WKA Gold Cup Lowes Drivers Blog - Ryan Phillips

[Ryan T. Phillips]

As some of you may or may not know I’m Ryan Phillips and I have competed in the Gold Cup and Man. Cup series for the past few years. This year I will be running Briggs Lite, Medium, Heavy and also World Formula Medium and Heavy in the Gold Cup Series, and Yamaha Lite and Heavy in the Man. Cup. But enough about me. It’s now Thursday evening and it feels great to be back at the track after a long boring winter. I have noticed a few changes upon arriving to the track in the form of chassis/driver changes but not too many.

The World Formula will be a new class for me this year and I am anxious to run it tomorrow. There are a few changes to the Gold Cup this year starting with a new series sponsor coming on board,(Bully Clutches) and an addition of the “Super Stock” class and money race at the end of Friday practice, which I think will be very interesting . I will post again sometime tomorrow. Thanks


Ryan Phillips

[David Cole]

Thanks Ryan. Good luck this weekend.
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David Cole
News Desk Manager
eKartingNews.com
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[Ryan T. Phillips]

This weekend had its ups and downs. Let's go back to Friday and the Money Race. It did not dissapoint with 20 karters and with money on the line, as expected, it featured many wrecks and only a little more than half the field finished. I was not too upset that I did not compete, at least my kart was still fully intact for Saturday. Gary Lawson ended up winning the 30-lap event.

Now to Saturday, running three classes in one day kept me on my toes. After qualifying 3rd in both Animal Lite and Heavy and also 2nd in World Formula, I was not too dissapointed. We made a few adjustments and I won both heat races in Animal Lite and Heavy, including a photo finish in Heavy with Gary Lawson. I finished a distant 2nd in World Formula, in which we struggled all weekend, as it was our first time running the class. In the Animal Lite feature, I knew right off the bat that the kart was going to get tight and I needed to take the lead and try to get away. After leading half the race, it tightened up and I fell to 4th. Heavy involved much of the same and a 3rd place finish.

On Sunday, I ran only 2 classes and I wanted redemption. Medium began with a 5th place qualifying position with the top-5 all within 2 tenths. In World Formula, I qualified 3rd still a struggle (very frustrating). In the Medium heat race, I moved from 5th to 2nd, feeling pretty good of my chances in the feature.

Feature time came and after a tangle on the start, I came out 3rd, but the leaders had stretched out a good lead and I had work to do. We got the halfway sign and I was making up time and with 2 laps to go, I passed for the lead. after taking the white flag, I was feeling pressure from behind and in an effort to hold on I ended up knocked off track with a finish of 3rd place. On the bright side, five races and five podiums is a good points weekend for the season opener.

Ryan Phillips