10-30-08 Leading Edge Motorsports Wins National Championship

With a couple drivers in the national point championship chase, Leading Edge Motorsports headed to Las Vegas with more focus and dedication than most. With strong results at the last Stars race in Seattle, WA, the team was looking forward to yet another great weekend. With Broc Yocom in cadet, Mason Marotta, Timmy Bachman, and Brett Felkins in Jica, and Bryan Eady in Tag ICC, Friday practice went well as all of Leading Edge’s drivers found themselves in the top ten at the end of the day.

Saturday morning qualifying would start off with a bang for Leading Edge as Broc Yocom put his Intrepid Maky P4 on the speed charts in cadet. Continuing to show his capabilities and talent through the heats on Saturday Yocom would walk away with three consistent top five finishing spots whichwould line him up P3 for the mains on Sunday.

In Jica, the Mason Marotta, Timmy Bachman, and Brett Felkins trio would get off to a little slower start than they were hoping for. With Felkins qualifying P10, Bachman P14, and Marotta P15 the trio would have there work cut out for them in the heats. Heat race one would see Brett Felkins and Timmy Bachman slip back a few spots as Marotta would move his way up to the top ten. Heat race two would not look so well as Felkins dropped to P12, while Marotta would drop to P16, and Bachman would only complete eight of the ten laps do to mechanical problems. However, heat race three it was Bachman on the move as he drove up to P10 finishing one spot in front of Marotta, while Felkins was involved in a turn one incident and would have to settle for a disappointing P21.

Leading Edge Motorsports driver and Stars West Tag ICC champion Bryan Eady was looking for a strong day after going to the top of the speed charts in the final two practice sessions on Friday. However, in qualifying Eady would be forced to get hard on the brakes on his fast lap as another kart came out of the hot pits right in front of him. Eady would have to settle for the second quickest lap two thousandths of a second off of Jose Zanella. After an altercation at the scales do to the incident the Stars officials would make Eady start his heats from P5. In heat one and two Eady would move up to P2 were he would finish the heats right behind Zanella. In the third heat race Eady would drive up to P2 were he again found himself on the rear bumper of Zanella. On the final lap with three corners to go Eady would drive deep into the corner under braking and take the lead away from Zanella. Eady would go on to win heat three and find himself on the outside of row one for the finals.

Final number one in cadet would find Broc Yocom out front in the four kart train for most of the race. However, in the last few laps Yocom would get the bad end of the draft and get shuffled back to the fourth spot. On the final lap Yocom would show his aggressive driving style and made a move to put himself back to P3 were he would finish final number one. In final number two it was again a four kart breakaway which included Yocom. Yocom would again lead several laps but again would get the bad end of the draft in the final few laps which would again shuffle him to P4 were he would finish. With such a strong weekend Yocom would move from P8 in the national points standing to tie for P4.

Jica’s final number one would show that Leading Edge’s trio had the talent and the speed. Starting from P15 it was Brett Felkins that was on a mission. Felkins would drive himself all the way up to P4 turning some of the quickest laps of the race. Teammate Mason Marotta who was with Felkins at the beginning of the race, would find himself off track to avoid an accident, with a great recovery would end up P7. Timmy Bachman would finish the first final in P13. In Final number two it would be Mason Marotta who would again make his way up into P7 while teammate Timmy Bachman would finish his weekend with a P10 finish. But again Felkins would be the one to watch as a turn one incident would send Felkins to twenty-first spot and with a steering wheel that was facing the left side of the kart. Felkins would muscle his way all the way back to P13 and with two laps to go he posted the fastest lap of the race. After the race, team owner Greg Bell walked over to turn the wheel on Felkins kart and made the comment, “I have no idea how this kid even drove this thing!”

With the championship on the line in Tag ICC Bryan Eady knew he would need good results in both mains. In main number one Eady and Zanella would go back and forth a few times in the opening laps but Eady would eventually tuck in behind Zanella and let him lead the way. That is until two laps to go when Eady made a big move under braking headed into turn number one. Eady made the move for the lead and never looked back, Eady would go onto lead the next lap and a half with a hard charging Zanella trying everything he could to get back by. Now with a ten point lead in the national championship headed into main number two Eady knew all he had to do was beet Michael Hogg for the national championship. On the opening laps of main two Eady would get stuck behind some slower traffic which allowed Zanella and Hogg to pull out to a huge lead. With only a handful of laps remaining by the time Eady was up to P3 he would set his eyes on Hogg who was well over two seconds ahead. Turning the fastest laps of the race by three to fourth tenths of a second Eady would run down Hogg and spend no time waiting for the pass. Eady would drive his LEM Intrepid to the inside of turn one to take over second. Two laps later he would find himself pulling away from Hogg and catching Zanella. However, there was not enough time left to run down Zanella so Eady would come away in P2. With two strong finishes Eady would clinch the Stars Tag ICC national championship for Leading Edge Motorsports and ChampionsRacing’s Intrepid Line.

Leading Edge Motorsports would like to thank Intrepid, Molecule, Champion Racing, Douglas Wheels, Decal Works, And Iatlian Motors for there lease supported Tag Icc Each and every individual with the Snap-On-Stars of Karting crew for an awesome year of racing! We would also like to give a special thank to all individuals under the tent who made all of this possible. A special thanks to the drivers as well as the mechanics for a fun and exciting year. The team will now be preparing for the SKUSA Super Nationals in Las Vegas, Nevada. We look forward to a good rest of the year and an even better next year!!!

For more information on the Leading Edge Motorsports team please feel free to visit our website at www.leadingedgemotorsports.com or give us a call at (209)369-0921. Leading Edge Motorsports is always, “Striving for perfection! Every track! Every Lap!

10-30-08 Jim Russell Norcal Rotax Challenge Series Ends Year on a Strong Note

The 10^th and last race of the Jim Russell Norcal Rotax Challenge Series concluded the 2008 season not only with a strong turnout, but also finished on a day with some of the best weather imaginable for a late October race. Under sunny skies and in the mid-80’s, the Norcal series turned out 41 drivers to end a very successful year where entries were up nearly 20% over 2007. With only one tight fight in one class, entries were still strong and the competition tough for the 2008 finale.

Rotax Masters Lights

This Norcal regional class had the championship still in doubt going into this event. Marc Pingol comes into the race leading the class early on in the year, but Mike Lawler comes into the final race with the net points lead but having no margin for a bad race since he sat out 2 races and thus used up his 2 throw away races. In Qualify, Lawler took control of the day by taking the pole followed by Pingol, newcomer Dolores Mosqueda and Mary Beth Wilson. In the Pre-Main, Lawler took the initial lead with Pingol close behind. But Pingol put a wheel off a couple of times and fell back to 4^th at the race end. Wilson made the pass for 2^nd and came home ahead of Mosqueda. In the Main, only mechanical problems stood between Lawler and the class championship. Mike took the initial lead followed by Wilson, Pingol and Mosqueda. Lawler held a comfortable but small lead throughout to take the win and the crown. Wilson pulled away from the rest of the pack to drive to her best effort of the year finishing 2^nd just 1.6 seconds back. Pingol took the 3^rd but was hounded by a strong drive from Dolores Mosqueda who says she hopes to drive the Rotax series next year. In the championship, Lawler, Pingol and Wilson finished the year as the top three in class.

Senior Rotax

When he got to the track in the morning, Jordan Jadallah had to just finish in Junior Rotax to clinch his second straight class title. But when his only challenger did not show to run this day, Jadallah took the opportunity to move up to Senior Rotax and start his Senior career. So with 30 minutes prior to Qualify, Jordan mounted the Marin Karting shop Rotax motor onto his kart and went out to race with the big boys. In Qualify, Nikola Radosavljevich put his kart on pole, but right next to him was Jadallah, what a great start to his new career. 3^rd on the grid was Senior champ Gregory Liefooghe, back after sitting out two races with sore ribs. Jake Mottaz, after his 7^th place finish at the Rotax Nationals, took the 4^th spot with JP Cadoux taking the 5^th spot in the 14 kart field. At the start of the 12 lap Pre-Main, Nikola took the early lead followed by Liefooghe and Jadallah. Mottaz got hung out to dry at the start and spun in turn 1 and had to start a charge from last. Liefooghe then showed his winning form taking over the lead early on followed by Nikola and Jadallah. At the end, these three finished in this order with Nic LeDuc in 4^th and Raymand Bustamante in 5^th. Mottaz recovered to finish in 8^th. In the Main, Liefooghe took the early lead and said to the rest of the field ‘come and get me’. Jadallah took over 2^nd after turn one with Nikola in 3^rd and LeDuc and Bustamante battling for 4^th. By race end, Liefooghe and Jadallah pulled away from Nikola and went on to a strong 1-2 finish, Liefooghe just ½ second in front of his Junior champ counter part. Nikola came home a strong 3^rd and with it took 2^nd in the class championship. But the real racing was demonstrated by Mottaz who continued to come through the field getting by Bustamnate then by LeDuc near the end of the race to take the 4^th overall position followed by LeDuc. In the championship, Liefooghe was the clear winner, finishing 1^st in 7 of his best 8 races, Radosavljevich in 2^nd, Matthew Powers in 3^rd, Bustamante in 4^th and Cameron Pringle in 5^th, despite only running in 6 races.

Junior Rotax

With Jadallah and Donavon Wheeler the only class winners this year, and both not running this weekend, Race #10 would have a first time winner. In Qualify, Bryce Hylbert took the pole in the 9 kart class followed by Brody Zink, Bobby Tifft, Jordan Miller and Jarrett Lile. In the Pre-Main, Hylbert continued his front runner ways by taking a ½ second win over Zink and Tifft with Austin Root working his way up to 4^th with Miller in 5^th. In the Main, the top three-some again pulled away from the rest of the pack and battled all the way through the 18 lap race. Hylbert lead the whole way, but Zink was going from side to side right behind looking for a way by and Tifft being patient but looking for his opportunity. Into the last lap the three ran nose to tail with Hylbert leading coming onto the final straight away to the checkered flag. Zink then pulled out of the draft and went for the outside pass at the line and pulled it off, winning by just .017 of a second. Hylbert lead 99.9% of the day but had the settle for the #2 spot. Zink took the win followed by Hylbert, Tifft, a strong finish by Jordan Miller in 4^th and an even stronger Main finish by Andrew Wolocatiuk to take the 5^th spot over Lile. In the class championship, Jordan Jadallah takes the class crown for the second year in a row followed by Donovan Wheeler, Brody Zink 3^rd, Bryce Hylbert 4^th and Jordan Miller in 5^th.

Rotax Masters

With the class champion David Carlisle not running this race, the Masters race is open to the 5 drivers who were running this day. In Qualify, Jerry Pretti took the pole over Race #1 winner Jay Brosius and Bill Brosius. In the Pre-Main, Pretti continued his leading ways taking a 3 second win over Jay Brosius with Peter Boot coming in third. In the Main, Pretti took the initial lead, but Jay would not let him get away very far, but at the end Brosius had to settle for 2^nd ½ second behind Pretti with Boot taking his first podium of the year in 3^rd. In the championship, David Carlisle took the class crown for the second year in a row, Jerry Pretti 2^nd, Jay Brosius 3^rd and Chris Debruine 4^th.

Rotax DD2

For the last race of the year, the championship was not in doubt with Daivid Arnstein rapping up the class crown last month at Dixon. So, David did what all the other class champs did and took the weekend off. But instead a race with little interest, it turned into a fun race to watch. First Cambrian Go-Karts owner Donald Durbin jumped into a customer’s kart and entered. Then Marin Karting’s top tech man Kris Shaw went back to the shop and gets his DD2 out to run. Add veteran January Grove and Race #9 winner Kyle Gimple, this looked like a fun race to end the season. In Qualify, Shaw took the pole ahead of Grove, Gimple, Durbin and Bruce Weir. In the Pre-Main, Shaw took the early lead and went on to the win. Durbin drove up the middle of the track at the start and took over second and stayed close to finish about 3 seconds back of Shaw. Grove held of the younger Gimple with Dave Moody getting around Wier to take the 5^th spot. In the Main, Durbin got the jump at the start and lead the field out of turn one. But going down into turn 1 of lap 2 Shaw out broke Durbin to take over the lead and Shaw was never headed after that going on to a slim 1.3 second lead. The best battles on the track to watch were for 3^rd/4^th and 5^th/6^th. Grove lead Gimple most of the way with each exchanging spots. The close racing eventually came to some contact with Gimple coming out in front and taking the 3^rd place spot at the end with Grove in 4^th. Moody and Wier took up their battle again in the Main with Wier trying everything he could to get by. Bruce finally put a wheel off allowing Moody to take the 5^th with Wier in 6^th.

This was the end of the second year of the 10 race Jim Russell Norcal Challenge Series with 7 races at the Infineon Kart track and 3 races at Dixon. 2008 turned into a very good year with nearly 20% growth over 2007 and still attracting new racers even in this the last race of the year. The competition in all the classes was strong in 2008, especially in the Junior and Senior Rotax classes where some of Norcal’s top talent raced in 2008. Now it is time to take some time off, rest, regroup, and enjoy the holidays with family and friends. But 2009 will be even better for the Norcal Rotax Challenge with the initial agreement to run the 10 race series again next year with the Jim Russell Racing Driving Schools putting their name on the series. So look for news about an exciting 2009 soon. Until then, it is time to take some time off and enjoy.

10-27-08 BOBBY GREWOHL NASCAR LATE MODEL OPEN SHOW

October 26, 2008 – Californian pilot Bobby Grewohl, driving for Bill McAnally Racing, scored a dominant victory this past Saturday evening at the NASCAR Late Model Open Show at the All American Speedway in Roseville, California. Grewohl led 99 of the 100 laps, taking the checkers ahead of a host of former champions.

After taking the lead on lap two, Grewohl drove his Bill McAnally prepared car to victory in dominant fashion. Leading 99 laps with a bone stock ‘crate motor’ and running ahead of many drivers with ‘open motors’, Grewohl looked like a season veteran on restarts as he held his competitors at bay on multiple occasions to take the win and looks to continue his march up the motorsports ladder.

Grewohl is not unfamiliar with victory lane as the talented driver has been there on several different occasions this season. Competing in three midget races for Paul Eskasin, Grewohl drove to victory lane in two of them and was headed to the front of the pack in the third race when a right front tire failure occurred. Swapping team owners and cars in the middle of the season, Grewohl competed in a midget race with Marc DeBeaumont’s DMS Race Team and once again scored the victory.

Settling in late in the season with Bill McAnally Racing, the young and talented driver led half of the first event but was forced to retire with an overheating issue. In his second NASCAR Late Model race, Grewohl ran with dominant speed to a solid second place finish on the rear bumper of his teammate. Always at the front looking for victory, Grewohl achieved that this past weekend at the All American Speedway.

Running a limited season this year, of only seven races, Grewohl is making them count by winning four races and running in the front in the other three. The Ron Sutton’s Winner’s Circle Driver Development driver looks to continue his career to NASCAR. After a three race win streak in the middle of the season with different cars, teams and at different tracks, Grewohl has proven to be a future star in oval racing.

"Bobby Grewohl is simply an amazing race car driver. He has won four out the seven races he has run this year in Midgets & stock cars ... for three different team owners,” explained Ron Sutton. “He was a factor to win in the other three, as he always is in everything he races. In my opinion, he is the most talented young driver to yet sign with a Cup team."

Bobby would like to thank everyone who has made the 2008 racing season possible: Bill McAnally Racing, DMS Race Products, Paul Eskasin, Ron Sutton’s Winner’s Circle as well as his parents John and Lucy Grewohl.

10-27-08 PORTER SMITH STANDS ATOP THE PODIUM AT MADERA SPEEDWAY

October 26, 2008 – Kaplan-Gennuso Racing driver Porter Smith collected an important victory this past weekend at the United States Auto Club (USAC) Western States Sprint Cars event at Madera Speedway. Know as ‘The Annual Halloween Bash’, Smith moved from his sixth place qualifying position to take the heat race and main event victories.

After being the quickest driver in the opening practice session, Smith was a little slower in session two as he and his team decided to make a spring change before the qualifying session. Looking to take a shot at the pole, Smith came up a little short turning the sixth quickest time of the session.

“After practice and qualifying, I wasn’t really concerned with how the car was running,” stated Smith in a phone interview after the event. “I knew we had a good car and the team had done a great job. It was up to me to make up for qualifying and see if I could move forward and fight for the victory.”

Starting inside row three for the ten lap heat race, Smith made quick work of his fellow competitors as he quickly drove to the front of the field. Taking the point just past the half way mark, the talented Kaplan-Gennuso Racing driver never looked back to score the win.

Smith would look to repeat his success in the main event where he would start in P3. Just as in the heat race, Smith advanced forward quickly taking the lead on the second lap of the 50 lap event. Running fast and consistent race laps, Smith never looked back as he easily controlled the pace of the event and drove to the victory.

"Porter Smith continues to impress,” explained Ron Sutton. “He is a winner ... this year in 800 hp Sprint Cars ... last year winning in the ultra competitive SRL Southwest Tour Super Late Model Stock Car series."

Smith will enjoy a few weeks off before heading to Irwindale Speedway in Irwindale, California on Thanksgiving Day. Looking to repeat his recent success, Smith will fight for victory in the annual Thanksgiving Turkey Race.

Porter Smith would like to thank everyone who has made the 2008 racing

season possible: Speed Smith Racing, Kaplan/Gennuso Racing, Red Line

 Oil, JE Pistons, K&N Filters, FK Rod Ends and MetTec. Porter would also

like to thank Grandma, Mom, Dad, Dempsey, Tara, and the Nelson Family.

Without the help from all of them this wouldn’t be possible

10-20-08 Jim Russell Karting Championship Series Finale Preview

The Jim Russell Karting Championship Series will rap up its 7^th season this coming weekend at the Infineon Raceway karting track. Some of the championships have all ready been locked up, but several key classes are still to be determined from the races on Saturday or Sunday. Also at stake are battles for the top three positions in all classes where over $20,000 worth of prizes will be awarded.

Jim Russell Norcal Rotax Challenge Series:

Saturday will run Race #10 in the Rotax Norcal Rotax Challenge Series. The Rotax series has grown by almost 20% in 2008 and has provided competitive racing in all 5 of the Rotax classes. The race championships have been locked up in Senior Rotax (Gregory Liefooghe) and Rotax Masters (David Carlisle) but the other three classes still need to be determined with the Rotax Masters Light class providing a very close battle between Mike Lawler, Marc Pingol and Mary Beth Wilson. In Junior Rotax and Rotax DD2, the point’s leaders, Jordan Jadallah and David Arnstein, have strong leads but they both need to avoid a disastrous race to rap up these classes.

Practice will start at 8:30, Qualify at 11:30 and racing starts at 1:00. No cost for spectators or guests.

Jim Russell Cadet and Junior Arrive and Drive Series:

The Arrive and Drive Series will run Race #7 on Saturday. With nearly a full grid last month, both of these classes continue to pull in good numbers even late in the race season.

Jim Russell Sunday Series:

4 of the classes still have close points battles to be played out on Sunday. In Junior 1-Comer, Doug Braddock Jr holds a modest lead over Michael Avansino. In Junior 1-Gazelle, Maxx Marian also has a modest lead over last month’s winner Ben Barudoni. In HPV2, Kathryn Cornell’s consistent high finishes has her on the verge of winning this tough class, with Bobby Tifft needing to another repeat performance like when he won Race #1 to put some pressure on Kathryn. The tightest class race is in 80 Grand Masters where Tom Nelson holds a slim 5 point lead over Michael John. This is the third year in a row that Nelson has a shot at the championship going into the last race. He came up short in the last two years, but he plans to change his luck this weekend.

The TaG Masters and TaG Grand Masters classes will also run again on Sunday.

Practice will start at 8:30, Qualify at 11:30 and racing starts at 1:00. No cost for spectators or guests.

For more information about the Jim Russell Series, contact race director Ric Shaw at ricshaw_srp@hotmail.com

10-19-08 NNKC president winds up season and looks toward 2009

by Dan McGee

Oct 12, 2008

Tribune/Dan McGee - As a kart heads down the front straight, NNKC president Brian Rivera stands in the pit lane of Desert Park Raceway. He and the club will host the Two-Stroke Nationals next July, one of the major karting events in the country.

Tribune/Dan McGee - Not being one to sit on the sidelines, NNKC president Brian Rivera also races in two classes. Here he's exiting the esses before making a run down the front straight at Desert Park Raceway.

SPARKS - Last Sunday when the final checkered flag waved, the Northern Nevada Kart Club ended its 2008 season. Now the club's president, Brian Rivera, has time to reflect on this year and the challenges facing the club in 2009.

Although he began racing a decade ago, Rivera grew up around racing.

"My father, Rudy Rivera, was a mechanic for a BMW team that raced at Laguna Seca and Sears Point in the 1970s," he said. "He used to bring us to the races when we were small kids and I was brought up watching F-1 and Champ Car races."

Rivera's brother joined NNKC in 1997 and raced in the Super Cam division, which was part of the sportsman class. At that time, Rivera was in the Marine Corps but as soon as he was discharged, came to Reno and joined the club.

"I love racing and once I got into my brother's kart, it was exciting to say the least so I joined the club as a novice sportsman driver back then," he said.

Like many new drivers, Rivera found being out on the track, rather than watching from the sidelines, was a very different experience than he imagined.

"I thought I was going to get into a slow kart," he said. "When I went out for my first race I really had no business being out there. But I did really good, came from the back to almost winning a race in my first time."

Usually a rookie doesn't do that good as they start in the back and wear an "X" on their helmets. Now bitten by the racing bug, Rivera purchased his own kart, another Invader and started winning.

Then things soured for him and his brother.

"About four races later, all our equipment got stolen," he said. "We were broken into, from a big garage that my brother's mother-in-law had in Lemmon Valley. About $7,000 of parts and karts were gone and that put me and my brother out of it."

Just out of the military, without much money and needing a good job, Rivera went to work for R&R Donnelley at their Stead plant. It took until 2006 before he came back to racing and by then many things had changed.

"I came back and the motors had changed, they're now running 125cc motors from Italy and I was wondering what happened to the KT100 Yamahas," he said. "Those were gone and I liked it. The karts were faster so I went straight down to MMS, bought a kart, bought all kinds of extras and a trailer. That cost me a good $8,000 to get into it the way I wanted to."

Due to starting late in the 2006 season, Rivera wound up fifth in National Cup Heavy. Then, wanting to race with the younger drivers, he switched to National Cup Lights.

"Got into Lights, which drops the weight down 30 pounds, the drivers were better, I did a full season and won the championship last year," he said. "It was pretty simple as I had it wrapped up by the second to last race, maybe earlier than that, but nothing like it was this year."

Last year Rivera saw some changes he felt were needed and thought he could offer some positive things to the Club. And he felt the leadership training received in the Marines could be put to good use.

"I thought I would put in for the board as the entries were getting pretty low," he said. "Got nominated in December, got elected and took over the presidency in January of 2008. I've made a lot of changes as far as morale, tried to pump people up, got a podium out there for the kids to get on and have a good time with and the adults loved it."

Other changes were bleachers in the pits for people to sit on, flag streamers to make the track look racier as well as having raffles on race days and bringing five dozen donuts and coffee for everyone.

On the track, Rivera ended this season third in TAG Seniors and second in TAG Masters. And for NNKC, he felt that 2008 was even better than 2007.

"I thought the morale was up, everybody came back interested, the Formula 80 guys wanted to run two classes and everybody was pumped up," he said. "People were helping, volunteering, cleaning up the track, bringing mowers and bobcats and that continued for the whole season. And entries averaged 52 this year over 32 last year."

Another plus was the club being in good financial condition, which will help as NNKC had taken on a huge challenge for next year when it hosts the Two-Stroke Nationals next summer.

"Jeff Wamre and the previous board tried unsuccessfully for three years to the get the Nationals," Rivera said. "When I took over the presidency Jeff told me that it would be nice if we could get it."

At the time Rivera didn't know if he was ready for this challenge but decided, since the previous board had put in the effort, to see if it could be done. After creating a professional presentation, he and several club members traveled to Sacramento.

"We presented a proposal to the IKF (International Karting Federation) board of directors, and to say the least, they were impressed," he said. "They immediately awarded NNKC the 2009 Two-Cycle Grand Nationals. With that, there are things we must do to host this event."

The conditions are needed improvements to Desert Park Raceway, the club's track.

To help with the costs, the club will be seeking donations from local businesses. NNKC is now forming a committee that will start looking for sponsorships and the club intends to promote the whole event itself.

One possible source of some money is the NCTA (Northern California Track Association), which helps tracks.

Among the planned improvements will be to gravel, with black cinderlite, all 106,000 square feet of parking.

Among the areas slated for improvements is below Turn 5, the corkscrew, that usually gets covered with rocks and dirt during a race.

"It's just a mess and we've done everything except concrete or gravel it because that's not what you want to put there," he said. "If we put it down there then people are going to run over it and use that as a secondary exit to the corner."

One solution is a penalty if drivers use this new area to exit the corner.

"Another is adding more safety barriers, we get them from Scribner and we'll need 60," he said. "And we're going to have to get them, somehow or someway."

A new, larger registration booth has already been built, the tower will be painted and a fence moved to expand the tech area.

The P.A. system also needs improvement but there are a couple of club members that can probably do the work at minimal cost. And the track, paddock and curbs will be striped and painted.

"The whole place is going to be pretty outstanding looking," he said.

This will be the first time the Nationals will be in this region. And Rivera explained that the IKF is going to try and make sure the Nationals doesn't conflict with another major kart event.

As far as the effort required, Rivera said, "It's going to take from now until a day before the event to get it all worked out."

As a result the NNKC will shorten the 2009 season to eight points races and the annual IKF event will be moved to either late May or early June. And there will be a regional event the weekend before the Nationals.

Rivera feels a race just prior to the Nationals will not only give visiting drivers a chance to race at the track but they can also join the club and save the usual $40 fee for using the facility for practice and testing.

"The Nationals will be from July 22 to 26 of 2009. Wednesday through Saturday is for racing but the previous Saturday is club practice and it runs through Monday and we're going to take in the revenue for that," he said. "Tuesday is official Grand National practice while Wednesday is an official race day. So it'll be a Saturday to Saturday event, seven days and we're expecting from 350 to 400 karts, big time teams and trailers so it's going to be tough."

Looking toward the Nationals, Rivera said, "I'm very optimistic as there is a lot of people in the club that have come forward and volunteered their time so we're all looking forward to putting on this Nationals."

OTHER RACING NEWS

•More good news regarding Josh Morros. He's been moved from a rehabilitation hospital in Reno to his family's Spanish Springs home.

He's improved enough to attend Sunday's D36 National Enduro event in the Dayton area. Now Morros will continue his rehabilitation on an outpatient basis.

•The Busch brothers were the only two of NASCAR's Nevada quartet in action this weekend as they raced at Lowe's Motor Speedway in Charlotte, North Carolina.

Kyle Busch started Friday's Nationwide event in 16th, dominated the last half of the race and won. In Saturday's Sprint Cup event Kurt Busch ended up third while Kyle seemed to overcome his recent bad luck and finished fourth.

RESULTS

Northern Nevada Kart Club - 2008 Final Standings

Jr. 1-2 Cycle - 1. Austin Dement 2. Logan Wyman, 3. Trever Listman, 4. Travis Barr, 5. Garrett Dixon, 6. Nicky Pritchard, 7. Alec Van Spronson, 8. Richard Stock, 9. Nick Sommers, 10. Tyler Burk, 11. Hunter Corbitt

TAG Cadet - 1. Trever Listman, 2. Justin Hoekman, 3. Jordan Chaput, 4. Jarryn Pritchett, 5. Austin Dement, 6. Garrett Dixon, 7. Noah Hermansen

TAG Junior - 1. Chelsi Wagner, 2. Christian Scholz, 3. Cody Kay, 4. Rachel Briggs, 5. Nick Phillips, 6.Brody Zink

TAG Novice - 1. Rich Adams, 2. Billy Sewell, 3. Bob Hoekman, 4. Amy Lim, 5. Kelly Morley, 6. Marty McNew, 7. Stephen Persky, 8. Derrick DeLong

TAG Senior - 1. Curt Baker, 2. Tyler Wamre, 3. Brian Rivera, 4. Troy Bullock, 5. Jordan Sewell, 6. Jason Sarmiento, 7. Roy Bullock, 8. Mike Botelho Jr., 9. David Harwin, 10. David Brant

TAG Masters - 1. Kevin Listman, 2. Brian Rivera, 3. Barry Wellard, 4. Troy Berry, 5. Kerry Matthews, 6. Nick Wadlow, 7. Chris McCabe, 8. Dan Harris, 9. Marty McNew, 10. Billy Bowerman

ROTAX Max - 1.Eric Dean, 2. Pete Morley, 3. Nick Wadlow, 4. Chris McCabe, 5. Dan Harris, 6. Lance Bruntz

F80 Senior - 1. Mark Nason, 2. Gerry Williams, 3. Cody McKinney, 4. Cameron Bellamy, 5. Ben Fisher, 6. Steve Dow, 7. Jay Neely, 8. Bobby McCort, 9. Steve Manubi, 10. Travis Duhn

F80 Masters - 1. Mark Nason, 2. Cody McKinney, 3. Gerry Williams, 4. Ben Fisher, 5. Darrel Dean, 6. Steve Dow, 7. Jay Neely, 8. Steve Manubi, 9. Mike McMullen, 10. Mike Roes

10-16-08 Jim Russell Norcal Rotax Challenge Race #9 Race Recap

The Jim Russell Norcal Rotax Challenge Series returned to the Dixon Kart Track for the third time in 2008 and with a strong turnout of 37 drivers, there were some great performances at this tough Norcal track.

Senior Rotax

With the largest class of the day of 13 drivers, the Senior race turned into a very interesting affair. With series points leader Gregory Liefooghe still nursing some very sore ribs, a much desired win was being looked at by some of the other top drivers like Nikola Radosavljevich and Matthew Powers. But no one told Brett Buckwalter. Brett was at the race to support a few Cameron Karting customers, but when one of his customers could not make the race on Sunday morning, Brett jumped in this kart and planned to just have some fun.

In Qualify, Powers took the pole over Nikola with Buckwalter 3^rd, Larry Fraser 4^th and Andrew Novich 5^th. On the start of the Pre-Main, Powers took the lead with Fraser getting ahead of Nikola to take over 2^nd, Buckwalter 3^rd and Nikola getting shuffled down to 5^th. On the third lap, Fraser tried for the pass going into turn one but contact with Powers occurred and Matt spun off. Fraser lost momentum and fell back to third and later would finish 12^th. After the contact, Buckwalter took the lead with Nikola making a pass to take 2^nd. These two pulled away from the rest of the field and finished 1-2 with Kirsten Gee taking 3^rd, Raymond Bustamante Jr 4^th and David Harwin 5^th. In the Main, Buckwalter and Nikola immediately pulled away from the pack with Nikola on the veteran Buckwalter’s bumper the whole way. The second battle on the track was for 3^rd through 7^th. Gee lead the early laps over Bustamante with David Arnstein and a recovered Matt Powers right behind. Harwin spun early on in the race and had to settle for an 11^th place finish. Nikola stayed right on Buckwalters bumper but could not pull in that extra 3 feet needed to make a good pass, thus it was Brett winning and Radosavljevich 2^nd just .17 seconds back. Kirsten Gee lead a four kart pack to the line to take 3^rd followed by Raymond, Arnstein and Powers. These 4 karts were separated by just over one half of a second.

Junior Rotax

Light fields of only 4 karts, but these 4 drivers are all amongst the top 6 drivers in the points. The surprise in Qualify was Jordan Miller putting her kart on pole ahead of defending champ Jordan Jadallah followed by Brody Zink and Bryce Hylbert. At the start of the Pre-Main, Jadallah used his experience on the start to take the lead away from Miller as they went into turn one. Jadallah then proceeded to pull out to a 3 second win followed by Miller, Hylbert and Zink. At the start of the Main, Miller was not able to turn the tables on Jadallah and had to settle into 2^nd going into turn one. But the young lady from Sacramento was able to stay closer and finished 2 seconds back at the end of the 15 lap race followed by Hylbert and Zink. With the win, Jadallah takes over the points lead for the first time in 2008 and setting up a championship battle with absent Donavon Wheeler at the October 25^th finale.

Rotax DD2

At the beginning of 2008, there were three drivers challenging for the DD2 class honors, January Grove, David Arnstein and Glen Poy-Wing. In June, young Kyle Gimple rented a DD2 kart to try the class out and took 4^th behind the 3 top runners. Since June, the Minden NV, native has been liking the DD2 class more and more and getting faster with each race and taking a second overall last month at Infineon. In Qualify, Kyle stepped it one more notch by taking the pole ahead of Arnstein, Grove and the other 6 drivers. In the Pre-Main, Kyle held his lead going into turn one with Grove holding off Arnstein to take over 2^nd. Gimple went on to take the win by 2 seconds followed by Grove, Arnstein, Bruce Weir and Chris Debruine. In the Main, Gimple went into turn one in first again, but Arnstein got the better of Grove and took over 2^nd place. Gimple controlled the race lead and only a driver error would keep him from his fist win of the year. Making no errors, Kyle went on to the win. Arnstein held off Grove to take 2^nd by about one half seconds. Weir and Debrunine were nose to tail the whole 15 lap Main event but on the last lap they got too close and touched which sent Debrunine’s kart over Weir’s kart. Weir’s kart was out and Debrunine had to settle for a finish just behind Weir. Thus, 4^th went to Cameron Craig, with Weir 5^th one lap down.

Rotax Masters and Rotax Masters Light

With 8 Masters and 3 Masters Light entries, these two classes were combined for this event. In Qualify, Lights Marc Pingol took pole over Masters David Carlisle with Mike Lawler (Lights) 3^rd, and Masters drivers Chris Debrunine 4^th and Jerry Pretti in 5^th. At the start of the Pre-Main, the lighter karts of Pingol and Lawler lead into turn one followed by Carlisle. Pingol lead the initial laps, but Lawler made the pass for the lead and won by less than 2 tenths of a second. Carlisle took 3^rd overall but first in the Masters class followed by Pretti and Debruine. In the Main, again the lighter karts of Lawler and Pingol opened up a slight lead at the dropping of the green flag. But this time Lawler opened up a slight lead and went on to take a 2 second win with Pingol in 2^nd. Third in Lights and 9^th overall was Mary Beth Wilson. Carlisle controlled the Masters class and went on to a 3 second win over Pretti. Jay Brosius got faster in the Main and challenged Debrunine and made the pass mid way through the race to take 3^rd in class and 5^th overall followed by Debrunine and Bill Brosius. With his win, Carlisle locks up the 2008 Masters Class Championship for the 2^nd year in a row.

The next race will also be the final race in the 2008 Jim Russell Norcal Rotax Challenge Series. The finale will be October 25^th at the Infineon kart track. For more information about the Jim Russell Norcal Rotax Challenge Series, contact race director Ric Shaw at ricshaw_srp@hotmail.com

10-16-08 National Talent Search Deadline Extended to October 29th

Licata Wins IKF Spot – Five to Go

SACRAMENTO, California - The national talent search for the NASCAR focused driver development program conducted by Ron Sutton's Winner's Circle has extended the deadline to October 29th, 2008, for drivers and families to submit applications with resumes. The Shoot-Out application process is open to all drivers 11 to 19 years of age, with race winning backgrounds.

Six-time International Karting Federation (IKF) Grand National Champion Joey Licata has been awarded one spot in the 2008 talent search Shoot-Out. Licata will join a field of 36 of the most talented young drivers in the U.S. and Canada in the 2008 Shoot-Out.

K&N Filters, Lucas Oil & Sunoco Racing Fuels will be awarding five more spots in the 2008 Shoot-Out to young and talented drivers from Snap-on Stars of Karting, Superkarts! USA, Legends/Dwarf Car Racing, Quarter Midget Racing and Micro-Sprint/TQ/Dirt Kart Racing.

Ron Sutton's Winner's Circle (RSWC) is an independent talent scout and driver development program focused on developing drivers for NASCAR. RSWC drivers are raced, coached, groomed, trained and molded, within a professional racing environment, into what top NASCAR teams look for when hiring drivers.

RSWC has received over 700 driver resumes to date and a substantial amount of requests for a deadline extension. After resume review and interviews, the field of drivers set to show their skills will be narrowed down to 36. The Shoot-Out is conducted over a three-day weekend in early November, in identical race cars, on an asphalt oval track in Northern California.

Young winning drivers ages 11 to 19, and their parents, are encouraged to get all the information and answers to common questions from the website, and submit their resume before the October 29th deadline, in time to be considered. The website is www.Winners-Circle-Racing.com

10-15-08 Kartel Motorsports Stars Finale Action

Luis Tyrell qualified pole in the Stars Comer division by .653. Tyrrell was not in the National championship hunt, however fresh off his first Stars win in Seattle, Luis was hungry for another. Luis had successful heat races winning all three by more then a second. Tyrrell was on fire and had looked to sweep all the races for the weekend. Starting pole in the Final Luis looked fast early to get another win. The field had grouped together and ran down Luis by working together in the draft. Several times Luis would get shuffled back as far as fifth but wouldn’t be stopped as he work his way back to the point time and time again. As he white flag flew Tyrrell was running third. Making a pass for second, Luis set his sites on the leader. Racing to the Line Luis had a run on the leader for the win, but just missed by .024 of a second settling for second and a successful podium finish. In the second Final Luis again took the lead early. Bad luck would strike the young gun as a throttle cable would break and Luis had to work the throttle by hand. Luis did a tremendous job capturing the attention of all on the sidelines as he would hold on by using one hand on the wheel, and the other on the carb working the throttle and finishing 11^th

Brendan Phinny was in the battle of the National Championship but for the JICA Category, but struggled early in the practice sessions with motor troubles. His struggles would continue as he would qualify 20^th just over a half a second off from fast time. Phinny would not give up as he would keep his nose clean in the heats to secure a top starting position in the Finals. Starting ninth, Brendan had his work cut out for him. Staying out trouble to get solid points for the National Championship bid, Brendan was patient and worked his way up through the pack. With smart driving, Brendan secured a 5^th place finish and some much needed points. In the second Final Brendan got shuffled back early, but the young pilot continued to work and be patient. Coming through the pack, Brendan again scored a top five with a 4^th place finish scoring himself the National JICA championship

Sr drivers Chris Scribner and Neil Alberico would both bring their A game to the Stars Tag division. Scribner was fast all weekend as he was a long shot for the National Championship, and had not won a Stars event all year. Chris however grabbed the Gatorz pole position by a tenth over second position. Scribner would go on to score two wins and a second in the heat races to secure the Pole position for the Finals. Neil however struggled in qualifying with motor troubles, but would not give up. Neil ran solid heat races to give himself the 9^th starting position coming through the field with solid passes. In the first Final Scribner would make battle for the lead as Neil would come through the field to catch the lead battle. Scribner and the lead kart got together, and this opened the door for another Top Kart driver and Alberico to do battle for the top spot. Neil stayed patient on his bid for the lead, and as the white flag flew Alberico made a daring turn three pass on the leader to secure his first Stars win for the rookie. Scribner would battle back to sixth, but would later be penalized and put back to 21^st

The second Final would lead to more success for the Kartel duo and their bid for wins. Scribner and Alberico would battle early in the lead pack. Alberico would get caught in a battle with another kart, causing him to lose the lead pack. Scribner made several passes for the lead as the race progressed. The last five laps however Scribner would be patient in third as the leaders would swap the position coming down to the final laps. On the last lap Scribner would make his move on the second position kart, and then drag race to the line to capture his first Stars win of the season and securing a Kartel Motorsports sweep of the Stars TAG division

Next up for Kartel Motorsports is the Nor Kal IKF Series in Monterey, California on October 17th-19th. From there the team will head to Davis, California at the end of October to finish off the 2008 IKF season. Kartels next National event will be the 2008 Supernationals at the Rio Hotel in Las Vegas on the 20th-23rd of November. Arrive and Drive opportunities are still availabe for all events this year, Contact Kartel at 916-217-2181