7/22/05 

MARGAY DRIVERS STORM TO ELEVEN WKA NATIONAL WINS AT SOUTH BEND

St. Louis, Missouri — With thunder and lightning enveloping the freshly renovated South Bend Raceway Park (SBRP), Margay drivers created their own storm by powering to 11 wins at the WKA Matt-Con Services Nationals.   Eric Morrow duplicated his Daytona performance by sweeping his way to three junior class wins while Corey Reeves and Brandon Adkins solidified their standing as two of America’s elite drivers by claiming two victories each.

As a total of 393 entries took to the track for the third of four 2005 WKA Manufacturers Cup events, drivers and crews alike were unanimous in their praise of Garry Lobaugh’s facility upgrades.  Spotless pit areas, fresh landscaping and an abundance of clean portable restrooms were just some of the much-appreciated upgrades.  And while Mother Nature did her best to play havoc with the event, the show was wrapped up early on both days.

Formula Y Junior started things off on Saturday and while it was the new Margay Young Gun Chad Finley that took the pole and pre-final win, it was cagey Eric Morrow on his Adkins powered Brava 1.4 who lead Finley across the line by 1.29 seconds for a Margay 1-2 as Finley claimed fast race lap.  HPV Junior was a carbon copy of FY Junior as Finley with his Switch Power claimed the pole and the pre-final again only to be bested by Morrow for his second win of the day.  Morrow also took fast race lap honors on his way to the 3.7 second victory.  Sunday was Ground Hog Day for Finley and Morrow in Yamaha Junior Supercan as Finley again took the pole and pre-final win only to see Morrow take yet another dominant win with a six second victory.  Finley had to console himself with a fifth place finish and yet another fast race-lap. Finley’s first win will come soon and when it does, many others will follow in short order.

Corey Reeves put his stamp firmly on the Yamaha Lite field by claiming the pole, pre-final and feature win.  Tim Goettsch and Tony Jump challenged Reeves throughout the final with Goettsch coming up just .2 second short at the line.  Joey King completed a Margay sweep of the top four while Goettsch and his Moore power took fast race lap honors.  If Reeves mastery of the Yamaha ‘pipe’ classes was ever in doubt, that doubt was obliterated on Sunday as Corey did it again, taking his Switch Powered Brava 1.4 Limo to the pole, pre-final win and feature win as he led fast race lap winner Kevin Nelson and Mark Dismore Jr. in another top three sweep for Margay drivers

Young Margay driver Steve Nemeth stole the pole in HPV Jr. Sportsman and looked like the man to beat but came up just short, finishing second and claiming the fast race lap.  Sunday looked to be Nemeth’s day as he asserted the pole for Yamaha Jr. Sportsman aboard his Brava Rookie and then followed up with a solid pre-final win.  Nemeth looked to be on his way to victory, but it was not to be as a last lap tangle allowed Justin Jennings to use his momentum to pull of a spectacular pass through the chicane on the run to the flag and claim his first ever WKA National win.  The Quincy, Illinois native piloted a Laukaitis powered Brava Rookie en route to the biggest win of his young career.  

Debuting a new Brava 1.4 Limo, John Ferris scored one of the major upsets of the weekend in Yamaha Masters as he claimed the win over perennial winner James Perkins on his similar Brava 1.4 Limo.  Perkins has won every Yamaha Masters race for nearly two years yet Ferris was not to be denied as he held off Perkins by .66 seconds.  New York’s Chris Rock claimed fast race lap honors and made it a Margay 1-2-3 with a solid drive aboard another Brava 1.4 Limo.

National Championships are nothing new to Joey King and the Silvis, IL veteran claimed another one with his third consecutive win in Formula Y Senior.  King made it look effortless as he piloted his Sean Cook prepared Brava 1.4 to the pole, pre-final win, feature win and fast race lap. 

Some of the most exciting racing of the weekend was on tap as the pros of HPV Heavy took to the track for a big league shootout.  Veteran Margay heavy hitters Kevin Nelson, Corey Reeves and Chuck Tate were joined by new Margay chauffer ‘Flyin’ Ryan Stewart in a lively battle at the sharp end of the field.  Reeves and Nelson shared the front row for the pre-final but a pile up as the field headed into turn one shuffled the field and necessitated a restart.  When the dust settled, Reeves had claimed the pre-final win followed by an on-form Chuck Tate and Iowa natives Kyle Erdmann and Tony Neilson.  The final promised to be an exciting one and the big guns delivered. Tate stole the lead from Reeves on the start with Nelson immediately into the mix.  Nelson relentlessly applied pressure to Tate yet Tate rebuffed his every move.  Finally, on lap six, Tate slipped up a bit on the downhill run into turn 6 and immediately, Nelson and Reeves were through.  Nelson held off Reeves and led home a Margay sweep of the top five positions.  Tate scored a solid third followed by Stewart and Nielson.  Nelson and his Switch powered Brava 1.4 Limo also took fast race lap honors.

Scott Ferris and Caleb Loniewski provided the fireworks in TaG as Ferris just missed the win, coming up .058 seconds short after an outstanding drive.  Loniewski, however, had to be the star of the race as he started the final in 24th after losing a chain while leading the pre-final and then passing 20 karts on his way to a fourth place finish and fast race lap.

If Saturday was Eric Morrow’s day, Sunday was all about the sheer dominance shown by Brandon Adkins aboard his Adkins powered Brava 1.4.  Adkins kicked the day off by edging Ryan Stewart for the pole in HPV Lite.  Akins again led the way in the pre-final over Stewart in his identical machine.  The final had shaped up to be a battle between Adkins and Stewart, yet it was Adkins who drove to a 2.3 second win over Tony Loniewski while Tony Jump put in on of his trademarked solid drive to round out another Margay 1-2-3.  Stewart finished fifth and claimed the races fastest lap.

Yamaha Supercan Senior saw Brava 1.4-mounted Tony Jump put his Switch power on the pole just ahead the day’s star, Brandon Adkins.  Margay drivers claimed the top seven starting positions and 10 of the top eleven spots.  After some serious weather problems and questionable officiating, it was Mark Dismore that romped to a seven second pre-final win as Adkins claimed third.  The supercan final was all Adkins—driver & power—as Brandon Adkins took his Adkins Speed Center Brava 1.4 to a dominating 4.5 second win.  Mark Dismore Jr. came home third as Margay drivers took an amazing 12 of the top 14 finishing positions.  Adkins capped his stellar day by taking fast race lap honors as well.

When the storm clouds parted and the dust had settled, Margay drivers had captured an astounding 11 wins while their nearest competitor claimed only 3.  “Eleven wins is the most we have ever scored in one weekend in the Manufacturers Cup Series,” said Keith Freber, Margay Products President.  “That level of success simply reflects the quality of people that we are fortunate enough to have competing on our product,” Freber continued.  “In addition to the trackside improvements, SBRP has ground the track surface and really smoothed it out.  Traditionally SBRP has been a pretty high grip track.  That has now changed and I think that the results show that our Brava chassis was able to adapt just fine,” concluded Freber.

Veteran Margay driver Corey Reeves and Young Gun Eric Morrow will each try to wrap up Triple Crown Championships as the Manufacturers Cup Series concludes at USA International Raceway in Shawano, WI on September 17th & 18th.

Margay Products is the most successful kart manufacturer in the United States.  Based in Saint Louis, Mo., the family-owned and operated company has been a leader in the karting industry since the company’s inception in 1964.  Margay supports drivers in all divisions of karting and has produced the winning karts for countless local, regional and national champions.  Celebrating their 41st year, Margay is now lead by third generation family member, Keith Freber. 

 

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