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| July 20, 2012 News |
| Gold Cup Wraps Up WKA National MRP Swing |
| Article by: WKA PitBoard |
The World Karting Association completed its Michiana Raceway Park swing this past weekend with the RLV Tuned Exhaust Products Baker Racing Engines Nationals. Mazda / Bridgestone Manufacturers Cup Series teams filled the MRP paddock the week before with their MKP Nationals.
While full race recap stories will be included in August's version of WKA's Karting Scene online magazine, here are news and notes on the top stories at the popular South Bend, Indiana, venue.
Manufacturers Cup MKP Nationals
Blazing hot weather greeted round four of the six-race Man Cup Series July 6-8. Temperatures reached over 100 degrees Thursday, Friday and Saturday before letting up slightly for Sunday's action.
Over 560 entrants set a new record for a Manufacturers Cup event at MRP. The previous record was 549 in 2006.
No one was able to win three MKP Nationals finals but several racers won a pair of main events.
After posting his first career Man Cup win at Pittsburgh in May, David Malukas (Birel) netted his first double-win weekend at MRP. Malukas won Cadet Final 1 over Nick Luedeke and Yamaha Sportsman 1 over Leonardo Stoia.
Brandon Lemke joined Malukas as a Jr Sportsman double winner. Lemke raced his Merlin to wins in Saturday's Komet Sportsman and Sunday's Yamaha Sportsman 2.
Jimmy Clark became the first driver to sweep the Yamaha Supercan divisions in 2012. Clark wheeled his CRG to dominating wins over Tony Jump in Yamaha Supercan Lite and Patrick Olsen in Supercan Heavy.
Mike McAndrews won his first two Man Cup mains of 2012. McAndrews raced his Birel to scores in Komet Jr Lite and Yamaha Jr Lite.
Jesus Rios Jr. (Birel) and Andrew Palmer (Kosmic) split the TaG mains. Rios bested Sam Beasley in TaG 1. Palmer got the jump on Rios is Sunday's TaG 2 and led wire-to-wire for the win.
Beasley started in the 28th and last position in Parilla Leopard and passed nearly every kart on the track to make it to second. When fellow Arrow pilot Jacob Donald was disqualified in post-race tech, Beasley was awarded the victory, meaning he started dead last and won.
Jeff Jewell (Margay) and Scott Ferris (Top Kart) each won a TaG Masters main. Jewell captured his first Man Cup win of the season in Saturday's Final 1, while Ferris recorded his third TaG Masters win in four starts in Sunday's weekend capper.
Haase racer Alex Verhagen won his fifth Yamaha Rookie Sportsman main in a row in Saturday's Rookie Final 1. Jason Welage (Merlin) ended Verhagen's impressive streak in Sunday's Rookie Final 2 with the win over Samuel Paley; Verhagen was third.
Kyle Kalish and Kyle Kirkwood joined McAndrews as winners in the ultra-competitive Junior divisions. Kirkwood wheeled his Arrow to the win in Komet Jr Heavy while Kalish dominated Sunday's final race, Yamaha Jr Heavy.
Leonardo Stoia raced his PCR to the Cadet Final 2 triumph. Jacob Donald (Arrow) and Mason Chelootz (Top Kart) split the Komet senior mains with Donald taking Komet Lite and Chelootz winning Komet Heavy.
Next up for the Man Cup is Aug. 3-5 at Norway, Illinois' Concept Haulers Motor Speedway. Click here for the KartLift Nationals entry form.
Gold Cup Baker Racing Engines Nationals
The Gold Cup's third round of the year marked its first trek north of the Mason-Dixon Line after opening rounds at Jacksonville, Fla., and Barnesville, Ga.
Ohio's Gary Lawson and New York's Jake Lutz were the big winners.
Lawson, a two-time WKA Triple Crown champion with countless Gold Cup and Man Cup feature wins, had his best weekend of the year with three national class victories and another triumph in Friday night's Animal Heavy Money Race.
Lawson raced his No. 10 Arrow to wins in Stock Medium, Stock Heavy and Sr Box Stock Final 1 in his first Gold Cup appearance behind the wheel of the Clone-powered kart. Lawson dominated the Money Race, finished several seconds ahead of a trio of Coyotes in Sean Meier, Dakota Bell and Scott Kleman.
Lutz wheeled his Coyote to a sweep of the three Junior Animal classes he started. After missing Barnesville, the Lutz came back with vengeance at MRP, winning Jr Lite, Jr Medium and Jr Heavy. Lutz only lost one round of competition all weekend among three classes of qualifying, heats and features, when he qualified second in Jr Lite.
Andrew Castelucci swept the LO206 Kid Kart features. Castelucci bested Cale Hall in Final 1 and Ashton Carter in Final 2.
Tyler Frantz won his first career Gold Cup feature. In fact, Frantz not only won Saturday's Sportsman 2 Lite, but he backed it up with a weekend sweep of the class with his score in Sunday's Sportsman 2 Heavy.
Cody Hall won both Jr Sportsman 1 Box Stock finals. Hall bested Jason Alder in Final 1 and finished ahead of Matthew Miller in Final 2.
Tim Stiefel swept the Masters mains events, while Jacob Duvall raced his DR Kart to a pair of X-30 Senior wins over Birel drivers Blake Deister and Jackson Mears.
Gabriel Zellner and Nick Fauci split the Sportsman 1 Animal features. For Fauci, it was his first-ever Gold Cup win after a couple years of trying. Zellner won Sportsman 1 Lite and Fauci triumphed in Heavy.
A couple of Georgia Razor racers won the Jr Sportsman 2 Box Stock features. Dylan Murry won Final 1 and Connor Tebbe triumphed in Final 2. Jacob Zellner was second in both races.
New York's Ryan Bavineau won his first Gold Cup main with his Restricted Junior score Sunday afternoon. Bavineau won over Dustin Demattia.
Tanner Lee and Tyler Smith won the Jr Box Stock finals. Lee won Saturday's Final 1 and Smith won over his twin brother Aren in Final 2.
Florida's Ashley Rogero was one of a few drivers to run both WKA weekends at MRP. Rogero won X-30 Junior Final 1. Derek Sobel bested Rogero in Sunday's X-30 Junior Final 2.
Travis Manning gave MGM its only win of the weekend in Stock Lite. Manning won over Coyote racer Steven Kilsdonk.
JR Petrella beat out Manning in Animal Amateur Medium for his first WKA win of the season.
Ohio's Eric Fagan won his second Sr Box Stock Final 2 main of the season with his win over Matthew Horst. Fagan, who also won at Jacksonville, drove Lawson's Arrow in the race.
Next up for the Gold Cup is an Aug. 17-19 date at Pittsburgh Int'l Race Complex. Click here for the Performance North / Jammer Clutches Nationals entry form.
Chapel Hill Grand Nationals tire rule news
The WKA office has received questions regarding tire rules for the upcoming August 10-12 Vega Speedway Pavement Series Grand Nationals at New York's Chapel Hill Raceway.
The following should clarify any question competitors may have.
Question: What tires are legal?
Answer: Any tire brand that was legal at any recognized WKA Speedway Pavement Divisional track is legal. These tracks are Chapel Hill, Poughkeepsie and Oakland Valley in New York, King George in Virginia and Sandy Hook in Maryland. Riverhead did not run a divisional series in 2012.
Legal tires from these tracks are Firestone for flat karts, Vega on champ karts and Burris for flat karts or champ karts, which has been allowed at Oakland Valley.
Q: Is there a specific compound that is legal?
A: There is no specific compound of tire mandated. Any compound of Firestone for flat karts, Vega for champ karts and Burris for either style kart are legal.
Q: Can I run a tire that was legal at another WKA Divisional track, but not at my Divisional track?
A: Yes. You may run any of the above listed tires, whether or not the tire was legal at your Divisional track.
Q: Are new tires allowed on Sunday?
A: No. Tires will be branded on Saturday and need to be run Sunday. Any racer who shows up for Sunday only will be required to run a minimum of 20 fast laps of practice on their set of race tires before qualifying. Those tires would be marked or branded after the practice and prior to Sunday's qualifying.
Q: Will the tire sniffer be used in tech?
A: Yes. There has been some concern that tire prep may be detected on rims from racing at a track where tire prepping is legal. If there is a substance detected by the sniffer, the competitor will be allowed to dismount his or her tires to test the tire only without the rim.
If you're concerned the sniffer will may detect a substance on your rim(s), WKA recommends you replace the valve stem prior to the event as it is the most common source contamination the sniffer will detect.
Q: Can I run used tires on Saturday?
A: Yes, as long as it's a Firestone or Burris on flat karts, and Vega or Burris on champ karts and they pass the sniffer test.
Best Appearing Kart Awards to be presented at VIR
The 2012 WKA Vega / TS Racing Road Racing Series driven by Mazda is back in action next weekend, July 27-29, with the Woodbridge Kart Club-hosted VIR Nationals at VIRginia International Raceway.
Round five of the 2012 circuit will feature a new twist with a pair of Best Appearing Kart awards presented at Sunday morning's drivers meeting.
One Best Appearing Award will go to an enduro kart and the other to a sprint-enduro.
Included in the best appearing enduro category are any single- or dual-engine laydown, Formula 125, 250cc Super Kart and vintage karts. The best appearing sprint-enduro category comprises 4-cycle sprints, sprint shifters, TaGs and 2-cycle sprint-enduros.
A special cup will be awarded to each winner.
A team including WKA and WKC officials will determine the award winners, so get those karts lettered and shined up to be in contention for the special awards!
VIR Nationals pre-registration closes Friday
We're into the final days to pre-register for the July 27-29 Woodbridge Kart Club-hosted WKA VIR Nationals at VIRginia International Raceway.
Pre-registration for the event closes this Friday, July 20.
Mail completed pre-entries to WKC at 3383 Hickory Hills Dr.; Oakton, VA 22124, or simply pre-enter online on http://woodbridgekartclub.comhttp://woodbridgekartclub.com |
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