WKA: Hat Trick winner at Delaware Dirt opener

DELMAR, DE-Austin Hubbard, of Seaford, DE, swept three junior classes Saturday April 13th at US-13 Kartway in Delmar, DE during the WKA/Delaware Dirt Divisional season opener sponsored by HP Speed Shop of Georgetown, DE that had 157-regional racers from Delaware, Maryland, Virginia and Pennsylvania entered in 16 classes. The 10-year-old Beef Performance powered Shadow Kart pilot posted wins in Briggs Junior Sportsman-1 Lite and Heavy and Briggs Junior Sportsman Champ. Five others scored double wins.

Hubbard started his trio of wins with the event's first feature Briggs Junior Sportsman-1 Heavy where he turned a 14.124-seconds lap for the pole that topped out at 50.977 mph. From there Hubbard quickly opened a comfortable lead over the 10-racer field until he got the five laps to go signal that was followed by the race's only caution which had Maryland racer Cameron Mattox behind him on the restart. When they got the green again Hubbard held off Mattox down to a narrow 0.690-seconds difference at the finish line five laps later.

"I thought I had it won and then the caution came out and I was a little nervous on the restart," Hubbard admitted. "The Shadow Kart handled good and the Beef Performance Racing Engine was great."

Brandon Whit, Nick Hughes and Austin Elzey rounded out the top five. Hubbard and Mattox shared Briggs Junior Sportsman-1 Lite's front row with Hubbard on the pole again this time with a 13.888-seconds lap that reached 51.843 mph. Hubbard took the green flag and never looked back while building a whopping 3.507-seconds lead over Whit at the end.

"The kart felt good and the motor ran really strong," Hubbard said after his second win.

Mattox finished third and was followed in the top five by Michael Scott and Hughes.

Whit secured Briggs Junior Champ's pole with a 14.384-seconds lap and Hubbard's top qualifying effort of 14.505-seconds earned him the outside front row starting position from where he hustled into the initial lead, which he never surrendered before taking the final flag 3.507-seconds ahead of Whit.

"I never even heard Brandon (Whit) behind me on this one," the triple winner said. " I want to thank my family for their support and to all the guys at Beef Performance for all the work they did getting my motors ready."

Completing the field behind Whit were Michael Scott, Jerron Faison and Craig Bowen.

Jordan Watson, a 14-year-old Milford, DE based Tod Miller Racing Engines powered Phantom kart pilot, produced two wire-to-wire Junior Restricted wins starting with Briggs Junior Restricted Heavy where a 13.272-seconds lap put him on the pole. From there he led the 13-racer field flawlessly through two caution restarts before beating Ryan Chism to the stripe by 4.232-seconds.

"The kart was good and the motor ran great. I want to thank Remas, Scotty Regan Auction and Watson Auction for their support," said Watson, the defending Delaware Divisional champion in that class.

Cortney Lewis, of Milford, DE, captured third, Charles Short followed in fourth and Randy Hill rounded out the top five.

Watson turned Briggs Junior Restricted Lite's fastest qualifying lap at 12.994-seconds reaching 55.410 mph. He rocketed off that pole and was never seriously challenged on his way to building a 3.847-seconds finish line advantage over Short.

"The kart handled great all day and we had a great motor thanks to Tod Miller," Watson said after his second win. "It takes a lot of time racing here and good equipment and a good crew to come here and win two."

Hughes, Hill and Matt Hubbard rounded out the top five.

Sharptown, MD based karting veteran Thomas Adkins produced two perfect performances. The Robinson Speed Shop powered Phantom kart pilot captured Briggs Controlled Heavy's pole with a 13.155-seconds lap and went on to lead the six racer field for 20-laps before crossing the finish line 1.353-seconds ahead of Russell Kinslow.

"The kart was great, it was perfect, and I owe Robinson Speed Shop a big thanks for the motor it worked great," Adkins reported. "I also want to thank Jo Ann and Jamie."

Robert Mars and Kirk Harrington finished third and fourth followed by Charles Hayes who did not weight which moved James Lewis into the official fifth place finish.

Later that day Adkins defended his divisional title in Briggs Senior Stock. Adkins turned a 13.166-seconds lap for the pole and then flawlessly led the six-racer field with Lincoln, DE driver Ralph Moore hounding him from behind the whole way. Moore trailed Adkins by just 0.253-seconds at the end.

"The kart and motor were beautiful. I want to thank the Lord for safe races tonight, Chris Mason of Robinson Speed Shop for the great engines and Jo Ann and Jamie for their support and Phantom Racing Chassis for the great Nemesis kart."

Following Moore across the finish line in the top five were Wayne Fields, Glenn Renfro and Taz Powered, Bridgeville, DE based Randy Wroten.

Richboro, PA pilot Scotty Glover grabbed both Junior Sportman-2 wins with TJ Henry chasing him across the finish line each time. Glover and Henry shared both front rows. Glover beat him to Briggs Junior Sportsman-2 Heavy's finish by 2.800-seconds and in Briggs Junior Sportsman-2 Lite's by 0.907-seconds.

Henry hustled into Heavy's initial lead, but surrendered it to Glover before the first lap was booked. Glover led Briggs Junior Sportsman-2's eight-racer field flag-to-flag through a single mid race caution.

"The Phantom kart was good all night and Robinson Speed Shop built us good motors," said the 12-year-old double winner. "I want to thank Rushland Concrete & Plumbing, PWD, Mattlin Racing, Ronnie Robinson, Grand Products, my parents and grandparents and my sister."

Greenwood, DE driver Erika Hearn handled third in Heavy and was followed by Ethan Stokel and Brooks Smith. In Lite Henry was trailed by Stokel, Hearn and Smith.

Hebron, MD hot shoe Matt Mobray swept both Stock classes wire-to-wire. He captured Stock Medium's pole with a blistering 12.900-seconds lap and led the 19-racer field for 20-laps before crossing the finish line with a 1.223-seconds advantage over Charles Vallingham. In Lite he earned the pole with a 12.738-seconds lap and beat Richie Hornsby to the stripe by 1.997-seconds.

"It takes a lot of hard work to come here and win two divisional races. We build our own motors and spend a lot of time in the shop. We were up all last night getting ready for today," said the Courtesy Chevrolet sponsored racer after his second win. "The kart was perfect, it was consistent all day. We added a little air pressure on this race and that was about it."

Brock Adkins, of Laurel, DE, took third in Medium and was followed in the top five of 19 by Melissa Ciucck and Jamie Goslee. Trailing Hornsby in Lite were Ryan Donovan, Ciucck and Vallingham.

Bryant Renfro produced back-to-back wins in the new Briggs Animal class and Briggs Super Heavy. He earned the Animal pole with a 13.048-seconds lap and traded the lead back and forth with Georgetown, DE driver Chad Reed before beating Reed to the stripe by just 0.250-seconds.

"I just tried to fight back and race clean," said the Manchester, MD based winner. "The Buller kart and Robinson Speed Shop motor both worked great. The new Animal motors are sweet, they're the most powerful motors I've ever had."

Shannon Morris, Pat McWilliam and Russo Kinsow capped the top five of six.

A 13.123-seconds lap put Troy Davis on Briggs Super Heavy's pole and Renfro's best qualifying lap of 13.234-seconds earned him a third place starting position from where he built a 0.509-seconds finish line advantage over Rick Huffman.

"That was awesome. I heard someone behind me at the end, but the kart ran great and the Robinson Speed Shop motor ran perfect," Renfro credited after his second win.

Rounding out the top five of 14 behind Huffman were James Hickman, Allan Collins and Hayes.

Clements, MD competitor Jason Brown bagged Briggs Senior Champ's checkered flag ending a perfect ride 5.108-seconds ahead of Will Stanley.

"The Ultramax Racing Chassis and Robinson Speed Shop motor were great. I want to thank Charles Vallingham and Ronnie Robinson for all of their help and JP Gates for a great setup," Brown credited.

Steve Dankon, Craig Bowen and Dan Garrett rounded out the top five of seven.

Grotto's Pizza backed Matt Jester, who just became a Coyote Racing Products factory driver; battled his way from a seventh place-starting position to the front of Briggs Stock Heavy's 17-racer field to take the win 2.094-seconds ahead of Salisbury, MD based Bryan Bradford.

"The new Coyote Assasin chassis ran pretty good. It was a little shaky at first and then came around and Kevin Colborn's motor purred the whole way," Jester credited.

Taking the remaining top five positions were Bobby Helgas, Renfro and Vallingham.

Robinson Speed Shop powered Phantom kart pilot Bryan Bradford bagged Briggs Limited Heavy's win. The Salisbury, MD based racer ruled qualifying with a 12.546-seconds lap for the pole that reached 57.389 mph and led the feature flag-to-flag finishing with a huge 4.602-seconds advantage over Buddy Bozman.

"It wasn't as easy as it looked because the kart got tight at the end," admitted the Hab Nab Trucking/ Industrial Pipe & Machine/Robinson Speed Shop/Shores & Bradford Barber Shop backed winner. "The motor was flawless and I want to thank the guys at Robinson Speed Shop for that."

Filling out the five-racer field behind Bozman were Wroten, Mark Bell and Alfred Macmie.

Delaware Dirt Divisional racers still have five races this season. Regional racers return to US-13 Kartway Saturday May 4th, June8th, July 13th, August 17th and September 28th. Club races will be held every Friday night through "ctober 25.