05-17-05
SPRING BRINGS FRESH CROP OF WINNERS ON THE BURRIS CIRCLE TOUR
Rockford, Illinois — Mike Bartlett, got the 2005 Burris Circle Tour season off to a memorable start with his first feature win on the Tour which kicked-off at Rockford Speedway this weekend. Andy Jones won the first heat race in convincing fashion wining by over a second. In the second heat, Damien Jenks, last years class champion, posted the win and the fastest time of the day. But Bartlett was hanging tough in second place in both the heats. In the feature, Bartlett jumped out to an early lead and Jenks was at the back of the field. Lap after lap, Jenks worked his way through the field until he was in third place with five laps to go. Lap 13 was the turning point with Bartlett holding off a strong challenge from both Jenks and Jones, taking the checkered flag and the top of the podium.
There was a great field in the F200 Sr. class. Some bad luck visited Chris Lishamer, breaking a chain in the first lap, making way for Rob Blake to take the lead. Then, the relief driver for Joe Chiapetta (could that have been last year’s Burris Circle Tour Champion Nick Chiapetta), got the kart to handle through the corners and won over 6 seconds.
The BCT is seeing explosive growth in the F200 Champ Kart classes. There were strong fields in all 3 of the classes with Mackenzie Piller, Corey Domenick and David Brady winning if Champ F200 Jr. 2, Champ F200 Jr. 3 and Champ F200 Sr. respectively. Today’s win was the first feature win for Brady.
The Jr. Sportsman Champ class brought together many graduates from the outstanding field of 2004 Kid Karters, a few veterans and some first time racers. 4 different drivers led the feature with Brent Edmunds making a beautiful pass around Sean Clavey in the closing laps.
Each new season always brings out a new group of Kid Karters. Koby Wertnz brought along his entire clan to share in his feature win. Sam Carney, Zaida Clevenger, Julia Malosh and Thaddeus Malosh all made an excellent showing. Mavrick Piller won in the Kid Kart Champ Kart.
In other action, JJ Adams won the Sr. Sportsman Class, Brad Plunk won in 2-cycle Sportsman Lite, Ashley Heronimus won the F200 Jr 3 class and Mike Flores took home the top trophy in Jr. 2 Lite. Tommy Jones, with a new kart and a new engine, took the first opportunity to stretch his legs in a new class and took command of the Sr. Lite Class. Aaron Katzenberg and Nick Chiapetta finished in the second and third spots.
The Burris Circle Tour joins forces with the Badger Kart Club to present Karting on the Milwaukee Mile over the Memorial Day Weekend. There will be a full slate of Badger and BCT classes running for 2 days at this historic venue. Pre-registration is encouraged. Forms can be found at www.karts.net/burriscircle.
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