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| July 07, 2006 News |
| EKN Trackside: Stars of Karting East #3 - Friday Report |
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 | Tony Kart USA's Keith Spicer is the man to beat thus far, clocking in the fastest ICC lap of the day Friday
(Photo: Super Kart Illustrated) |
Hazy skies covered the karting facility at Lowe’s Motor Speedway today as a record divisional entry of 191 pilots filled the paddock and garages at the NASCAR venue. The event is the third scoring round for the Eastern Division drivers of the Snap-on Stars of Karting championship and the title chase will heat up this weekend as the contenders have most definitely been identified in all five classes.
The race track is not receiving rave reviews from the paddock, however, as many are complaining of its severe bumps and tight nature. Despite the fact that the track was re-paved late last year, it is still quite rough with an occasional four-wheel launch sending the drivers into the air at the start-finish. This will put attrition into the mix as the rough nature of the surface put many drivers on the sidelines during the practice day with such maladies as broken chains.
The garage area is a definite plus for the series as many of the major teams have invaded the facility used by the NASCAR teams. For those who were around during the North American Karting Championships of the mid-to-late 90s, it’s cool to see the frenzy return to these garages.
The Spec Racer class has an exciting entry this weekend in 1978 World Champion Lake Speed. The former karting star and NASCAR driver has been be driving quite a bit and is fresh off a trip to Quincy, IL for the Vintage Nationals. Speed, who will pilot a Birel chassis this weekend, looked good in the two timed runs this afternoon, ending up fifth in the final session.
Some other interesting additions to the entry list include a few returning pilots. Former WKA Manufacturer’s Cup ICC champion Josh Schreiber is back in the Stars paddock after ‘retiring’ at the end of the 2005 season. The Pennsylvania pilot is once again teamed with the J3 Competition squad this weekend and he looks good, ending the day in the top ten in the tough ICC class, which features a 50+ entry list. Former series frontrunner Mike Giessen is back with MRP aboard a Birel for this weekend. Giessen is living in the area as he works on his stock car racing career. In the final timed run, Giessen was 12th, less than six-tenths off the fast time.
 | Mike Wilson (right) returns to work with Birel this weekend, watching drivers like Derek Daly's son Conor
(Photo: Super Kart Illustrated) |
Also of note, ICA driver Chris Wehrheim has moved to a gearbox kart for the weekend, steering a new Top Kart Flash for the OVRP.com team. Wehrheim was in the top ten for the fourth session but dropped to 17th in the fifth run. This remains a solid debut considering the depth of the field.
The paddock is being graced by a few well-known karting celebrities, one of them being six-time World Champion Mike Wilson. Recently announced as a new employee of Birel SpA, Wilson is in town to support the MRP Motorsport squad and to survey the US scene. The EKN crew will sit down with Wilson on Saturday evening during the taping of the EKN Trackside Live ‘Happy Hour with Howden’.
Tomorrow will be a full day of action with our Live Updates to continue in the Official Event Discussion for Saturday Qualifying to begin roughly around 10am. |
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