The 2008 Route 66 Sprint Series

2008 MyChron ROUTE 66 SPRINT SERIES
presented by Margay/Bridgestone

Round :: 01
Event Sponsor :: Express Karts N Parts
Concept Haulers Motor Speedway

April 26 & 27, 2008
Story by :: Greg Grafton
Photos by :: Connie Holliday

ERDMANN DOUBLES AS ENTRIES TOP 175
The opening round of the 2008 MyChron Route 66 Series presented by Margay/Bridgestone took two tries to complete, but finally got under way at the famed Concept Haulers Motor Speedway in Norway, IL. The Finke family was gracious hosts and welcomed all of the karters and their families for the cool, but rainless weekend. A strong field of 176 entries showed up to compete in the series with the Laukaitis Racing Yamaha Jr. Sportsman class once again having the best showing at 26 entries. The winner of the free set of YHC tires donated by Margay/Bridgestone was Roberto Castro. Castro also won one of the four $50 gas cards that were donated by “Kartlift” in the “Kartlift gets you to the races” program. Evan Epperson won the Viper Racing Fast Time Award which entitles him to a product certificate at Viper Racing. Matthew Bigos won the Digatron Free Entry award, and will receive a free entry to the next event which will take place at Midstate Kart Club in Springfield, IL on May 17 & 18, 2008. Practice and qualifying were held on Saturday with one round of practice, prefinals and finals held on Sunday. Concept Haulers Motor Speedway held a cookout on Saturday night for everyone to enjoy after the long day of practice.

The racing action opened on the weekend with the Joey Karter Kid Kart Class. While merely a participation class, this group always provides some competitive, exciting action. Twenty-one of the youngsters showed up to have some fun and take home a trophy. The racing itself is always interesting, and traffic usually plays a big part in these races. The participants were Brady Dunn, Jaydon Biles, Alamykael Polley, Ricky Stillman, Mason Mitchell, Tyler Grafton, Stephen Dial, Diego Ochoa, Eric Erdmann, Tom Harrawood, Nicholas Granata, Isabel Gomez, Alex Gomez, Arianna Rizzi, Mason Franck, Egan Shankleton, Daltyn England, Tyler Studant, Logan Mitchell, Thayne Chapin, and Hunter Turpin.

Next up were Twenty-five Express Karts N Parts Yamaha Jr. Supercans. Nicky DeFronzo swept the on track activities for the weekend, but not without pressure from Kevin Bowler in the final. DeFronzo and Bowler led the field to the green, but in turn one, an overanxious driver got into the third place starter and a melee ensued. DeFronzo and Bowler had checked out, with many different battles remaining for all positions on the track. Bowler finished .182 seconds behind DeFronzo, with Justin Jennings recovering from the melee to claim third over Cal Stewart. Colton Ramsey used a nice move on the last lap to claim fifth over Tyler Roland, who started last in the final. Eric Sabin, Josh Clack, Michael Weimer, and Chase Armstrong completed the top ten.

Viper Racing TaG Sr. Leopard Only brought twenty-two karts to the grid, with perennial front-runner Brian Jacobsen leading the way. Jacobsen, like DeFronzo, swept all on track activity in this group, flirting with some high 45 second lap times all weekend. Luke Blazek claimed the runner up spot ahead of Matthew Laukaitis. Laukaitis’ set-up came in about halfway through the race and he was able to move from sixth to third in the last few laps. Scott Goolik finished fourth, ahead of Roberto Castro, Kelsi Hirschy, Kevin Martz, Becky Kaestner, Jordan Johnson, and AJ O’Brien.

Next up were the Jet Karting TaG 60 racers. Kaleb Allison looked to be in control of this group, but unfortunately some debris from the TaG Sr. race happened to be in his way in the prefinal, which was about the only thing that could stop him on the weekend. Allison went on to claim nearly a five second win in the final, over pre-final winner Kyle Kennedy, Sam Bell, Ethan Cook, and Brian Heiple.

In the Adkins Speed Center Yamaha SuperCan Lite class, Manufacturer’s Cup winner TJ Koyen put on a clinic, sweeping all activities for the weekend. Koyen took off in the final and never looked back, winning by nearly ten seconds over Becky Kaestner, Brandon Cather, Jason Allen, and Mitch Huntington.

Triple E Sales Yamaha Rookie was dominated by Hunter Dyer, who used his numerous laps at Concept Haulers to pull off a large win over Parker Corson, Carter Logsdon and Pia Russo.

Trent Choi took top honors in the M2Kartsport TaG 4 Stroke class. Choi swept all on-track activity ahead of Scott Johnson, Greg Lay, and Chuck Kocan.

Laukaitis Racing Yamaha Jr. Sportsman always offers some excitement and this weekend was no different, as it started as the green flag flew in the prefinal. Evan Epperson set fast time in qualifying ahead of Jordan Laukaitis by a whopping .01 of a second. Epperson’s day was short lived though as contact with another competitor at the start of the prefinal left him stranded in turn three and effectively ended his day. This left Jordan Laukaitis to take over in the prefinal, and claim the top spot for the final. At the start of the final, Josh Hotz took the lead over Laukaitis, with Cody Dyer about ten kart lengths back in third. Laukaitis looked to have opportunities to pass, but decided to remain behind Hotz instead of passing each other back and forth. Dyer was able to catch up to the two leaders and soon, the three of them started trading the lead back and forth. Late in the race, Dyer went to the inside of Hotz, with Laukaitis peeking in, but contact between Hotz and Laukaitis left both of them with less than desirable finishes. Jared and Perry Needham were running a strong race in fourth and fifth and were able to capitalize on this, as they claimed the second and third positions. Anthony Granata brought home fourth ahead of series regular Aaron Ancell, who ran strong all weekend. Kyle Kalish, Hotz, Justin Stiffler, Scott Matulik, and Camden Meade rounded out the top ten.

MRP Motorsport TaG Senior was the Laukaitis and Erdmann show. Matthew Laukaitis set fast time in this field of sixteen, but Kyle Erdmann took over in the prefinal. Erdmann led the start of the final, with Laukaitis waiting his turn. Erdmann slipped just a little and that was all the Birel of Laukaitis needed to make his move. Laukaitis pulled out to a one second win over Erdmann, Cody Elliott, Alex Nowysz, and Luke Blazek.

Justin Jennings picked up where he left off in the GMC2Racing.com TaG Junior class in 2007. Jennings received heavy pressure from Jacob Sekey all day and in fact, Sekey won the prefinal by passing Jennings in turn three late in the race. Sekey and Jennings ran nose to tail all day, but in the end, Jennings won by a mere .05 seconds over Sekey, Gregory Gerst, BJ Bates, and Drake Ostrom.

Kyle Erdmann picked up his first win on the day by besting the Comet Kart Sales Yamaha SuperCan Heavy group. Erdmann started by claiming the pole by over one second on Saturday and then continuing on by winning the prefinal and final events. Brandon Cather led the charge to run down Erdmann, but came up short, finishing in second. Jason Allen claimed third, Tim Brinkman was fourth, followed by Nicholas Roberts and Jim Rowe.

Roberto Castro used his notes from the TaG Leopard only class to dominate the Motorama Kart Parts TaG Masters/Heavy group. Castro swept the racing events in this group, with Peter Cook claiming the second position over Ryan Starzyk, Mike Gray and Paul Russo.

Kyle Kalish claimed top honors last year in the Franklin Kart Supply HPV Jr. Sportsman class, and wasn’t about to give up any control in this group. Kalish swept this class, but not without pressure from Collin Griffin, who ran closely to Kalish all weekend. In the end, Kalish won by ½ a second over Griffin, Anthony Granata, Jordan Laukaitis and Josh Hotz.

The final race of the day was the LSR Motorsports HPV Senior and the Streeter Super Stands HPV Junior group. In the Senior group, Kyle Erdmann, Matthew Bigos and Dean Leifheit put on one of the best races of the day. Each took turns leading with Bigos leading the most laps, but Erdmann pulling out the win over Bigos and Leifheit. These three finished less than .3 of a second apart after ten laps. Colton Ramsey swept the Jr. portion of the program ahead of Hunter Lay and Gregory Gerst.

Round two of the 2008 MyChron Route 66 Series presented by Margay/Bridgestone will be held at Midstate Kart Club on May 17 & 18th in Springfield, IL. For more information on the Series check back here at www.route66kartracing.com, and for information about Midstate Kart Club, look up www.midstatekartclub.com Please check the website in the coming weeks as there will be some updates to the classes and on the policies/procedures sections as well.

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