2010 Racing Coverage

 

• Springfield
• Norway
• New Castle
• Springfield
• 2010 Banquet

Route 66 Series Opens 2010 Season at Mid-State Raceway

Springfield, IL

The Route 66 Sprint Series, Co-Sponsored by Margay, Bridgestone, Mychron/AIM Sports and Laukaitis Racing opened the 2010 season on April 17 at the historic Mid-State Raceway located near Springfield, IL on a beautiful Spring weekend with temperature reaching into the high 60s.  The event
was sponsored by the Springfield based B & B Electric company.  Mid-State Raceway, which is celebrating its 50th year of operation, is one of the very few club-owned kart racing tracks that operates as a not-for-profit entity.  All of the track workers are club members who volunteer their time which allows all profits to be put back into the facility and ultimately benefits the racing participants.  Many of the club volunteers have over 20 years of experience at putting on kart racing events which allowed for a smoothly run event when coupled with the experienced Route 66 Series staff. 

Mid-Sate Kart Club opened the track for practice on Friday with about 50 teams taking advantage of the extra practice time.  The series staged five rounds of
practice on Saturday and two more rounds of practice on Sunday before the
scheduled races.  This series offers ample practice time on Saturday and Sunday
so that participants do not need to miss school or work on Friday.  New to the series this year is Saturday racing with six of the classes racing on Saturday and the remaining nine classes racing on Sunday.  This allows the Sunday program to be completed by about 3:30 pm and helps eliminate the late night drives home at the end of the weekend.

The series holds a free cookout at the conclusion of racing on Saturday at all
of the events this year.  Mid-State Kart Club provided delicious barbeque pork sandwiches from local caterer Turasky Meats.  Many participants provided side
dishes and deserts to make for a great cookout and post race social time.
A drawing was held during the cookout for a free Weber gas grill sponsored by
Marx Fireplaces & Lighting which was won by Christian Vega.  Drawings were also held at the Sunday morning driver’s meeting.  Several gift certificates and T-shirts were given out sponsored by Margay and Triple E Sales.  Christian Ledesma won the drawing for a set of Bridgestone YKC tires sponsored by Margay/Bridgestone.  Kaleb Allison won a free race entry in a drawing for fast time qualifiers.  And the Route 66 Series gave away five $15 apparel certificates.

The first final of the weekend for the Comet Kart Sales Yamaha Supercan Heavy class had a great battle up front with Jimmy Clark and Colton Ramsey swapping
the lead several times.  Clark was able to edge Ramsey by just .091 seconds for the win with Matthew Laukaitis, Brandon Cather and Chad Kruger rounding out

the top five in a tight pack.  In the L & T Clutch Manufacturing Yamaha Junior Heavy final, pole sitter Jordan Laukaitis was able to pull away to a three second win over Justin Stiffler and Jeremy Remick.  Collin Griffin and Michael Dionne rounded out the top five in the 15 kart field.

Next up was the Kid Kart Participation class sponsored by Mitchell Motorsports.
The start was paced by Kid Kart coordinator Bret Shankelton on his motor scooter.  Tyler Allison, Evan Moore and Nicholas Cory would finish in the top three positions.

The Franklin Motorsports TAG Senior class staged next with Justin Vancil and Dustin Kessinger pacing the 15 kart field.  Kessinger took the lead at the start,
however Vancil was able to draft by Kessinger on lap five and hold on for at .621
second advantage.  Colton Ramsey was able to work his way around Drake Ostrom near the end of the race to finish third and Cal Stewart also slipped by
Ostrom to claim fourth on the final lap.

Next up was the CKT Racing Engines Yamaha Rookie Lite class where 12 young
drivers had difficulty making it through the second turn on the start.  The race was red flagged when Owen Leatherberry tangled with a spinning Riley Yates
causing Owen to get airborne and the rest of the pack to get tangled up.  All drivers were able to restart and pole-sitter Alec Evers was able to battle his way
past early leader Dillon Schwanbeck for the win.  Tyler Studant, Stephen Dial,
Riley Yates and Daltyn England rounded out the top five.

The final class racing on Saturday was the Triple E Sales Yamaha Sportsman Lite class.  Kaleb Allison and Robby McQuinn paced the field at the start with Allison taking the lead and pulling away to an 8.852 second win.  Grant Sandberg
was able to slip past McQuinn for second with Logan Mitchell and Brant Carter rounding out the top five.

The first class to race on Sunday was the Adkins Speed Center Yamaha Supercan Lite class with 15 entries.  This class increased in size from last year
as eight junior class drivers from last year had moved up to race in the senior classes.  Youth served notice by sweeping five of the top seven positions in qualifying.  In the final, Jimmy Clark and Colton Ramsey paced the start however
Ramsey would fall back in the field with an off track excursion.  This left Clark

battling with Matthew Laukaitis for the lead.  Drake Ostrom, Adam Crepin, Brad
Brittin and Tim Brinkman followed in a tight pack.  Clark was able to stretch his lead out to 2.773 seconds to take his second class win.  The top six positions remained the about same with Brinkman drafting by Brittin to claim fifth on the final lap and Ramsey worked his way back through the field to finish seventh.

The Two Cycle Engine Technologies Yamaha Sportsman Heavy class final was
up next where Kaleb Allison would again take the win over Grant Sandberg and Robby McQuinn.  The top three raced in a tight battle with McQuinn moving to second place at the finish.  Brant Carter and Jaydon Biles rounded out the top five.

Next up was the Russell Karting Parilla Leopard Senior class paced by Justin Vancil and Cal Stewart.  The top five of Vancil, Stewart, Drake Ostrom, Darin Marcus and Dustin Kessinger would hold that position most of the race with the only real battle being for fourth place as Marcus was able to hold off Kessinger by .24 seconds at the finish.  Vancil claimed his second TAG class win of the weekend.

The biggest class of the day was up next with 17 entries in the Yamaha Junior Lite class.  The final was paced by pre-final winner Justin Stiffler and fast qualifier
Jordan Laukaitis.  A big pile-up in turn two brought out the red flag when Stephen
Wallace landed on top of Anthony Granata.  All drivers were able to restart and Laukaitis and Jeremy Remick battled for the early lead.  Grant Vogel and Justin Stiffler eventually worked past Remick to claim second and third while Laukaitis
pulled away for his second class win of the weekend.  Collin Griffin, Dillon Morley and Tucker Cory rounded out the top seven in another tight pack.

The Jet Karting Kid Kart Championship class was up next with the same entrants
from the Saturday Kid Kart class competing again.  Nicholas Cory edged Evan More by .343 seconds with Tyler Allison claiming third place.

Next up was the Komet Piston Valve Senior class sponsored by Haddock Ltd.
Participation in this class was noticeably increased over last year with the generous KPV engine package award up for grabs this season.  Colton Ramsey
and Drake Ostrom paced the start with Ostrom grabbing the lead followed by Chad Kruger with Ramsey and Darin Marcus in close pursuit.  Ramsey moved
past Kruger on lap four but was not able to cut into Ostrom’s one second lead
at the finish.  Marcus, Jeff Stamper and Kruger rounded out the top five about nine seconds back at the finish. 

The Ballistic Designs Komet Piston Valve Sportsman class raced next.  Kaleb Allison battled Brady Garmon at the start.  Allison would pull away to his third
class win of the weekend finishing 14 seconds ahead of Garmon followed by Egan Shankleton, Owen Leatherberry and Connor Stuart.  The final race of the
day was the Switch Racing Engines Yamaha Rookie Heavy class paced by Alec Evers and Stephen Dial.  Evers jumped to the lead and pulled away for his second class win by 3.35 seconds over Dillon Schwanbeck.  Schwanbeck, Stephen Dial and Thayne Chapin were locked in a tight battle for second place
most of the race.  Owen Leatherberry and Daltyn England rounded out the top six.  For the complete race results, visit www.mylaps.com. 

The next round of the series will be held at Concept Haulers Motor Speedway
in Norway, IL on May 15 and 16.  Friday practice will be available.  All entrants will have a chance to win a Yamaha engine in addition to a set of Bridgestone YKC tires in a drawing at the driver’s meeting.  For more information about the Route 66 Sprint Series, visit www.route66kartracing.com.