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

10-15-08 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

10-10-08 ONE SPOT AWARDED, FIVE TO GO IN RON SUTTON’S WINNER’S CIRCLE DRIVER TALENT SEARCH

SACRAMENTO, California - The national talent search for the driver development program conducted by Ron Sutton's Winner's Circle launched September 17 announces its first winner today in kart racer Joey Licata. Supporting sponsors, 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 various forms of youth motorsports.

K&N Filters, Lucas Oil & Sunoco Racing Fuels have stepped up to award positions in the Shoot-Out to one participant from each of the following three kart series: IKF International Karting Federation, Snap-on Stars of Karting presented by IndyCar Series and Superkarts! USA. The Shoot-Out application process is open to all drivers 11 to 19 years of age, with race winning backgrounds in IKF, Stars or SKUSA Kart racing.

Six-time International Karting Federation (IKF) Grand National Champion Joey Licata has been awarded one spot in the Ron Sutton’s Winner’s Circle Driver Talent Search. Licata will join a field of 36 of the most talented young drivers in the U.S. and Canada in the 2008 Shoot-Out. Five more spots will be awarded thanks to sponsors K&N Filters, Lucas Oil & Sunoco Racing Fuels.

Licata has had years of success in the karting ranks scoring multiple victories and championships along the way. The talented 17-year-old has scored more then 135 podium results and 80 race wins in his eight year career not including three top five results in ASA Speed Truck action in this, his Rookie season. Joey Licata lives for racing. The Californian is currently the number one ranked eKartingNews.com ranked TaG driver in the country with the future goals of dominating the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series.

Ron Sutton's Winner's Circle (RSWC) is an established talent scout and development program, providing long term, comprehensive racing and career development for up and coming drivers focused on NASCAR careers. RSWC drivers are raced, coached, groomed, trained and molded, within a professional racing environment, into what top pro teams look for when hiring drivers.

RSWC has seen great drivers come from the karting ranks including champions Brendan Langlois, Chris Keller, Benny Moon and others. They are all active winners in NASCAR, SCCA and USAC racing today with RSWC. With RSWC Chris Keller has won four Formula Ford national events in 2008 and is shooting for the Formula Ford National Championship title.

Benny Moon had great successes in kart racing and formula car racing winning the annual Skip Barber Shoot-Out award and four races on the national circuit. With development from RSWC, Moon won poles, trophy dashes and races in USAC Ford Focus Midgets then NASCAR Late Model Stock Cars.

Stars of Karting and SKUSA standout Brendan Langlois, from Canada, is winning poles, trophy dashes and main events with RSWC in the USAC Ford Focus Midget series. Closing in on the end of the ’08 season, Langlois has a shot at both the California and National USAC Championships. He is building a solid resume of winning car races to help his pursuit of a career in NASCAR.

2003 Rotax Max Challenge Regional Champion, Jace Meier won multiple poles, trophy dashes & races in USAC Focus Midgets and NASCAR Late Model Stock Cars in the RSWC program.

After claiming the 2006 Jim Russell Karting Series TaG championship, Viktor Sinzig won a spot with RSWC and went on to win poles, races and the 2007 SCCA Formula Ford Championship. For 2008 Sinzig has already scored a pole position and several top-five results in USAC Midgets.

The Shoot-Out process is designed to identify talented, young, up and coming drivers from across the United States and Canada with the talent, potential and commitment to achieve a driving career in NASCAR. RSWC is currently accepting resumes through October 15th, 2008. RSWC expects to receive over 600 resumes, as they have in the past, and narrow it down to 36 drivers to test. The Shoot-Out is conducted over two 3-day weekends 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 web-site, then submit their resume in time to be considered. The web-site is www.Winners-Circle-Racing.com

10-8-08 Prairie City Race Action

The Challenger class was exciting, Cody the Fireman Stillwell grabbed the pole with a 50.447, Caitlynn Eckhardt was trying to put Cody's flame out and got a great start giving her the top spot on the heat for 2 laps until Cody pulled his fire boots on and headed to the front to put out her fire. He pulled out on lap 3 and grabbed the lead. Stillwell 1st/ Eckhardt 2nd/ Laspina 3rd. The main was almost a dead repeat on the heat with Eckhardt trying Stillwell on the start line and pulled her lap 1 -2 move. Stillwell dug deep and got her again on lap 3 and brought it home with the main finish the same. This win should put him up to first in points and Eckhardt 2nd in championship points.

Hpv 1

Kartel’s Jarred " The Hitman" Campbell grabbed the pole with a fast time of 47.173, Campbell hit the gas and said later to the field leading every lap in the heat race. Jr Raczko jumped in the battle and picked up 2nd place for laps 1-3 and Kartworlds Cole " Koolaid" Davis decided he wanted a piece of the action and slipped into 2nd place on lap 4 not having enough to catch Campbell he held on to the place with Nitro Nick bringing home 3rd. In the main Jr Raczko didn't want any part of the hitman so he quickly jumped out in first place and checked his rear view mirror to watch Campbell do battle with Tucker Dunbar who held 2nd place on laps 1 and 2 and Campbell wanting the spot pretty badly. The hitman drew a pointed black flag and a # board warning him to settle in and race, he got a pass on Dunbar and moved up to 2nd place leaving Dunbar and Bordogna’s Nitro Sommers who had the fasted time during the main of 46.978 but unable to do anything with all the traffic. The final lap showed Raczko 1st, Campbell 2nd, Nitro Nick 3rd, Jacobs 4th, Dunbar back to 5th.

Hpv2

Bordogna’s Troy Buckman grabbed the pole with a 45.163 and looked good for the start but Kartel’s Shelby Sander has a super start and pulls off a green to checker run leaving First time PC driver Rachel Jean Briggs in second place for a lap before Buckman took over and finished up second. In the main Shelby showed her hand to Buckman too soon and he was not about to let a repeat of the Heat race happen so Buckman just took the lead from green to checkers and let the rest fend for themselves. Shelby had no choice but to settle for 2nd place because it was pretty much follow the leader with Buckman getting away and Bordogna’s Justin Cole wanting her place.

Hpv 3-

Bordogna’s Jamie Sander, picked up pole with 45.746, looking good after being squished under a kart last race most drivers wouldn't even be sitting in a kart let alone 2 karts and two tough fields after what she went through on Sept. 14, she showed everyone that she was here and they better pay attention to her even if she talks softly, she pounds the pedal to the metal and was gone in the heat race green to checkers leaving the two Kyle's to dice it up between them. Kerkhoff was 2nd and Mau 3rd . In the main Jamie again just floored it and left the two boys to battle among themselves as she placed her kart in cruise control ( 45.251) and took a sunday drive out there Kyle & Kyle were squaring off at every turn. Looking for a place to pass was hungry Mau, who also drove double duty in the Tag Senior class. He made a sweet lap 8 pass leaving Kerkhoff with a 3rd place finish with Jamie #1, Maui in 2nd place

Hpv4 Jr

Ryan Rasberry- had the pole with 45.020, Bordogna’s Troy Buckman seemed to want the top spot as he made his move on the green leaving the field with Rasberry taking 2nd and new comer Rachel Jean Brigg also doing double duty in 3rd place. In the main Rasberry was all over Buckman but couldn't quite get by him leaving it a repeat of the heat race with Troy Buckman picking up a Win with Rasberry nipping at his heels in second place and 3rd place was Kartel’s Shelby Sander also a double duty driver.......how about Dad Curt who pits on 4 karts all day long plus anyone who brings one by for help........hats off to him

Jr 1-2 class:

California Kartworld's Cole Davis held 1st place for the whole race with Bordogna's Nitro Nick having fast time and spinning on the first corner he had to play catch up to “Kool Aid” Davis who tried to quickly check out and get away with Jr. Raczkoo in hot pursuit. Davis didn't have much to worry about though with a points lead of 147 after this weekend he is sitting pretty about now.

Kid Kart:

Fast time was Christian Maxwell he picked up a qualify time of 1:00.394 in the heat Hunter Kelly wanted it pretty bad and grabbed laps 1-3 until Maxwell grabbed the lead back and cruised home for first chased by Kelly and Wyatt Couch. In the main Christian Maxwell pulle d a fast time out of his helmet of 58.752 leading he whole race not wanting to share the top step with anyone, Wyatt Couch tried to please his sister who was left on the sidelines watching after her turn one accident last race left her with a hot pink cast on her arm and a kart longing for her to race. Wyatt didn't get the win for his big sister but he came a close second and held off Blake Milton who on laps 1-4 was breathing down his neck wanting his spot and on lap 5 Hunter Kelly decided that he needed 3rd place more than Milton did and took the spot away. The Finish was Maxwell 1st, Couch 2nd, Kelly 3rd.

80 Shifter Masters:

Emmick's Tony Rodriquez might have come into the race down 75 points but he was far from done for the year as he layed the smack down challenge on the boys and pulled a fast time of : 45.585
RicK Gutzke the points leader wasn't afraid of losing any points, he jumped out there with a nice lead for laps 1-5 until Rodriquez chased him and was able to slip by on lap 6 and went on to win the race and set himself pretty for the main event. You could almost hear the pin drop out there when the visors went down and the green light flashed a go signal the boys took off and Rodriquez never looked back. Rodriquez- 1st, Gutzke 2nd, Bolen 3rd.

80 ltd:

class showed up today always smiling and joking before the races but serious as a heart attack on the track with each other. Tony Mangini picked up fast time of 45.308 to set the field.
The shields went down and the green light flickered in their visors but all the drivers could see was the checker flag in their minds as they sprinted from the line heading for turn 1 Chris Yettito beat Mangini to it and held him off for 2 laps until Mangini picked up the spot yet again to lead all the way to the checker flag with the rest of the field in tow. in the main Mangini said " forget about it" and took off and never looked back to pick up yet another win for his championship run. Mangini 1st,Yettito 2nd, Formanek 3rd, Wozniak 4th and 5th Hill. Great run guys

Super Sportsman Lite:

Surprise Surprise Emmick's Curt Lopez picked up the fast time of 47.248, with a very nice points lead he had no worries from anyone in the pack other than not getting into a turn one battle.
The Battle for the Day was between Brian Gallagher and Kemp who finished the day only 10 points apart for 2nd in points. In the Main Gallagher was sitting in Second place on laps 2 and 3 and on lap 4 he and Kemp were doing battle and Gallagher ended up shuffled back to 5th place,Geoff Nickless and Sean Klinger took advantage of the shuffle and Klinger picked up 3rd place from laps 4-7 when Nickless with a 47.913 got by but couldnt' catch Kemp in time who was turning a 48.040, the final was Lopez 1st, Kemp 2nd, Nickless 3rd. With only 10 points difference for 2nd place coming into the final race you better grab a spot on the fence !!

Tag Masters:

Grab the bag of popcorn and watch these crazy old guys race. They are fast and don't have to worry about going to work sore like the young guns. California Kartworld's drivers: John Chandler with fast time of 44.612 and Kartworld’s Mike Hays fighting with Emmick’s Crazy Ray Zarick for the Championship were going to be tough out there, The heat race Hays took off and lead the whole race with Chandler and Ray Zarick in tow behind. These drivers were grouped so close that you could have walked between them without touching the ground. In the main Mike Hays got the green and ran for his life with the faster Chandler trying to chase him down with lap times of 44.809 against Hays 44.958, but it just wasn't enough to get by Hays for any chance of a win. The final had a shake up with Crazy Ray picking up a Dq for the day leaving Hays 1st, Chandler 2nd, Kartworld’s Woody Poynter 3rd. Zarick now is only hiding 10 extra points in that leather jacket, don't miss this class on the last race

Tag Senior:

Get ready to bite your nails and sweat out the finish:
The most watched class always with major players involved and a lot of fast drivers in there mixing it up. Kartel’s Jon Ban the Points leader came into the Day making a statement by breaking his own track record after Gary Lovoti said in the drivers meeting that the track was too slick and there wouldn't be any records set out there, however Ban threw down a smoking lap of 43.975 against
teammate Kartel's Tyler Espinosa time of 44.513 The Class had pretty much a 5 way points battle going on still for 2nd place in points for the Championship. In the heat Ban took the lead and said " see ya later" as he won by almost a straight away from his team mate who grabbed 2nd place away from Bordogna’s Jamie Sander, Tyler drew a pointed black flag for his attempted passes on Jamie earlier in the run but finished the race clean and was ready for the main with Jamie Sitting pretty behind Ban again, Tyler outside pole with Kemp behind him in 4th. in the main Ban took off for turn one with Jamie trying to keep up leaving enough of a gap for Andrew Kemp to jump in behind Ban. Going into turn one Kemp got into Ban sending him sideways with smoke off his tires and noise in the air that drew attention to the track for the impending crash. Espinosa and Kevin Brown got together slightly as a after fact from Ban's turn one incendent sending Espinosa into the Barriers. Ban pulled it together and didn't lose but one spot and on Kemp's tail by turn 3, Kemp with speeds of 44.900 held Ban off for 5 laps running a defensive line. Ban got a run on Kemp on lap 3 going into turn 6 and ran up over Kemps tire. The karts were all nose to tail chomping at the bit until Kemp broke. Ban quickly checked out after Kemp's Dnf and pulled off his fast times and picked up another win with a nice lead over the pack. California Kartworld's Brandon Phillips had the best seat in the house glued to Ban's back bumper on laps 1-6 and picked up a 2nd place he Dedicated to his Grandfather who is in the hospital very ill. 3rd place went to Jamie 2 tough 2 tame Sander who made a last lap pass on Kevin Brown grabbing herself a 4 point difference in 2nd place points against Brown with Phillips moving himself up a spot - 29 and Kemp fell back - 43 points. This will again be a fierce battle between Sander/Brown and the New Comer Phillips close enough to push for a spot and Kemp having to race smart to stay in the top 5

Story By : Bev. Ban

10-7-08 NNKC Championship Race Finale

Northern Nevada Kart Club hosted Championship Race #9 (make-up race for Sept 7^th) Sunday Oct 5^th, 2008. The weather was perfect at 75 degrees with clear sky’s which paved the way for some good racing.

TaG Junior was first up with 2 karts coming out for this race. Chelsi Wagner took pole with a fast run of 37.3. She would go on to win both heats over Christian Scholz. That set up the main event as Wagner bolted into the lead and never looked back for her 6^th win of the year and the TaG Junior Championship well in hand. Scholz would finish runner-up.

TaG Novice was next on grid as 6 karts came out to play. Billy Sewell got on track first with a pole run of 37.7. Rich Adams would go on to win both heats in commanding fashion. In the main, Adams would take the lead with a quick Amy Lim in tow. Point’s leader Sewell would get caught behind newcomer Derrick Delong and that let Adams pull away for the victory and also take the TaG Novice championship away from Sewell. Lim would finish in 2^nd followed by Sewell in 3^rd.

Formula 80 Senior lined up with only 5 karts for the showdown. Mark Nason quickly jumped right back on his fast pace with a pole of 36.4. Nason would go on to win the first heat. Cameron Bellamy would win the 2^nd heat. In the main, it was Nason again grabbing the lead with Bellamy and Gerry Williams in tow. Steve Dow would capitalize on Bellamy and William’s incident and take over 2^nd. Nason would take the checkers by 7 seconds over Dow in 2^nd and Cameron Bellamy in 3^rd. Nason would also celebrate his Formula 80 Senior championship.

TaG Cadet pulled up to grid as 3 drivers wanted to prove their abilities. Trever Listman grabbed pole at 40.4. Listman would go on to win both heats. The main would prove the way for the championship between point’s leader Justin Hoekman and Listman. Listman would take the lead from the start while Hoekman battled along with Garrett Dixon. Hoekman was finally able to pull on Listman’s rear bumper and try to make the pass at turn 1-2 but came a little too close with contact and his front bumper fell off. Listman was able to pull away and take the victory and the TaG Cadet championship. Second place goes to Dixon and 3^rd to Hoekman.

TaG Senior came out next with 7 karts to race. Brian Rivera grabbed pole with a run of 37.0. Rivera would go on to win the first heat over Tyler Wamre. In the second heat invert, Rivera was on his way for another heat win until Curt Baker made an inside move going into turn 6 on the last lap to make it stick and steal the win. That brought out the main event as Rivera was on pole with Baker off pole. Baker would take the lead into turn 1-2 with Rivera in tow. Wamre would have mechanical problems and DNF. That left Baker and Rivera to fight it out for the championship. Rivera would try unsuccessfully 4 times in turn 1-2 to make a pass stick cleanly but was unable to get it done. Baker crossed the finish line first and claimed the TaG Senior championship. Rivera followed in 2^nd and Troy Berry in 3^rd.

Rotax Max brought out 6 drivers again as this has become a tight battle for the championship. Nick Wadlow grabbed pole with a 37.6. But it was Chris McCabe winning the first heat. The second heat was claimed by Pete Morley. In the main, the green flag waived and it was Morley getting the lead and never looking back with a fast McCabe on his bumper. Morley would squeeze out the win followed by McCabe in 2^nd and Eric Dean would bounce back from an earlier crash to come in 3^rd and secure his 1^st Rotax Max Championship.

Formula 80 Masters took to the course next as 6 racers showed up for this class. Mark Nason once again showed his “Big Head” by snatching pole with a 36.3. Nason would go on to win the 1^st heat. Cameron Bellamy would go on to win the 2^nd heat. The main event had Nason on pole followed by Bellamy off pole. The green dropped and it was Nason getting the lead and pulling away for his 5^th win on the season. Williams would get by Bellamy 2 laps from the end to secure 2^nd place. Steve Dow would come in 3^rd. This would give Nason his 2^nd championship on the day!

Jr1-2 Cycle took to the track last as 6 racers lined up for this one. Austin DeMent again showed his speed as he has done all year long with a quick pole run of 40.5. Logan Wyman would take advantage of DeMent’s unfortunes and go on to win the 1^st heat. In the 2^nd heat, DeMent would come back to take the win. That set-up the main event as DeMent would get into an incident in turn 3 and have to DNF with mechanical problems. Travis Barr would take the lead and check out from the pack with a 5 second victory. Logan Wyman would finish in 2^nd with Trever Listman in 3^rd. DeMent would pick up another Jr 1-2 Cycle championship along the way.

The season is over. It has been an eventful one. It has been full of stories, laughter, good times and bad. I hope everyone had fun and please join us at our meetings the first Tuesday of every month. Thanks to all that helped and gave their time and effort to the club in making it a great year for all members to enjoy.

Brian Rivera

NNKC - President

10-3-08 IKF Reno Report

What a day for kid karts, these kids might be small but boy they sure tear up a track. the racing was so close part of the time you could have thrown a sheet over the karts and couldn't guess who would come out on the other side when you pulled it off of them.
those kids spent most of the race so tightly bunched up it kept the parents on the fence biting their nails watching this fierce battle between the pint size drivers. In the Heat race Vincent Duggan had fast lap of 36.188 and on the main the fastest lap was held by Jerett Tachovsky at 36.859 on the green we had Duggan lead one lap and Wilson Skjerven grabbed laps 2-4 when Maxwell wanted a piece of it and held on for laps 3 and 4 when Wilson again grabbed the top spot and lead the rest of the way with Chloe St George licking her lips but playing it safe for her championship points drive. She ended up with the Win after Skjerven and Duggan suffered a post race Dq that left them off the podium for the weekend. Congratulations to Chloe St. George on clinching the Title with 2 races to go .

Jr 1/2 Class had a battle going between points leader Luis Tyrell of Kartel and 2nd in points MMS Racing Engines Austin Dement.The heat race had Luis Tyrell leading laps 1-9 and Austin Dement getting a pass in on Tyrell with a counter move that gave Tyrell the most important final lap in first place setting him up for a main event battle against the Fast Dement, Jr Raczko sat in 3rd hoping for the drivers to make a mistake he could capitolize on.On the main Tyrell jumped into the lead until lap 6 when Dement,took over the lead and held off Tyrell until lap 12, when Tyrell swiped the lead again and on the last two laps Dement grabbed the top spot back again and held off Tyrell for the much deserved win.the finish was 1st-MMS Racing engines Austin Dement,2nd Kartel’s Luis Tyrell, 3rd Jr. Raczko, 4th Kartworlds Cole Davis, 5th Fastech’s Ian Fryer

80 Ltd. Class

The fight was on from the green with these heavy hitters, Emmick's Colton Filkill and Fastech’s defending champion Robert Towne. Local Driver Mark "Big head" Nason wanted a piece of the action as did Fast Tech's super fast Robert Towne. In the Heat race we had Robert Towne grabbing gears faster getting laps 1-9 with Filkill hot on his trail, Filkill made a hot shot move around Towne grabbing laps 9-11 with Towne making a last dash getting a win on the last lap. Nason sat back with the best seat in the house watching these two top dawgs battle hoping they would toss him a bone. In the main Filkill had the fastest laps 48.999 but that didn't help against Towne who held the whole race in first with Filkill and Gerry Williams battling on lap 5, Williams was the loser in that battle dropping him back to 5th place behind Fastech’s Sean Forbes, Williams made his move on lap 16 to get his 4th place spot back. The race finished with Robert Towne 1st, MMS Arcing Engines Mark Nason grabbed 2nd place and Colton Filkill had to settle for a 3rd with Gerry Williams in 4th

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MMI's Tony Kart driver Kelsey Nilsson made the trek over the hill sitting pretty, first in points but would have to battle Top Kart- Kartel's Brendan " Mini" Phinny who sits in 3rd place and wanting to grab some points and Bordogna’s Austin Elliott currently 2nd in points. The heat race had Nilsson leading on laps 1-9 until Phinny made a dash for cash move on her getting the lead from laps 9-12. Fast time was Phinny at 50.096, local Driver Cody Kay who has been out of a kart until recently when he joined Brendan Phinny in the Top Kart- Kartel camp. Kay just came off of a win at Prairie City track which was his first time in his new Top Kart ride. the main was heated though uncontested between Phinny who had first place from the green to checkers and Nilsson sitting in 2nd place during the race Kay was jumbled and bounced out of 3rd place down to last place and battled his way back up to 4th place when he let his bumper get away from him after the checker flag, he gave the wrong driver a bump of protest landing him a Dq. Kelsey was also penalized a spot moving her back to 3rd. The finish was : Brendan Phinny 1st, Austin Elliott- 2nd place, Kelsey Nilsson- 3rd place, MMI’s Joey Teves 4th

Gazelle:

Trever Listman had the fast lap of 46.574 but Alexander Peralas led from the green to checkers with Listman having to settle for 2nd and plan his Main. Perales lead from lap 1-7th after getting a great start but not to be out done local boy wonder Hoekman found a sweet spot and swiped the lead away on lap 7 and held off Perales to take it home.
Listman might have had the fastest lap but didn't have the luck to carry him to the checker flag first. Noah Hermansen the points leader would suffer a DNF on the first lap that left him licking his wounds and watching from the side lines as Alexander Peralas led the first 6 laps hoping for a top finish but that dream would be dashed as Justin Hoekman local driver would grab the lead on lap 7 and finish the race in the top place with Perales in 2nd, trever Listman 3rd and MMI. Tony Kart driver Curtis Paul 2nd in points with a 4th place finish

Animals:

The Animals were loose in the desert with points leader Tom Agan leading the whole race in the heat and mains looking like he was on a roller coaster ride and the rest shadowed his every move without a passing hope. In the heat race: Guy Gentry followed Agan without protest until lap 6 when Tyler Agan grabed lap 6 away from him and Gentry getting his 2nd place back on lap 7-9 When Jason Gentry decided what the heck I might as well mix it up with the boys and led laps 9-10. Tom Again again just took off and left the boys to fight it out among themselves, Jason Gentry only held 2nd place for a lap before Guy Gentry decided he needed that spot more and grabbed it away until Tyler Again who shadowed Jason Gentry from lap 3 took the spot on lap 11. They finished up Tom Agan 1st, Guy Gentry taking second place and Tyler Agan on lap 11 leaving Tyler with the 3rd place

IKF Tag

MMS Racing Engines David Brant went out and set fast time on used tires by a few tenths over the field. Right from the get go it was clear that in the Tag classes the local drivers would have the advantage. MMS racing Engines Zachary Derricco walked away with the heat race. But the start of the final saw the front getting swapped around putting Kartel’s Chris Scribner on pole with MMS Racing Engines Mike Botelho Jr along side. Scribner got the jump on the start with Botelho lurking. As the race progressed it was clear Scribner was no match for Botelho as Mike jr got passed Scribner and checked out. Derricco also got by as those to walked. Late in the race Brant got passed Kartel’s Neil Alberico for a top three sweep for Reno locals. Alberico was fourth. Scribner came home fifth but a last lap header Manufacture defect originally got him disqualified in post race tech, but later was overturned securing the top five for Scribner and the points lead.

Tag Masters:

MMS Racing Engines Glenn McKinnon with fast time of 49.891 was here to win, MMI’s Kevin Knight put on a challenge from laps 1-3 when McKinnon made the pass and checked out front leading laps 4-18 without challenge. The fight was going on behind him with places getting swapped around as Mat Kattanek, Bordogna’s Wayne Lorenz, Kevin Knight and Listman. Kattanek grabbed 2nd on lap 6 leaving the others to battle. the boys were on each other until Listman lost his bid on lap 14 ending his day sitting on the side lines watching the rest of the overgrown boys playing tag. Lorenz grabbed 3rd away for the final time on lap 15 leaving the final as Glenn McKinnon. 1st, Mat Kattanek 2nd, Wayne Lorenz 3rd, Kevin Knight 4th

Jr Tag Class

Top Kart- Kartel's Kiel Spaulding had fast time of 48.818, but in the race he would have to contend with Local boy wonder team mate Cody Kay and The Girls in the points battle.
home town girl Chelsi Wagner didn't get a great start to her points battle on the first lap she found herself going from 2nd place back to last place in a matter of a turn and then on lap 2 her kart pitched a bit sideways as she went by the flag stand looking and sounding to me like a motor failure ended her day. She spent the rest of the race watching the karts fly by wishing she was out there. Cody Kay looked like the driver to beat and was on a rail out there from laps 1-12 when Spaulding looked to sneak up on him and pick pocketed the lead away from unsuspecting Kay leading the most important laps of 13-18. MMI’s Kelsey Nilsson must have been lurking nearby to take advantage of the battle and picked up 2nd place on lap 13-18 leaving the final as: Kiel Spaulding 1st, Kelsey Nilsson 2nd, Cody Kay 3rd.

80 Ltd. Masters:

These guys are something to watch, under their helmets they sure don't look like old timers. Local driver Mark Nason again was the guy to beat with fast time of 49.730, on the start he just checked out and said see ya all later and I got the story behind his nick name "bighead Nason" I guess it is because he wins so often in Reno...YUP he was fast and looked like the only way anyone could touch him was with a supercharger. MMS Racing Engines Ben Fisher chased after him in 2nd place from 1-12 laps when MMS Racing Engines Steve Dow mixed it up a bit and grabbed the spot away. This field was brutal with half the field sitting in the sage brush by the end of the race, Emmick's Lance Grimm lost his brakes on turn 1, ouch that could have left a mark. Crash McKinney and Emmick's Rich Gutzke had a great battle going swapping place over and over until crash went out on lap 14 leaving the final: Mark Nason 1st, Steve Dow 2nd, Ben Fisher 3rd, Rich Gutzke 4th

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Sunday found Kartel’s Luis Tyrell fast time 53.283 and MMS Racing Engines Austin Dement picking up where they left off the day prior with more heated battles for this highly completive class. Dement jumped out in the lead on laps 1-9 but Tyrell shadowed Dement like a snake around the track waiting for the right moment to strike. Tyrell was patient long enough and make quick work of Dement when he put his pedal down leaving Dement trying to hunt him down before the laps expired. The heat was on behind these two with Fastech’s Ian Fryer and Fastech’s Jarred Campbell running a nice battle for third place but getting heat on every lap from Jr Raczko and Cambrians Noah Hermansen, Ian Fryer lost his bid for 3rd on lap 17, Noah got together with Campbell letting Raczko break away, as the black flag loomed heavy on the race Hermansen gave the spot back to Campbell keeping him from getting a DQ . The final was : Luis Tyrell 1st, Austin Dement- 2nd, Jr Raczko 3rd and Campbell 4th.

Iame Cup:

This is always the class to watch during the day with all kinds of excitement and passes being made every lap and every corner back and forth. Fast Time would be 2nd in points Kartel's Chris Scribner with a lap time of 48.972, he had Kartel Team mate with another fast kart; Niel Alberico and MMI-Tony kart Arch Rival Cody Hodgson lurking nearby hoping to make up some points on the day. Chris " The Heartbreak Kid" Scribner suffered a loss on Sat. he hoped to advenge and looked great on the start, he pulled out to the lead on lap 1 with Alberico in hot pursuit. Alberico grabbed Lap 2 for the lead and sitting there watching and licking his lips was Hodgson taking advantage of the battle in lap 3 Cody grabbed the lead and high tailed it out of dodge while the rest of the drivers battled behind him on lap 7 it looked like his team mate and he might have touched sending Chris's chain flying off ending his day in heartbreak yet again. Snow snuck in and grabbed 2nd place away as Scribner and Alberico were mixing it up, Snow lead 2nd place in laps 8-18. Mike "The Cannon" Botello Jr. slipped up there ready to battle after his heat knockout punch hoping to make his move but had to settle for 3rd place.
the final was: Hodgson 1st, snow 2nd, Botello Jr 3rd, Alberico 4th

HPV2 jr:

MMI- Tony Kart's Kelsey Nilsson grabbed fast time of 50.369. Nilsson only on the scene for 2 years now was ready to battle with Vet. drivers Cody Kay and Brendan "Mini" Phinny, Both Top kart- Kartel drivers and team mates. It was a battle from the Green, 3 karts didn't make it around for a lap, Nilsson grabbed laps 1 and 2 then Cody Kay wrestled the top spot away from her until she said not so quick there Mr. and snatched it back in lap 7 only for a brief time as Kay wasn't having it and took it back, until lap 14 when Nilsson made a play for the top spot again leaving Kay frustrated but determined he finally grabbed the First place and kept it away from her all the time Brendan Phinny enjoyed the show from his spot in 3rd, waiting for a chance to move up or just getting a kick out of the battle it is hard to say for sure. the final was: Cody Kay 1st, Nilsson 2nd, Phinny 3rd.

Story by Bev Ban
Sat pictures by Bev Ban
Sun pictures by Scribner Racing Promotions

10-3-08 STURM WINS TRIP TO BRAZIL AT I-70 SPEEDWAY

Wisconsin driver to compete at Granja 500, while championship battles shape up for finale

ODESSA, MO (September 30, 2008) – The Superkarts! USA Central States Challenge traveled west towards Kansas City for the fifth round of the 2008 season, held at I-70 Speedway in Odessa, Missouri. A temporary circuit located inside the paved oval at I-70 provided drivers with a challenging course as the growing program welcomed new drivers to the serie

At the event, SKUSA officials drew the winner of the trip to compete at the Granja Viana 500 in Sao Paulo, Brazil to race alongside Formula One drivers and other superstars of the motorsports world. TaG Masters driver Angela Hannah had her name drawn as the original winner of the trip which is worth close of $10,000, however she reluctantly bowed out, which allowed alternate S1 driver Joe Sturm to take the prize. Sturm will join a group of SKUSA drivers to make up the MG Tires/SKUSA team to compete in the endurance event.

On-track at I-70, the heated S3 championship battle continued with the major players once again stepping up to make things exciting. Matt Zeis would earn his third victory on the year and, in the process, he put himself in the lead position of the championship. Zeis started on the pole position and would be challenged early by Rick Freund, who moved up from fifth. Contact with a barrier would put some distance between the Freund and Zeis, as the point man would take control to go on to take the win. Jack Kloeber earned his third straight podium finish, running in third.

Also earning his third win on the year was Derek Crockett in the TaG Senior division. Crockett out-ran Chris Berg and Kyle Gnau for the victory, placing him in good position to lock up the championship at the season finale. Greg Seep returned to the SCSC for his first TaG Masters win of the season. Angela Hannah finished second over title rival Greg Watters, putting more emphases on the final round to determine the class champion. Chris Thomasson - new to the series - was the lone S1 driver and earned maximum points on the day.

The season-long battle in S5 continued between Kaylee Granberg and Joe Reed. Both drivers showed that neither would give up, as they each spun on the opening lap and stalled, forcing the race director to call for a complete restart. Following the restart, the two were nose-to-tail before contact with the barrier cost Reed a chance at the win, allowing Granberg to earn victory number four.

In TaG Junior, Greg Gerst and Natalie Fenaroli led the field to the green flag. Gerst would lose the top spot on the opening lap when he spun in turn four, giving Fenaroli the lead. She would then need to hold off new competitor Broc Yocom during a lap-after-lap dice, but in the end, Yocom was able to by and take the win. Fenaroli settled for second with Granberg running third ahead of Gerst. In TaG Cadet, it was win number four for Colton Brooks as he would find his way to the top of the podium again ahead of Zach Bohmer and Kyle Potts.

The championship chase all comes down to the sixth and final round, set for October 25-26 at the I-55 Speedway in Pevely, MO where the series expects to see the biggest entry count of the season. For more information, including everything you need to know to become part of the SKUSA Central States Challenge, visit their website at www.thecsss.com.