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| September 11, 2005 News |
| EKN Trackside: Stars of Karting – Infineon – Sunday Report |
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 | | Alex and Mike Speed celebrate another ICC win. This one sewed up the ICC Western title (Photo: SKI) |
The last day of the Stars of Karting Western Division Championship rolled without major incidents and all the championships were concluded. It was a near perfect day of racing and a chance for drivers who had trouble yesterday to reclaim their front of the field status.
Intercontinental C (ICC)
The ICC qualifying session ran with its usual order as in the early portions of the 15-minute run, the drivers looking for the pole sat while they allowed the rest of the field to take the track. Sitting were Alex Speed (Birel), Ryan Phinny (Birel), Gary Carlton (Trackmagic) and Ron White (TopKart). Early on, Dane Cameron (Italkart) led the way but once yesterday’s front runners took the track, the times dropped. First was Jon Allen (MBA) before Speed drop the quickest lap for the provisional pole. Jumping right into the fray was Phinny who was alongside his teammate.
Speed was on pole but wasn’t done as he stayed out and posted a 46.294 that was good enough for a new track record. Phinny held second until White popped to second. Also running fast was Matt Jaskol (CRG), who posted the third fastest time, a half second off of Speed. Phinny’s time held for third and Allen ended the day in fifth.
The ICC Prefinal action started before the green dropped as second place qualifier Ron White failed to make it to the green when his TopKart would not fire on the pit lane. Off the green, Speed got the jump but Jaskol was clearly in the hunt as was Carlton. Phinny got off the line slowly and fell back in the field before working up.
Jaskol and Speed swapped the lead a few times before Speed took the lead for good. Carlton in third was hard at work on Jaskol. Carlton looked clearly faster from turn one to turn four but Jaskol was better in the inner section. Eventually, Carlton got by Jaskol for second. Jason Bowles had a good run to fourth and Ryan Yop (Tony Kart) finished in fifth.
The ICC Final was a dominating run by Speed. Taking the lead off the line, he led the early laps and built a solid lead. Carlton slotted into second and was running fast with a kart that was set to be at its best in the last few laps. The fight for third was a full race affair between Allen, Bowles, Jaskol and Yop. The drivers were all nose to tail changing the position a few times before Allen took the spot and built a cushion.
On lap fifteen, Carlton slowed as a blown motor ruined his day. That moved Allen to second and Yop to third. At that point, both former Kosmic North America teammates were looking at their first podiums. Allen held onto second behind Speed who took his second win of the weekend. On the last couple laps, Bowles moved to third then Jaskol made the move back to the final podium position. At the stripe, it was Jaskol third, Bowles fourth and Yop in fifth. The big mover of the race was Ron White who rolled through the field from last to seventh.
 | | Cole Whitt squeaked out a narrow win over David Jurca (Photo: SKI) |
Intercontinental A (ICA)
Yesterday’s winner Cole Whitt (Italkart) backed up his effort with the pole in today’s ICA qualifying session. Joel Miller (Tony Kart) qualified second after a rough day Saturday. Qualifying third was David Jurca (Italkart) with Landon Yee (Italkart) fourth. Eastern Division champion Phil Giebler (Intrepid) rounded out the top five.
The ICA Prefinal got off to a rough start for four drivers as turn one contact ended their day and sent Nicholas Johnston (CRG) onto his head. Out were Reed Stevens (Corse), Grant Hebner (CRG), and Keith Spicer (Tony Kart). At the front, Whitt took control with Giebler, Miller and Jurca falling into line. Giebler and Jurca swapped the second spot but eventually, Jurca took the spot and moved away.
Like yesterday, Whitt drove away with teammate Jurca in second. Miller moved past Giebler and finished in third. Landon Yee (Italkart) finished in fifth while Kevin Glover’s difficult weekend continued when he stuck his Maxter on lap eight.
High attrition marked the ICA Final but the action was hot right from the start. Off the line, Jurca took the lead with an aggressive move from the outside of the front row. Yesterday’s winner Whitt stayed close to his more experience teammate and kept the pressure on throughout the run. The best fight of the race was that between Miller and Giebler. The Western Championship was on the line and at one point, the two drivers running third and fourth were effectively tied in the points. Had the race ended then, the title would have gone to Giebler by virtue of wins. With five to go, that became moot when Giebler slowed and retired from the race. This moved Miller to the podium and into the title lead.
Up front, Whitt was glued to the back of Jurca and with two to go, he pulled the trigger and worked his way past. After taking the white flag, Jurca threw his Italkart sideways into the first turn and past Whitt. His momentum carried him wide and Whitt retook the lead to earn his third win of the year. Jurca was second and Miller third. Rounding out the top five were Dueck and Stevens.
 | | After a scary wreck yesterday Sebastian Saavedra rallied for the JICA win (Photo: SKI) |
Intercontinental A- Junior (JICA)
After running away from the field yesterday, Jacob Neal (CRG) was back at the front of the JICA field. Posting a 51.218 lap time, he was 0.313-seconds clear of Gustavo Yacaman (First Kart) in second. The Margay of MacKenzie Johnson was third and Michael Hogg (Italkart) in fourth. Rounding out the top five was Garrison Masters (CRG).
Young Jacob Neal continued his impressive weekend by dominating the JICA Prefinal. He took the lead off the green and drove steadily to a 3-second lead. The battle for second was between Yacaman, Sebastian Saavedra (Vanspeed) and Christian Stover (Tony Kart). Yacaman and Saavedra swapped for the spot with Yacaman taking the checkers in second. Stover and Hayden Duerson (Italkart) had a good fight for fourth but on the last lap, Duerson nearly climbed over Stover. Having to back off, Duerson lost the fifth spot to Billy Goshen (TopKart). Perhaps the most impressive drive came from Jahan Mongul (KRT) who started last and finished seventh.
Saavedra collected an emotional victory in the JICA Prefinal. After crashing hard yesterday, Saavedra dug deep to race with sore ribs. The start of the race saw Neal spin in the esses at the bottom of the hill. Then Race Director Kevin Williams inverted the front rows to get a good start after two failed attempts. Off the green, Saavedra took the lead with Mongul in second. Mongul had come from last in the Prefinal to then take the lead. He led the entire way, looking for a win in his first JICA race weekend. With a narrow lead on the last lap, Mongul made a slight error exiting turn nine opening the door for Saavedra.
Side by side through the final turn, Saavedra got the lead and the win. Mongul was second and Yacaman in third. Scott Rossi (KRT) fourth and rounding out the top five was Masters.
 | | In her Stars debut, Laura Hayes used a guts outsdie pass to take second in 80 Junior (Photo: SKI) |
80 Junior
The 80 Junior qualifying session saw Billy Goshen (Top Kart) take the pole position with Tommy Thompson (Italkart) second and Connor DePhilippi (CRG) in third. Yesterday’s second place finisher Levi Roberts (Top Kart) was fourth and Alex Schutte (Maranello) qualified in fifth.
Needing every point possible for Austin, Roberts got his Sunday off to a bad start by getting collected in the turn one wreck in the Prefinal. This allowed pole sitter Goshen to build a big lead and take the win over Zach Schiff (First Kart) in second. Laura Hayes (TopKart) used a final straight pass to take over third, moving DePhilippi to fourth. Thompson was fifth. After the race, DePhilippi was DQ’d for a radiator height violation.
Off the line in the 80 Junior Final, Goshen and Schiff dragged off the line for the early lead. Goshen on the inside took the point but had Schiff, Roberts, Hayes and Thompson on his tail. Schiff eventually overhauled Goshen and went on to the win. Hayes worked past Thompson for third then into second with a bold outside pass in the hairpin. The move allowed Thompson to get past Goshen who settled for fourth. Roberts came from the back to fifth.
 | | Dominic Scheer dedicated his Easykart win to his grandfather who lost everything in Hurricane Katrina (Photo: SKI) |
Easykart
A near perfect season seems to be in the grasp of Cory Pollack as he rolled to yet another pole position in today’s Easykart qualifying. Just like yesterday, Pollack outran Dominic Scheer with Joshua Lyon third. Ian Costa and Sebastian Fauque were fourth and fifth.
The Easykart Prefinal was missing the class strongman, as Pollack was not allowed to start after bringing fuel onto the pit lane. With no Pollack, that opened the race to Costa and Scheer who swapped the lead a couple times before Scheer took control and the win. Costa was second and Lyon in third. Fauque finished in fourth.
Heading into this weekend, Scheer talked to his grandfather on the phone and promised him a win. After losing everything in Hurricane Katrina, Scheer told his grandfather that the winner’s trophy would be his first decoration for the new house. Scheer made good on his promise by dominating the Easykart Final. Lyon ran second and Fauque made a last lap pass of Pollack for third. Costa was fifth with a DNF.
 | | Miles Maroney drove to a solid Cadet win (Photo: SKI) |
Cadet
After being DQ’d for unsportsmanlike conduct yesterday, Miles Maroney (Nevoso) was the easy pole winner in Cadet Qualifying. Maroney’s 57.279-second lap was nearly one second faster than Zach Zimmerly (Top Kart) back in second. Yesterday’s winner Brendan Phinny (Birel) was third and Dylan Nobile (Nevoso) qualified in fourth. Brazilian Gustavo Menezes (Nevoso) qualified in fifth.
It was a close fight for the Cadet Prefinal win as Nobile and Maroney ran nose to tail throughout the eight-lap run. The lead swapped a couple times but the last move on the final lap was decisive as Nobile snuck below Maroney and took the 0.04-second win. Timmy Bachman (TopKart) was third with Zimmerly in fourth. Menezes brought his Nevoso across the line in fifth.
After a rough day Saturday, Maroney drove flawlessly on his way to the Cadet Final. Off the line, he, Nobile and Menezes took control and decided the race amongst themselves. Swapping the lead a couple times, when Maroney got to the lead for good, he was benefited by the fight for second between Menezes and Nobile. Nobile was the second place finisher and Menezes ended in third. Rounding out the top five were Taylor Miinch (Birel) and Joshua Goshen (TopKart).
With the regular season now wrapped up, all eyes are turning to Austin where the four National Championship classes – ICC, ICA, 80 Junior and JICA will settle things for the year. There is a lot on the line in Austin. The final point totals are being worked out and we will have them on SKI later in the week. |
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