Two heat race wins puts Dylan Amundsen on the pole position for Senior Medium (Photo: EKN)

The final two rounds of heat races were contested on Saturday for the Cup Karts North America Grand Nationals 9 at the New Castle Motorsports Park. Another perfect day for weather greeted the over 530 entries in the nine categories competing at the New Castle, Indiana facility. The morning group worked through two rounds of heats before the afternoon classes took to the track for their two rounds of racing. As the sun went down, CKNA hosted the second edition of the ‘Outta the Box’ challenge – this time with Junior drivers as they raced under the lights and NCMP provided a dinner for everyone in attendance. With the final round of heats completed, the grids were set for the main events on Sunday.

Dylan Amundson (MGM) was the star on Saturday in Senior Medium, picking up two wins. Taking the top spot in the BvsD heat race, he followed it up with another win in AvsB heat. Eli Warren (Stehle Motorsports / Birelart) and defending race winner Colin Warren (TS Racing / VLR) were the other two winners on the day, but it’s Amundson that will lead the field to the green flag. Henry Wheeler (Stehle Motorsports / Birelart) starts from the outside of the front row with Cale Zimmermann (TS Racing / VLR) on the side of row two alongside Eli Warren. Eli Fox (BA Racing / MGM) and James Overbeck (PPK / Coyote) start from row three.

Christopher McKeithan is on the pole position for both Senior Light and Senior Heavy (Photo: EKN)

Christopher McKeithan (PPK / Coyote) was able to earn both his heat race wins on Saturday, helping him to go three for three on the weekend in Senior Light. McKeithan will lead the field to the green flag with former two-time class winner Colin Warren (TS Racing / VLR) on the outside. Warren was able to leave Saturday with one win, making him two overall with a P2 in his final heat race. Will Loller (PPK / Coyote) was the other race winner on the day, and starts fifth behind Cade Jaeger (PPK / Coyote) and last year’s Outta the Box winner Camryn Reed (Reed Motorsports / CRG).

It was two drivers winning on the day in Senior Heavy heat races. Christopher McKeithan (PPK / Coyote) carried over from Friday to win Heat 2 before Christopher Wakefield (PPK / Coyote) came away with the win in Heat 3. They will start on the front row with James Overbeck (PPK / Coyote) and Owen Lloyd (SGK / MGM) going from row two. Eli Fox (BA Racing / MGM) and Jerry Fandrey (FDR / TB Kart) go from row three.

Two wins on Saturday in Junior awarded Sam Tutwiler the pole position for the Final (Photo: EKN)

Sam Tutwiler (Stehle Motorsports / Birelart) was the only driver over the six heats to win twice in Junior. Tutwiler won both his heat races on Saturday to secure the pole position for the main event. Brady Schad (RRD / Coyote) won the opening heat on Friday, and came away Saturday second in the heat points to join Tutwiler on the front row. Travis Pettit (Stehle Motorsports / Birelart) – a heat winner on Friday – came out of Saturday with two top five results to start the Final in third. Will Wilke (RRD / Coyote) was also a top five finisher over his three heats to start the main on the outside of row two. AJ Stoner (PPK / Coyote) and heat race winner Jack Fieber (Stehle Motorsports / Birelart) go from row three. Hudson Jack Urlin (Stehle Motorsports / Birelart) won his second heat but a DNF in his third puts the Canada champion back to 14th on the grid.

Eric Fagan will lead the Masters field to the green flag (Photo: EKN)

Two former winners in the Masters category will be leading the field to the green flag. 2022 winner Eric Fagan (BBR / Tony Kart) won on Friday and came back to win Heat 2 on Saturday. Two-time defending winner Marc Stehle (Stehle Motorsports / Birelart) – coming back from a red flag incident in Senior Heavy – was second to Fagan and won the final heat. Fagan finished third in that final moto, but came out with the most points to earn the pole position. Chris Carroll (Coyote Motorsports) goes from P3 with AJ Codalata (Birelart) alongside in row two. Legends champion Ryan Cassity (Coyote Motorsports) and Jeff Dolian (PPK / Coyote) start in row three.

After missing out on the top qualifier position on Friday, three-time defending race winner Ryan Cassity (Coyote Motorsports) ripped off three heat wins to secure the pole position on Sunday. Doug Cook (RRD / Coyote) and Tim Shutt (Timmy Tech / CompKart) were second to Cassity in both heats on Saturday, and start second and third. John O’Keefe (BA Racing / MGM), Eli Yanko (YPM) and Scott Falcone (PPK / Coyote) make up the top six starters in the main event. Top qualifier Todd Bolton (Coyote Motorsports) suffered engine issues in both heat races and starts 19th.

Ryan Cassity won all three heat races in Legends (Photo: EKN)

The Sportsman division provided some great races to close out the heat races on Saturday. Will Feichtinger (MPG / Kart Republic) backed up his win on Friday with the Heat 2 win before placing second to Dominic Gaddis (MPG / Kart Republic) in the final heat. They will start from the front row in the main event as RJ Brown (Maranello USA) and Aston Wyatt (Nitro Kart) are set to start from row two with Hayden Lawson (Parolin) and Jerome Wickham (Magik Kart) in row three.

A perfect score for Hudson Howard (JHDD / Kart Republic) has him leading the way in Cadet. Howard came out of Saturday with both wins and keeps the pole position for the main event. Grant Heckman (HBR / VLR) was top five in all three heats and starts second. Reuben Greer (Nitro Kart) and Yousef Adi (Stehle Motorsports / Birelart) will go from row two while Liam Fohr (NewGen / Tony Kart) and Jaxson Reinholz (Nitro Kart) start in row three.

Matteo Romero has been perfect in Kid Kart (Photo: EKN)

Matteo Romeo (LGK) was perfect over the first two days in the Kid Kart division. Two wins on Saturday keep the Canadian on the pole position for the Final. South Champion Maddox Nieves (KBR / Tony Kart) starts second with Maverick Reddick (Kart CRG USA) in third. North champion William Heckman (HBR / VLR) goes from outside the second row with Tony Beam (LowKey / Sodi Kart) and Aria Dennahower (Parolin) starting in row three.

Sunday action includes the LCQ races for Senior Light, Junior and Senior Medium before the nine main events take place to decide the winners for the CKNA Grand Nationals 9.

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