07/6/05
STARS DRIVERS BATTLE HEAT, HUMIDITY, AND RAIN IN FLORIDA
Seattle, Washington — If there’s one thing that the 2005 Jacksonville round of the Snap-on Stars of Karting presented by the IRL will be remembered for it will be the weather, between temperatures in the 90’s, humidity off the charts, with several downpours thrown in over the three days the drivers and teams in the East Division of the series faced every element imaginable.
The one driver who stood out as the real all-star over the course of the weekend however had to be Kyle Wiegand on his GP/Pavesi. The India driver took home ICC wins on Saturday and Sunday and was the class of the field all weekend in the headlining shifters. In Saturday’s race he was challenged by Josh Schreiber on a Kosmic and Stuart Marsell on an Arrow who took home the other two podium positions. Sunday’s ICC race saw Marsell on pole, but Wiegand took the lead halfway through and held on for the win with Marsell in second and Schreiber coming home third.
The first ICA race had to be held on Sunday morning due to a flooded race track. While Phil Giebler had the hole shot and jumped out to an early lead it was Johnny Johnson who was really on a mission. The Iowan charged through on his Kosmic to take a convincing win with Chris Wehrheim second on his PCR and Caleb Loniewski taking the last step on the podium on his American made Margay. Sunday’s race saw the Gillard chassis drivers take command with Chris Larson taking the win and Chris Stage coming home third. Sandwiched in between them in second was Joey King on his Margay.
The PCH Motorsports JICA class saw the First Kart drivers make a strong impression with hard charging Colombian Gustavo Yacaman winning on Saturday with his First Kart teammate Zach Schiff coming home in second. Hayden Duerson (Tony Kart), Anthony Llopiz (Kosmic), and Carlos Munoz (Birel) rounded out the top five. On Sunday Carlos Munoz stepped up to take the win for Birel with First Kart teammates Schiff and Yacaman in close pursuit.
The King Taco Junior Shifters saw success by drivers Schiff and Duerson who were pulling double duty running both classes in the challenging weather. In Saturday’s race Duerson won ahead of Schiff with the Birel of Nick Darinzo in third. Sunday saw Zach Schiff take his second win of the day for First Kart with David Carmendy second in another First Kart and Michael Vincec third in a CRG.
Florida is the home of Easykart USA and the class put on a great show at the high banked Jacksonville track. Promising young talent Paulie Harraka took home Saturday’s win with the likable Ryan Fowler in second and perennial Easykart contender Andre Villareal in third. On Sunday Fowler capped off a dream day with a win in Easykart, as he beat home Sean Burstyn and Austin Grote. Earlier in the day Fowler was crowned MVP in the Kartech Motorsports Dash for Cash as he beat the fast qualifiers from ICA, ICC, and Easykart in an all-star race for $1000.
No weekend is complete without the enthusiastic attitude that comes with the Grand Products Cadet Class. On Saturday Bijon Spinazzola took the win over Nevoso teammate Spencer Pigot of Florida. Sage Karam came home third on his Top Kart. Sunday’s action saw Nick Neri bring home the win on a KRT followed home closely by Sebastien Ordonez and Karam.
Next weekend sees a trip of immense distance for the series as they travel to Chilliwack, British Colombia for round three of the West division of the championship.
