The 2008 Route 66 Sprint Series

2008 MyChron ROUTE 66 SPRINT SERIES
presented by Margay/Bridgestone

Round :: 02
Event Sponsor :: B & B Electric
Midstate Kart Club

May 17 & 18, 2008
Story by :: Greg Grafton
Photos by :: Connie Holliday

First row: #68 TJ Koyen leading Adkins Speed Center Yamaha Supercan Lite Second row, left: #81 Matthew Laukaitis leads MRP Birel America TaG Senior, center: #69 Dillon Morley brought home a Top 10 in the Laukaitis Racing Yamaha Junior Sportsman, right: #47 Kaleb Allison finished second in the Jet Karting TaG 60 class

MATTHEW LAUKAITIS MAKES IT 2 FOR 2 IN TAG SENIOR
The second round of the 2008 MyChron Route 66 Series presented by Margay/Bridgestone took the series to the Midstate Kart Club in Springfield, IL. The Midstate Kart Club always provides exceptional hospitality, and they even ordered phenomenal weather for the weekend. 151 entries took to the track in search of the right setup to claim their bragging rights. The winner of the free set of YHC tires donated by Margay/Bridgestone was Kamryn Sloan. Kartlift handed out $50 gas cards that were surely used for their “Kartlift gets you to the races” program. Kyle Kalish won the Viper Racing Fast Time Award which entitles him to a product certificate at Viper Racing. Digatron also provided a free entry for the 61 Kartway event which was chosen by drawing. LSR Motorsports was also kind enough to donate items for the drawings at the driver’s meetings. 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. The Midstate Kart Club held a cookout on Saturday night for everyone to enjoy after the long day of practice.

The Jet Karting TaG 60 class was the first on the track, and it was the Colton Brooks show. Colton made his first Route 66 appearance of the season well known as he piloted his Wildkart to a clean sweep. Kyle Kennedy held down the second spot most of the day, but Kaleb Allison had other things in mind in the final as he took the runner-up spot for the day. Kennedy was third, followed by Braden Johnson and Sam Bell.

In the Viper Racing Leopard Only TaG Class, Manufacturer’s Cup Winner Travis Firing made his presence known, as he quickly took to the ½ mile road course and `swept all on track activities for the weekend. Matthew Laukaitis had the best view, but unfortunately wasn’t able to contend with Firing’s Margay. Laukaitis drove his Birel to second, ahead of Luke Blazek, Keenan Hertzner and Dustin Kessinger.

Next up were the Franklin Kart Supply HPV Jr. Sportsman racers, and as the story line goes, another race equals another Kyle Kalish dominating win. Kalish handily drove his CKT powered Merlin to the win by five seconds over Jordan “the iceman” Laukaitis, Collin Griffin, Anthony Granata, Perry Needham. Josh Hotz, who missed qualifying on Saturday, made the charge from the back of the prefinal to finish 6th, ahead of Camden Meade, Jared Needham, Chris Gray, and Tucker Cory.

Justin Jennings has the same reputation as Kalish does in the GMC2Racing.com TaG Junior class. Jennings swept all three events, but Colton Ramsey and Jacob Sekey certainly provided some pressure for him. This group was blazingly fast as they were only .1 away from cracking the 29 second bracket. Jennings took the win over Ramsey, Sekey, Zach Corson, and Gregory Gerst.

Kyle Erdmann has a similar effect on the Comet Kart Sales Yamaha Supercan Heavy racers. Erdmann set fast time, won the prefinal and final over perennial front runner Chad Kruger, Jason Allen, A. J. O’Brien (who came from the back of the prefinal), and Brandon Cather.

Erdmann picked up where he left off when he entered the MRP Birel America TaG Senior class. Erdmann set fast time, but Matthew Laukaitis had other things in mind. Laukaitis timed in fourth, but quickly showed he had more to offer by winning the prefinal. Erdmann used a great start to take the lead as Laukaitis fell back to third, while a crash ensued behind them. Laukaitis slowly chose his passing points and slowly picked them off until he took the win by a scant .079 seconds over Erdmann. Andrew Coulter had a great run going in the third spot; however a broken lower bumper mount negated his efforts with three to go. Justin Vancil ended up third over Alex Nowysz and Lincoln Eppard.

With twenty-three Joey Karter Kid Karts in town, the action was sure to be exciting. Traffic always plays a big part in this class, and this race was no different. The participants were Jaydon Biles, Mason Mitchell, Daltyn England, Eric Erdmann, Thayne Chapin, Brady Dunn, Ricky Stillman, Hunter Turpin, Tyler Grafton, Stephen Dial, Grayson Shankleton, Jeremy Fierkes, Isabel Gomez, Tom Harrawood, Diego Ochoa, Egan Shankleton, Logan Mitchell, Blake Bowen, Alanmykael Polley, Nicholas Granata, Alex Gomez, Arianna Rizzi, Tyler Studant, and Adriana Bowen.

Express Karts N Parts Yamaha Junior Supercan had 21 racers trying to claim the top prize, and Colton Ramsey let everyone know from the beginning that he was in charge. Behind him, the action was anything but calm from the wave of the green flag. A Red Flag after two laps couldn’t even slow Ramsey and his Adkins/Margay down enough for Justin Jennings to make a run on him. Jennings claimed the runner-up spot over CHMS winner Nicky DeFronzo, Brad Brittin, Cal Stewart, B.J. Bates, Chase Armstrong, Hunter Lay, Tyler Rowland, and Jose Sanchez.

Adkins Speed Center Yamaha Supercan Lite was once again dominated by TJ Koyen. TJ has quickly developed a reputation for being fast every time he pulls on the track, and he proved it by sweeping all on track activity over the fourteen racers. Koyen took his Switch powered Merlin to an almost two second win over Becky Kaestner who seemed to be the only one within reach at the start. Kaestner had a six second gap back to the five kart battle for third, which was claimed by Kyle Erdmann. Erdmann started eighth, but worked with Brett Johnson and they methodically came through the pack. Erdmann was third ahead of A.J. O’Brien, and Brett Johnson.

Hunter Lay pulled out to an eight second win over Gregory Gerst in the Streeter Super Stands HPV Junior class, while Dean Leifheit took top honors over Kyle Erdmann in the LSR Motorsports HPV Senior class. In the Triple E Sales Yamaha Rookie class, Parker Corson set fast time and won the prefinal, but couldn’t finish the final, which left Keith Dueter to assume command and claim the win over Carter Logsdon, and Cooper Mixer. Triple E Sales was also kind enough to donate certificates to each one of the entries in this class redeemable at their trailer.

If it’s excitement you want, watch 23 Laukaitis Racing Yamaha Junior Sportsman karts take to the racing surface. Kyle Kalish picked up the fast time award in this group over Jordan Laukaitis and Evan Epperson. If there’s bad luck to be found in this class, Epperson has a way of finding it. These three were having a great battle for the lead in the final until the leader Laukaitis caught a lapped kart and slowed, with Kalish slowing behind them. Epperson unfortunately was still lined up for the corner and went for an undesirable ride into the barriers. This left Laukaitis and Kalish to battle it out, with Laukaitis leading most of the way, but he went to protect the inside on the last lap, which allowed Kalish to draft up next to him on the outside. They went through the last corner side by side and all the way to the stripe without touching each other. Laukaitis somehow squeezed out a .01 second win over Kalish. Josh Hotz completed the drive of the weekend after missing qualifying and coming through the 23 kart field to 3rd in the prefinal and final. Colton Brooks brought home fourth, followed by Grant Sandberg, Perry Needham, Anthony Granata, Epperson, Aaron Ancell, and Dillon Morley.

Round three of the 2008 MyChron Route 66 Series presented by Margay/Bridgestone will be held at 61 Kartway in Delmar, IA on June 21 & 22. For more information on the Series check out www.route66kartracing.com, and for information about 61 Kartway, check www.61kartway.com. Their club racing schedule is available on the site, so be sure to check out which weekends you can go tune up for the third round of the ultra-competitive Route 66 Series.

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