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| October 20, 2007 News |
| EKN Trackside: Stars of Karting Desert MINI National Finals - Saturday Report |
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 | Defending ICC National Champion Gary Carlton continues to lead the field, earning both heat victories on Saturday
(Photo: EKN) |
The Stars of Karting Desert MINI of Las Vegas National Finals officially got underway today at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway as qualifying kicked things off in the morning before two to the three rounds of Prefinal heat races completed the day. After a full day of practice on Friday on this temporary circuit, it was time to see who would be able to step up in the lead pack.
In ICC, Gary Carlton (CRG) continued his control of the class this year, winning the pole position after sitting second for most of the session to upstart Hayden Duerson (Italkart). The emerging star from Italian Motors laid down a blistering 54.6-second lap, only to be pipped by Carlton on his final flying lap. In the heat races, Carlton controlled both sprints, chased in each by Champion Racing’s Jordy Vorrath (Intrepid) who is in a good position to start alongside Carlton on the front row of the initial main event. Alex Speed (Birel) has impressed in his return, taking a pair of third place finishes.
Reigning ICA national champ Joel Miller (Tonykart) has been handling the field thus far, qualifying second to point leader Scott Jenkins (Intrepid). Miller would move to the pole, however, when Jenkins was forced to deal with a three-position penalty for a Parc Ferme violation. In both heats, Miller sped away at the green flag to pace the field with a comfortable advantage. Jenkins fought with Tyler Dueck (Intrepid) and Nick Tonkin (Birel) in the opening heat before Tonkin slipped back. Tonkin battled back in the second heat to take the runner-up position, helping his cause for a good starting position in the opening main event.
 | Joel Miller - defending ICA national champion - took both heat wins
(Photo: EKN) |
Spec Racer featured two drivers scoring wins as fast qualifier Conor Daly (Topkart) was outrun by Jason Toft (Birel) in the opening heat. SoCal star Joey Licata Jr. (Biesse) was part of the three-driver pack that pulled away from the rest of the field. Daly would fire back in the second sprint, pulling away to a solid victory that has put him in a good position for the feature race pole. Daly’s squad made the correct adjustment to their set-up between the heats and the result was a better chassis through the second moto that yielded a big win and a shot at the pole for the two mains. Licata and Toft look strong and this trio looks likely to make up the front row tomorrow.
The JICA field is tight with a host of drivers all still in the hunt for the pair of wins and the National Championship. After taking pole, Brendan Phinny (Top Kart) led the way early in both heats. He took the win in heat one followed by a very solid Dusty Davis (Maranello). Davis had a big shunt yesterday that badly bent his chassis, but after a long night in the paddock, Davis was back looking strong. A late-season chassis change for Taylor Miinch (Top Kart) seems to have re-ignited the young Californian as he turned in a pair of top five runs today.
In Cadet, class stalwart Sage Karam began his title defense by laying down the fastest lap in qualifying, leading into a win in the opening heat race. Karam was chased by Tristan DeGrand, Andrew Murray and Dylan Kwasniewski, giving us a preview of what will be the likely lead pack. In the second heat, the final lap was surprisingly wild as contact and shuffling put Kwasniewski out front ahead of DeGrand, Murray and Karam. Tyler Thomas was a distant fifth, but he could easily step up to be part of the fight.
On Championship Sunday, the day will begin with the final round of heat races heading into a two separate main events to decide the national championships. For more information, visit the Event Page. |
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