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| April 22, 2006 News |
| EKN Trackside: Stars of Karting - West #2 - Saturday Report |
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 | Making his return to karting, Jordy Vorrath sweeps the first day of action on Saturday
(Photo: Sean Buur - GoRacing Magazine) |
A quick overview of the second round of the Stars of Karting would start with a weekend weather report that would completely contrast the opening round at the Race of the Americas event in Norman, OK. Temperatures reaching the 90s and strong winds had people searching for shade and cover. The racing was also hot on the track with a full day of action.
ICC
Just as he did in Friday’s practice sessions, Champion Racing’s Jordy Vorrath powered his Leading Edge Motorsports-prepped Intrepid entry to the front of the pack in all three of the day’s official sessions to make a triumphant return to the national karting scene. After spending last season running the Skip Barber National Championship on their karting scholarship, a program in which he finished up second overall, Vorrath found himself just short of raising the money he needed to graduate to the next level of cars. To keep racing, Vorrath teamed with Greg Bell of Leading Edge Motorsports and Champion Racing to contest the Stars of Karting ICC division in ’06. Unfortunately, the Canadian missed the Race of the Americas with a broken wrist from off-track activities.
Over three-tenths clear of Italian Motors driver Tad Funakoshi (Italkart) in qualifying, Vorrath posted a 47.175-second lap – the new track record – to take the pole for the Prefinal. Trackmagic’s Gary Carlton was third quickest while Tony Kart drivers Keith Spicer and David Jurca completed the fast five in the 26-kart field. OVRP.com’s Matt Jaskol (TopKart) had timed in second quickest, but he was eventually DQ’d in tech for modification to the airbox boot. Pushing him to the tail of the field, Jaskol’s return to the lead pack was an exciting one.
In the Prefinal, Vorrath dropped the hammer from the green flag to pull away to a 1.847-second win at the stripe over Funakoshi and Fritz Leesmann (GP). The battle for second was a good one as Leesmann fought hard for the position, pushing Funakoshi all the way. Carlton came home fourth to give him the outside of row two while Spicer and Jurca would share your row three after finishing fifth and six. The remainder of the top ten saw Jaskol advance from 26th to seventh in the 16-lap sprint, finishing ahead of rookie Billy Goshen (Topkart), Nick Halen (MS Kart) and Alan Rudolph (RBI).
In the main, Vorrath and Funakoshi went side-by-side into turn one after each driver launched well, and Vorrath leveraged his pole position and inside line to take the lead. Heading into turn three, a right-hander, Funakoshi got shuffled to the marbles and dropped to few positions and when the field came back into full view, Carlton was leading the chase pack with Jaskol right on his rear bumper. This order would hold for many laps as Jaskol put constant pressure on the Trackmagic driver, eventually slipping by in the final turn after Leesmann had reeled them in. Leesmann would eventually get by as well, taking third before setting his sights on Jaskol.
The GP driver would eventually get his mark, passing Jaskol in the right-hand turn 12 that leads back onto the frontstraight. Leeseman set the fastest time of the race en route to his runner-up finish and he simply did not have enough to chase down Vorrath over the final laps, finishing up just 1.116-seconds behind the Canadian. Jaskol would take third while Funakoshi and Carlton would complete the top five. Rudolph recovered to advance to a solid sixth while Jurca and Spicer came home seventh and eighth. Ryan Yop (Tony Kart) and Jonathan Wright (CRG) completed the top ten.
 | Tyler Dueck made it a double victory for Intrepid, taking Saturday's ICA Final win
(Photo: Sean Buur - GoRacing Magazine) |
ICA
Champion Intrepid driver Tyler Dueck was the man to beat all day in the ICA category, but while topping the chart in both Gatorz Pole Qualifying and the Prefinal was challenging, the fight from the field faded in the main as only four drivers made it to the checkered flag.
In Qualifying, Dueck posted a 48.602-second run to take the pole over CRG driver Juan Sanso. Italian Motors lead shoe Colby Jenn (Italkart) was third quick ahead of Joel Miller (Tony Kart) and Jess Peterson (Intrepid). For the Prefinal, Dueck bolted to a quick cushion and was followed in his getaway by Jenn, as they stretch out to a four-second gap on the rest of the 21-kart field. Peterson is picking up the pacing, having joined the Champion operation earlier this year, and he advanced to third to edge Sanso for the inside of the second row for the final. Row three would see ICA rookie James Kennedy (Birel) start alongside Race of the Americas polesitter Nick Tonkin (Birel).
In the final, an exciting three-driver battle ensued between Dueck, Peterson and Jenn as the positions were swapped a few times. Jenn would get no higher that second however, as he was forced to dice with the two Champion teammates. Behind this fight, the field was thinning itself out quickly. The hot and dusty weather was wreaking havoc on the ICA motors and one-by-one, drivers fell out in success. Eight karts failed to make the halfway mark – including a quick Nick Johnston (Maranello) - and a further seven would be on the sidelines for the five-lap dash to the checker. One of these seven was Peterson, whose engine let go on lap 17, pulling him from the fight. Dueck would then begin to pull away from Jenn, who was eventually reeled in my Tonkin after he went off-course. Tonkin was unable to make the pass and succumbed to engine failure himself while the same fate would hit Jenn just a lap from the end while running second. He would finish fifth overall.
This left Dueck to run to the checker unchallenged and advanced Kennedy and Hebner to the podium and they both paired string performances and good engine management to finish second and third, respectively. GT Kart’s Don MacGregor would come home fourth, the final driver to cross the stripe.
It was certainly an attrition-filled affair but this should in no way diminish Dueck’s performance as he was certainly the driver to beat all day.
 | First Kart pilot Devon Sandeen took Saturday's Spec Racer victory
(Photo: Sean Buur - GoRacing Magazine) |
SPEC RACER
The opening race in Tucson for the Spec Racer category eventually came down to a pair of impressive runs by First Kart pilot Devon Sandeen. After qualifying third to Chris Giumarra (Biesse) and Billy Leininger (First Kart), Sandeen made quick work of his competition in the Prefinal and then, after dropping to second at the start of the main, he worked his way back to the point and proceeded to exert his force en route to his first win in Stars of Karting competition.
In the time trials, Giumarra posted a 50.586 to edge Leininger for the pole as Sandeen’s 50.699 was just over a tenth off. Race of the Americas winner Jordan Musser in the 3G Kart Racing Birel was fourth on the initial time chart, just ahead of DPK pilot Justin Miller (Birel). The Prefinal saw Sandeen bolt early to develop a four-second advantage over Giumarra as Chelsea Jackman (Biesse) advanced nicely from six to finish third ahead of Musser and Firstkart.com’s Eric Gerrits.
In the main, Sandeen lost the lead for a short time at the start but once back in control, he laid down a consistent set of quick lap times to take control of the event. Over the 20-lap duration, Sandeen would pull away to a 4+ second win over Musser, who will continue to lead the overall class points race with his runner-up result. Miller took the final step on the podium following a great race which saw him battle back from sixth to pick off one driver at a time, benefiting from a good set-up that allowed him to remain quick late in the race when other were fading. The battle for second through fifth was excellent early-on but once Musser broke free, the fight dissipated as Giumarra would eventually take fourth over Gerrits.
 | Garrison Masters earned his first ever Stars victory in the JICA Final Saturday
(Photo: Sean Buur - GoRacing Magazine) |
JICA
Garrison Masters (CRG) showed the way in JICA, defeating a tough field of 33 drivers to post his first Stars of Karting JICA win. Masters grabbed the pole position in qualifying and proceeded to sweep all three official sessions with a tough Prefinal win and a solid main event performance to post a victory for PCH Motorsports.
In qualifying, Masters ran a 50.547 to edge rookie JICA driver Gustavo Menezes (Tony Kart) by just 0.013 for the point. PCH driver Jacob Neal (CRG) had been quick all weekend and took third in the timed run, finishing up just ahead of Andrick Zeen (Intrepid) and Dusty Davis (Maranello).
The start of the Prefinal was a little hairy as a corner one wreck took out Italian Motors drivers Michael Hogg and Hayden Duerson and TNR Kartsports pilot Joey Licata Jr. Reigning West Coast JICA champ Brett Smrz (First Kart) would also be relegated to the sidelines after a lap one tangle. There was a good fight up front nonetheless as the lead packed consisted of Masters, Neal, Menezes and Brendan Langlois (Maranello). This quartet would lose a member with just two laps to go when Neal fell back the wayside, ending up in 24th. Masters would retain the lead to win by 0.260 over Langlois and Menezes.
In the final, the fight for the win looked to be between Masters and Menezes as they pulled away from the field to duel it out among themselves. Menezes would not make the final six laps however, as he went out on lap 14 with a clutch problem, leaving Masters to cruise home to the big win. Langlois collected a well-deserved runner-up finish by out-gunning SuperNats JICA winner Connor DePhillippi (KRT) and the quick rookie Taylor Miinch (Birel). Christian Stover (Tony Kart) rounded out the top five while Neal put in a masterful driver to recover from his Prefinal DNF by advancing from 24th to sixth.
 | Devin Jones was awarded the Cadet Final victory after Andrew Murray was bounced in the tech barn
(Photo: Sean Buur - GoRacing Magazine) |
CADET
Cadet qualifying was extremely tight with the top three drivers all timing in within one tenth. Devin Jones (Nevoso) led the way with a 57.263 but he had Andrew Murray (Birel) and Dylan Kwasniewski (KRT) right there with 0.090-seconds. Mason Marotta (Topkart) and Mikee Mejia (Birel) rounded out the fast five.
Although great dice developed in the Prefinal as Oscar Tunjo (Nevoso) joined the fray, eventually winning the 10-lap sprint to take the pole for the main. A tight trio that included Marotta and Jones edged away from the field, and they were again separated by less than a tenth at the stripe. Murray would stay up front and took fourth ahead of Canadian Phillip Orcic (Mach 1). One of the drivers who was putting things together was reigning Cadet champion Sage Karam (Topkart). After qualifying 11th, Karam advanced to eighth in the Prefinal, setting himself up for a jump to the lead fight when the Final came around.
In the main, Murray pulled away from the field in a fashion uncharacteristic of the Cadet class and would power away to a 2.619-second on-track win as his challengers failed to team up and reel him in. Jones would lead the chase group consisting of Tunjo and Karam, unbeknownst that they were actually racing for the win. Murray would eventually fail the fuel tech in the post-race inspection, handing the victory to Jones. Tunjo and Karam would join Jones on the podium. Dylan Nobile (Nevoso) was also incompliant in the fuel test, negating a solid run from 11th to fifth.
A full day’s action in on tap again for today so check out the EKN forums for our official discussion thread, where we will post the top ten results from all the official sessions. |
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