09-08-05
BAY AREA MINI DEALER’S GRAND PRIX TO WRAP UP THE WEST DIVISION OF THE STARS OF KARTING
Seattle, Washington — This weekend’s Bay Area MINI Dealer’s Grand Prix at Infineon Raceway will see West Division champions crowned and sent off to October’s National Championships in! Austin, Texas where they will square off with their Snap-on Stars
counterparts from the East. In ICC the battle that all of North America has been watching this season will come to a head as Jason Bowles (Tony Kart) and Alex Speed (Birel) come into the weekend with only five points between them. This battle may come down to the last lap on Sunday as these two have been battling at the front of the pack for most of 2005 and will need to bring home solid points to bring to Austin as they will then square off with Indiana ace Kyle Wiegand. RBI’s Alan Rudolph sits in third coming off a respectable showing at this weekend’s Rock Island Grand Prix.
The ICA class sees Kevin Glover (CRG), Phil Giebler (Intrepid), and Joel Miller (Tony Kart) all closely bunched atop the standings. Giebler, however, has already clinched the Eastern ICA championship and will use this weekend to see if he can end up with more points in the West than the East to take to the Finals in Austin. Glover and Miller meanwhile will be going all out for the West Division championship with CRG’s Grant Hebner in striking distance.
The West division of the PCH Motorsports JICA class sees Intrepid’s Brett Smrz carry a solid lead into the final but Jacob Neal (CRG) and Canadian Brendan Langlois (Maranello) could come out on top with good performances and bad luck from their title rivals. Neal showed well at this track a month earlier in the Red Bull Driver Search Karting Runoffs.
In the King Taco Junior Shifter class Top Kart’s Levi Roberts comes into the weekend with the West title all but wrapped up. His teammate Billy Goshen is always one to watch and pulled off a doubleheader win in Reno earlier in the year. Phillip Arscott (Swiss Hutless) and Connor DePhillipi (CRG) are also within distance of the West’s runner-up spot.
Easykart has been the domain of Cory Pollock in the west this year and he will come into the Bay Area MINI Dealer’s race with a clinched championship as he looks to build on his points total to bring to Austin. Joshua Lyon and Patri! ck Barrett will be battling it out for the runner-up spot however.
Miles Maroney (Nevoso) will come into Infineon for the finals with a solid, but not insurmountable lead in the Grand Products Cadet class. His consistent rival Gustavo Menezes (Top Kart) will try to charge and take the championship but will need a great performance with problems from his rival. Kyle Shriver sits in third place in his Tony Kart going into the Infineon race thanks to great consistency throughout the year. It’s only been bad racing luck that has kept Birel’s Brendan Phinny from having more of a chance in the thick of the hunt as he’s been fast all year and sits fourth heading into the West finale.
Anyone with a valid driver’s license is invited to test drive a MINI at speed around Infineon Raceway’s karting circuit from 12:00 to 1:00 PM, and 5:00 to 6:00 PM Friday, and 11:30 to 12:30 and 5:30 to 6:30 PM on Saturday and Sunday.
Snap-on Stars of Karting presented by the Indy Racing League is based out of Seattle, Washington, sanctioned ! by the World Karting Association (WKA) and owned and operated by 1986 Indianapolis 500 champion and IRL IndyCar Series team owner Bobby Rahal, IndyCar Series driver Bryan Herta and veteran karting promoter Paul Zalud. www.starsofkarting.com, www.worldkarting.com.
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