charge through the field early were Eric Freiberg (Veloce) and Josh Lane (Veloce). The duo had transponder issues and were gridded in the back of the pack for the start. By lap one, they Illinois pilots were in the top ten. Eventually, Freiberg worked his way into second and began to pull in the leader Dokken though he would run out of time as the checkered flag fell. With his runner-up finishing spot, Freiberg was credited with the quickest race lap time (1:33.510). Lane fought with Haghighi and Morris at the end with Haghighi taking the third spot ahead of Lane and Morris to round out the top five.
The next round for the USSC group will take them to the Texas Motorsports Ranch on September 30-October 2 while the SKI Formula 125 Challenge will attend the KART Road Racing Grand Nationals for round four of the series on September 9-11 at the Lake Afton Raceway in Goddard, Kansas.
Formula E Results
| Pos | No. | Name | Chassis/Engine | Laps | Diff | Best Lap| 1. | US | J.R. Osborne | P-1/Yamaha TZ | 12 | - | 1:25.305 | | 2. | 28 | Chris Taylor | Turfrey/Yamaha TZ | 12 | 16.552 | 1:27.168 | | 3. | 2 | Johnny West | MSR/Honda RS | 12 | 48.692 | 1:29.608 | | 4. | 15 | Jerry Echols | Anderson/Yamaha TZ | 12 | 1:02.163 | 1:32.283 | | 5. | 81 | Michael Denzinger | MSR/Honda RS | 11 | 1 Lap | 1:36.219 | | 6. | 53 | Mark Croslyn | Zip Kart/Honda RS | 11 | 1 Lap | 1:40.350 | | 7. | 3 | Jim Brannon | MSR/Honda RS | 10 | 2 Lap | 1:40.010 | | 8. | 99 | Firouz Haghighi | PVP/Yamaha TZ | 6 | 6 Laps | 1:30.691 | | 9. | 67 | Jimmy Long | PVP/Yamaha TZ | 2 | 10 Laps | 1:45.678 | | 10. | 7 | Reggy Brown | P-1/BRC250 FE | 1 | 11 Laps | No time | | 11. | 23 | Steve Tillman | Anderson/Yamaha TZ | 0 | 12 Laps | No time | | 12. | 79 | Derek Eastty | Nemesis/FPE | 0 | 12 Laps | No time | |
Intercontinental E Results
| Pos | No. | Name | Chassis/Engine | Laps | Diff | Best Lap| 1. | 24 | Andy Kiker | Anderson/Honda CR | 12 | - | 1:28.756 | | 2. | 6 | Marc Miller | Anderson/Honda CR | 12 | 2.756 | 1:29.592 | | 3. | 11 | James Ingram | PVP/GasGas | 12 | 22.896 | 1:28.608 | | 4. | 4 | Randy Domikis | Anderson/Honda CR | 12 | 28.699 | 1:31.423 | | 5. | 51 | Clark Gaynor Jr. | Anderson/Honda CR | 12 | 34.789 | 1:32.438 | | 6. | 89 | George Saldana | PVP/Honda CR | 11 | 1 Lap | 1:34.167 | | 7. | 50 | Tim Richardson | Anderson/Honda 450 | 11 | 1 Lap | 1:30.666 | | 8. | 25 | Michael McAlister | Anderson/Honda CR | 11 | 1 Lap | 1:35.822 | | 9. | 21 | David Liretts | PVP/Yamaha 450 | 11 | 1 Lap | 1:38.757 | | 10. | 14 | Bobby Butler | PVP/Yamaha 450 | 11 | 1 Lap | 1:40.683 | | 11. | 52 | Ronald Kuhn | PVP/Honda CR | 11 | 1 Lap | 1:43.760 | | 12. | 45 | Brad Cain | Nemesis/Yamaha YZ | 6 | 6 Laps | 1:41.401 | | 13. | 14 | Donald Engbretson | Kart Pro Stratus/Yamaha 450 | 3 | 9 Laps | 1:45.589 | | 14. | 26 | Scott Lowenstine | MSR/Honda CR | 0 | 12 Laps | No time | | 15. | 98 | Michael Kranz | Nemesis/Honda TRX | 0 | 12 Laps | No time | |
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