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| November 12, 2005 News |
| EKN Trackside: SKUSA SuperNationals IX – Saturday Report |
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 | Three heat wins puts Mirage Motorsports' Ron White on the pole for tomorrow's main event
(Photo: Super Kart Illustrated) |
Today’s races at the SKUSA SuperNationals here in Las Vegas, NV had one aim and one aim only…set the grids for SuperSunday’s main events. Two additional rounds were run after the opening set was put into the books under the lights on Friday night.
The second round of SuperPro heats got underway in the morning with very different track conditions from what the drivers experienced last night. Clear skies and a warming track would add grip to the circuit and where drivers were skating in the early laps last night, the grip at the start of the heats would improve this morning.
The first SuperPro pairing pitted the A and C groups against each other and off the green, it was Ron White (TopKart) again getting the holeshot to the lead. Team Speed’s Ryan Phinny (Birel) slotted into the second position with Phil Carlson (Tony Kart) third. First turn contact eliminated Mike Beeny (Tony Kart) from the action. Also in turn one, Michael Marjaba (Tony Kart) had brake problems and hit the inner wall, but he was able to continue and finish 15th.
Up front, White was in full control and was never challenged for the win. Phinny scored second with Carlson third. Rounding out the top five were Jon Allen (Kosmic) and Logan Gomez (First Kart.)
The B-D pairing saw Lorenzo Mandarino (CRG) again get the holeshot as Gary Carlton (Trackmagic) was slow to launch. This allowed Jonathan Branam (Birel) to jump into second. Off the line in turn two, contact between Alan Sciuto (GP) and JJ McTernan (Tony Kart) sent McTernan to the scales early. At the front, Branam got a run on the leader in turn four and took the point. In the closing laps, Mandarino made typically aggressive move to retake the lead in the second corner of the final lap but down the back straight, Branam made his move and both the lead and win were his. Mandarino took second with Carlton third. Jan Valez (CRG) finished fourth after taking the spot from Jason Bowles (Tony Kart) with a slide job pass in turn one. Bowles settled for fifth, but stayed out of trouble.
The third heat saw plenty of action that will have significant impact on the starting grid for tomorrow’s Final. In the first pairing, the A versus the D groups, Mandarino was again fast off the line, taking the holeshot over White. He led for first ¾ of the lap until White pulled the trigger and took control of the race. From there, it was an easy run for White as he cruised to his third heat win and the Final pole. Mandarino, however, soon found himself under attack from Valez who has been fast all weekend long. As Valez ate away at the gap, White simply drove away up front. Eventually, Valez got past Mandarino to take the second position at the finish. Bowles was running strong and stayed in the hunt, coming home third while Allen took fifth.
 | The First Kart squad has been leading the way in the 125 Semi-Pro division
(Photo: Super Kart Illustrated) |
The second pairing – B versus C - would shake up the standings in a big way. Off the line, it was Branam who has been very fast despite not having raced a shifter all season long. He took the lead with Carlson and Carlton in tow. Also in the lead group were Alan Rudolph (RBI), Kyle Martin (Tony Kart) Wesley Boswell (Birel), Nick Halen (MS Kart) and Jurca. Martin showed strength early stuffing his Tony Kart past Rudolph on the entry to turn four. The Texan was looking good until lap four, when he stuffed it into the wall, a DNF that he termed a ‘driver error’.
At the front, Carlson was closing on Branam and tried to make the pass heading into turn five. The two drivers hit and both went into the fence. Branam’s day was done – along with a top starting position. Carlson was able to resume and finish 17th. The carnage up front handed the lead and win to Carlton, with Rudolph second. Phinny finished third with Boswell and Jurca rounded out the top five.
In the Stock 125 class, the second heat finally allowed for the showdown between Nick Halen (MS Kart) and Curtis Cooksey (Biesse) after Cooksey’s mechanical DNF last night. Late yesterday evening, the Acceleration Karting owner was still uncertain what knocked him out of the first heat. This morning, the two ran close with Halen taking his second win followed by Cooksey. In the late stages, Cooksey looked set to make a move but he was unable to take the point. Fernando Diaz (GP) was third while Wayne Mello (Tony Kart) and Todd Edgington (PTK) rounded out the top five.
Heat three saved the fireworks for the last moments. Taking the win was Jonathan Wright (Tony Kart) with Cooksey in second and Halen third. Rounding out the top five were Greg Smith (GP) and Mello. Coming to the line, Scott Barnes (Intrepid) Sergio Marchoda (Birel) hooked wheels. Barnes tried to drive them both to the line but fell short by about five meters. They finished 17th and 18th.
Keeping his perfect record in junior-class heats going, Connor DePhillippi took the second 80 Junior heat over a charging Billy Goshen (TopKart). Goshen came on late but it wasn’t enough for the win. In the third spot was Christian Stover (Tony Kart) but he had to hold off First Kart’s David Carmendy on the last circuit. Coming home fifth was Mirage Motorsport’s Laura Hayes (TopKart), who made an impressive national debut at Infineon Raceway a couple months ago.
Sweeping the heats was DePhilippi, as he made easy work of the run to secure the pole for tomorrow’s Final. Goshen was second again and will likely take the outside spot on the first row. Ostella had Hayes on his bumper for the early stages of the race but opened a gap to take third. Carmendy finished fifth.
 | Italian Motors David Jurca will sit on the TaG Senior pole position with three heat victories to his credit
(Photo: Super Kart Illustrated) |
After a break due to a red flag, the second Shifter Masters heat resumed with Rock Island Grand Prix winner Bonnier Moulton (Tony Kart) in the lead. Behind him were last night’s winner Jaime Zuleta (First Kart) and Shayne Shipley (Arrow). Zuleta stayed close but Moulton showed the way to score the win. Shipley finished in third with Craig Corwin (MBA) in fourth and Chris Farrell (Tony Kart) rounding out the top five.
Taking the holeshot in the third heat, Shirley stormed away from the field. Corwin held tight but slowed early in the race. Moulton was coming on strong from second, closing the gap to the leader when he slowed and pulled off the track, a loose counter shaft gear identified as the problem. Shipley took the win with Zuleta in second. Farrell finished in third with Larry Fraser (MBA) and Howie Idelson (First Kart) rounding out the top five.
After two red flags, the first pairing of the second TaG senior heats had the A and C groups facing off. Taking the early lead was David Jurca (Italkart) with his ICA nemesis Joel Miller (Tony Kart) in second. They were in that order at the first red flag and then on the restart, Miller got the jump into the lead. It was short lived however as another red flag for a wreck involving James Kennedy (Swiss Hutless) eliminated the cushion. Jurca led off the restart and went on to win. Miller was second with Rocky Moran, Jr. (GP) in third. Rounding out the top five were Colby Jenn (Italkart) and Brett Buckwalter (Italkart).
The B-D pairing saw several drivers in the TecPro barriers, but no red flags. Stars of Karting Easykart champion Cory Pollack (Monza) was the winner of the heat and he was followed by Jerry Henderson (MMK) in second and former Mach 1 ICA driver Devon Sandeen (First Kart) third. Alpha Kart pilot Jess Peterson was fourth with Travis Irving (TopKart) finishing in fifth.
No red flags, but plenty of action, marked the third and final round of heats for the TaG Senior class. After three aborted start attempts in the A/D flight, Race Director Terry Riggins stopped the field and moved the front row of Miller and Irving to the back of the field. Irving started in back, but Miller lodged himself into the middle of the field when a few backmarkers would not keep up to the field. Miller would storm forward to finish fourth.
After a spirited fight, Moran, Jr. took the lead and held off Peterson for the win. Sandeen finished third as Scott Kennedy (Tony Kart) and Marc Stehle (Tony Kart) moved up after Miller’s penalty was assessed.
In the B/C pairing, Jurca walked away to score the win and secure the pole for the Final, logging three wins. Grant Hebner (TopKart) finshed second with Kyle Ray (Maranello) coming through the field to finish an impressive third. Buckwalter was fourth and Andrew Alfonso (TopKart) finished in fifth.
 | Connor De Phillippi will look to sweep both the 80 Junior and JICA divisions tomorrow
(Photo: Super Kart Illustrated) |
After running into trouble last night, Zach Zimmerly (TopKart) recovered to take the 60/80 Novice Shifter win in the second heat. Dylan Kwasniewski (CRG) was second with Branden Underwood (TopKart) in third. The three leaders were well out front of the fourth and fifth place finishers Austin Farley (Intrepid) and Colby Yardley (CRG).
More trouble for Zimmerly as he ran into trouble on the first lap of the third heat. He got his kart refired and returned to action to finish sixth. Zimmerly’s troubles left Kwasniewski alone at the front for the win. The Farley brothers - Austin and Andrew - both driving Intrepids, finished in second and third. Yardley and Underwood rounded out the top five.
The Firstkart.com team continued to flex their muscles in the Semi-Pro 125 class, putting four drivers into the top five. Last night’s second place finisher Logan Gomez (First Kart) scored the win over Michael Vincec (CRG) in the second heat. Heat one winner Daniel Morad (First Kart) was third with teammates Matt Pritiko and Rene Silva finishing in fourth and fifth. The top five drivers in heat two were the same as last night, only in a different order.
Gomez and Morad continued their romp of the third Semi-Pro heat by taking a one-two finish. Morad stayed closed and looked to be a bit faster than his teammate but chose to drive smart and wait until the Final. With that run, Gomez and Morad should be the front row for the Final. Vincec finished third with Pritiko and Matt Davis in fourth and fifth.
After spending much of the race in second, Jerry Henderson (MMK) pulled the trigger in turn nine and got past Ethan Wilson (Tony Kart) in the second heat for the TaG Masters drivers. Wilson stayed close but was unable to get by, allowing Henderson to score the win. In third was John Crow (KRT) with Mel Snow (Italkart) and Jim Keesling (Birel) rounding out the top five.
In the third and final TaG Masters moto, Wilson got the jump at the start and led Henderson through the distance. Henderson stayed close and on the final lap got a good run down the long straight. He had a look but was unable to make the move and settled for second. Snow and Crow ran third and fourth. In the early going, Snow was tapping his helmet looking for help but they couldn’t match the pace of the leaders. Keesling came through the field again to finish fifth.
In a show of total domination, Connor DePhilippi (KRT) drove away from the field in the second JICA heat. It was a 3.4-second win over Brendan Langlois (Maranello) in second. After a good dice through most of the race, Brett Smrz (First Kart) finished in third with Dusty Davis (Nevoso) and Zach Zimmerly (Intrepid) rounding out the top five.
Wrapping up the day was the third JICA heat. DePhilippi was looking to go six for six after sweeping the 80 Junior heats. The KRT driver came under attack early but then drove away for the easy win. Finishing second was Scott Rossi (KRT), who fell back in the early laps but recovered. Another driver with a good run was Smrz, who scored another third. Rounding out the top five were Stover and Langlois.
In the Comer class, Kyle Shriver (Birel) scored two wins and the Final pole. Dylan Kwasniewski (KRT) was second both times and will join Shriver on the front row. Dylan Nobile (Nevoso) was third in the first heat and fifth in the second. Andrew Murray (Birel) and Branden Underwood (TopKart) were both in the top five for both heats.
SuperSunday is just around the corner and after two Last Chance races to complete the grid for the SuperPro and TaG Senior categories, the ten SuperNationals main events will be run to complete the ninth edition of this prestigious race. EKN will have full results tomorrow along with our post-event wrap-up and play-by-play call of the SuperPro final. |
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