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| March 01, 2008 News |
| EKN Trackside: WKA Manufacturer’s Cup Series - Lowe’s Saturday Report |
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 | Gold Cup veteran Travis Firing switched to 2-cycle for two victories on Saturday
(Photo: Go Racing Magazine) |
The second round of the WKA George Kugler/Bridgestone Manufacturer’s Cup Series Driven by Mazda completed the first day of racing at the SSC East/CRG Nationals at the Lowe’s Motor Speedway in Concord, North Carolina. The weather was an improvement on Friday, with the exception of the wind still blowing around the infield. The WKA staff kept everything moving and the drivers put on a show all day long, keeping the fence lines filled.
HPV Heavy started out the main events on the day with a Birel vs. Birel battle early on between Prefinal winner Ryan Stewart and Brandon Adkins. The duo broke away from the pack as the handful of drivers battled for the third spot. After swapping the lead spot for a few laps, Gold Cup veteran Travis Firing - making his Man. Cup debut, was able to reel in the leaders. Firing took care of Stewart and then went after fellow Triple Crown winner Adkins. Getting a good draft on the back straight, Firing made the pass for the lead into turn eight and never looked back to earn the victory for Margay. Adkins held off Stewart for second with top qualifier Julia Landauer (Birel) and TJ Koyen (Merlin) rounding out the top five.
The always exciting Cadet Jr. Sportsman division was on track next with an unusual two kart break-away from the rest of the pack with the rest of the field battle for the top ten. Trent Hindman (Merlin) and Jake Cole (Birel) started first and third, using the inside line at the drop of the green to get the jump on the pack. The ran that way until two to go with Cole making the move into turn eight to take over the top spot to take the white flag. Hindman looked going into turn 14 but was unable to keep up the momentum on the inside line, allowing Cole to pull in front and earn the checkered flag. Daytona winner Austin Self (Birel) won the battle for third with Kilian Bloat (Juncos) and Jacob Donald (Arrow) completing the top five. Top qualifier Mason Chelootz, making his first start aboard the Top Kart, was sixth.
 | Corey Reeves gave Margay two more wins on the day
(Photo: Go Racing Magazine) |
The HPV Jr. Lite main event had a few turn one casualties as the field got the green flag to start the 18 race. Prefinal winner Tommy Andersen (Merlin) used that to his advantage to pull out to a comfortable gap on the field. That was enough as he led flag to flag for his second straight class win. Starting eighth, Jordon Bachmeyer put down the fastest laps of the race to advance up to second, for a 1-2 Merlin finish. Arrow’s went 3-4 with Cody Robinson and Zack Busch while Merlin rounded out the top five with top qualifier Cody Humphreys.
What was an exciting race in Daytona was a walk away here at Lowe’s with Margay’s Corey Reeves sweeping the Yamaha Heavy division, leading all on-track sessions for the day. Reeves earned the pole by a tenth, the Prefinal by four-tenths, and stretched it out to 1.5-second victory over Ryan Stewart (Birel). Chris Larson (First Kart) was third, David Kraeer was fourth, and Daytona winner Kevin Nelson (Margay) moved up from 10th to fifth in the 18 lap race.
It was another two kid show in the second Cadet race, the Yamaha Jr. Sportsman class. Hindman led nearly every lap during the day, except the final half lap. Self was on Hindman’s bumper for the enter 18 lap final, making his move into turn eight, the two went side by side through the exit with Hindman getting sideways on the outside, allowing Self to assume the point and take the victory. Ben Hewitt (Merlin) was third with James Bennett and Christopher Barngrover (KRT) completing the top five. However, at the tech barn, Hindman was removed from the results to bump everyone up and put Jeff Myers (Birel) into the top five.
The fast class of the day was the TaG class with Firing doing it again, this time sweeping all the on-track sessions. Aboard the Margay/Parilla package, Firing used his many laps at the Lowe’s track in the Gold Cup division to top the qualifying session and led all the laps in the Prefinal and Final for his second victory of the day. Chris Larson (First Kart/Sonik) was unable to challenge for the win, running second comfortably ahead of championship leader Caleb Loniewski (Kosmic/Parilla). Arie Ouimet (CRG/Rok TT) and Chris Wehrheim (Top Kart/Parilla) moved up a spot each after Chris Keller (CRG/Sonik) dropped a wheel while running fourth for most of the race.
 | Spencer Pigot came from ninth to win the Yamaha Jr. SuperCan Heavy main event
(Photo: Go Racing Magazine) |
Only 10 drivers competed in the Yamaha Masters with Jeff Jewell (Haase) dominating the class on the day. John Dixon (Birel) was a strong second with Steve Rumsey (Arrow), James Perkins (Margay) and Lawrence Ubell (Kosmic) completing the top five.
The Yamaha Jr. SuperCan Heavy final was unpredictable. Pole sitter Spencer Pigot took the green flag but went too hot into turn one, drifting outside and dropping back to ninth while Busch and Dakota Pesek (Arrow) led the field. As the laps wound down, Pigot charged through the field, eventually closing in on the leaders with just a few laps to go. After getting by Pesek through turn 14 with three laps to go, Pigot made the exact same pass one lap later for the top spot and held the position to earn his first victory of the year. Busch and Pesek were second and third with Merlin drivers Shawn Sharkey advancing from 12th to fourth and Cody Humphreys from 11th to fifth.
The Yamaha Sr. Sportsman Lite race was a wild one. The early portion of the race saw the field spread out until on lap four when the red flag came out on lap four for an accident between Derek Hughes and Kyle Fogt. Hughes would need medical attention for injuries to his leg. Following the restart, the front of the field was nose to tail, seeing numerous lead changes. When the final lap came, Corey Reeves (Margay) was able to hold off for his second win of the day. In a photo finish, Brandon Adkins (Birel) beat out Mark Dismore Jr. (Arrow) and Chris Larson (First Kart) for second in a three wide finish over the jump at start/finish line with Josh Call (Margay) rounding out the top five.
To follow all the action throughout the weekend, visit the Event Page. |
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