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| October 14, 2012 News |
| EKN Trackside: Beasley/Donald Score 2012 RoboPong 200 Victory |
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Complete coverage found at the EKN Event Page
 | Sam Beasley and Jacob Donald are the 2012 RoboPong 200 champions
(Photo: DavidLeePhoto.com) |
The 2012 edition of the RoboPong 200 ended as quite possibly the most challenging race in the nine year history. The competition level was intense, and the changing weather conditions kept every team on its toes throughout the 200-mile race around the New Castle Motorsports Park in central Indiana. For the first time in event history, rain hit the area during the course of the event, throwing in a change-up from the typical race strategy formulated year after year. In the end, it was the young guns of Sam Beasley and Jacob Donald who took the checkered flag, scoring the $10,000 pay put up by NCMP and Mark Dismore, adding their names to the Dan Wheldon Cup.
Qualifying on Saturday set the stage for the 200 lap event. Heavy winds welcomed the competitors in the morning, staying through to the very end which set up a strong head wind down the final long straight. The Jimmy Simpson/Robby Seward team (DR Kart/Leopard) earned the pole position with ‘NIJA Mike’ team of Adam Crepin and Mike Nesbitt (Merlin/Leopard) alongside. The start of the race was uneventful, meaning everyone kept a level head and no crazy moves were made in the opening corners to cause any trouble. As they navigated the 1-mile course for the first time under green, Jesus Rios Jr. (Birel/Rotax) aboard the MRP Motorsport entry led the way as ‘NIJA Mike’ was shuffled back outside the top-15 and Seward down to fifth. IndyCar driver Josef Newgarden (Arrow/Leopard) was racey early, jumping into the lead after a few laps to put the CometKartSales.com at the point. He drove there until Rios struck back and led until the first round of stops was made.
Rios gave up the lead on lap 54 when he pitted, handing the lead back to Seward for only two laps before he pulled off for a stop. That moved the Arrow AMR 3 team of Eric Jones and Brandon Jones (Arrow/Rotax) at the point. Their strategy was to stretch out and try a two stop race. It came to an end however on lap 63 when he ran out of gas. This moved the Arrow AMR 2 team of Sam Beasley and Jacob Donald (Arrow/Rotax) into the lead. Their pit stop was quick, fueling up and changing all four tires. Newgarden turned the reigns over to Mark Dismore Jr, as he cycled through to second after just rear tires and fuel. Simpson/Seward changed four as well, but came out right behind in third. Jacob Knueven/Tommy Andersen (Arrow/Leopard) was fourth with Andy Dunne/Brendan Harrington (Kosmic/Rotax) fifth - all within 30 seconds of each other. Rios handed the Birel machine to former pole winner Zach Beard, and was running in the top-10 when a back-marker spun in turn three. Unable to avoid the kart, he made heavy contact and was forced to come in the pits for repairs, ending their chance at the win.
 | Jimmy Simpson and Robby Seward drove to second, adding to their solid records at the event
(Photo: DavidLeePhoto.com) |
Just 10 minutes later, the skies finally opened up. With a 60% chance of rain forecasted for a number of days, the rain held off until lap 84 when a heavy stream of precip hit the area for at least five minutes. Drivers nursed their karts as best they could back to pit lane for rain tires. When the shuffling ended, Beasley/Donald were still at the front with Simpson/Seward in second, the only karts on the lead lap. Will Owen/Derek Dignan (Arrow/Rotax), the Arrow AMR 1 entry, was up to third with the 000 Top Kart/Leopard piloted by Mason Chelootz, Nick Neri, and Bill McLaughlin and Dunne/Harrington completing the top-five. They would run that way until after the halfway mark when Seward was closing on Donald by nearly two seconds a lap. Come lap 108 and Seward held the lead. Along with Seward and Donald, the #000 team were the only karts on the lead lap at the time.
The event strategy changed up around lap 115 when teams started dropping off onto pit lane to switch back to dry tires as the track was increasingly drying. After stops, the order remained unchanged with the 21 kart leading 84 and the 000. During the third dry stint of the event, the fan-favorite entry of Newgarden and Dismore retired with an engine issue. The order remained unchanged through the stint until pit stops began around the 155-lap mark. The 000 team took on just a right rear tire and back on track, while the 84 team was quicker with a full four-tire pit stop to get out ahead. Seward continued to lead until they made their final stop on lap 164. Making a four tire change with fuel, issues on the left rear cost them seconds on-track. They would come out roughly 20 seconds behind Donald in the 84 Arrow.
 | Andy Dunne and Brendan Harrington earned another podium finish
(Photo: DavidLeePhoto.com) |
Donald ran consistent laps, avoiding trouble throughout the final 45 laps of his stint. The gap back to Simpson would decrease and increase as the laps went on, eventually keeping around the 20-second mark. When the checkered flag waved, Donald raise his hand in celebration crossing the stripe for the 200th time, earning the 2012 RoboPong 200 victory. He and Beasley, along with the efforts of the entire KartSport North America squad, took home the $10,000 paycheck. It was the fourth win for the Arrow brand and just the second for Rotax. Simpson and Seward, regulars of the event, each earned another podium finish and $3,800 aboard their DRT Racing DR Kart. The 000 Top Kart suffered a brake issue on lap 168, and was forced to retire. Third place came down to the wire with Dunne/Harrington entry working around the Owen/Dignan with 12 laps to go to secure the position and $2,800, improving on their fourth place finish from a year ago. Both Owen and Dignan made their RoboPong debut on the weekend, placing a respectable fourth and putting a second KartSport North America entry on the podium for a second straight year. Their take home was $2,400. Rounding out the top-five was Russell Karting with Jim Russell Jr. and Joel Jens (Parolin/Leopard). Jens completed most of the laps for the team and running a similar pace to the field.
The Trackside Motorsports (Merlin/Leopard) entry drove to a solid sixth place finish, losing out on fifth in the final few laps, coming from 21st on the grid. The Hard Charger of the race was Ed Carpenter Racing entry (Arrow/Leopard), featuring 2009 winners Ed Carpenter and Nathan O’Rourke. Coming from 31st on the grid after handling issues in qualifying hurt their pace, they avoided any major issues and drove up to seventh. The FKS MCR Racing (Merlin/Leopard) improved as well, going from 20th to eighth with Jamie Sieracki and Colton Ramsey behind the wheel. Team Goodyear (Birel/Leopard) ran to ninth with Michael Goodyear and Sam Cate while Chastain Motorsports (Kosmic/Leopard) - Sam Chastain, Jake Craig and Andrick Zeen completed the top-10. Sixth through tenth received $200 in cash back along with a complete set of Bridgestone tires.
 | | Joel Jens won the Yamaha Junior event, earning 7k total in cash on the weekend and running well over 200 laps on the weekend |
The Yamaha categories kicked off the racing Sunday in support roles. The Junior class was up first and put on a great show for the 30-lap event. Camden Speth (Arrow) and Joel Jens (Tony Kart) broke away from the field early thanks to their front row starting spots. They took turns at the point, enjoying some space on the field until about the halfway point when a train of karts closed in, making the lead pack seven drivers. Shuffling took place and Derek Dignan (Arrow) found his way to the point, and at the same time the group dropped to six as Kyle Kalish (Merlin) retired with an engine-related issue. Jens eventually put himself in second and helped push Dignan away from the field. He took over the lead on lap 23 and was able to distance himself from Dignan quickly, who came under fire from Mike McAndrews (Birel) and Emerson Reed (Merlin). Lap 24, the duo worked past Dignan for position, and set their sites on Jens who enjoyed an eight tenths lead. With the draft, they cut the lead by two-tenths, despite all three running their fast lap of the race. As they tried to cut it even further, Reed lost the bumper of McAndrews and the draft advantage went away. Jens was able to hold strong and reach the checkered flag first. The win gave him $5,000, making his weekend total $7k with his RoboPong winnings. Reed executed a solid final corner pass for the second position, putting McAndrews third. Sam Cate (Tony Kart) advanced to fourth with Dignan back to fifth over Speth.
The Sportsman event was a one-man show as Brandon Lemke (Merlin) dominated the 30-lap event. He and Anthony Gangi Jr. (Tony Kart) broke away from the field early on, running nose to tail. Lemke however was able to drop Gangi off from the draft and stretched out to a five-second advantage at the checkered flag for the $5,000 check. Gangi held on to second with Neil Verhagen (Haase) a close third. Michael d’Orlando (Kosmic) edge out Zach Holden (Arrow) for the fourth spot.
 | | Brendan Lemke did Merlin Nation proud with victory in the Yamaha Sportsman feature |
Well over $45,000 in cash and prizes were awarded on the weekend, thanks to Mark Dismore, the entire NCMP staff, and all the event sponsors and supporters. At 50 teams along with the 20+ drivers for the both Yamaha categories, this year’s was one of the more exciting events and most competitive fields of the season. It will continue to be a must-attend event as the years go on, as the intrigue of testing man and machine around the New Castle Motorsports Park brings an excitement you can’t find anywhere else in North American karting. |
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