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| Features |
| EKN Championship Spotlight: Brendan Phinny |
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 | Brendan Phinny earned the JICA title by five points for his first national championship
(Photo: On Track Promotions - otp.ca) |
Since making its debut in the Stars of Karting program in 2004, the Junior Intercontinental A (JICA) division has been one of the highly contested classes of the series. Each weekend of every year, the fields are stacked with up and coming young drivers with tons of potential to advance up the motorsports ladder. 2008 was no different with a solid core group of talent competing for the championship each lap. When the final checkered flag fell in Las Vegas at the National Finals, it was Brendan Phinny who emerged as the driver with the most points to earn the championship crown.
‘Mini’ Phinny, as he has been dubbed since entering the karting scene following the footsteps of his brother Ryan, began at an early age behind the wheel. A CRG Puffo in 1998 at the age of four was his first taste of speed. Running around the Phinny property got old for Brendan and he made his official karting debut in 2000 in the Kid Kart division aboard an Emmick chassis. Phinny competed at the Salinas Valley Kart Club, the California State Championships and the Prairie City Fall Classic, all with success.
The following year Phinny would advance to the Cadet division at the young age of seven. Sticking with Emmick, Phinny would go on to win the Salinas Valley Kart Club Junior 1 2-Cycle championship, including the Tri-County Champion title. In 2002 Phinny would take the show on the road, contending the CART Stars of Tomorrow regional program at Infineon Raceway karting circuit (finishing third in the standings) along with adding two wins at the Buffalo Bills and Road America national events.
Phinny’s focus in 2003 would turn toward IKF competition at both the regional and national level. Running in the IKF Region 11, Phinny would score the Cadet title and transfer that momentum to the Grand Nationals at the Tri-City circuit in Richland, Washington. Battling names like Garrison Masters, Taylor Miinch, and Gustavo Menezes, Phinny would earn the Junior 1 victory, his first prestigious IKF Duffy.
With the success of both Ryan and Brendan, they were recruited by Trackmagic and signed on to be part of the infamous Trackmagic Factory team. The partnership was short-lived however with Ryan heading to run for 3S Go-Karts USA aboard a Birel and Brendan returning with Emmick Enterprises. Brendan would be among the contenders for the newly-named Stars of Karting series. Contending the Western Division, Phinny would end the season second in both the division and overall with the help of three straight victories (two in Carson City and one in Sonoma) in addition to his fourth place finish at the championship finale. The same year, Phinny added two more podiums at the IKF 2-Cycle Sprint Grand Nationals.
 | Brendan got an early start in karting, beginning at age four
(Photo: G. Phinny) |
Brendan was now an almost certain contender where he went and moving with his brother Ryan in 2005 to be part of Team Speed, under the tutelage of veteran mechanic Mike Speed, put him all the more on the forefront. Never one to back down, Phinny stepped up during the season to record four victories on the Stars of Karting Western schedule, losing out on the divisional crown by one point to Gustavo Menezes. A ninth at the National Finals cost him one spot in the overall championship chase, placing sixth. Back home, he would return back to the IKF competition to earn more regional titles and another Grand National Duffy in Junior 1.
In 2006, Ryan moved up to the Formula BMW USA program and with the dismantle of the Team Speed program following Alex Speed’s ‘retirement’, Phinny stayed on Birel and moved to the MRP-Birel America banner in addition to moving up to the Junior ranks. Competing in his first year in the JICA division, the season was a learning curve. Starting out slow, Brendan came to grasp with the bigger kart and the extra horsepower, running inside the top-10 and battling for a podium finish at the end of the year. His best finish would be a fourth in the final Western Division event at Infineon. An 11th place in the final point tally would be the exclamation point on an excellent rookie Junior season.
Now with one year of JICA under his belt and moving to Kartel Motorsports with Joey Hand and Erik Bartolero as part of the Team Top Kart USA flagship, Phinny’s confidence was back despite a tough opening weekend on the national schedule. Once through that, he went on to earn his first two Stars JICA victories at the Miller Motorsports Park weekend, backing it up with a solid weekend at Moran Raceway to finish second in the Western Division standings. Entering the Stars National Finals fourth in the overall championship fight, Phinny responded with a third place in the opening race until a disqualification in the tech barn cost him a chance at the title, eventually ending up sixth.
Though the season ended in disappointment, the 2008 season would be one to remember. Consistency was the key to success for Phinny as he would go on to record six-straight top-five finishes, including five podium visits. A runner-up at the Race of the Americas transferred into two more at the Seattle Grand Prix, placing him second in the Western Division again and 50 points behind the championship leader Phil DeLaO heading to the finale. The National Finals began poorly as Phinny struggled to find the speed needed to run at the front. Through determination behind the wheel and his Kartel crew, they continued to work on getting his Top Kart faster.
 | Phinny and his Kartel Motorsports-Team Top Kart USA entry were consistantly at the front of the field in 2008
(Photo: On Track Promotions - otp.ca) |
After starting the three heat races in 20th, Phinny managed to score a ninth place starting spot for the two feature races. Advancing up to fifth and with the misfortunes of DeLaO retiring early in the opening Final, Phinny was now at the top of the standings in a tie with longtime friend and rival Menezes. During the first half of the race to decide the champion, Menezes had the advantage starting up front with Phinny looking to advance up from ninth. As is the case in many JICA events, the field was shuffled around due to contact and drivers heading to the sidelines. With that, Menezes found himself in eighth with Phinny running just in front of him on track. The two worked forward and found themselves crossing the line fourth and fifth with Phinny ahead, giving him five more points and the championship by the same margin.
“Brendan is a mature and talented driver,” stated Mike Tetreault of Grand Products, the Top Kart importer. “Throughout the finale, he never held his head down and kept a positive attitude despite the challenges in front of him. That kind of determination is something I respect in a driver. We were proud to have him win the championship.”
Phinny would end the year with another milestone in his career as he made his first Senior start at the SuperNationals in Las Vegas. After earning the S5 Junior title the year before, the 14-year old jumped up to the S3 division against some of the best in the country, including NASCAR’s Jamie McMurray. Phinny started the main event in sixth, battling in the lead group the entire event, eventually getting out in front and beating McMurray to the line for the victory.
Brendan is currently a freshman at Carmel High School and is much focused on getting a strong education, looking to earn straight A’s for this school year. Phinny also enjoys sports in general. After playing golf, basketball, football and soccer, he is playing on a lacrosse team this year. For the upcoming 2009 season, Brendan is looking at competing in the ICC category in the Stars of Karting circuit along with some regional events to get more seat time in the shifter kart. Phinny is also looking at doing some car testing, including Skip Barber and possible Formula BMW. No matter what direction Brendan takes, he will go at it with the same fortitude and smile on his face that he’s shown at the track each weekend. |
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