The 2008 Route 66 Sprint Series

2008 MyChron ROUTE 66 SPRINT SERIES
presented by Margay/Bridgestone

Round :: 04
Event Sponsor :: Comet Kart Sales
New Castle Motorsports Park

July 4-5, 2008
Story by :: Greg Grafton
Photos by :: Dawn Grafton

First row: #08 Colton Ramsey completes the pass on Justin Jennings for the Yamaha Jr. Supercan win. Second row, left: #111 Billy Lewis and #126 Brandon Newey in TaG Senior, center: #3 Jeremy Remick leads #22 Josh Hotz, #82 Jordan Laukaitis and #99 Tucker Cory in Yamaha Jr. Sportsman, right: #21 Evan Epperson in Laukaitis Racing Yamaha Jr. Sportsman

LEWIS, REMICK, & ERDMANN POST DOUBLE WINS
The fourth round of the 2008 MyChron Route 66 Series presented by Margay/Bridgestone took the series to the famed New Castle Motorsports Park in New Castle, IN. Mike Adams, Mark Dismore, and the entire NCMP staff provided a great environment for the racers to compete in. An open practice day was held on Friday July 4th, with all racing activities taking place on Saturday, July 5th. Saturday evening NCMP offered a dinner at the Racer’s Grill and complementary Fireworks. The holiday weekend obviously held the entries down a bit, which were 126 for the day. The winner of the free set of YHC tires donated by Margay/Bridgestone was Andy Batt. 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, which was won by Jaydon Biles. Digatron also provided a free entry for the next race. A big thanks to all of the sponsors who provided these products/awards!

The first class up was the Joey Karter Kid Karts, with Jaydon Biles leading the way. Early on Eric Erdmann looked to have something for Jaydon, but in the end Biles had just a little more than the rest. Egan Shankleton picked the last race to finish the best, and came through in the final to claim the runner up spot over Erdmann, Tyler Grafton, Hunter Turpin, Grayson Shankleton, Jackson Vojin, Keaton Perdue, and Nate Kavicky. Again, most importantly all racers had fun and enjoyed themselves.

Franklin Kart Supply HPV Jr. Sportsman was the platform for Jeremy Remick’s first win. The results will show that Remick swept the program, but those who watched know that Kyle Tilley made him earn every inch of this one. Remick’s Margay led the final all the way, and took the defensive line with Tilley’s Arrow exploring the outside line for an opening. Remick led into the final corner, and Tilley went high to line up for the crossover move and almost made it work but Remick squeezed out the win by a mere .06 seconds. Josh Hotz led the charge to third ahead of Collin Griffin, Grant Sandberg, Perry Needham, Tucker Cory, Anthony Granata, Jared Needham, and Evan Epperson.

Remick’s other win came in the Laukaitis Racing Yamaha Junior Sportsman group, which consisted of 19 racers. Josh Hotz bested the field by .3 of a second in qualifying ahead of Remick and Anthony Granata. The prefinal had plenty of action before the green flag as a crash on the lineup left two stranded on the backstretch. Hotz, Jordan Laukaitis, and Anthony Granata formed a tight three kart battle for the lead with Hotz claiming the win and pole for the final. Remick came from last on the grid to finish fourth in the prefinal. At the start of the final, Remick, Laukaitis, Hotz, Tucker Cory and Granata broke away instantly from the rest of the field. Granata hung tough for a couple of laps, but the front four began to slowly pull away. Remick, Laukaitis and Hotz all took turns leading with Cory having the best view as he hung right on the third place kart’s bumper for most of the race. Coming to the checkered flag, it was Remick’s Margay in charge with Laukaitis’ Birel looking for a line, he tried the same crossover move as Tilley did in the HPV race, but came up just short as well. Hotz followed Laukaitis across the line in third. Cory claimed the fourth spot over Granata, Collin Griffin, Perry Needham, Dillon Morley, Evan Epperson, and Jared Needham.

In the Viper Racing Leopard Senior class, Becky Kaestner lit up the New Castle track with the only lap in the 1:05 bracket all weekend, posting a 1:05.980 in qualifying. Kaestner’s Viper Racing Arrow led the field to the flag in the prefinal and a three kart battle between her, Brandon Newey(Top Kart), and Billy Lewis(Arrow) ensued. These three traded the lead back and forth for the entire race with Lewis leading most of the way. Coming to the checkered it looked like Kaestner had a move planned when an engine malfunction ended her run just one turn short of the flag. Newey and Lewis would claim the front row for the final. With Kaestner starting last in the field, Lewis took control of the race early and never looked back. Keenan Hertzner(Margay) steeped it up and took control of the second position. Matthew Laukaitis was hounding Newey for the third spot for most of the race until a flat tire relegated him to a DNF. Kaestner came all the way through the 15 kart field to claim fourth in the final, ahead of A. J. O’Brien, Justin Vancil, Kevin Martz, Dustin Kessinger, Alex Nowysz and Kelsi Hirschy-Guess.

Lewis’ other win came in the MRP Motorsport TaG Senior class. Lewis and Newey were again up front in qualifying and prefinal claiming the top two spots again. Lewis took his Arrow to the lead right from the start in the final and never looked back, which is good because he would have seen Kyle Erdmann(Margay) coming through the field. Erdmann picked up spots one by one and claimed the runner up spot. Alex Nowysz has been running fast at the Route 66 races and finally has a third place finish to show for his efforts, as bad luck seemed to strike him so far this season. Newey claimed the fourth spot over Clay Maddox who started at the rear of the field. Justin Vancil, Dean Leifheit, Dustin Kessinger, Brett Johnson, and Matthew Laukaitis rounded out the top ten.

Kyle Erdmann, coming off his three win weekend at 61 Kartway, was looking to continue his winning ways in Comet Kart Sales Yamaha Supercan Heavy. Erdmann’s Margay took the pole in qualifying by .4 of a second and never looked back on the day. He won the final by 4.6 seconds over Brandon Cather(Margay), who had a healthy margin back to the battle for third. Jason Allen claimed the third position over Nicholas Roberts and Tim Brinkman.

Erdmann’s other win was a little less eventful in the LSR Motorsports HPV Senior class. He also swept this program in his Triple E Margay, with Will Laub and Kerry Roseman completing the top three. Kevin Harris was the only one who looked to have anything for Erdmann, but a DNF prevented him from challenging for the win. Dean Leifheit also had troubles, giving him a DNF and paving the way for Erdmann.

If it’s close racing you desire, then look no further than the Express Karts N Parts Yamaha Junior Supercan class. Nineteen of these aggressive racers took to the track for the title. Colton Ramsey paced the field in qualifying over Justin Jennings and NCMP regulars Christian and Grant Vogel. Ramsey claimed the prefinal over Jennings by a mere .02 of a second to set the stage for a great final. The final was a great battle between Ramsey, Jennings, Nicky DeFronzo, and Robby Seward. Christian Vogel hung with the top four for a few laps, but they began to pull away as the race progressed. DeFronzo found himself in a tough spot as he rode in third waiting to make a move. Not wanting to wait until the end, he made a push for the lead and ran in second for a couple laps, until he lost some ground after being overtaken for the position. This left Ramsey and Jennings to fight it out with Seward in the third spot taking it all in. On the last lap, Jennings took the defensive line, with Ramsey(Margay) going wide in the final corner to make a run coming to the flag, which he was able to make work by .103 of a second and take the win. Jennings(Margay) claimed second over Seward, Christian Vogel and DeFronzo. Cal Stewart claimed sixth over Grant Vogel, who was involved in a crash on the start and charged back to seventh. James Siminoski finished eighth ahead of Chase Armstrong and Robbie Freeman.

With names like Koyen and Firing in the class, you knew Adkins Speed Center Yamaha Supercan Lite would be a great race. TJ Koyen paced the field in qualifying by .3 of second over Becky Kaestner, Kyle Erdmann and Ironman 150 winner Travis Firing. Koyen claimed the prefinal over Firing, Erdmann and Kaestner. In the final, Firing and Erdmann did everything they could to run with Koyen, but his Merlin chassis simply came in too quick and he pulled out to a margin that was too much for them. Koyen has yet to be beaten on the track this year in the Route 66 Series. Firing(Margay) claimed the runner up spot over Erdmann, Brandon Cather, Mitch Hunnington, Jason Allen, Steve Schiewer, Will Laub, Jeff Green, and J. D. Gunn.

A new engine can certainly do wonders for a racer’s confidence and such was the case with Sam Bell. Sam has been battling the Jet Karting TaG 60 racers with a Gazelle all year and recently picked up a Comer engine which instantly made him competitive with the group. Bell(Margay) used his new power to set fast time in this group ahead of Kaleb Allison(Tornado) and Bryan Heiple. Allison went on to claim the prefinal and finals, but not without a challenge from Bell. Bell actually nosed inside at one point, but just didn’t have enough momentum to make it stick ahead of Allison. Allison claimed his third win of the season in this group, ahead of Bell and Heiple.

Another race in the GMC2Racing.com TaG Junior class, another Justin Jennings victory. Jennings kept his streak alive as he again swept the program in this group, but not without challenge from Colton Ramsey. Jennings(Margay) won the prefinal by 1.4 seconds and took the lead from the start in the final and won by seconds over Ramsey(Margay), Cal Stewart and Gregory Gerst.

In the Triple E Sales Yamaha Rookie group, Braydon Dobereiner(Margay) and Sam Cate had a battle for the win in both the prefinal and final. Cate claimed the pole in qualifying, with Dobereiner winning the prefinal and final on the day. In the Motorama Kart Parts TaG Heavy/Masters class, late entrants Jody(Arrow) and Matt Skaggs took the top two spots beating fast qualifier Bill Friddle, Andy Batt, and Chuck Cate to the line.

Round five of the 2008 MyChron Route 66 Series presented by Margay/Bridgestone will be held at St. Louis Karting Association in Pevely, MO on August 2nd and 3rd. The schedule is available by clicking HERE. For information about St. Louis Karting Association, check out www.slka.net. Special thanks to Viper Racing for sponsoring the fifth event on the schedule.

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