Colin Warren (l) grabbed his eighth win at the CKNA Grand Nationals with his third in Senior Medium (Photo: Cody Schindel - CKN)

The Cup Karts North America Grand Nationals 8 set a new benchmark for karting in the United States and around the world. Roughly 600 entries converged on the New Castle Motorsports Park from all over the globe to compete in the nine Briggs & Stratton 206 categories, featuring over 500 drivers from ages 5 to 74.

The conditions on the week were perfect for racing at the New Castle, Indiana facility – who has hosted the event all eight editions. Summer-like weather was welcomed through Sunday morning before overcast skies and heavy winds hit the area. Eventually, the sun broke through, but the winds continued throughout the remainder of the day. After hitting the track for the first time on Thursday with a full day of practice, the competitors battled in qualifying, three rounds of heat races, last chance qualifiers to set the stage for the nine main events on Sunday to decide this year’s winners.

Daniel Draganov came from 24th on the grid to win the Sportsman division (Photo: Nate Dean – EKN)

Sportsman was the first category on the track, welcoming a new class winner. Pole sitter AJ Stoner (Coyote) led the 34 driver field to the green flag, battling with Holden Myers (CompKart) and Tanner Barsch (CRG) among the lead group. Eventually it became four drivers with Daniel Draganov (Nitro Kart) coming up from the 24th grid position. Once Draganov was into the top-10 by lap four, he quickly put himself into second behind Stoner. Draganov took over the lead on lap 8, and from there was able to lead the remaining seven laps. It was a drag race to the line after a P2 battle on the final circuit. At the checkered flag, Draganov took the victory by 13 thousandths of a second ahead of Barsch with Stoner in third. Sawyer Chambers (Kart Republic) drove to fourth, recording the fast lap of the race, with Myers ending up in fifth.

Three straight wins for Ryan Cassity in the Legends class (Photo: Nate Dean – EKN)

Ryan Cassity was able to secure a third-straight victory in the Legends class. The front row for the 52-driver field of Todd Bolton (Coyote) and Cassity were able to break away from the field. Tim Shutt (CompKart) was with the duo early until losing the draft. Cassity never left the rear bumper of Bolton for 14 laps. It wasn’t until they exited the final corner coming to the checkered flag that Cassity made his move. The two drag raced to the line with Cassity reach it first by 19 thousandths of a second. Shutt was able to hold off Corey Flint (MGM) while Jeff Scott (Ionic Edge) improved six positions to win the battle for fifth.

Owen Lloyd picked up his first CKNA Grand Nationals victory in Senior Heavy (Photo: Nate Dean – EKN)

A full grid of 60 drivers took the green flag for the Senior Heavy field led by Owen Lloyd (MGM) and 2022 winner Eric Fagan (MGM). They were joined by Elmer Edmonson (MGM), Sean Meier (Coyote) and Logan Stephens (Eagle) at the front of the field. Fagan led the first 12 laps before Meier broke up the MGM tandem at the front. Leading at the white flag, Meier held the position through the final corner until the drag race to the line began. Lloyd was second and was able to get alongside. With help from Fagan, Lloyd was able to push past Meier and reach the line first by five hundredths of a second. Meier held onto second with Fagan in third. Edmonson and Stephens completed the top-five, all crossing the line within eight tenths of a second. Hard charger of the race was Nathan Heath (Invader), gaining 32 positions in the 15 laps after winning the LCQ.

Canadian Jayden Francisco held on to win in Cadet (Photo: Nate Dean – EKN)

The 49-driver field of Cadet was decided with a run to the checkered flag. Pole sitter Dominic Gaddis (Kart Republic) led a five driver lead group that included Canadian Jayden Francisco (Nitro Kart), Austin Taylor (Kart Republic), Hudson Howard (Alonso Kart) and Slate Harrell (Nitro Kart). Gaddis led the first five laps before Francisco took a turn at the point for one lap. The following circuit Gaddis reclaimed the top spot and was there until lap 12 when Francisco moved back into the lead. Gaddis kept the pressure on through to the final corner. As they came down the final straight, Francisco kept his kart in the middle of the straight and Gaddis was unsure which direction to make the pass. His move was too late, and Francisco was able to reach the checkered flag first to take the victory by 44 thousandths. Gaddis ended up second with Howard third. Taylor lost the draft late in fourth with Harrell running solo in fifth. Hard charger of the race was RJ Brown (Maranello), improving 17 positions to finish seventh.

Spencer Hite won in Kid Kart (Photo: Nate Dean – EKN)

A record-setting 26 driver field for Kid Kart put on another great show for the youngest competitors in the sport. Grant Heckman (VLR) and Spencer Hite (Gold Kart) led the field through the first eight laps before a red flag came out after Luca DeMaria flipped his kart following contact with a spun out kart. The race was restarted, and Hite was able to fend off Heckman to claim the victory. Tristan Francisco (Nitro Kart) drove to third with Tristan Ruth (VLR) and James Fox (Top Kart) completing the top-five. Clyde Kleman (Coyote) was the hard charger of the race, gaining seven positions in the 15 laps to finish 10th.

James Overbeck repeated as winner in Senior Light (Photo: Nate Dean – EKN)

The 60-driver field in Senior Light put on a great show with little to no major incidents, with the exception of Brandon Jarsocark (Coyote) getting pushed off the track on the opening circuit to end his race after starting inside the top-10. Pole sitter and defending race winner James Overbeck (Coyote) led the first three laps before he was shuffled back to fourth. Austin Garrison (GFC) and Pauly Massimino (Coyote) found themselves partnered up at the front and were able to gap the fight for third. That was until Caleb Gafrarar (MGM) and Overbeck partnered up and began posting fast laps of the race to cut into the led by Garrison and Massimino. Once the lead duo was caught, Gafrarar went by both leaders to hold the top spot for only one lap. He would get shuffled back down the order as Massimino grabbed the lead for two circuits. Overbeck was second behind Massimino before making his move on lap 13. Overbeck led the group to through the final corner as they began the run to the checkered flag. Owen Lloyd (MGM) had put himself into the second spot by that point and pulled alongside Overbeck. Christopher McKeithan (Coyote) was up into third and went the opposite way to make it a three-wide run to the line. Massimino had his options in fourth, and went to the bumper of Overbeck, helping to push him to the checkered flag first. Overbeck secured the victory by only 27 thousandths of a second ahead of McKeithan with Lloyd in third, off by 63 thousandths. Massimino put the top-four at the flag, all within 77 thousandths. Kelvin Xing (MGM) advanced up to fifth late, improving seven spots. The hard charger of the race was 2022 winner Jordan Prior (Birel ART), gaining 34 positions over the 15 laps to finish 11th.

Cade Jaeger came away with the victory in Junior (Photo: Nate Dean – EKN)

Cade Jaeger (Coyote) and Cash Perkins (Coyote) led the 60-driver Junior field to the green flag for their 15-lap fight. It was a battle from start to finish, with Perkins getting the short end by retiring on lap two, going off track at turn two. Double divisional champion Christopher Wakefield (Sodi Kart) took over the lead from Jaeger before Adriano Yannuzzi (Coyote) took the lead for three laps. Brayden Zirves (Coyote) then led for the first time, pacing the lead group for four laps. On lap 11 Wakefield reclaimed the top spot only for a lap and then Jaeger became the leader once again. Jaeger would fight off the competition, winning the race to the line for his first CKNA Grand Nationals victory. Lucas Thek (Coyote) came up from ninth to finish second, short by 96 thousandths at the line. Wakefield settled for third with Jordan Cline (Coyote) claiming up seven spots to end up fourth. Brady Schad (Coyote) crossed the line in fifth, however, was penalized down to 47th for contact with Sam Tutwiler (Birel ART). The hard charger in Junior was the top nominee for the entire event. Isaac Malcuit (Birel ART) qualified 11th, suffered a DNF in his opening heat race and retired for a mechanical in the second. He gained 20 spots in his third heat, but had to start the LCQ from 23rd. He drove up through the field in the 10 laps to take the win, and then proceeded to gain 47 spots to end up 10th in the final results.

Marc Stehle scored a second straight in Masters (Photo: Nate Dean – EKN)

The race in Masters – featuring 52 drivers on the weekend – came down to just two. Defending winner Marc Stehle (Birel ART) started third with Jamie Bradford (MGM) going from fourth. They were able to work around pole sitter Sean Meier (Coyote) on lap two and three. Meier kept with the top two for the first half of the race before losing the draft. Bradford kept on the rear bumper of the Canadian Stehle to help distance themselves from Meier, staying on the bumper until the final lap. Bradford tried to pull off the slingshot, however, came up short at the line. Stehle took the checkered flag first by 27 thousandths of a second with Bradford settling for second. Meier drove to third with David Galownia (Birel ART) winning the fight for fourth ahead of Canadian Darryl Timmers (Ricciardo). Hard charger of the race was Nick Miller (Ricciardo), up 12 spots to finish 32nd.

The final race of the event was the Senior Medium category, with a wild 15 laps to decide the final winner of the CKNA Grand Nationals 8. Defending champion Christopher McKeithan (Coyote) and 2019 champion Jordan Prior (Birel ART) led the 60-driver field to the green flag. Prior was able to get the edge on the opening lap before the action began. Brandon Jarsocrak (Coyote) – starting sixth – worked himself up into the lead by the end of lap two. He held the spot until lap six when Ian Quinn (Birel ART) attempted a pass at the cell tower corner. At the same time, James Overbeck (Coyote) was trying a pass on Quinn. As they all reached the apex, contact was made, sending Jarsocrak and Overbeck off the track. A lap later, with Pauly  Massimino (Coyote) leading, more contact including him, McKeithan and Hudson Brown (Gold Kart). McKeithan received the worse of it after spinning 360 degrees around on top of Massimino, going off track and eventually retiring. This allowed Henry Wheeler (Birel ART) – who started 20th – Owen Lloyd (MGM) from 14th starting spot and Colin Warren (VLR) from P4 starting spot up to the front of the field. Wheeler and Lloyd exchanged the led before Warren took his turn. By then, it was Warren and Wheeler escaping from the rest of the field. Wheeler grabbed the lead back with two laps remaining and led at the white flag. Warren waited for the final run to the checkered flag, getting the slingshot to the outside of the straight, inching past Wheeler to reach the line first by 69 thousandths of a second. Prior, after falling back to 12th at one point, was able to climb into third by the checkered flag with fast lap of the race. Lloyd ended up fourth with Quinn completing the podium. Hard charger of the race was Wyatt Leslie (Kosmic), advancing 30 spots to 16th.

The Saturday Night Special events featured the ‘Outta The Box’ Challenge where Cameryn Reed and her CRG South / Reed Motorsports entry won the on track action after the MGM team set fast time in the build portion. The Senior Showdown was won by Christopher McKeithan (Coyote).

The new format and over 100 more entries set the CKNA Grand Nationals 8 apart from any other previous editions. The officials at Cup Karts North America have already begun the planning for CKNA Grand Nationals 9 that will take place in 2025.

Share on Facebook

Tweet