WKA: Pro Kart tour round one summary

Parnell posts first Pro race win.

SHELBYVILLE, TN-Kerry Parnell, of Kernersville, NC, beat Marion, IN racer Scotty Weir to the Raptor-200 finish line by 8.057-seconds to win the first round of the WKA/Briggs & Stratton Pro Kart tour Saturday April 27th on the 44-foot wide, 1/4-mile asphalt track at Twin Fountains Raceway Park in Shelbyville, TN. Parnell, who's CKI powered Laser AV-3 kart dominated all night, took the lead for good on lap 148 of 200 and showed the 40-racer field home from there.

"The Laser AV-3 was on a rail all night and Robin Bradshaw built us a great motor," credited Parnell who won last year's Intek 250 at the same track. "We knew who ever won would do it with just one pit stop and that's what we did and we had a lot of luck. I want to thank my pit crew, Jan Grote and all the guys at CKI for all of their help and to the WKA for putting on this race," added Parnell who pocketed $2,000 for his effort.

A 14.354-seconds qualifying lap put Parnell in the third place starting position. He took the lead for the first time on lap 12.

Sixty-one of North America's top oval kart racers attempted to qualify for the 40-racer field that Friday with Sandy Ridge, NC racer Justin Moorefield turning the top qualifying lap of 14.289-seconds at 62.986-miles per hour.

"I wasn't sure where I'd be starting after the first couple of laps because the kart was so loose and then on the last lap the Phantom Nemesis came in and the Beef Performance motor was pulling real good and we did it," said Moorefield who finished third in last year's Raptor-200 at Orange County Raceway in Rougemont, NC and third in the Briggs & Stratton 300 at Lowe's Motor Speedway.

Three time Briggs & Stratton 300 winner Tod Miller, of Salisbury, NC finished third 13.206-seconds off the pace and was followed across the stripe by Avis Electric backed Stephanie Pitts, of King Williams, VA and Iowa based Ultramax kart pilot Tom Ray.

Next on the WKA/Briggs & Stratton Pro Kart Tour is the Intek 250, which will be raced at Chapel Hill Raceway in Humphrey, NY during that track's hosting of the WKA/Bandit Racing Chassis Speedway Pavement Series C&D Grand Nationals June 21-23. Two rounds of qualifying for the Intek 250 will be held that Friday night with the feature being raced that Saturday following the Grand National competition.

The Tour's season finale, the Briggs & Stratton 300 will again be raced during the North American Karting Championships at Lowe's Motor Speedway October 31 to November 3. Qualifying will be held that Friday followed by the main event Saturday night.

For the full report on the Raptor 200 see the June issue of WKA's Karting Scene. To subscribe to WKA's Karting Scene go to the World Karting web site at www.worldkarting.com.