WKA: Pit Board 2009-09-15

WKA's Pit Board - 09.15.2009

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Speedway Dirt season wraps up at Hurricane

09.15.2009 -- The Briggs & Stratton Speedway Dirt Series completed its 2009 campaign on a hot weekend in Alma, Georgia, at the tight 0.200-mile Hurricane Raceway. The Shadow Racing Chassis Nationals marked the first WKA national ever held at Hurricane and the second Dirt national in the state of Georgia this season.

Blake Cannon continued his winning ways on the Dirt Series with four feature victories at Hurricane. The young Georgia talent dominated the season in the Briggs Sportsman 1 and Sportsman 1 Champ divisions, winning at least three of the four mains every weekend except the opener at Margarettsville, which he did not enter.

Zachary Wells and Spencer Davis split the Sportsman 2 features; Wells won Lite while Davis drove to the win in Heavy. Spencer also triumphed in Sportsman 2 Champ Final 2, while Jacob Owens won Sportsman 2 Champ Final 1.

Codie Rohrbaugh got the win in Briggs Jr Lite. Rohrbaugh also added two more victories to his total when he swept Briggs Jr Champ Lite and Heavy. Anthony Cataldi had a nice showing for himself in his first appearance at a WKA national this season. The Florida racer qualified fastest in Jr Lite and won Briggs Jr Heavy.

Charlie Sox returned to the national wars at Hurricane. He promptly put his Shadow mount in victory lane, taking a popular victory in Briggs Masters over Johnny Myers.

The senior Animal divisions saw four different winners. Kati Leonard continued her strong '09 season by winning Briggs Lite. Chase Johnson, who finished second to Leonard in Lite, came back to win Briggs Medium. Jason Kimball beat out one of the best dirt racers on the circuit, Dee Paschal, to win Briggs Heavy. Jamie Capehart won the Briggs Super Heavy feature event.

Paschal did find victory lane once at Hurricane, meaning the Hawkinsville, Ga., racer won at least one main event in four of the five Speedway Dirt nationals in 2009. His victory at Hurricane came in the Raptor Lite feature. Bradley Hauser won Raptor Heavy.

Kimball's strong performance in his Saturday afternoon Briggs Heavy win foreshadowed an evening that would make the 30-year-old Brooksville, Fla., racer over $2,000 richer. Kimball won the 20-lap Briggs & Stratton / Ultramax Racing Chassis / Firestone-sponsored Briggs Animal Heavy Money Race Saturday night, earning the $1,700 winner's prize and an additional $500 from Firestone for winning the race on their rubber. Jason won over two Georgia racers, second-place Wilson Keene and third-place Levon Bennett, who earned $400 and $300 for their top-three results. Charlie Sox continued his strong weekend with a fine fourth-place finish, which was good enough for $100. Chase Peacock finished just outside of the money in fifth.

In a season that saw the return of "money racing" to the WKA, the Speedway Dirt Series' special Saturday night Money Races couldn't have been any more diversified in regards to spreading the wealth. Kimball's win at Hurricane meant that five different racers took home first-place laurels in the five Money Races this season. Kimball's win followed Brett Miller at Hanging Rock, Tod Miller at Liberty, Chris Thompson at Dexter and Dan Sox at the Margarettsville opener.

The "Sunday 6" winners, who netted a cool $250 for their victories, were Cannon in Sportsman 1 Heavy, Davis in Sportsman 2 Heavy, Cataldi in Jr Heavy, Johnson in Briggs Medium, Capehart in Super Heavy and Thomas Rohrbaugh in Briggs Champ Heavy.

The following drivers won $50 gift certificates to TS Racing for winning a class while running Vega tires: Cannon, Wells, Davis, Owens, C. Rohrbaugh, and Cataldi.

Speedway Dirt Series point standings should be updated on worldkarting.com by the end of the week. Final points including divisional races will be updated pending the arrival of points from the WKA divisional series. A Pit Board announcement will be sent out when the official final standings are updated on the World Karting site.

Now, with 2009 complete, dirt racers throughout the country can begin to look forward to a highly anticipated holiday return to the Daytona Beach, Fla. But for the first time ever, the return won't be to the Daytona Municipal Stadium, but to the World Center of Racing and a brand new dirt track at Daytona International Speedway.

Stay tuned for more information over the coming weeks and months via Pit Board and worldkarting.com announcements.

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Speedway Pavement set for Round 4 this weekend at BeaveRun

09.15.2009 -- The BeaveRun Motorsports Complex in Wampum, Pa., will host the fourth of five 2009 WKA Rage Karts Speedway Pavement Series rounds this weekend. The event, tagged the Pro Kart Racing Karts Nationals, will mark the fourth consecutive year the Pavement Series has traveled to BeaveRun for a national race weekend.

The Saturday morning drivers meeting will feature some terrific prizes to be given away by WKA, courtesy of Briggs & Stratton. Four Brute by Briggs 2500-psi pressure washers and one 5,550-watt, 10-horsepower portable generator will be randomly drawn for at the meeting and presented to the five lucky Pavement racers. Briggs has been a staunch supporter of the WKA for many years and a number of Pavement, Speedway Dirt and Gold Cup racers have experienced the Wisconsin-based outfit's generosity first hand this summer through these outstanding giveaways.

Another popular off-track happening this season at Speedway Pavement nationals has been the "100/100" raffles which Ginny Pappa, mother of racer Matt Pappa, has been organizing. Titled 100/100 because all the money raised goes straight back to the racers and their families, the raffle includes ticket selling throughout Friday and Saturday with the winning ticket drawn Sunday morning. Half the prize money goes to the individual holding the winning ticket, and the other half has been used to purchase an engine and gift certificates to various vendors that are in attendance.

Ms. Pappa says she is looking forward to doing the raffle again this weekend at BeaveRun. She said the totals topped off around $2,100 earlier this season at Chapel Hill and $1,800 at last month at New Castle.

With three 2009 races in the books, a number of tight point battles will take center stage when the nation's best oval-track karters hit the track this weekend. Some close races to note include Briggs Sportsman 1 Heavy, which sees Chase Hawkins holding a 15-point lead over Brandon McGough. Brandon, who will be racing in his home state this weekend, also leads Sportsman 1 Champ Heavy but trails North Carolina hot shoe Cole Timm by 25 in Sportsman 1 Champ Lite.

Matt Pappa is 10 points up on Chase Dowling in Sportsman 2 Heavy. Dowling trails Kyle Soper by 60 in Sportsman 2 Lite. Soper also is in the thick of things in the Sportsman 2 Champ divisions. He trails Indiana's John Hawley by 20 markers in Sportsman 2 Champ Lite, but holds a commanding 130-point lead over Pappa in Heavy.

Patrick Robertson may be on the brink of a Triple Crown Championship. The New Yorker leads three divisions heading into BeaveRun. He is over 100 points ahead of Ryan Breithoff in both Briggs Jr Champ Lite and Heavy. It's a little closer in Jr Champ Raptor, which shows Breithoff trailing Patrick by only 55.

Patrick's older brother, Tyler, also is making a bid for a multi-championship season. He's well ahead of Justin Bonsignore in Briggs Champ Lite, but trails AJ Roderick by 35 in Champ Heavy. Briggs Champ Raptor shows T. Robertson 45 markers in front of Ohio racer Cullen Mumaw.

George Curtis Jr. leads Briggs Medium by 25 over Tyler Gauthier. But Curtis trails Hank Branham by 60 in Briggs Lite.

This weekend's Pro Kart Racing Karts Nationals will set up the pivotal season finale Oct. 9-11 at Long Island's Riverhead Raceway. The Bonsignore Kart Shoppe Nationals will mark the first time the Pavement Series has traveled to Riverhead.

Pre-entry pickup and hauler parking will take place Thursday before racers can hit the track for Official Practice at 9 a.m. Friday. Qualifying is slated to begin at 11:15 a.m. both Saturday and Sunday with races for the 23 national classes to follow. Kid karts and kid champ karts will run at breaks.

For a full schedule and all information regarding this weekend's big Speedway Pavement Pro Kart Racing Karts Nationals, view the entry blank at www.worldkarting.com/downloads/eb-2009/0918_beaverun_pave.pdf.

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Upcoming WKA Nationals

Rage Karts Speedway Pavement Series
Pro Kart Racing Karts Nationals
September 18-20, 2009
BeaveRun Motorsports Complex
Wampum, PA
www.worldkarting.com/downloads/eb-2009/0918_beaverun_pave.pdf

Dunlop Tire Road Racing Series driven by Mazda
September 25-27, 2009
New Jersey Motorsports Park
Millville, NJ
www.worldkarting.com/downloads/eb-2009/0925_newjersey_rr.pdf

Upcoming WKA Divisionals / Regionals

Southern Kart Club (SKC)
SKC Fall Vintage Classic
Roebling Road Raceway in Bloomingdale, Ga.
Saturday, Sept. 19; Sunday, Sept. 20
Contact: Lindsay Fox 352.475.5034 or lindsay@lindsayfox.com
www.southernkartclub.com

Deep South Sprint Series
Springridge Raceway in Jackson, Miss.
Saturday, Sept. 19
Contact: Bobby Lane 601.668.0472
www.mississippikarting.com

Georgia Divisional Dirt Series
Dexter Raceway in Dexter, Ga.
Saturday, Sept. 19
Contact: Gene McCook 478.494.6683

Great Lakes Sprint Series
BeaveRun Motorsports Complex in Wampum, Pa.
Friday, Sept. 25 -- Sunday, Sept. 27
Contact: Penny Farmer 616.453.0737
www.glsseries.com

South Carolina Divisional Dirt Series
Georgia Karting Komplex in Carnesville, Ga.
Saturday, Sept. 26
Contact: Jayson Brown 864.304.4589
Brownrace8@bellsouth.net

-credit: wka