7/27/05
STARS OF KARTING SCORCH SHAWANO TRACK
Seattle, Washington — This weekend saw heat, rain, and a beautiful new facility for the Snap-on Stars of Karting presented by the Indy Racing League. In an event that was being filmed for television and will be broadcast on both Speed Channel’s Lucas Oil on the Edge program and The Outdoor Channel front-running East division competitors mad e an attempt to wrap up points titles in the penultimate round! of the championship.
The elite ICC class (shifter) saw Wisconsin native Bobby Wilson make his second run this season in the Snap-on Stars series on home territory. However, in a wet race on Saturday the First Kart hot shoe was beaten by Sodi Kart’s Phillippe Gelinas by just over a second. Kosmic’s Josh Schreiber took the last step on the podium in a celebration that saw series operations director Paul Zalud end up in the nearby pool with a little assistance from Wilson. Sunday saw Indiana’s Kyle Wiegand (GP) display his dominant form for the year as he took home the victory with pole sitter Wesley Boswell (Birel) in second and Wilson taking third.
The direct-drive headliners in ICA put on one of the best races of the weekend in the rain on Saturday with veterans Phil Giebler (Intrepid) and David Jurca (Italkart) battling tooth and nail. Giebler got by with one to go but couldn’t make his pass stick and Jurca retook the lead on the exit of the track’s final turn. Jurca ended up holding off Giebler, who will race in the Toyota Atlantic series in San Jose next weekend, by .119 seconds. Chris Larson took home third on his Gillard. On Sunday Kosmic’s Johnny Johnson made his return to the podium in style taking the victory with Italkart teammates Jurca and Tyler Dueck running second and third.
The class of the junior racers over the weekend was definitely Dublin, Ohio’s Zach Schiff (First Kart). Schiff took home both wins in the King Taco Junior Shifter Category over the weekend in addition to Sunday’s PCH Motorsports JICA win. On Saturday in the junior shifter race he posted a dominant win in the wet beating home CRG pilots Michael Vincec and Garrett Boone. On Sunday he again held off two CRGs when he beat Texan James Bayliss and Boone to the checkers.
Saturday’s PCH Motorsports JICA class saw Colombians sweep three of the top four spots. Gustavo Yacaman took the win for First Kart, with Californian Jacob Neal (CRG) coming home second. Yacaman’s countrymen Sebastien Saavedra (Vanspeed) and Carlos Munoz (Birel) took third and fourth respectively. Although Schiff took Sunday’s w! in it wasn’t without a strong challenge from teammate Yacaman who nearly took them both out with a banzai move at the final corner. Schiff was able to make it across to take the win in first while Yacaman’s over ambitious move slowed him down enough to move him back to fifth. Carlos Munoz was able to step up to second with Jacob Neal third and Saavedra fourth.
The Easykart class saw Andre Villareal take Saturday’s win with Guillermo Freile second and Pat Ianucci third. On Sunday Freile took the win with Ianucci second and Paulie Harraka in third.
Bijon Spinazzola (Nevoso) took Saturday’s win in the Grand Products Cadet Class followed by Nazareth, Pennsylvania’s Sage Karam (Top Kart) and Colombia’s Oscar Tunjo Sanchez (Birel). On Sunday Floridian Specner Pigot (Nevoso) took the win with Spinazzola second and Karam third.
All in all the weekend proved to be an exciting one! for the series with a great track, lots of off-track activities provided by the enthusiastic crew at USA International Raceway, and the excitement of having proper TV coverage for the first time this season. The next round in the Snap-on Stars of Karting is August 19-21 at the Woodbine Racetrack and Casino in Toronto, Canada.
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