wka karting scene - 2013 november issue

THE OFFICIAL MAGAZINE OF THE WORLD KARTING ASSOCIATION NOVEMBER 2012 VOL. 42, NO.11`

Man Cup Comes to a Close in New Castle

2 w o r l d k a r t i n g . c o m

3n o v e m b e r 2 0 1 2 - k a r t i n g s c e n e


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The World Karting Association Mazda / Bridgestone Manufacturers Cup Series closed the doors on its 2012 campaign this past weekend at New Castle, Indiana’s New Castle Motorsports Park, where the

McLaughlin Motorsports Grand Nationals took center stage in the 2-cycle sprint karting world at one of the premier karting facilities in the country.

Approximately 530 entries filled the New Castle paddock, giving the series over 500 overall entries at five of the six nationals this season. The largest divisions were Yamaha Jr Lite and Heavy, which both started 45 karts. Sunday’s TaG 2 boasted 39 entrants while 35 drivers started Saturday’s Parilla Leopard contest.

A sideshow to the on-track action was the race for the 2012 Manufacturer Championship, the award that goes to the chassis that wins the most finals in a season. In recent years, Birel has run away with the title, but this season Top Kart and Arrow waged a heated battle that came down to the weekend’s final main event.

After leading the chassis points since round three at Wampum, Pa., Top Kart entered the Grand Nationals with a four-win advantage over Arrow. When the races concluded Saturday, Arrow had posted four wins to Top Kart’s one, closing the points to a mere one-win advantage for Top Kart.

Sunday opened with Arrow winning two of the first three mains, giving the Australian make its first lead in the chassis points since round two at Kershaw, S.C. Arrow nearly took a two-win lead when Cody Robinson led the Yamaha Supercan Heavy main until getting passed on the final corner. If Robinson could have hung on, most likely Arrow would have won the title.

Two races later Scott Ferris wheeled his Top Kart to the TaG Masters Final 2 victory, once again tying the two chassis manufacturers. Ashley Rogero won the last race of the weekend on her Tony Kart, and both leading manufacturers ended with 24 wins on the season.

Manufacturers Cup

closes year with

entrants at

New Castle

Jacob Donald (Arrow), David Malukas (Birel) and Neil Verhagen (Haase) are double winners

530


Highlights in the 20 McLaughlin Motorsports Grand Nationals main events included Connecticut’s Neil Verhagen, Pennsylvania’s Jacob Donald and Chicago’s David Malukas winning two races apiece. Verhagen won Yamaha Sportsman 1 and Cadet Final 2 while Donald swept the senior Komet classes. Malukas captured wins in Cadet Final 1 and Yamaha Sportsman 2.

Four different drivers won the four Junior finals. Mike McAndrews and Derek Dignan won Saturday’s Junior mains and Tony Kart racers Joel Jens and Rogero triumphed in Sunday’s races. Dignan and Rogero were awarded tests in a McLaughlin Motorsports-owned F3000 car at the Putnam Park (Ind.) Road Course later this year in a special program promoted by the event’s sponsor.

Tommy Andersen, Jacob Knueven and Colton Ramsey won the three senior TaG races; John Dixon and Scott Ferris split the TaG Masters contests; Sam Beasley and

Patrick Olsen won in a couple of wild Yamaha Supercan races; Zach Holden won Komet Sportsman; Sam Mayer and Alex Verhagen were victorious in Yamaha Rookie Sportsman.

Here’s a rundown of each race.

TSRacing.com Komet HeavyJacob Donald (Arrow), Jonathan Kotyk (Tony Kart), Darin Marcus (Merlin) and TJ Koyen (Merlin) kicked off the weekend’s racing in fine fashion. The four drivers battled down to the wire to decide the Komet Heavy feature. After 14 laps of battling, Donald and Kotyk raced to starter Denny Long’s checkered flag side by side with Donald besting the Florida driver by a slight 0.008-second margin in what would turn out to be closest finish of the weekend. Marcus was just 0.043 seconds back in third, while Koyen was about two-tenths late of the winner in fourth.

Written by: Keith Shampine -- [email protected] by: Sean Buur -- [email protected]


Pole Award winner James Brock (Birel) faded in the main and finished fifth. Donald also was the eight-lap prefinal.

RLV Tuned Exhaust Cadet Final 1Twenty-three karts started Saturday’s Cadet class and the HMD Trucking-sponsored MKP Birel pilot David Malukas swept the division for his fourth Cadet win of the year.

Malukas timed fastest over Anthony Gangi Jr. at a 1:15.311 around New Castle’s 1.0-mile course. He bested Merlin racer Brandon Lemke in the prefinal in a close race before leading every lap in the 14-lap final to win by a 1.3-second margin over fellow Birel racers Jared Cordova and Michael Cruz. Michael D’Orlando was fourth on his Kosmic and Leonardo Stoia rounded out the top five on his PCR.

“We had it going in Cadet on Saturday!” said Malukas, his voice rising in excitement. “There are so many good racers in the class and it was a great accomplishment to win the qualifying, prefinal and final.

“We’ve had a very good season in WKA and the other series we race,” David continued. “It felt like we needed to win the first race (at Pittsburgh) and then the wins came easier. We were competitive in every class and the Birel karts had great speed all season. Thank you very much to my dad, my family, MKP, (tuner) Jason Birdsell, (coach) Wes Phillips and Doug Fleming’s engines.” Orlando Kart Center Komet Jr HeavyA couple of Wisconsin racers led the way in the Saturday version of Komet Jr in Joel Jens (Tony Kart) and Mike McAndrews (Birel). Jens won the Streeter Pole Award and the prefinal over McAndrews and led most of the main event. With McAndrews in tow, the lead duo pulled away from the rest of the field to settle the final among themselves.

Another last lap, last turn pass would decide the final. With some contact made, McAndrews muscled his way past Jens in turn 17 and grab the score and deny Jens of his second win of the WKA season. Jens came home second and Merlin racer Kyle Kalish third. Top Kart driver Ryan Raffa had one of his best runs since moving up from the Sportsman classes at

Mike McAndrews

Manufacturers Cup Series - New Castle, IN


the beginning of the season; he finished fourth. Ashley Rogero rounded out the top five.

“I was feeling pressure the first few laps from Kyle Kalish, Austin McCusker and Ryan Raffa,” McAndrews began. “After getting around all of them, I had to set my sights on fellow Switch Racing Engines driver Joel Jens. After catching Jens we were able to push away and fight it out on the last lap. I passed him in the I-70 corner and never looked back. It was a great race.

“This was a very hard fought season for us and no one ever gave up on me. I want to thank Tim, Chris and Garry Lobaugh, who gave me the opportunity to drive a Birel. I would also like to thank God and my fellow competitors for a safe and great season. Thanks to my dad, grandpa and Tim O’Donnell most of all for giving tremendous effort all season.”

Franklinkart.com TaG 1Houston, Texas, Top Kart racer Mason Chelootz claimed the TaG 1 Pole Award and prefinal, but in the main event, Kosmic pilot Tommy Andersen came to life after qualifying seventh and finishing third in the prefinal. Andersen wheeled his No. 8 to the front of the field and held on lap eight of the final and proceeded to stretch his lead out to nearly a half-second advantage over Chelootz by the time the checkers waved.

PCR racer Robert Bujdoso was 1.2 second back of the winner in third, Sam Beasley fourth and Jacob Donald fifth. Twenty-nine drivers started the final.

Comet Kart Sales Yamaha Sportsman 1Haase racer Neil Verhagen flexed his muscle in the Yamaha Sportsman category for the second Man Cup in a row. Verhagen won his first WKA race at Concept Haulers Motor Speedway in August and backed it up with the win in Saturday’s Yamaha Sportsman 1 contest at New Castle.

Verhagen, who’s younger brother Alex has been on a tear in Yamaha Rookie Sportsman this year, won the Streeter Super Stands Pole Award and finished third to David Malukas and Jared Cordova in the prefinal.

When the final began, Verhagen’s closest competitors were Cordova and Arrow pilot Zach Holden. Cordova led the mid-part of the race before Verhagen and Holden raced past. Holden dogged Verhagen over the last four laps until the final corner, where Holden raced side by side with Verhagen. In a photo finish, Verhagen edged Holden by 0.013 seconds for the win, however, Holden would unofficially claim the national championship. Cordova was third, Brandon Lemke fourth and Malukas fifth.


New Jersey Sprint Series Yamaha Rookie Final 1Dominating performances in Streeter Super Stands qualifiying and the prefinal had Connecticut Haase driver Alex Verhagen on the pole for the final. But in the 14-lap main, Verhagen didn’t pull away from the rest of the pack like he did in the prefinal. Sam Mayer (Merlin) and Max Kaeser (PCR) hung with the seven-time 2012 Man Cup winner and on the exit to the final corner, Mayer shot to

the inside of Verhagen and beat him to the finish line by just 0.071 seconds – or about a half a kart length.

Kaeser crossed the stripe in third, only 0.178 seconds late of the winner. Nic Sheppard was fourth and Samuel Paley completed the top five of 24 starters.

“Thanks to Franklin Motorsports, Woltjer Racing Engines and Merlin Chassis. My mechanic Mike worked hard to give me a kart I could win with,” Sam commented after his big win.

Woltjer Racing Engines Yamaha Jr LiteDerek Dignan added another win for Arrow in Saturday

Yamaha Jr Lite. The win, while important for the chassis manufacturer, was a moment Dignan will never forget as it marked his first-ever WKA Manufacturers Cup triumph.

Dignan kept Tony Kart racer Joel Jens at bay in the final laps of the main. Jens worked on the Arrow but Mike McAndrews stuck his nose in the action on the final trip down the I-70 straight, giving Dignan a push and

keeping him ahead through turn 17 and to Denny Long’s checkered flag. Jens was second, Kyle Tilley had a fine run for third, McAndrews fourth and Skylar Robinson fifth.

Kyle Kirkwood won the Streeter Pole Award and McAndrews claimed the prefinal victory.

Grand Products / Top Kart Parilla LeopardThirty-five karts entered the Leopard-only TaG class in one of the better Leopard fields of the year. Jacob Knueven won the Pole Award on his Arrow and Sam Beasley (Arrow) bested Chris Wehrheim (Top Kart) in the prefinal.


Zack Holden


The final would be decided on a penalty as Beasley and Wehrheim were involved in a last-lap, last-turn incident that sent Beasley into the grass and Wehrheim across the finish line first. However, Wehrheim was penalized to 13th in the final rundown for his contact with Beasley, handing the win to Merlin pilot Colton Ramsey. Mark Boos was awarded second, Beasley third, Jacob Donald fourth and Billy Lewis fifth in the wild race.

Yamaha Supercan LiteA couple of the craziest races of the weekend were the senior Yamaha mains. In Saturday’s Supercan Lite class, national point leader Dakota Pesek qualified fastest on his Arrow and won the prefinal over MRP Birel driver Patrick Olsen.

Pesek faded in the final, ultimately finishing seventh. On the last lap, Darin Marcus, Billy Lewis and local runner Jimmy Simpson raced three-wide for the lead into the treacherous turn 17. Heavy contact was made with Lewis and Simpson sliding off the track. This allowed Arrow racer Sam Beasley, who was running fourth and looked to be out of the running for the win at several times in the race, to sneak past the lead trio and throw his hands in the air on the big Supercan score.

Olsen was second and Marcus recovered from the turn 17 melee to take third. Colton Ramsey was fourth, Simpson fifth and Lewis sixth.

Adkins Speed Center Komet SportsmanArrow pilot Zach Holden had admittedly struggled in the KPV-powered Sportsman category in recent weeks at

divisional events at New Castle. But the Greenfield, Ind., racer found speed at the Man Cup to win the Streeter Super Stands Pole Award. PCR racer Leonardo Stoia bested Holden by a slim margin to win the prefinal.

In the final Holden put his No. 2 out front with Stoia and David Malukas in tow. Stoia stayed tucked in behind Holden, knowing that a second-place result would be good enough to net him the Komet Sportsman national championship. Coming down the I-70 straightaway on the final lap, Holden protected the bottom groove and Stoia opted to follow, giving Holden his second win in a row in the class and Stoia his first WKA championship. Malukas was third, Brandon Lemke fourth and Jared Cordova rounded out the top five.

“We began the year with high hopes, knowing a lot of the top Sportsman drivers had moved up,” the 12-year-old Holden said. “After winning at Daytona we knew we had a good shot at a championship. We were actually hoping to get two or three championships, but we can’t complain with one, especially looking at the competition in WKA. I want to thank everyone who helped out all season, especially my dad, my family, Comet Kart Sales, Kyle Ludwick and KartSport North America. Without everyone’s help we would never have been able to do this.”

DRT Racing TaG Masters Final 1John Dixon made his second Man Cup appearance of the season, but this time he did it on a Top Kart rather than the FA Kart he campaigned at Michiana Raceway Park in July.

David Malukas


The chassis swap looked to be a good one as Dixon swept the Saturday TaG Masters program. Things got interesting about halfway into the final when brothers Scott Ferris and John Ferris III began to run down the Indiana veteran. John Ferris III made his move on the inside into turn 13 on the final lap, but couldn’t make it stick, allowing Dixon to scoot away through the final handful of corners and score his first Man Cup win of the season and give Top Kart its only win of the day. John Ferris III was second, Scott Ferris third, Jeff Jewell fourth and Bobby Cummings fifth on his Birel.

J3 Competition Komet LiteJacob Donald proved to be a big reason why Arrow tied Top Kart in the Manufacturer Championship standings when he swept the Komet senior divisions with a Sunday afternoon triumph in Komet Lite.

Darin Marcus (Merlin) won the Streeter Pole Award before TJ Koyen looked stout aboard his Merlin on his way to the prefinal win. Koyen, however, had mechanical issues and dropped out of the final on lap seven, leaving Donald to battle Top Kart racer Mason

Chelootz to the finish.

Donald crossed the stripe only 0.064 seconds ahead of Chelootz for the win in an important race in the Manufacturer Championship battle. Jonathan Kotyk was over three seconds behind in third, James Brock fourth and Marcus fifth.

Grand Products / Top Kart Cadet Final 2Tony Kart racer Anthony Gangi Jr. and Haase pilot Neil Verhagen have improved all year in the Man Cup’s Sportsman ranks and the two are now a threat to win every time they take the track. In Sunday’s Cadet program, Gangi qualified fastest over Verhagen before Verhagen bested Gangi in the eight-lap prefinal.

The main event saw Saturday Cadet winner David Malukas muscle his Birel to the front and put himself in position to win the race, and a shot at a championship. However, on the last lap Gangi and Malukas made contact in the green corner, sending Malukas off the track and out of the event a half-lap from the finish. Gangi would be penalized in the running order to finish behind Malukas, although it


Alex Verhagen


was little consolation for the HMD Trucking racer as the incident cost him his first national title.

The green corner incident left Verhagen and Brandon Lemke to battle it out for the win. Verhagen bested Lemke by a mere 0.090-second gap for his second win of the weekend, while Gangi crossed the stripe third but was relegated to 21st for the aforementioned penalty. Three PCR chassis completed the top five with Leonardo Stoia third, John Paul Southern Jr. fourth and Adam Sturgill fifth.

“We had a really good year,” Neil commented. “I’m happy we were able to get some wins at the end of the year. We kept getting faster and things came together at the last couple races. I want to thank my family, Chi Chi Racing and Woltjer Racing Engines.”

OTK Kart USA TaG 2Atlanta-based Top Kart racer Chris Wehrheim looked to be tough to beat entering Sunday’s TaG final after qualifying fastest and winning the prefinal by a comfortable margin over Jacob Knueven (Arrow).

Wehrheim jumped out to the lead in the final, but after a few laps he had three Arrows chasing him in Jacob Donald, Sam Beasley and Knueven. As the race

progressed, it was evident the trio of Arrows weren’t going to let Wehrheim get away as he did in the prefinal. At the halfway point, the Arrows made their move on the Top Kart pilot. Knueven and Donald shot past Wehrheim on the inside on entrance to turn 17. Beasley attempted to follow but made heavy contact with Wehrheim, sending Beasley airborne and both karts hard into the fence.

Beasley and Wehrheim exchanged some heated words before exiting the track, and Beasley was suspended from competition for the rest of the day.

Back on the track, more drama ensued. Donald and Knueven battled wheel to wheel to the finish and entered turn 17 side by side. Donald crossed the stripe in front of Knueven but was disqualified in post-race tech for his bumper being detached. This gave the win to Knueven, who was just ahead of PCR racer Robert Bujdoso. Jonathan Kotyk was third, Mark Boos fourth and Mason Chelootz fifth.

“I have to thank my parents, first and foremost, for always supporting me,” Knueven said after the win. “I also need to thank Eric Jones for his help this season and Brian Seward, who produced great motors all season. It has been fun racing all of the TaG competitors this season.”

Jacob Donald


PCR Komet Jr LiteVerde Speed Resources Tony Kart racer Joel Jens swept the Komet Jr Lite program but not without some stiff competition from fellow Tony Kart chauffeur Ashley Rogero.

After winning the Streeter Pole Award and the prefinal, Jens battled hard with Rogero throughout the 14-lap main. On the final corner, Rogero ducked to the inside of Jens and the two made contact, sending the 2011 WKA Triple Crown champion off the track and Rogero across the finish line first. However, officials found fault with Rogero’s overtaking move and relegated the Florida racer to a second-place finish, and declared Jens the winner.

Rogero’s day didn’t get any better a few minutes later when her Tony Kart tipped the scales too light, disqualifying her from the race. This gave MRP Birel racer Grant Quinlan the runner-up spot, Gresham Wagner third, Kyle Kirkwood fourth and Matt Solarczyk fifth in the 32-kart field.

The win marked Jens’s first since triumphing in Yamaha Jr Heavy at the Daytona season opener last December.

Mike Doty Racing Yamaha Rookie Final 2In Sunday’s version of Yamaha Rookie, Alex Verhagen finished what he started on Saturday aboard his Haase chassis. Verhagen again timed fastest in qualifying and won the prefinal in convincing fashion to start on the pole for the final.

In the main, Sam Mayer, Max Kaeser, Samuel Paley, Connor Ferris and Kaylen Frederick were able to hang with Verhagen in the early laps. But as he has many times this season, as the race progressed Verhagen pulled away from the field and ran uncontested to another victory. The win was Verhagen’s eighth of the 2012 Man Cup campaign and put the finishing touches on a national championship. Mayer was second and Kaeser crossed the line third for the second day in a row. Paley finished fourth to finish off an ultra-consistent campaign that comprised 11 top-five podium finishes in 12 starts. Connor Ferris completed the top five with Frederick right there in sixth.

Alex Verhagen spoke about his championship season.

“After such a disappointing weekend in Daytona



I thought I was going to have a terrible season,” Alex began. “But after winning in Kershaw, I knew the season wasn’t over and I had the confidence to win! My favorite win was at MRP on Saturday because I really had to battle to win that one. It was an incredible year and I would like to thank my family, Chi Chi Racing, Woltjer Racing Engines and all my friends who supported me.”

APPCO Yamaha Supercan HeavyMerlin racers Adam Crepin and Colton Ramsey ran away from the field in the prefinal after Crepin scored the Pole Award. But several drivers made impressive moves to get to the front in the 14-lap final, including Jimmy Simpson, Billy Lewis and Cody Robinson.

Robinson secured his Arrow at the top of the leader board for most of the second half of the race, and with one lap to go, Robinson was in position to give Arrow another victory and most likely the Manufacturer Championship trophy.

As expected, the final straightaway and turn 17 settled the race. Robinson still led off turn 15, but kart fanned out behind him to make it three and four wide. No fewer than four karts went side by side into turn 17, and nearly all of them made contact. The driver in the right position was Patrick Olsen, who was behind the multi-abreast racing

into the last corner, and shot his Birel to the inside off everyone on exit to beat eight karts to the finish stripe by less than a one-second gap.

Probably no one watching could tell you who crossed the stripe second and on back. According the AMB timing and scoring, Olsen beat out Chase Jones by 0.078 seconds. Simpson was third, Robinson fourth and Lewis fifth. Crepin took sixth, Colin Griffin seventh, James Brock eighth and Jackson Mears ninth, all within one second of the winner.

MRP / Birel Yamaha Sportsman 2MKP Birel racer David Malukas made it two wins on the weekend in the Sunday version of Yamaha Sportsman, and effectively denied Neil Verhagen of a McLaughlin Motorsports Grand Nationals hat trick.

Verhagen qualified fastest and won the prefinal, while Malukas was third in both rounds of competition. Malukas and Verhagen battled hard in the final with Braden Eves, Michael D’Orlando and Brandon Lemke right there in the five-kart breakaway. Lemke spent time leading, as did D’Orlando. But Malukas grabbed the lead away from D’Orlando on the final lap and fended off challenges from Verhagen in turn 17 to win the race by a half-kart length over Neil.

Ashley Rogero


Eves claimed third, D’Orlando settled for fourth and Lemke rounded out the top five in the excited race.

Margay Racing Products TaG Masters Final 2Just as John Dixon did in Saturday’s TaG Masters class, Scott Ferris swept Sunday’s TaG Masters rounds. Dixon retired from qualifying with a mechanical issue, forcing him to start scratch in the prefinal. While Dixon was having problems and then forced to race his way through the field in the heat, Scott Ferris proceeded to win the Streeter Pole Award and dominate the prefinal.

Dixon made it all the way up to third in the prefinal to start behind Ferris and Jeff Jewell. He immediately passed Jewell for second and proceeded to pass Ferris for the

lead on lap six. But Ferris would have too much for Dixon on this day. He dogged the Indiana driver throughout the middle of the race and with two laps to go, worked his way back by Dixon to retake the lead.

Ferris pulled away for a 1.3-second win over Dixon. Jewell was over nine seconds back in third. Steve Schiewer was fourth and Tim Bannon fifth. Ferris’s win gave Top Kart two on the weekend to tie Arrow in the final Manufacturer Championship standings.

Verde Speed Resources Yamaha Jr HeavyLocal runner Sam Cate (Tony Kart) proved you don’t have to be a national regular to run up front at a Man Cup event. Cate scored the Pole Award over national hot shoe Joel Jens (Tony Kart) and won the prefinal over multi-time


national champion Ashley Rogero (Tony Kart).

In the final Rogero, Cate and MRP Birel racer Mike McAndrews waged a clean three-kart battle for the win. Rogero led the final laps with McAndrews and Cate right there. In turn 15 on the last lap, Cate negotiated an impressive crossover move on McAndrews to steal second, but as the two raced hard for the runner-up spot, Rogero hid up front and ran uncontested to the win. Cate secured second and McAndrews settled for third. Joel Jens was fourth and Kyle Kalish rounded out the top five.

SPL Kid KartsFour kid karters gained laps and valuable experience around the challenging New Castle circuit. Aiden Hinds, Tanner Holwerda, Sinead Lynch and Carter Mears made

every round of the Kid Kart exhibitions throughout the weekend. All three drivers looked good on the track as they prepare to advance to the Yamaha Rookie Sportsman division in the coming years.

Next up for the WKA Mazda / Bridestone Manufacturers Cup Series is the annual Sprint Championships at Daytona Int’l Speedway. WKA will release more information on this year’s Daytona KartWeek festivities in the coming weeks.


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World Karting Road Racing Series, Roebling Road. September 2012.

As the month of September comes to a close, so does the season on the WKA Vega / TS Racing Road Racing Series, driven by Mazda. Roebling Road was the site of the finale at Bloomingdale,

Ga. As karters arrived from near and far, there were sever-al Championships that would be decided over the week-end. Most drivers and teams arrived Thursday evening ready to challenge the 2.02 mile road course in the mist of the Georgia pines.

Everyone arrived on Friday to question if the weather was going to cooperate or the day of practice be a wash out. The day went well with open practice for all the karters. As the teams fine tuned there machines, everyone was ready to battle the track and their competitors on Satur-day.

Saturday was damp and the decision was made to combine the classes, for mother nature was not going to cooperate again. Two rounds of practice went very well, and a quick turn around for all competitors and the races were ready to begin.

Race 1:In 100cc controlled, Adam Myers won over second place racer Courtney Atkinson and third place went to Michael Tracy.

Yamaha Sportsman heavy saw ten competitors on the starting grid. All started in a tight pack off the grid to see Ryley Howe cross the finish line victorious. After Howe, Matt Michel came in second, followed by David Libby in third.4-cycle enduro 1 was won by Merie Libby.

Race 2:Animal limited Modified 385 was a great battle on the track. Charlie Wilbur and Dennis Smith battled back in forth until lap fifteen saw Smith drop out with mechan-ical problems. Charlie Wilbur won, followed by Dominic Greco, and Dennis Smith finished out the field.Open Sprint 1 class was won by Gary Kim Baker followed by Nelson Hicks two seconds later, then followed by Wil-liam Evens third.

Stock Leopard 1 was won by Jeff Wessell. Wessell stated after the race, that the racing in the limited modified was intense to watch, he had the best seat in the house by following them every lap. That was too much fun stated Wessell again.

WKA Sprint 1 saw New York’s own Charles Tustison win with no troubles, followed by Allen Tustison.Clone 385 had Joe Custlidge win with Darren Greene coming in second several laps down.Clone 335 was won by David Barker.

Article By: Todd KingPhotos By: Krapp4U -- [email protected]


Race 3:Stock Honda 1 saw five karts start, and after the dust set-tled Tiffany McCullum was victorious, followed by Phillip Davis, and third was John Sullivan, The other divers were DQ after the race.

100cc Yamaha medium Lance Yunck had no trouble win-ning the class. Due to kart problems Adam Myers finished second, and Arther McKenney placing third.F 100 #1 had Paul Wyzga winning followed by Michael Tracy.

Unlimited Final 1 had Kelly Lawrence winning the event, and also running one of the fastest times on Saturday with a 1:15.041 at 96.907.

Race 4:LO 206 385 class had a strong field of nine karts starting on the grid. In the end the top three karts remained on the lead lap. The win goes to Dennis Claunch. Second place goes to Jeff Webb, and rounding out the top three was Steve Jeffers.

Animal Jr. Sprint Lite had three young men ready to battle each other for the class win. Congratulations to Will Del-aney. He had no trouble on this day pulling off the win. Brent Hadden was second, followed by Rafael D. Leon in third.Junior Sprint Lite was won by Zack Clark

Race 5;CIK 125 shifter 1 saw Stephen Rougeou from Louisiana win followed by Donald Santini.DD2 #1 class was won by Jeff Futch. Futch beat Thom Andersen by 10 seconds.WKA 125 Shifter 1 class was won by Brad Zoeller.

Race 6;Yamaha Sportsman Lite was a fantastic battle till the checker flag fell on the competitors./ In the end Richard Marz beat Courtney Atkinson by two thousands of a sec-ond at the line. They both raced nose to tail. As they came to the line Courtney made the final move to beat Marz, but came up a little short. Third went to Lance Yunck.100cc pipe heavy was won by Derek Goodman by two laps over Arthur McKenney, followed in third by Adam Myers.’

100cc control spec. 1, after 35 laps Jim Fry was victorious over Lance Fry by one thousands of a second. Great close racing.

F 125 was won by Kelly Lawrence, turn quick time again for the day.

Race 7:Animal Sprint 335 was dominated by Larry Palmer, beat-ing Ben Thomason and Steve Jeffers to the finish line.Animal Sprint 385 had a close finish with Robert Garland beating Rob Garland to the line by one tenth of a second and Bill Lewis finishing a respectable third.


Tag final 1 was won by Emmitt RodriquezYamaha sprint lite won by Jimmy Duguay.

After the great racing all day, the racers settled into there pits and game planned on what to do for the racing on Sunday. Everyone was still thinking that weather was going to play a factor in Sundays showdown.

Everyone got to the race track with dampness in the air, scratching their heads on how to dial the karts in for a fast gun slinging race. After the drivers meeting, the races were cut short and the fields were combined to help the races get in for the day. Competition was grouped to-gether and was hot and heavy.

Race 1:Congratulations to Ron Hodges for winning the Animal Sprint 335. Jimmy Duguay for winning the Yamaha Sprint Heavy. Stock Leopard 2 was won by Jeff Wessel. Jr. Sprint Heavy was won by Zack Clark. Clone 360 was won by Dar-ren Greene. Clone 410 was won by Joe Cuslidge.

100cc Yamaha Heavy was won by Auther McKenney who pulled off a spectacular move at the finish line to out dual Lance Yunck by only one thousand of a second. It was another fantastic finish for the weekend.

Animal Sprint 410 came down to Rob Garland winning on a lap by himself. Second place went to Steve Johnson, fol-lowed by Ben Morris. This race had some Championship implications for Johnson and Morris.

Animal Sprint 360 was a excellent race to the end. The top five racers battled till the end of the shortened race. Larry Palmer pulled a last lap sling shot to beat out Stephen Wheatley by two tenths of a second. They were followed by Ben Thomason, Bill Lewis, and Dennis Claunch round-ing out the top five. The top five was only separated by four tenths of a second at the line.

Race 2:The 45 minute race was reduced to 30 minutes, so every-one had to get busy quick. In 100cc control spec 2 came down to Lance and Jim Fry with Lance being victorious over Jim. Adam Myers finished third.

Yamaha sportsman heavy was won by Lance Yunck who had no trouble winning the class. Lance outlasted David Libby in second. Wilshire Walkup finished third, Dave Armstrong finished forth, and James Drigger rounded out the top five.

Road Racing Series -- Roebling Road, GARoad Racing Series -- Roebling Road


Unlimited 2 was won by Kelly Lawrence, George Sunder-land Jr. was second, followed by Larry Stewart finished third.

100cc pipe medium was won by Derek Goodman.4-cycle enduro 2 was won by Merie Libby. Formula 100 #2 won by Paul Wyzga

Race 3:Race was shortened to twenty minutes for this group. Stock Honda 2 saw Tiffany McCullum winning again. over Brian Fisher at the line. Phillip Davis came in third, John Sullivan ran forth and Stephen Rougeou was fifth.DD2 #2 was won by Thom Anderson.

Race 4:After quiet time the final race of the day was scheduled to run. The thirty minute race had many battles in every class. Open Sprint 2 saw Gary Kim Baker out dueled William Evens by five thousand of a second. A great finish for the class. Nelson Hicks came in third.

WKA Sprint 2 was won by Charles Tustison over Allen Tustison.

Animal Limited Modi-fied 360 was fast and furious in the begin-ning until several of the competitors fell out with troubles. Charles Wilbur won followed by Dennis Smith, and Dominic Greco was third.

Animal Jr. Sprint heavy

saw Brent Hadden lead the race till the last lap. Will Del-aney pulled the sling shot out and beat Brent at the line by less than a tenth of a second. Third place was taken by Rafeal D Leon.

LO 206 360 class was won by Jeff Webb over Ryan Synder by less than one tenth. Third place was Steve Jeffers, forth was Rafeal Leon, and round out the top five was Myra Urso.

What a great weekend of racing. There were a total of 144 competitors and congratulations to the multi winners over the weekend: Jeff Wessell, Charles Wilbur, Charles Tustison, Kelly Lawrence, Tiffany McCullum, Stephen Rou-

geou, Larry Palmer, Jimm Duguay, Joe Cuslidge, Merie Libby, and Paul Wyzga. Now the dust has settled on the 2012 season and there were some surprises and heartaches over the championship standings. Now we look forward to the

2013 season starting at the world center of speed, Daytona Interna-

tional Speedway. Bring the family,

a friend, help kart-ing move forward.

Happy Holidays and see everyone soon.


NATIONAL KART NEWS

has covered it all.and it won ’tstop there.

For 25 years,

If it involves karting, we’re there.

If it came from karting, we’re there.

If it evens sounds like it might have something to do with karting, count us in.

For a quarter of a century we’ve covered the sport like no other…

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NATIONAL KART NEWS

has covered it all.and it won ’tstop there.

For 25 years,

If it involves karting, we’re there.

If it came from karting, we’re there.

If it evens sounds like it might have something to do with karting, count us in.

For a quarter of a century we’ve covered the sport like no other…

And we’re just getting started.

www.nkn.com800-942-0033

Phot

o by

Cod

y Sh

indl

e –

Auto

spor

ts M

edia

sUBscriBe now

Travel in the world’s fastest circles at IMIS.

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Show 2011. IMIS is the industry’s premier tradeshow for

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As the WKA West Super Series, presented by Bridgestone, RLV, & Grand Products moved to Atwater Kart Club, 89 drivers came out and brought their A game for Round 6! As the end

of the 2012 Series draws to a close, that championship trophy seems more within each competitor’s grasp and it is a relentless fight to the finish to determine who it belongs to! As the sun came up on Race Day Sunday, drivers and spectators knew it was going to be a warm day but no one could have foreseen the intense heat that came later that afternoon. In an odd event in the Clone Pre-Final, all Clone drivers were able to walk away without serious injuries after a racing incident turned into a small brush fire on the back stretch of the track and claimed a kart before the flames were able to be put out. Great thanks go out to Atwater Fire Department, Atwater Kart Club, track officials and everyone who helped to put the fire out!!!

KPV1Starting off the event with KPV1 Qualifying, Jason Pettit shot onto the track like a bullet and made sure that the rest of his class understood that he was there to hold onto his first place reign from Round 5 and set the fast lap with a 35.094, just 5 thousandths ahead of Roy Fulmer who was putting the pressure on Pettit for sure!! Heading into the first Heat Session, Fulmer dominated by taking the pole position from Pettit and making Chase Farley and Carter Herrera work to keep up with them! After some seriously great driving from those guys, they set out to take the Green for the Pre Final and it was Pettit who reclaimed his first place spot and Herrera followed suit, leaving Fulmer to sit tight in the third position, just ahead of Farley and Mikey Prinzo. Pettit knew that he needed to create some space between himself and the rest of the pack for the Main Event where he was trailed closely by Herrera up until the last lap where Herrera got caught up and landed himself in the fifth spot behind Fulmer, Farley and Calvo. Proud

WKA WESTSUPER SERIESROUND 6

2012

Article By: WKA WestPhotos By: Melanie Millerwww.melaniemillerphotography.zenfolio.com


WKAWest Series


started sixth and attempted to make his way up to the front but he was unable to get by Freese and Clayton Williams who led Proud and Richard Stock into the scales from the finish!

Kid KartsAtwater Kart Club welcomed 5 Kid Kart drivers to the track Sunday. Cody Batterton set the time to beat in Qualifying at 45.592 and left the off pole spot open to the Round 5 winner Alec Acevedo who took that with a 45.749! Batterton held off Acevedo in the Heat Session and left the door open for Alec Bridgman to slide up into second, leaving Acevedo to start the Pre Final in the third spot followed by Anthony Fossen and Race Godeloson who maintained their places all the way through to the starting for the Main Event. Acevedo reclaimed his pole position over Batterton who was out of the race after the third lap around leaving Bridgman to slide into the second position followed by Godeloson.

KPV2KPV 2 opened with Sonny Cervelli setting the fast lap in Qualifying with a 32.612 but felt the intense pressure from Blake Murdock, who was just one tenth off of Cervelli, and Rocha who was just two tenths off of Murdock. These three continued to hold their spots through the day with Grayson Browne, Danny Rubino and Harrison Mills driving vigorously to catch the pack!! Cervelli had built himself a great lead over Murdock and Rocha in the heats, where it looked like

Murdock was definitely going to give Cervelli a run for his money and the first place win!! The excitement was building as the spectators were pressed up against the fence to see who was going to walk away the win!! Cervelli fought hard in the Final to keep his spot, holding off Murdock, who gave it his best shot, but Cervelli did not leave any room for Murdock to get by and by driving his line, Murdock secured his second place win, leaving Rocha, Browne and Rubino to fall in line behind them.

Spec PRD10 drivers made it out to drive in the Spec PRD class in Atwater, where there was nothing short of excitement. Local hot-shoe & newcomer to the WKA Series, Kolby Araki, jumped out to the front in Qualifying to set a fast lap time of 31.921. David Vasquez came in next with a 32.049 and Matt Chase drove in just two tenths shy of Vasquez! The green flag was out for the first Heat Session as Vasquez made his way into the first place spot past Araki who fought hard to try and take back his spot with Shelby Sander hot on his trail, working for a promising result on her birthday weekend!! Vasquez and Araki pulled away and built a cushion between themselves and Sander who had Ashlie Couch and Ryan Casner to deal with in the fight for third. Sander lost a few positions in striving to hold off Couch and Casner in the Pre Final, while Matt Chase took advantage of the shift in placing and jumped into the third spot behind Vasquez. Up front, Vasquez and Araki gave each

WKA West Coast Super Series - Atwater Kart Club


other some serious pressure and some incredible driving, but Vasquez was not going to let Araki get away with that one!! Vasquez takes his spot back in the Main Event, showing Araki his bumper all the way through to lap eight where Araki maneuvered his way to the front, where it looked like he was going to be victorious! The White Flag flew and Vasquez made a clean pass back up to first just in time to take the Checkered Flag in front of Araki!! Chase managed to hold off the group and maintained his third place reign over Couch and Casner who had been mixing it up all day looking for any way to get past him. This was yet another great job by all the competitors. Round 7 looks to be highly anticipated!!

Formula 80 Masters/80 SeniorRound 6 of the WKA West Super Series brought a small class and a short day for the Formula 80s but these guys still came all the way out to Atwater Kart Club to defend their points. Formula 80 Master driver Chuck Hastings showed off his skill with a 31.548 pole qualifying time while Formula 80 Senior driver Josh Cole took the spot next to Hastings on the grid for the first Heat Session with a 32.689 (pole for the Senior class). Master driver Wayne Bundy started out front, leading Hastings around the track all the way up to the fourth lap

when Bundy slipped back to second and worked hard to close the gap between himself and Hastings but could not get close enough to take the win in the Pre Final! The three 80 shifter drivers, Hastings, Bundy and Cole decided not to run the Main Event to save their equipment for Round 7, with their Pre-Final results becoming the event results.

Jr. 1 2-CycleA full field of 12 karts showed up to run the Jr 1 2-Cycle class. With such talent throughout the class, it was anyone’s race! After a 5 minute qualifying session, Carter Herrera took the top spot with a 36.207 time to beat, while Oliver Calvo qualified just five hundredths off of Herrera! Ammon Young laid out a 36.380 for third, which set Wyatt Couch, Anthony Freese and Clayton Williams in the path behind them. If Herrera thought this was going to be an easy day, Calvo and Couch were there to show him that he was going to have to work to maintain his spot, & shake them off of his trail as they took to the first Heat Session. Young held tight to his fourth spot in hopes that Williams wouldn’t be able to find a way by! Into the Pre Final, Young broke away from the pack and Williams slid a few spots back behind Matthew Proud, Eric Nascimento and Freese who entered the Main Event in that


order. Herrera felt the pressure that Couch had been putting on him but he did not waiver and took home the win, while Calvo and E Nascimento battled it out behind them up until the sixth lap where E Nascimento retired from the race, and gave Couch the second place finish with Calvo third, Proud fourth and Williams back up to fifth.

Clone Sr.Record-setting 34-karts in Clone Senior put on certainly the

most eventful races of the entire WKA West Super Series Event. Pole setter Jerry Van Devsen ran a 37.180, making that the best time for the Sr drivers! Rob Nascimento was coming for Van Devsen with a time just two tenths off and RJ Kahler, with Cole Nelson and Jon Ban right behind him!! Van Devsen held off the field for the first Heat Session but knew that any slight mistake would have left enough of an opening to cost him that spot, while Nelson had been working his way up to Van Devsen! R Nascimento slid back a few spots at the same time as Nelson barreled out to make it up past Kahler for the second place spot, which left Ban sitting behind Kahler and putting Michael Ostrowski in between Ban and R Nascimento on the grid for the Pre Final. One lap into the Pre Final, several karts tangled in Atwater’s signature “sweeper”, leaving them over the top of the corner in the brush. As the ambulance rolled out from a precautionary red flag, flames came up from the brush where the karts sat and sent drivers running to grab anything to help put the fire out and as the flame grew larger. The fire claimed one kart before the Atwater Fire Dept. was able to extinguish the flames. After deciding to cut their losses with the Pre Final, all the Clone competitors took to their pits with heavy hearts knowing that there was one driver who would be left kart-less.

As the thunder of 33-Clone Sr drivers hit the track for the Final, Van Devsen started third for the Main Event and had to work to get by Ban and Nelson who were ahead at the start and maintained their pull on Van Devsen until the ninth lap where Van Devsen pushed by them. Up to that point it was very close for the front pack!! Nelson had been hot on the path for top spot and was not going to let anyone get in between his #25 kart and that second spot while trying to advance!! Ostrowski made his way up to the third position all the while having fought off Jonathon Leach and R Nascimento who had been too close for Ostrowski’s comfort! Austin DeMent, who ran Super Sportsman in Monterey, CA for the previous round, mixed it up in the middle of the field with Lizzie Tidwell. Tidwell had been looking for her way around DeMent while Ryan Casner, driving double-duty this weekend running two classes, had been hot on her bumper and Tidwell definitely felt the pressure but held the boys off and finished in the thirteenth position out of thirty three karts! Behind that group were Ryan Troutwine, Steve Lewis, Nick Grossi and Haley Brooks who all remained very tight together as they saw the White flag start to wave!! Kenny Kirschiner gave birthday girl Alexys Burns a run for her money, all the while Burns had been struggling to hold off Vinny Cervelli who was the 34th entry to break the Clone Sr entry record! Van Devsen held off Nelson which positioned him second, just ahead of Ostrowski but with a disqualification on improper flywheel

WKA West Coast Super Series - Atwater Kart Club


in Tech, Ostrowski moved up to the second spot, with Leach in third, R Nascimento in fourth and Kahler who rounded out the Top 5 heading to Stockton in October!!!

Super Sportsman/ Clone Jr/ TaG Master/ TaG SeniorAfter running the practice and qualifying sessions on their own, the three TaG drivers decided to run with the Clone Jr and the Super Sportsman class for the Heats and Main Event. TaG Master drivers Corey Mitchell and Dennis Goodson set out to take the win home in Round 6 and Mitchell had a great head start qualifying with a 32.123 and Goodson just four tenths off of him! Wayne Ash was the champ from Round 5 in Monterey, CA and the only TaG Senior entry and ran a 32.985 fast lap. Super Sportsman drivers Nick Robertson and Bryan Parmenter battled it out, having left with Parmenter ahead of Robertson in Round 5 and Robertson was ready for his comeback and laid out a 33.913 fast lap, Parmenter had an unbelievably close time of 33.918 and Clone Jr driver Jake Pipal, the only entry for his class, put down a 38.533!! The combined class took to the track for the first Heat Session and Mitchell jumped to the front position with Goodson who tried hard to catch him while trailed by Robertson who had been working hard to hold off Parmenter! This group headed straight into their Main Event and skipped their Pre Final round due to the fire. Once again Mitchell took the lead and

battled with Goodson and held out to take home the win for the TaG Masters! Parmenter held off Robertson until the sixth lap where it looked like Robertson was going to have the upper hand but Parmenter prevailed for the Super Sportsman win and Jake Pipal took home the win for the Clone Jr!!Big thanks go out to series sponsor RLV, who provided track-side support all weekend, Track Warrior Photos, Melanie Miller Photography, series sponsors Bridgestone and Grand Products. The 2012 WKA West Super Series next travels to Stockton for the final round of the 2012 season, scheduled for October 21st. Entry Forms, pit space and Saturday practice information can be found at www.WKADistrict10.com.


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