The 2007 Route 66 Sprint Series


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ROUTE 66 SPRINT SERIES
Presented by Margay/Bridgestone

Round :: 05
Event Sponsor :: Motorama Kart Shop
New Castle Motorsports Park, New Castle, IN

August 25 & 26, 2007
Story by: Greg Grafton
Photos by: Connie Holliday

KRUGER CLAIMS FIRST WIN IN '07
Round five of the Route 66 Series presented by Margay/Bridgestone took place on August 25-26th at New Castle Motorsports Park. Practice was held on Saturday and qualifying began at 5:00 p.m. The Viper Racing Fast Time award winner was Justin Stiffler. The winner of the set of tires donated by Margay/Bridgestone was Kevin Martz. Event Sponsor Motorama Kart Shop also donated a nice Indy Fan Racing pack for a drawing as well. 124 entries filled the pits for the weekend. Special thanks to the Margay Factory support tent, for their attendance at the event.

The first class to hit the track was the Joey Karter Kid Kart group with 24 entries in it. As always, the racing is exciting in this class. Brady Dunn put on a driving clinic in the prefinal and looked to be the one to beat, but Zach Holden took off on the start of the final and never looked back. Dunn was unfortunately hung up dealing with lapped karts and never able to get a run at Holden. Kaleb Allison was running an awesome race in second place, when his carburetor came loose and ended his run. Michael Cruz was also having a good run when an off track excursion left him on the sidelines as well. Trailing Holden and Dunn to the line were Jordan Delphia, Logan Mitchell, Mason Mitchell, Dawn Tilley, Noah Durbin, Thayne Chapin, Dalton England, Tyler Grafton, Tim Harrawood, Egan Shankleton, Ricky Stillman, Keaton Perdue, Allison, Nate Kavicky, Luke Nimrick, Mason Franck, Zach Bomer, Cruz, Diego Ochoa, Garrett Moran, and Juan Buitrago.

The Jet Karting TaG 60 class was up next and as was the case at the last three races it was the domain of Justin Stiffler. Stiffler swept the program and the only thing that spiced it up a little was a spin by Stiffler early on. He recovered to win the final by a mere 26 seconds in his PG Racing Wildkart MiniSwift. Kyle May, Gregory Gerst, Sam Bell and Chris Gray chased him to the line.

Kyle Kalish came to New Castle on a mission in the Franklin Kart Supply HPV Jr. Sportsman class. Jeremy Remick took the pole in qualifying over Kalish and Jake Cole. The prefinal was action packed with the top four swapping the top spot lap after lap. Kalish won the prefinal and took the preferred starting spot in the final. Kalish took the final over Remick, Perry Needham, Jordan Laukaitis, and Kyle Domark.

The Comet Kart Sales Yamaha Supercan Heavy group was as wide open as any of the classes. Rod Holliday paced the field in qualifying, but it was Matt Riggs who used his Viper Arrow to claim the prefinal win. In the final, fourth place starter Chad Kruger came to the front to win it over Riggs, Jason Allen, Holliday and Nicholas Roberts.

In the Trackside Diner TaG Heavy group, Andrew Goodhart was giving Clay Maddox a run for his money when he popped a chain and ended his run. Maddox (Birel/Leopard) won over Tim Vinson and Goodhart. Kelly Falls took the local option TaG Sportsman win over Drew Abel, George Wilson, and Sam Miles.

Mike Franck looked to be in place to sweep the TaG 4 Stroke class, but Chuck Kocan saved the best for last. Kocan took the three second win over Trent Choi, Franck, Patrick Ciolino, and Greg Lay. If you have not seen these karts in action, they are a blast to watch.

Motorama Kart Shop TaG Junior was up next, and with Justin Jennings losing a nerf bar early on in this one, Reid Jeffries cruised to a nineteen second win over Derek Ware, Jennings and Austin Lamb. Shinya Michimi won the Tyre Tech HPV Junior class ahead of A. J. O’Brien.

Sometimes it’s just your day, and this was the case for Jordan Laukaitis in the Laukaitis Racing Yamaha Junior Sportsman class. Jeremy Remick paced the twenty kart field in qualifying by over .8 of a second. He never slowed down the rest of the day, but the rest of the field picked up speed as Jordan claimed the prefinal win. In the final, everyone was trying to not be leading because they didn’t want to get drafted by on the last lap. Laukaitis was leading with Remick and Kyle Crump, Kyle Tilley and Kyle Johnson in tow. Remick looked to be in the driver’s seat, but an accident that necessitated a red/checkered flag on lap six stole any idea he had of putting a move on Laukaitis. Jordan sewed up the title in this class with the win, and is setting the bar pretty high for his brother and Dad to live up to. Remick was second, with Crump, Tilley and Johnson completing the top five.

In the Express Karts N Parts Yamaha Junior Supercan class, Josh Clack paced the field in qualifying over Steve Nemeth and usual front runner Justin Jennings. Clack suffered a mishap in the prefinal and ended up on the sidelines. Nemeth took advantage of this and took the win over A.J. O’Brien in the final by a mere 0.149 seconds. Shinya Michimi led Christian Vogel and Derek Ware to the line to complete the top five.

In the Adkins Speed Center Yamaha Supercan Lite class, Tony Neilson paced the field in qualifying by a mere .001 seconds over Brandon Adkins. Adkins held the preferred line in the prefinal coming to the flag to hold on to the win. In the final, Adkins, Neilson and Becky Kaestner broke away from the field and looked to stage their own battle. Neilson led on the white flag lap and surprisingly didn’t throw a block on Adkins in the last half of the straightaway. Adkins went to the inside, and Neilson tried to counter coming to the flag, but couldn’t pull up far enough. Kaestner, who was the only kart in the 1:11’s in the final, was right behind them in third. Tony Velez beat out Jeff Green for fourth. Rounding out the top ten were Kenny Johnson, Matthew Roberts, Rick Worth, David Worth, and Kim Carapellati.

The final race of the day was the Viper Racing TaG Lite. Seventeen racers took toe the track, with Drew Abel claiming the pole by .04 of a second over Kevin Martz. Martz won the prefinal over former WKA National Champ Kent Laukaitis and last starting Brandon Jenkins. In the final, there was racing at every corner and contact in as many places. Jimmy Simpson and Laukaitis avoided all of the mayhem and pulled away from the field to claim the top two spots. Clay Maddox did a great job claiming third over midget racer Lindsey Tilton and Kelsi Hirschy. Hirschy went for a wild ride on lap one and still claimed fifth, which she should be commended fifth.

The Route 66 Series wished to thank additional sponsors, Triple E Sales, Mychron 4, Streeter Super Stands, Team 39 Motorsports, Digatron, Ribtect, Bell Racing, Decal Zone and Burris for their continued support. The sixth round of the Route 66 Series presented by Margay/Bridgestone will be held at the I-55 Raceway in Pevely, MO. For more information, visit www.route66kartracing.com on the Route 66 Series. Pevely is a challenging track similar to 61 Kartway, which received rave reviews earlier in the year.

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