The 2007 Route 66 Sprint Series


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ROUTE 66 SPRINT SERIES
Presented by Margay/Bridgestone

Round :: 01
Event Sponsor :: Motorama Kart Parts
New Castle Motorsports Park, New Castle, IN

April 21-22, 2007
Story by: Greg Grafton
Photos by: Connie Holliday

SIMPSON TAKES TWO AS ENTRIES TOTAL 181
The Route 66 Series conducted their first round of racing on April 21-22, 2007 at New Castle Motorsports Park in New Castle, IN. Motorama Kart Parts was the event sponsor, more information on them can be found at www.mkpshop.com. The weather couldn’t have been ordered any better, as highs were in the high 70s and low 80s throughout the weekend. Trailers began to arrive on Thursday evening in anticipation of the weekend activities. The official series practice was held on Saturday from 9am to 6pm allowing the competitors sufficient track time to dial in their setups. Qualifying, prefinals and finals were conducted on Sunday. Due to racer request, the prefinals were added back into the program on Sunday.

A total of 181 entries took part in the program on Sunday, which is a Route 66 Sprint Series record. Mike Larrison was the winner of a brand new Impact Racing Helmet that was donated by Otte Motorsports Group and Impact Racing. Check out Otte Motorsports Group at www.omg-karting.com. Austin Schnoomaker was the winner of the brand new set of YHC Bridgestone tires donated by Margay/Bridgestone. With all of the free stuff taken care of, the program was ready to begin, with the Jet Karting TaG 60 class. This group was all Jared Thomas, as he used his extensive NCMP experience to sweep the program. Kyle May looked to be the closest challenger, but Gregory Gerst was saving the best for last as he found some speed between the prefinal and the final, and handily claimed the second position. May claimed third, followed by Justin Stiffler, and Chris Gray.

Kyle Kalish was the name to remember in the Franklin Kart Supply HPV Jr. Sportsman, as he duplicated Thomas’ efforts, by sweeping qualifying, the prefinal and final. Kalish left no doubt as he immediately distanced himself from the pack in the races, and claimed the final win on his Merlin chassis. Jordan Laukaitis won a spirited battle for second place over Perry Needham, Kyle Tilley, and Jared Needham. Jimmy Simpson claimed the sweep in the Tyre Tech HPV Junior class by six seconds over national winner Justin Jennings and 2006 Series champion Josh Call.

Eighteen racers took part in the Joey Karter Kid Kart Class with Dawn Tilley taking the honors. Chris Daughtery, Zach Holden, Logan Mitchell, Adam Leach, Michael Cruz, Garret Moran, Noah Durbin, Daltyn England, Zachary Taylor, Tyler Grafton, Marissa Marot, Diego Ochoa, Zayne Frady, Mason Mitchell, Nate Kavicky, Luke Kistler, and Dillan Bland all followed her to the stripe. All kids received the same medals courtesy of NCMP.

The Comet Kart Sales Yamaha Supercan Heavy group was the next class to hit the track. Chad Krueger blistered the thirteen-kart field by over .7 of a second in qualifying with Rod Holliday claiming the runner-up spot. Gary Monnett was quietly working on his setup as the day was unfolding, and put a last lap move on Krueger to take the win over Krueger, with David Daughtery, Holliday, and Jason Allen following to the stripe. Jeremy McHone overcame transponder problems in qualifying to claim the sixth finishing position for the day.

Jimmy Simpson was looking for the double in the 21 kart Express Karts N Parts Yamaha Jr. Supercan group. Simpson bested Brandon Newey in qualifying, by a mere .2 of a second. Simpson claimed the prefinal win over Newey and Steve Nemeth as the top three were nose to tail. In the final, Simpson broke away from the group, and began to pull away, however Nemeth was working his way to Simpson, and only needed one more lap to make a move. However, the checkered had fallen and it was Simpson who claimed the double win for the day. Nemeth claimed second over Newey, Spencer Margison, and Justin Jennings. Matthew Laukaitis led the second five over NCMP regular Josh Call, Derek Ware, who was making his first NCMP start, Brandon Cather and Matt Harper.

Next up were the Trackside Diner at I-55 Raceway TaG Heavy karts. Michael Busse was the class of the field in this group on the day, as he set fast time, won the prefinal, and was leading the final as mechanical gremlins sidelined him with only two laps to go. That left Clay Maddox, and Scott Kalish to fight it out for the win. Kalish had claimed second in qualifying and the prefinal, and appeared to have the inside track to the win, but Maddox (Birel/Leopard) used a last lap pass to claim the win over Kalish (Arrow/Leopard), Mike Mellot, Randy Ballinger, and Vince Schneider.

Jason Lee claimed the Streeter Super Stands Shifter class win over Ameya Phatak, Eric Sove, and Bill McLaughlin Jr. Matt Paderta was the first 80cc following these 125’s across the line in this combined group.

Kyle Erdmann took the win over Tony Neilson and Chad Montgomery in the Triple E Sales Yamaha Medium class. Tyler Brindley took the win over Phillip Holcombe in the Digatron Briggs Senior class.

One of the best races of the day was the Motorama Kart Parts TaG Junior feature. Steve Nemeth, Justin Jennings and Matthew Laukaitis waged a torrid battle for the lead in which you never knew what order they were going to come around in. All three were on Leopards, which made for some incredibly close racing. Coming down the long straightaway before the finish line Nemeth appeared to draft by Jennings, but it was such a late run that he carried too much speed and slid off the exit of the turn. Laukaitis (Birel) tried an inside move to pass them both, but failed to beat Jennings (Margay) who claimed the win. Nemeth (Birel) recovered to finish third, followed by Derek Ware and Austen Lamb, both making their initial NCMP starts.

In the Team 39 Motorsports Briggs Junior class, Tyler Trainor continued his winning ways from 2006 by winning the final with a margin of over twenty seconds. Patrick Richgels and Dillon Brunton completed the top three in this class.

Twenty-eight racers took part in the Laukaitis Racing Yamaha Junior Sportsman race. This race had so many battles throughout the pack that it was easily four or five races all in one. Evan Margison set fast time in qualifying over Mike Dionne and Kyle Tilley. In the final, Margison and Tilley broke away from Jared Thomas and the rest of the field, by drafting away as the race went on. It became apparent these two were going to settle this one between themselves and Margison would go on to sweep the day, by beating Tilley to the stripe. Thomas and Jordan Laukaitis waged an epic battle for third, passing each other back and forth whenever they could. Thomas completed a top three sweep for NCMP regulars, as he narrowly beat Laukaitis to the flag. Austin Schnoomaker followed Laukaitis to the flag, followed by Aaron Ancell, Hunter Lay, Mike Dionne, Kyle Domark and Collin Griffin. Gregory Gerst suffered heartbreak as he was running in the top ten when a spin left him stranded in the infield.

With such a hard act to follow, the Adkins Speed Center Yamaha Supercan Lite group didn’t disappoint the crowd at all. Brett Yates, who hadn’t sat in a kart seat in 4 years, bested the sixteen-kart group in qualifying over NCMP regular Bobby Cummings. The prefinal saw quite a bit of contact, with Cummings emerging victorious, and Yates relegated to seventh. At the drop of the green, Cummings led with Tony Neilson, Steve Schiewer, Evan Batt, Mike Larrison, Brett Johnson, and Becky Kaestner all nose to tail. The top four broke away after a spin by Larrison left Johnson and Kaestner battling for fifth. Neilson, Schiewer, Cummings and Batt all took turns leading, which allowed Kaestner to work her way back to the pack slowly but surely. She easily drove the most consistent race as she made up a twenty-kart length gap with two laps to go. With OMG teammates Cummings and Schiewer hooked up, it became real apparent that it was going to take a miracle to get by these two. Neilson, Kaestner and Batt did everything they could, but followed those two to the stripe. Johnson followed this group to the line to claim sixth over Mike Larrison, and Jason Allen.

As if this race wasn’t eventful enough, the twenty-three-kart Viper Racing TaG Lite group came right out chute mixing it up. Billy Lewis has displayed his mastery of this class many times before at NCMP, but it was Evan Batt posting the fastest time in qualifying. Lewis (Arrow/Leopard) came back to win the prefinal over Monte Wilson (Birel/Sonik). A surprise entrant claimed the fast lap of the prefinal as former IndyCar star Mark Dismore dusted off the driving gloves and proved he still knows how to mix it up. Lewis took off in the final and appeared to be heading on to another win. 2006 Stars Spec Racer champion Brandon Adkins (Margay/Leopard) had other ideas. Adkins, who is notorious for getting faster as the race goes on, began inching closer to Lewis and made the pass halfway through the race. Lewis and Adkins then began battling over the lead, and finally contact in turn three on lap 9 left both of them watching the end of the race. This left Batt, Dismore, John Dixon and Wilson battling it out for the lead. Batt would not waste this opportunity as he and Dixon traded the lead, but Batt emerged victorious over Dixon, Dismore, Wilson and Robert Stout.

Finally, the MyChron 4 HPV Senior competitors took to the track, with Jason Burgess setting fast time over the ten-kart field. Kyle Erdmann and Jason Birdsell used a great start to claim the prefinal win over Burgess. Erdmann and Birdsell took off in the final as well, sorting this one out between the two of them. Birdsell (Margay/Adkins) went on to narrowly win by .07 seconds over Erdmann (Margay/Triple E). Blake Deister won a close battle for third over Burgess as Mike Greene rounded out the top five.

With the first round in the books, everyone was left to discuss what they would have done differently. They will get the chance to apply these changes in August when the series returns. The Route 66 Series presented by Margay/Bridgestone now moves on to the famed Midstate Kart Club in Springfield, IL on May 19-20 for round number two. This event will carry a special place in many karters’ hearts, as it is a memorial race for the late Loren Niehaus. Loren was a long time WKA tech official, a member of the Karting hall of fame and a Springfield resident. Loren represented the true spirit of what karting was supposed to be about and he would never shy away from helping anyone with anything. Loren is greatly missed and the Route 66 Series will honor him with an outstanding event. Two cash races are planned for Saturday evening, one for Yamaha SSX and one for TaG Senior. Both races pay $300 to win, $200 for second and $100 for third. This promises to be an awesome event, make plans to attend now.

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