The 2008 Route 66 Sprint Series

2008 MyChron ROUTE 66 SPRINT SERIES
presented by Margay/Bridgestone

Round :: 03
Event Sponsor :: Custom Window Installations
61 Kartway

June 21 & 22, 2008
Story by :: Greg Grafton
Photos by :: Dawn Grafton

First row: Viper Racing Leopard Only start. Second row, left: Laukaitis Racing Yamaha Jr. Sportsman racer Jimmy Tapocik, center: Anthony Granata, winner of Franklin Kart Supply HPV Jr. Sportsman, right: BJ Bates, winner of GMC2Racing.com TaG Jr.

ERDMANN TRIPLES IN SENIOR CLASSES
The third round of the 2008 MyChron Route 66 Series presented by Margay/Bridgestone took the series to 61 Kartway, in Delmar, IA. Greg Hughes, and the entire 61 Kartway staff provided an awesome environment for the racers to compete in. The winner of the free set of YHC tires donated by Margay/Bridgestone was Quentin Fischlien. Kartlift handed out $50 gas cards that were surely used for their “Kartlift gets you to the races” program. Dennis Riggs from Viper Racing also continued his Fast Time Award which entitles a random fast qualifier to a product certificate at Viper Racing. Digatron also provided a free entry for the next race, which was won by Chad Kruger. Thanks to all of the sponsors who provided these products/awards! Practice and qualifying were held on Saturday with one round of practice, prefinals and finals held on Sunday. 61 Kartway held a cookout on Saturday night for everyone to enjoy after the long day of practice.

The first group on the track was the Adkins Speed Center Yamaha Supercan Lite class, with twelve racers contending for the crown. Although he didn’t seem his usual lightening fast self in practice, TJ Koyen once again put it on the pole in qualifying on Saturday. Koyen kept up his perfect record in this class, as he has swept all on track activity at the first three rounds, by taking a 3.5 second win in the final. TJ also held the honor of the only person to beat Kyle Erdmann on the day, as Erdmann came home second after a battle with Becky Kaestner for the runner-up position. Brandon Cather finished a solid fourth, as Will Laub rounded out the top five.

The second group on the track was the Jet Karting TaG 60 competitors. If you just looked at the score sheets, all you would see is a sweep by Kaleb Allison, but behind him there was a lot of action. Allison set fast time and won the prefinal to lead the field to the green flag at the start of the final. Behind Allison some contact ensued which mixed the field up, and allowed Allison to get away. Kyle Kennedy was coming through the pack after being knocked around on the start, and as the fifteen lap final wound down, appeared to have something for Allison. Unfortunately they ran out of laps, as it was shaping up to be a great battle, so Kennedy had to settle for the runner-up spot ahead of Tristan Peters, Wyatt Riemenschnieder, and Sam Bell.

The next group out on the raceway was the Viper Racing Leopard Only racers. With fifteen racers vying for the top spot, the only name they had to remember was Keenan Hertzner. Hertzner swept the program on the weekend, capping off the weekend with a two second win over Matthew Laukaitis. Becky Kaestner appeared to be destined for the runner-up spot, but a faulty chain ended her weekend. Laukaitis assumed the second spot and set fast lap of the final on his way to finishing second. Alex Nowysz claimed the third spot ahead of Luke Blazek, and twelfth starting A.J. O’Brien.

The Franklin Kart Supply HPV Jr. Sportsman class had eleven racers going after the victory, and Collin Griffin appeared to be the man to beat. He set fast time in qualifying and took the prefinal win over Anthony Granata. Coming down for the start, Granata got the lead and never looked back, which was a good thing because he would have seen Griffin’s nosepiece right on his rear bumper. Griffin tried several times to find a passing point, but couldn’t complete a pass. Granata held his own and drove 15 flawless laps to claim his first Route 66 Series win by a scant .12 seconds over Griffin. Camden Meade took third over Josh Hotz and Perry Needham.

GMC2Racing.com’s TAG Junior was the fifth class out on the track for the day, and they saved the best excitement for the final. Justin Jennings appeared to be cruising to another win in this class, by setting fast time and claiming the prefinal. In the final however, Jennings only completed 1 ½ laps before a mechanical malfunction caused him to spin and lose a chain. BJ Bates was close enough that he got caught up in this as well, but he eventually got going again. This put Synjun Bauer in charge of the race for most of the first half of the race, while Bates was making his way back through the field. Bates, eventually passed Bauer and went on to take a 6 second win over Sebastian Peters, Bauer, and Gregory Gerst.

The next class up were the Comet Kart Sales Yamaha Supercan Heavy racers. Kyle Erdmann put it on the pole in qualifying, but Michael Dittmer used a nice move on the first lap of the prefinal to take the lead and never look back. Erdmann, obviously made the right adjustments as he trailed Dittmer in the opening laps in the final before completing the pass and pulling away for a 1.6 second win. Dittmer comfortably claimed the second spot over Brandon Cather, Chad Kruger. Tim Brinkman claimed the fifth spot over Jason Allen, as the two battled for almost the entire 15 lap race.

Laukaitis Racing Yamaha Jr. Sportsman drivers were up next, and with sixteen racers vying for the coveted crown. Dillon Morley set a new track record in qualifying, narrowly edging out Evan Epperson for the pole. Morley took off in the prefinal and pulled out to a small lead over Epperson, Jordan Laukaitis and Josh Hotz. Morley claimed the prefinal over Hotz, Laukaitis and Epperson. In the final, Morley took off ahead of Hotz, with Laukaitis and Epperson battling for third. Morley ran fifteen laps to perfection and never made a mistake, with Hotz coming across the line right behind him. Unfortunately, Morley’s engine had a very slight variance on one of the technical items, and it was all for not, as the win was then awarded to Hotz, with Laukaitis being awarded second, Epperson ended up third. Anthony Granata finished a strong fourth ahead of Collin Griffin, Grant Sandberg, Jared Needham, Camden Meade, Sam Bell, and Kaleb Allison.

The eighth group out was the MRP Motorsport TaG Senior class, with Kyle Erdmann notching his second win on the day, this one by a dominating twelve seconds. Edrmann’s Sonik powered Margay, was on a rail, pulling away, lap after lap over the fifteen kart field. Dean Leifheit had a strong run going, only to have contact from another kart loosen his pipe and consequently be black flagged for it hanging over the bumper. Brett Johnson had been steadily moving up during the day and drove a flawless race to claim the runner-up position over Andrew Coulter, Dustin Kessinger, and 14th starting Matthew Laukaitis. Sean Manning claimed the sixth spot over Alex Nowsyz, with Morgan Schuler, Justin Vancil and Cody Elliott completing the top ten.
With Nineteen Express Karts N Parts Yamaha Junior Supercans on the track, you just knew there would be some excitement. Fortunately, this group exercised some caution and the excitement came in the form of great racing throughout the pack. Justin Jennings would sweep this group on the day, but not without pressure from Colton Ramsey in the final. Ramsey was able to apply pressure, but would never get close enough to complete a pass in the fifteen lap final. BJ Bates and Cal Stewart had a great battle for third, with Bates claiming the spot. Tyler Stillmunkes rounded out the top five. Michael Dionne, TJ Keesey, Gregory Gerst, Chase Armstrong, and Robbie Freeman completed the second five.

The Joey Karter Kid Karts were the next class out on the track, and as always, traffic is the great equalizer in this class. The participants were Jaydon Biles, Owen Leatherberry, Brant Carter, Dillon Schwanbeck, Logan Mitchell, Eric Erdmann, Stephen Dial, Daltyn England, Mason Mitchell, Egan Shankleton, Grayson Shankleton, Alanmykael Polly, Casey Jacobs, Tyler Studant, Isabel Gomez, Alex Gomez, Arianna Rizzi and Tyler Grafton. Most importantly all of these racers passed the tech inspections at the end of the day.

In the Motorama Kart Parts TaG Heavy Masters class, Al Cram set fast time in qualifying by .2 tenths of a second over Brandon Hall. Hall obviously did his homework and found a little speed by claiming the prefinal win over Cram to claim the pole for the final. Hall took off at the start and ran fifteen smooth laps to claim the win over Cram by a mere ½ second. John McCracken brought home third as Mike Gray’s chain failed, ending his day ten laps into the race.

As the saying goes, when you’re hot, you’re hot. Kyle Erdmann was on fire by this point, and he continued his winning ways in the LSR Motorsports HPV Senior Class. Erdmann used his pole starting position in the final to cruise to a five second win on the day. Dean Leifheit, Will Laub and Chris Pappathopoulos ran nose to tail for the entire race to battle for second, for the entire fifteen laps. Leifheit would finish second ahead of Laub and Pappathopoulos in this final. Hunter Lay claimed the Streeter Super Stands HPV Junior win.

The Triple E Sales Yamaha Rookie class keeps growing and six young racers took to the track in this group. Eric Recker claimed the win over Parker Corson, Braydon Dobereiner, Carter Logsdon, and Cayley Hall.

Round four of the 2008 MyChron Route 66 Series presented by Margay/Bridgestone will be held at New Castle Motorsports Park in New Castle, IN on July 5th. This will be a one day event, with track practice on July 4th, and all qualifying and racing taking place on Saturday July 5th. All racers are invited to stay over for the KRA club race on Sunday July 6th. For more information on the Series check back here at www.route66kartracing.com, and for information about classes at New Castle Motorsports Park, check www.newcastleraceway.com. Special thanks to Comet Kart Sales for sponsoring the fourth event on the schedule.

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