(Photo: Domenic Centofanti - Rocket Gear Media)

The third major event for the Cup Karts North America program was the inaugural running of the CKNA Summer Nationals. Roughly 250 entries gathered over the June 21-23 weekend at the Pittsburgh International Race Complex in Wampum, Pennsylvania facility for the first ever Summer Nationals. Paired with the Winter Nationals this past December and the record-setting Spring Nationals in March, the Summer Nationals battled a challenging 8/10-mile course along with changing weather conditions to crown the nine class winners on Sunday afternoon.

Junior winner Isaac Malcuit (Photo: Domenic Centofanti – Rocket Gear Media)

The first class in the order was the Junior division, featuring 50 drivers to force the class to be split up for the heat races. Isaac Malcuit (Birel ART) was able to clear the field in qualifying with a 1:02.942-lap ahead of Cade Jaeger (Coyote) and Sam Tutwiler (Birel ART). Malcuit held off Holden Harder (Birel ART) for the opening heat race win while Jaeger took the win in the other opening round heat race. Harder was able to beat out Malcuit for the win in the second heat with Jaeger going two for two, putting him on the pole position for the main event and pushing Malcuit to the outside of the front row. Jaeger led the opening four laps before Malcuit began fighting for the top spot. By lap seven, Malcuit secured the spot as Jaeger was pushed back to third by Harder. Malcuit would go on to lead the remainder of the 15-lap race, securing victory. Jaeger crossed the line in second, however, was removed from the results for a non-tech related rule infraction. This promoted Harder to second and Will Wilke (Eagle) up to third from 11th. Christopher Wakefield (Sodi Kart) advanced a total of 11 positions to finish fourth ahead of Lucas Thek (Coyote).

Legends winner Todd Baron (Photo: Domenic Centofanti – Rocket Gear Media)

A total of 13 elder drivers contested the weekend in the Legends class. It was a near sweep for Todd Baron – who scored the victory. He missed out on fast time in qualifying with Eli Yanko (Tony Kart) putting in a 1:04.272 lap to claim the top spot with Baron (Mach 1) off by over two tenths. Yanko fell back to third in the opening heat with Baron and JD Gunn (CRG) going 1-2. The second heat was Baron taking the win once again while Spring Nationals winner Todd Bolton (Margay) had worked his way up from no time in qualifying to finish second ahead of Yanko. Baron and Yanko filled up the front row for the 15-lap main event. Yanko got the jump at the start to lead the opening lap until Bardon and Bolton worked past. They ran 1-2 until fighting for the spot on the final circuit. Baron was able to hold on to become the inaugural Summer Nationals winner with Bolton settling for second. Yanko drove to third with Gunn fourth while Jeff Chalmers (Mach 1) completed the top-five.

Photo finish in Senior Heavy with Owen Lloyd taking the win (Photo: Domenic Centofanti – Rocket Gear Media)

One of two sweeps on the weekend came in the Senior Heavy division as the 27-driver field was led by Owen Lloyd. By over two tenths, Lloyd (MGM) earned fast time in qualifying with a 1:03.102 lap. Lloyd won the opening heat just ahead of Colin Aitken (VLR) before winning by over two seconds ahead of Eric Fagan (MGM) in the final heat. Fagan retired after the opening lap in the 15-lap main with Lloyd getting challenged by Aitken and Marc Stehle (Birel ART). Stehle took over the lead on lap four and would show the way for seven circuit. Aitken then took his turn at the point before Lloyd reclaimed the top spot prior to the white flag. They raced through the final lap with a drag race to the line. At the checkered flag, Lloyd took the inaugural victory by 18 thousandths ahead of Stehle with Aitken a close third. Bryce Frank (MGM) advanced five spots to beat out Ronnie Klys (Coyote) for the fourth spot.

Cadet winner Reuben Greer (Photo: Domenic Centofanti – Rocket Gear Media)

Reuben Greer put his name into the record books as the inaugural winner of the Cadet division at the Summer Nationals. Greer (Magik Kart) set fast time in qualifying with a 1:04.836 lap to clear the field by over a tenth. It was a wire-to-wire win in the opening heat for Greer while second-place qualifier Hayden Lawson (Parolin) beat him out for the win in the second moto. The 15-lap Final was all Greer, leading green to checkered flag to claim the victory. Lawson drove alone in second while Logan McCloskey (Ricciardo) held third ahead of Jaymun Trilli (Redspeed) and Anthony Ciofani (Parolin).

Senior Light winner Colin Warren (Photo: Domenic Centofanti – Rocket Gear Media)

The largest division of the event was the Senior Light featuring 58 drivers. Caleb Gafrarar (MGM) led them all in qualifying with a fast lap of 1:01.622 – clearing the field by over two tenths. Dylan Amundsen qualified 11th overall, and fought forward to the race win in the opening round of heat races before going on to win his second heat. Multi-time Grand Nationals winner Colin Warren (VLR) and Owen Lloyd (MGM) came away with the wins in the other heat races with Lloyd earning the front row starting spot outside Amundsen. Lloyd was shuffled back as the race began with Amundsen and Warren moving to the front joined by Gavin Isaacs (Birel ART). All three led until Warren took over the point on lap 11. From there, he held on to the top spot despite heavy pressure in the closing laps from Isaacs and Gafrarar. Warren added another major CKNA victory to his CV, beating out Gafrarar to the line by 65 thousandths. Isaacs was third with Brandon Jarsocrak (Coyote) in fourth as Amundsen ended up fifth.

Kid Kart winner Spencer Hite (Photo: Domenic Centofanti – Rocket Gear Media)

The other driver to sweep the action on the weekend was Spencer Hite in the Kid Kart division. Hite was able to set fast time of 1:18.542 before leading every lap of the two heat races. He then would go on to lead all 10 laps of the main event to become the inaugural Summer Nationals winner. Lucas Dos Santos drove to second ahead of Jackson Jorda, Kip Knaus, and Sebastian Taranuj.

Sportsman winner Nicolaas Moes (Photo: Domenic Centofanti – Rocket Gear Media)

The action in the 11-driver Sportsman division was a two-driver fight. Sawyer Chambers (Kart Republic) was top driver in the qualifying session with a 1:04.427 lap – quicker by over three tenths than Nicolaas Moes (CRG). The opening heat was led by Chambers, holding off Moes by 44 thousandths at the line. The second heat was a flip-flop of the two drivers in a similar finish as Moes took the win by only 42 thousandths over Chambers. The 15-lap main event saw Chambers leading the first 14 laps. A last lap pass by Moes secured the inaugural victory, reaching the line first by 53 thousandths over Chambers. Both drivers ran the same fast lap of the race. Jameson Sanders (Tony Kart) won the fight for third over Addeson Haydu (Energy) and Griffin Vukick (LN Racing Kart) – who gained five spots in the Final.

Masters winner Eric Fagan (Photo: Domenic Centofanti – Rocket Gear Media)

Another CKNA multi-time major winner Eric Fagan (MGM) added another to his list with the victory in Masters. Fagan posted a lap of 1:03.884 to clear the 11-driver field by nearly three tenths. Fagan had to fight off John Price (Coyote) in the opening heat race while Price got the advantage at the checkered flag over Fagan to win the second heat. The track conditions in the main event saw a quick rain shower dampen the track. The top four, including Todd Baron (Mach 1) and Ryan Spierowski (CRG) were together in the first half. Baron took the lead with Spierowski moving up to second on lap six with Fagan dropping to third. It took him four laps to reclaim the lead as the track formed a dry line. From there, Fagan went on to lead the rest of the way for the victory. Price worked back up to second with fast lap of the race. Baron ended up third with Spierowski fourth with Drew Cirillo (Kart Republic) completing the top-five.

Senior Medium winner Dylan Amundsen (Photo: Domenic Centofanti – Rocket Gear Media)

The second largest class of the weekend was Senior Medium featuring 55 drivers. Caleb Gafrarar (MGM) earned his second top qualifier honor with a 1:02.542 lap. Four different drivers took a win in the two rounds of heat races with the field split up in half. Ian Quinn (Birel ART), Dylan Amundsen (MGM), Gafrarar and Christopher McKeithan (Coyote) all taking checkered flag first. Through the heat races, it was McKeithan and Amundsen on the front row with Quinn and Gafrarar in row two. Issues for two of them as Gafrarar was run off at the opening corner while McKeithan retired after the opening lap. This put Colin Warren (VLR) at the front, leading the opening four circuits. Quinn and Amundsen became the next two leaders. Eventually, Warren worked up to second behind Amundsen and ran that way until the white flag. Warren started the last lap in second but came under pressure by Lloyd, who took the position and dropped Warren back. Amundsen had enough of a gap to go unchallenged to the checkered flag for the victory. Lloyd was a close second with Quinn in third. James Overbeck (Coyote) gained 10 spots in the 15 laps to finish fourth ahead of Hudson Brown (Gold) – who gained three spots in the main event.

The Cup Karts North America program continues on with their CKNA North, CKNA North East, CKNA Canada divisional programs with the CKNA South already wrapped up. The final major CKNA race will be the Cup Karts North America Grand Nationals 8, scheduled for October 10-13 at the New Castle Motorsports Park in New Castle, Indiana.

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