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| March 02, 2008 News |
| EKN Trackside: WKA Manufacturer’s Cup Series - Lowe’s Sunday Report |
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 | Chris Larson took the victory in TaG
(Photo: Go Racing Magazine) |
Sunday completed the second round of the WKA George Kugler/Bridgestone Manufacturer’s Cup Series Driven by Mazda with eight classes running during the final day of the SSC East/CRG Nationals at the Lowe’s Motor Speedway. With warmer weather and more rubber laid down on the circuit inside NASCAR 3-4, the competition level stepped up to put on a great show.
HPV Heavy started the main events out with Birel pilot Ryan Stewart leading the field to the green. Saturday double winner Travis Firing (Margay) - who was top qualifier - was pushed back to ninth in the Prefinal but worked his way to third by the checkered flag. He and Saturday’s other double winner Corey Reeves (Margay) trailed the leader in the early portion of the race. Firing stuck the pass into turn eight on lap five. Following that, Reeves attempted a pass on Stewart in turn 14 but was unsuccessful, losing ground to the top two. Stewart put some pressure on Firing but was unable to make a move with Firing turning in some of his quickest laps at the end to take his third win of the weekend. Reeves was a comfortable third with David Kraeer (Margay) and Brandon Adkins (Birel) moving up from 11th to finish fifth.
The Cadet Jr. Sportsman was duplicate up front with Jake Cole (Birel) - who has been battling bronchitis - taking his second victory of the weekend. What was a six kart battle for the top spot ended up being three in the final laps with Cole able to break away as Kyle Crump made a final lap pass for the runner-up spot to make it a Birel 1-2 finish. Stephen Kalogiannis (Merlin) ended up third with Gresham Wagner (Birel) and Logan Bearden (Birel) rounding out the top five.
Tommy Andersen (Merlin) led the way early on in HPV Jr. Heavy Final and looked to have the spot locked until slowing coming off lap turn 14 on lap eight, allowing top qualifier Zack Busch (Arrow) to assume the point. The two were able to break away from the battles as the rest of the field made sure their bodywork wouldn’t go home clean. Andersen recovered to get on the bumper of Busch, looking for a last lap pass but a bobble in the esses cost him any chance at a run toward turn 14. Busch took the checkered with the hands in the air. Behind Andersen, Tristan DeGrand (Kosmic) came away with third with Spencer Pigot (First Kart) and Sean Rayhall (Kosmic) completing the top five after starting 11th. Triple Crown winner Cody Robinson (Arrow) and Cody Humphreys (Merlin) - both involved in the multi-kart accident at the beginning of the Prefinal, worked their way up to 10th and 11th.
 | Zack Busch edged Tommy Andersen for the HPV Jr. Heavy win
(Photo: Go Racing Magazine) |
Making up for a boring Yamaha pipe class yesterday, the Yamaha Lite class provided great racing with the top five karts battling for the win. Ryan Stewart (Birel) was the top qualifier and led green to checkered in the Prefinal, but the rest of the front runners stepped up their game for the 18 lap Final. Stewart led early before TJ Koyen (Merlin) took a turn at the point and then Tim Goettsch (Margay) assumed the top spot. He was able to hold for the second half of the race to take his first win of the year. Koyen won the battle for second ahead of Chris Larson (First Kart), Stewart, and Tony Jump (Margay).
Austin Self (Birel) had a good handle on the HPV Jr. Sportsman field, sweeping all the on-track sessions on the day. In the main event, he was able to pull out to a nine-second victory over fellow Birel driver Jake Cole. An opening lap pile up in turn one separated the rest of the top five with Trent Hindman (Merlin) in third, Jeff Myers Jr. (Birel) fourth, and Kyle Kalish (Merlin) fifth.
Things got dicing as the TaG field went into turn one. Outside pole starter Caleb Loniewski (Kosmic/Parilla) dropped to 10th while Michelle Bumgarner (Margay) dropped out. Chris Larson (First Kart/Sonik) - top qualifier and Prefinal winner - pulled out to a small lead. The rest of the top five getting together coming out of turn 14 on lap five - including Chris Wehrheim (Top Kart/Parilla), Brian Jacobsen (Haase/Parilla), and Saturday’s winner Travis Firing (Margay/Parilla). That gave Larson a bigger lead and moved Matt Codalata (Margay/Parilla) and Mark Dismore (Arrow/Parilla) into the top three with the rest of the top ten battling pod to pod.
At the halfway mark, Codalata began cutting into Larson’s two-second lead. With two laps to go, Larson’s advantage was just seven-tenths with it even closer as they took the white flag. It wasn’t close enough though as Larson held on to take the win, sweeping the class on the day. Codalata was an impressive second with Dismore running a comfortable third. Loniewski bounced back for fourth with Firing finishing fifth. An outstanding performance on the day by Chris Keller (CRG/Sonik) after missing qualifying due to mechanical issues, he won the LCQ to start 25th in the Prefinal. After finishing 17th in the 12 lap race, he worked up to 10th in the main event.
 | Ending the weekend with an exciting finish was Kevin Nelson's Yamaha Sr. Sportsman Heavy win
(Photo: Go Racing Magazine) |
Saturday’s Yamaha Junior winner Spencer Pigot (First Kart) led the field to the green for the SuperCan Lite race. After relinquishing the top spot to Zack Busch (First Kart) for a lap, Pigot regained the spot and stretched out to a two-second advantage over the Arrow kart trio of Busch, Cody Robinson and Dakota Pesek. With them fighting each other, Pigot was on cruise control for his second win of the weekend. The Arrow trio went down to the final corner as they went three wide to the finish line. Robinson crossed the line second but was moved behind Busch for improper driving. That gave Pesek second and Busch third. Steve Nemeth (Birel) was part of the battle but had to settle for fifth.
Yamaha Sr. Sportsman Heavy was calmer than the can class from yesterday. Corey Reeves (Margay), looking for his third win of the weekend, led the field to the green flag. He and mentor Kevin Nelson (Margay) put some distance on the rest of the pack earlier on. Nelson used his knowledge on the young grasshopper, making the switch-back move on the final lap through turn 14 stick and edged Reeves by 0.041-seconds at the line. Brandon Adkins (Birel) edged Ryan Phillips (Bandit) for third with CJ Lintner (Arrow) completing the top five.
With seven wins on the weekend, Margay now leads the Manufacturer’s Championship Trophy standings with a total of 11 wins over Birel’s now nine victories on the year. Arrow sits in third - picking up one win in round two with Merlin and First Kart locked at three wins. Drivers will have three months off from the Manufacturer’s Cup Series program to prepare for the Racersites.com Grand Nationals at the Badger Raceway in Dousman, WI on June 13-15. For complete coverage of this past weekend, visit the Event Page. |
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