The second major event for the Cup Karts North America program was hosted this weekend at the Charlotte Motor Speedway where a record setting 463 entries filled up the nine classes for this year’s CKNA Spring Nationals presented by Odenthal Racing Products. That number was just 22 entries shy of the record for a CKNA event, which was set at the Grand Nationals 7 in 2023. It was a battle all weekend long on the history Concord, North Carolina circuit situated inside Turns 3 and 4 of the NASCAR oval, and also a battle with weather including rain on Friday and returning early Sunday. The fourth edition of the Spring Nationals welcomed three repeat winners in the Sunday afternoon main events.

Isaac Malcuit crossed the line first in Junior but the win was awarded to Carter McMurray (#840) (Photo: AG Digital Content)

The Junior field was the first on the track all weekend, and Isacc Malcuit – the 2022 Sportsman winner – was the first to claim a pole position. He was able to best the 73 driver field in the timed sessions, and then went on to win both his heat races. Christopher Wakefield and Lucas Thek claimed the wins in the ‘Even’ qualifiers heat races. Malcuit and Sam Tutwiler made up the front row for the start of the final ahead of defending race winner Carter McMurray and Henry Taylor. Malcuit took the lead early and eventually McMurray took over the position. Coming to the white flag, Malcuit took over the lead and was able to hold off McMurray to the checkered flag for the provisional victory. In tech, Malcuit would have his win taken away due to engine issue, thus giving McMurray a second straight victory in the class. Brayden Domont was promoted to second with Taylor third, Wakefield fourth and Thek in fifth. Hard charger of the race was Cade Jaeger, advancing 23 spots in 16 laps to finish 10th.

Spencer Hite added to his young CV with a win in Kid Kart (Photo: AG Digital Content)

A total of 11 drivers competed in the Kid Kart division. Spencer Hite was able to set fast time in qualifying, but Grant Heckman and Nathan Stockwell were able to win the two heat races with Hite placing second in both. Heckman earned the pole position for the main event pushing Hite to the outside of the front row. It was Heckman leading the majority of the race until the final circuit as Hite was able to grab the lead and the victory. Heckman settled for second while Stockwell came up from fifth to place third ahead of Levi Nason and Ethan Grinyer.

An impressive victory for Ronnie Klys in Heavy (Photo: AG Digital Content)

A new name was added to the list of winners in the Senior Heavy division. Owen Lloyd began as the driver to beat in the 50-driver field, posting a 48.282 to sit first after qualifying. He along with three others took win during the heat races. Colin Aitken, Ronnie Klys, Lloyd and Junior Downs earned a win each. The points after the heat races kept Lloyd on the pole position for the Final with Aitken on the outside along with Downs and Klys in row two. A three-driver fight in the 16-lap race formed with Lloyd, Aitken and Klys. It was Lloyd leading a majority of the race with Klys slotting into the spot a few times before reclaiming the position at the white flag. Klys was able to hold on through the final circuit to claim his first major CKNA victory. Aitken was second with Lloyd in third. Elmer Edmonson drove up to fourth with Chris Carroll rounding out the top-five. Cale Martin was the hard charger, improving 21 spots to 29th.

Parker Stewart earned a second career victory at Spring Nationals with win in Cadet (Photo: AG Digital Content)

It was a near sweep on the weekend in Cadet for Parker Stewart en route to his second career CKNA Spring Nationals victory. Stewart laid down a massive lap in qualifying to clear the 37 driver field by over one-second. He went wire-to-wire in the first heat before getting shuffled out of the lead in Heat #2. Logan McCloskey slotted in for the race win and the pole position for the Final as Stewart started back in third while Ryder Thompson started on the outside of row one. Stewart was able to join Thompson at the front of the field and despite swapping the lead numerous times, they pulled away from the rest of the field. Stewart was able to inch away in the second half of the race, claiming his first victory in the category. Camdon Clay advanced up to third spot on the podium, beating out Liam Fohr and Hayden Lawson. Hard charger of the race was Arlo Barr, finishing 15th after gaining seven positions.

Todd Baron crossed the line first in Legends, however, the victory went to Todd Bolton (#22) (Photo: AG Digital Content)

Familiar names were fighting at the front of the Legends class all weekend. Tim Hannen set the fast time in qualifying while Phil Pignataro and Todd Bolton claimed the wins in the heat races. That set the grid for the Final with Bolton and Pignataro on the front row with Hannen and Don Newman in row two. Starting sixth was two-time defending race winner Todd Baron. Qualifying struggles put him behind early and he fought forward in the two heat races. Bolton led the first 11 laps until Baron took control of the race. Baron managed to hold off Bolton at the line for the provisional win until he was removed from the results following tech inspection. This promoted Bolton to the victory, his first at a CKNA major event. Pignataro was classified second with Newman in third. Doug Cook and James Inscoe completed the top-five. Ronald Henrie was hard charger in the main event, 15 spots gained to finish 17th.

Sweep in Light by Owen Lloyd (Photo: AG Digital Content)

It was a sweep on the weekend in Senior Light by Owen Lloyd. Two tenths clear of the 89 driver field in qualifying put Lloyd at the top of the time sheet. Lloyd won both the odd qualifier heat races while Henry Wheeler and Rolex 24 class winner Connor Zilisch each earned a win in the even qualifier heat races. The top-four starters in the main event were Lloyd, Wheeler, Zilisch and Hudson Brown. Starting sixth was defending race winner Colin Warren as he and 2022 winner James Overbeck challenged Lloyd on the final circuit after he had led the first 15 laps. The final lap decided the race, and Warren was able to go from third to first and reach the checkered flag ahead of Lloyd and Overbeck. A penalty for contact with Overbeck during the final circuit dropped him two positions to third in the final results, moving Lloyd up to the top of the podium to become the fourth different winner in the last four events. Overbeck was classified second ahead of Warren with Pauly Massimino up four positions to fourth ahead of Zilisch.

North Carolina driver Holden Myers claimed victory in Sportsman (Photo: AG Digital Content)

The Sportsman division welcomed a fifth different winner in five events of the CKNA Spring Nationals. Cade Wolfe began his bid to be that victor with fast time in qualifying to edge out Holden Myers by 84 thousandths. Sitting fourth after the session was Parker Ives, as the 2023 USPKS champion drove to the race win in Heat #1 over Wolfe and Myers, while Myers secured the win in the second heat ahead of Bowen Greene and Ives. Myers earned the pole position for the Final with Ives alongside on the front row. They were able to lead the field during the 16-lap race, each taking a turn at the point. Myers took the spot at the white flag and held on through the final circuit to become the fifth different winner in class history. Bowen Greene won the fight for third over Wolfe with AJ Stoner in fifth. Hard charger of the race was Jonathan Borre, gaining seven spots to end up 13th.

Second straight for Marc Stehle in Masters (Photo: AG Digital Content)

It was a near perfect score for Marc Stehle in his repeat victory in the 48-driver Masters class. The Canadian laid down the fast lap in qualifying to edge out Chris Carroll by 87 thousandths. Stehle led every lap of his two heat races while Carroll did the same in his heats to remain in the front row for the Final. Carroll was shuffled down to 12th on the opening circuit while Stehle began a fight for the top spot with Todd Baron and John Price. Stehle grabbed the spot on lap 12 and held to the checkered flag to defend his victory last year. Baron crossed the line in second but was disqualified for improper tires. This promoted Carroll – who fought his way to third on track – into the second spot. Price was third with JD Gunn fourth and Canadian Ian MacIntyre fifth.

Colin Warren went from third to first on the final lap to claim second straight in Medium (Photo: AG Digital Content)

The Senior Medium class was the end show for the 2024 CKNA Spring Nationals. Henry Wheeler secured the top spot in qualifying, clearing the 88-driver field by over two tenths of a second. Qualifying 13th, Brandon Jarsocrak advanced forward in the opening heat for the odd qualifiers while Owen Lloyd led the field in the even qualifiers heat. Jarsocrak went wire-to-wire in Heat #2 for the odd group while defending race winner Colin Warren jumped past Lloyd on the last lap of the even group race. Jarsocrak and Lloyd earned the front row starting spots ahead of Warren and 2022 winner James Overbeck. It was Jarsocrak and Warren the led in the first half of the race before Overbeck took control. He led up to the white flag when the race for victory began. A defensive line out of the penultimate corner slowed his pace and allowed Lloyd to try and slip inside in the drag race to the last corner. At the same time, Warren ran the traditional line and went outside. The trio were three-wide through the final kink running to the checkered flag. Warren’s run was just what he needed, going from third to first for a second straight victory in the class. Overbeck was second at the line while Hudson Brown was able to dive under all three at the line, placing third ahead of Lloyd. Colin Aitken was able to slip by Jarsocrak for fifth.

The Cup Karts North America program will focus back on divisional racing, with the South series heading to the Atlanta Motorsports Park on April 12-14. The North begins its 2024 season at G&J Kartway on April 19-21 while the North East series starts on May 3-5 at the United Karting facility in Baltimore. The next major CKNA race is the inaugural Summer Nationals, scheduled for June 21-23 at the Pittsburgh International Race Complex in Wampum, Pennsylvania.

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