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| October 19, 2007 News |
| EKN Trackside: Stars of Karting Desert MINI National Finals - Friday Report |
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 | Gary Carlton led the final practice session on the temp course in Las Vegas
(Photo: EKN) |
Hitting a temporary circuit laid out in the infield of the Las Vegas Motor Speedway for the first time, the competitors of the Snap-on Stars of Karting national championship went to work today searching for a quick baseline set-up with which to begin their quest for the sport’s most prestigious titles. Unlike last year, which saw the title chases enter with the leaders in strong position, this year’s National Finals will see all five categories featuring a fight for the crown. ICC, ICA, Spec Racer, JICA and Cadet will all come down to the two main events which are on tap for this weekend.
Friday’s schedule featured five sessions for all competitors, and the focus was put directly on finding grip on a track that featured a continually evolving layout. One primary section of the track was worked on throughout the early sessions of the day, presenting drivers with a new challenge during each on-track outing. The layout features a couple of tight corners, and a fairly long dog-let left straight leading into a tight right-hand hairpin. The result has been a chase for the correct balance between bottom end launch and top-end speed, and this was a give-and-take question all day. Grip has been at a minimum as rubber is not going down as expected. The surface ranges from racetrack track pavement (some of the facility’s road course sections) to concrete to access road asphalt. The bottom line is that finding traction is likely going to be the key heading into qualifying.
In ICC, point leader Gary Carlton (CRG) is again on top, being chased by two of the usual suspects - David Jurca (Italkart) and Fritz Leesmann (CRG). In his return to Stars action after sitting out for a of couple years, Alex Speed (Birel) was 11th quick in the final session.
In ICA, title favorite Scott Jenkins (Intrepid) led the way with defending National Champion Joel Miller (Tony Kart) in second. It looks likely that Miller will be penalized points from earlier in the season, when he was allowed to use points from the Eastern Championship in his Western calculations due to a conflict. As a result of his participation in the Skip Barber National Championship, which he won from Stars last year, Miller was unable to compete at the Moran event in the Western Division. To make up the missed race, he was able to substitute the New Castle Eastern race. However, Miller made an appearance at Moran at the end of the weekend, trekking over from Utah following completion of the conflicting Skip Barber event. Stars rules state that if a competitor is at the track in any capacity on a weekend they have declared a drop, they will be docked points. Miller and his Tony Kart team have lodged an appeal that is, at this point, pending.
Utah winner Joey Licata Jr. (Biesse) topped the final timed session in Spec Racer, showing the way to Western Champion Devon Sandeen (Intrepid) and fellow Miller winner Colin Katzakian (Intrepid). Brit Sam Jenkins (Intrepid) is pacing the domestic JICA line-up in his first appearance in North America, while TopKart pilots Brendan Phinny and new recruit Taylor Miinch lead the chase. At this point, Cadet is being led by Jacques Saurino, who timed in ahead of Andrew Murray and Tyler Thomas.
The event schedule features just a single qualifying session heading into a pair of main events and we will present a full breakdown of the weekend layout in the official forum thread tomorrow morning. More information can be found at the event page. |
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