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| September 01, 2006 News |
| EKN Trackside: Rock Island Grand Prix - Preview |
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 | Kyle Wiegand looks to join Alan Rudolph as the only three-time King of the Streets winner
(Photo: Super Kart Illustrated) |
This year’s Rock Island Grand Prix is shaping up to be another record breaking event. Nearly 378 entries - as of August 25 - have been submitted for the Labor Day weekend - September 2-3 - event on the streets of Rock Island, IL with more to show up today to enter. Some of the best racers across North America as well as many international competitors will be making their way to the Quad Cities to be crowned King of the Streets. Teams will be filling the paddock area around 5pm when the streets shut down and the RIGP volunteer crew gets to work on building the track before the first karts hit the track Saturday morning.
For the seventh consecutive year, the RIGP will host the Superkarts! USA’s King of the Streets race, sponsored by the Bob Bondurant Super Kart School. Though only 25 drivers have entered thus far, the field is stacked already with former winners and tough competitors. Two-time defending King Kyle Wiegand will return to defend his crown and go for a third straight victory aboard his new TopKart/SwedeTech package. The only driver to win three years in a row, Alan Rudolph, will make a run for his fourth victory this year after finishing third the previous year. The first King of the Streets and two-time winner Joe Janowski will also be on hand. Returning back to live in the Midwest, SpeedTech’s Shayne Shipley will return to the driver’s seat to make his bid for the crown teamed with BTK Motorsports driver Stuart Marsell, who finished second in his first ever RIGP last year with Shipley turning the wrenches. Canadian hotshoe Lorenzo Mandarino will bring his KLS Racing GP for his first outing at the Rock and will be a driver to watch.
The CIK ICC class will see a similar entry list as the King of the Streets division but will move from the spec Bridgestone tire required at last year’s event to an open tire rule this year with the absence of the Stars of Karting involvement. Wiegand did the double dip last year and won both the KoS and the ICC class.
The man with the most wins in ’05 was Mentor, OH’s Gary Lawson. With three victories last year, he was able to move his total RIGP wins to eight with a possibility of taking home five wins this year in Briggs Heavy, Animal Medium & Heavy, and Senior Sportsman Medium & Heavy.
 | Gary Lawson carried the flag three times in '05 and has a chance to do it five times this weekend
(Photo: Super Kart Illustrated) |
The big class of the weekend is the TaG Senior division and is stacked with karting talent. First name on the entry list (because of his last name) and will most likely be at the front of the field is Stars of Karting Eastern Division Spec Racer champion Brandon Adkins. Adkins has a big lead in the overall standings as they move on to the National Finals in Toronto, Canada but will look to add a RIGP victory to his CV before heading there. Joining Adkins is a long list of drivers that will battle the Rock, including, Brandon Bealer, Jamie Ferrell, Margay’s Keith Freber, Adam Johnson, Michael Johnson, Brandon Jones, Mark Vielgut and Cale Wyse just to name a few. Joining the 55 entries will be EKN News Manager David Cole as he will team up with Franklin Motorsports and Merlin USA aboard a Merlin MR32-50/C-G Racing Parilla for the next Super Kart Illustrated OnTrack segment.
Bonnier Moulton, the two-time winner of the 125cc Masters division, will be MIA for this year’s event to concentrate his efforts on the SKUSA SuperNats in November. This will open up the class for some of last year’s top finishers including John Dixon, Dan Roe, and Todd Vandermolen. Joining them in the fight for the Masters shifter title will be SKUSA CEO Tom Kutscher and PR rep Jim Baltutis, both aboard GP machines.
The ICA division made its return last year with only eight entries but has passed it for ’06 with a mere nine drivers. Included in the class are Stars of Karting regulars Brandon Bealer, Johnny Johnson, Steve Krock, Chris Livengood, Caleb Loniewski, Eric Morrow and Ben Searcy. New to the RIGP this year will be the Tom Argy Junior Sportsman class for drivers, age 12-15, utilizing the 3-hole (YBX) exhaust. It replaces the Junior Animal class that was run in the past. The class will host many of the top Junior drivers from the Midwest and is already at 20 entries.
Also running during the weekend include 125 Moto, TaG Masters, Yamaha Medium and Yamaha Heavy. EKN will be bringing you trackside coverage throughout the weekend with day’s end recaps, Qualifying results posted Saturday evening and Final results posted Sunday. |
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