Post by RedBud69 on Oct 18, 2008 16:09:14 GMT -5
October 16, 2008
Two Double at AKRA Dirt Season Finale’
Story by Bruce C. Walls
Photos by Bruce C. Walls
And Susan Taylor-Walls
MARGARETTSVILLE, VA-9/28/08 - Racers in the AKRA American Speedway Championship Dirt Series concluded their 2008 season at Margarettsville Speedway in Margarettsville, N.C. Saturday September 27th as part of a double show that included the 7th Annual Maxxis Moore Money Pro Series Big Kahuna. Two AKRA racers were double winners that Saturday. Josh Haire won Super Heavy and Stock Heavy and Chase Rawlings topped both Junior 1 Purple Plate offerings.
Piloting a Mishue Motorsports powered Galaxy kart; Haire earned both poles with times of 15.937 and 15.524-seconds on the ¼-mile clay track. Super Heavy was a two-racer battle between Haire and Brandon Watson. Watson’s machine gave up on lap nine of 15 leaving Haire the sole competitor. Two laps later Haire took his first checkered flag of the day.
Stock Heavy was more competitive with six vying for the win. David Meade was second fastest qualifier turning a 15.710-seconds lap. Walt Barnes, of Monroe, N.C. and Nick Scott, of Myrtle Beach, S.C. shared row two. Flagman Lee Bob Waltrip showed them the green flag. Haire and Barnes pulled ahead of the field battling for the lead. Haire held on as Barnes challenged him at every corner. With just three laps left a lapped kart got sideways in the middle of the track. Haire spotted the lapped kart and maneuvered past him. Barnes didn’t see the lapped kart as fast and spun out to avoid hitting him. Barnes gathered his kart back and ran down Haire in time to trail him by just 0.319-seconds.
“We had a good kart all night,” said Haire, of Erwin, N.C. “We ended up with two wins in two classes. I saw the lapped kart pull across the racetrack. I lifted a little bit, but I don’t think Walt (Barnes) caught it in time and he slid up the racetrack a little bit. Me and him were about tit for tat. I want to thank the Lord, my dad and mom, my girlfriend and everybody here helping me today. Walt and I had some good runs this year in the AKRA series. This is a great series to run with.”
Meade followed Barnes across the stripe four seconds later in third. Scott scored a fourth place finish followed by Paul Whaley who rounded out the top five.
Barnes blasted around the tack in 15.438-seconds for Stock Medium’s pole. Scott started next to him and hustled into the early lead. He quickly pulled away from Barnes on his way to a 4.793-seconds advantage over Barnes at the stripe. Meade made third, Cain crossed fourth and Forsyth followed in fifth.
“We got the kart hooked up pretty good that time,” said the winning Schu Powered Phantom Icon pilot. “It was a little bit loose, but we’ll see if we can pick it up a little bit in the next race.”
Rawlings, of Emporia, VA ruled the first Junior 1 Purple Plate class from start to finish with Millsboro, DE driver Zach Bullis behind him the whole ride. Bullis threatened in the early laps then fell back a little in the final laps. “I was nervous because I felt him (Zach Bullis) behind me and then I couldn’t feel him anymore,” described 10-year-old Rawlings. Bullis trailed Rawlings by 1.024-seconds. Trailing in the top five behind Bullis were Zachary Taylor, Trevor Brightwell and Millsboro, DE driver Jace Darling.
“The kart was just fast.” Rawlings reported after his first win. “I want to thank my dad and Nathan and Tom,”
Justin Kirby clocked the Junior 1 Purple Plate Race 2 pole with a 16.603-seconds rounding. Bullis turned the second fastest qualifying lap at 16.756-seconds. Kirby captured the early lead with Bullis battling him from behind. Further back Rawlings was closing in on the leaders from a third place start. Several laps into it Rawlings engineered a freight train by Kirby for the lead bringing Brightwell with him. When they reached the stripe for the final time Brightwell was 0.291-seconds behind Rawlings. Bullis was third under the checkered flag followed by Darling and Kirby for the top five.
“The kart was same as last time-fast.” Rawlings said. “I want to thank Tom, my daddy, Mason and P&P Speed Shop. The kart was same as last time-fast.”
Jason Cain started on Stock Lite’s outside pole. He and pole winner Andy Forsyth battled side-by-side through turns one and two. As they battled down the backstretch Cain slipped into the lead when they approached turn three. Cain continued leading from there until the end where he was 2.012-seconds ahead of Forsyth at the end.
“We finally got our tires right and it finally hooked up for us,” said Cain of Roanoke Rapids, N.C. “The Desperado Chassis was running real good Desperado is the way to go. My daddy builds the fastest motors around.”
Lewes, DE led foot Brandon White blistered the track with a 15.084-seconds top qualifying lap. It was the 16-year-old’s first Animal race at Margarettsville. Kevin Turner was second quickest with a 15.146-seconds. White led the field three times around before Haire took it from him with Turner tailing closed behind. Haire and Turner battled nose-to-tail leaving the rest of the eight-racer field in their dust. When they got the three to go signal Turner got going and took the lead. Turner was out front for the white then the checkered flag which he captured just 0.088-seconds head of Haire for the day’s second closest finish. Stony Creek, VA racer Adam Beville was third across the striped followed by White and Justin McDonald in fourth and fifth.
“His (Josh Haire) kart came in quicker than mine did,” Turner of Raleigh, N.C. offered. “But mine got better and better the longer we ran until we were able to get by him there with three to go. The Icon kart was a little loose, but it started coming around there towards the end. The P&P Speed Shop motor was awesome. The track’s a little wet here before the sun went down so we’ll have to make some changes for the next race.”
Those changes didn’t work. Beville earned Animal Heavy Race 2’s pole with a track record setting 14.770- seconds. White’s best lap of 14.819-seconds also broke the 15-seconds barrier. When the green flag dropped White and Beville battled side-by-side until they got between turns three and four. Haire, Turner and Scott freight trained by Beville heading for White. White dove low blocking off their charge while Beville forced his way in at sixth. Haire hounded White trying to get by him. In the final laps White pulled away from Haire building a 1.088-seconds finish line advantage over Haire. Turner trailed in third followed by Scott and McDonald.
“That was fun, it was a good deal,” White said in victory lane. “The Eclipse kart handled like a dream. It was rolling through the turns and down the straight-aways. It was pulling it was good. Eddie Mishue’s motor was amazing. Mishue Motorsports all the way! That was an amazing race.”
White’s younger brother Alex won the first Junior 3 Gold Plate race. Alex struggled in qualifying producing a fast time of 15.885-seconds lap that had him starting fourth. Austin Wyatt clocked the pole time in 15.526-seconds. Wyatt was enjoying leading the early laps while White worked his way through the field. White reached second when they got the mid-race signal. Two more laps and White was leading.
Wyatt stayed glued to White’s tailpipe crossing just 0.105-seconds later.
“This is my first time running Gold here,” White said. “The kart handled really good it stuck everywhere I went and drove good. The Mishue motor was awesome, the best I’ve ever seen. I want to thank Mishue Motorsports, my dad, and my tire man Jamie.” Bradley Sacra was third across the stripe. Richard Parks was fourth followed by Sam Lilly in fifth.
Sacra scored Junior 3 Gold Race 2’s win from a seventh place start. Wyatt was the fastest qualifier with a 15.381-seconds lap. Hunter Colson hustled into the early lead. Sacra stuck to his tailpipe. As they were breaking from the pack Sacra saw an opportunity and took it. Colson tried to recapture the lead, but got tangled up in scrap for second with Brett Heatherly. Colson secured second setting his sites on Sacra who had put a lapper between them. Sacra kept the petal to the metal building a 2.790-seconds over Colson at the finish line. Heatherly held onto third and was followed in the top five by Richard Parks, Jr, and Wyatt.
“I’m not sure if passing that lapper at the end helped or not, but I sure was fast,” said the 14-year-old Spotsylvania, VA based Moon Power South powered Phantom Icon pilot. “The kart handled very good and the Moon Power South motor was great. I’d like to thank my dad, Dougie and Murray.”
Trey Tarlton and Sean Keith Stanley split the Junior 2 Blue Plate races. Stanley, an Amelia, VA based 12-year-old piloted his Tod Miller Racing Engines powered Olimpic Joker kart around the circuit in 16.185-seconds for Race 1’s pole. After a first lap caution Stanley led them single file back to the green flag. Stanley shot into the early lead with outside pole winner Houston Smith glued to his tailpipe and Tarlton trying to get to him from third. Tarlton took second and then the lead as Stanley slipped back to sixth. Meanwhile, J.B. Loomis was going in the other direction from a sixth place start. Loomis nearly reached Tarlton. He needed a few more laps. When Tarlton reached the stripe for the final time, Loomis was 1.385-seconds behind him.
“It started sliding a little bit at the end, but it was pretty good,” Tarlton explained. “The Ultramax EL handled pretty good and Mike Schumacher’s motor was great it pulled me around the corners and down the straights and everything. I want to thank Mike Schumacher, my mom and my dad, Chris and Shelby Statton.”
A 16.020-seconds lap put Smith on Race 2’s pole. Stanley turned a 16.072-seconds lap for the outside pole from where he charged to the front. He stayed there taking the checkered flag with a 0.999-seconds advantage over Tarlton. Grayson Brightwell grabbed third, Smith was fourth across the stripe followed by Loomis who rounded out the top five.
“The kart was the best I’ve ever driven,” the 12-year-old winner said. “The first race the spark-plug wire fell off, but it didn’t do anything. This race it was a whole different kart. She flew through one and two. That motor’s always been good. Of all the motors I’ve had I think that one’s the best.”
Ryan O’Connor and Justin Kirby won the Junior Sportsman Champ classes. Kirby clocked both pole times traveling the circuit in 17.057-seconds for the first and cracking the 17-second margin with a 16.896-seconds lap for the second pole. When the first green flag waved Kirby captured the early lead with the field nose-to-tail behind him. Ryan O’Connor, of Chesterfield, VA, piloted his Tod Miller Racing Engines powered Rage Nitro kart through the field from a third place start. O’Connor took second and then engineered a freight train past Kirby for the lead. On their way to the front O’Connor’s brother Timothy got under a competitor sending them spinning. Ryan O’Connor took the lead with his brother trailing, Bailey Moore in third followed by Kirby in fourth. The field stayed lock in those positions for the rest of the race with Ryan ruling his brother by 0.843-seconds.
“When my brother got under that one guy I know he didn’t mean to,” said the 11-year-old winner. “He (Timothy O’Connor) was trying to race him and he thought he had him and he got into the side of him and I just went on past them and drove on the rest of the race. I would like to thank my dad, Gill McCauley, my sister and all of my family, my brother and all of my race opponents, Tod Miller for the motor and Rage karts. The kart handled phenomenally, it was awesome.”
Kirby was back at the front when the green flag waved for the start of the second Junior Sportsman Champ race. He wasn’t about to let another race get away from him. Kirby hustled into the early lead and tried building on it. As determined as Kirby was Timothy O’Connor was equally determined to stop him. O’Connor stayed glued to Kirby’s tailpipe for all 15-laps ending in the day’s closest finish. Just 0.082-seconds separated them at the stripe.
AKRA racers, both dirt and asphalt will meet next during the 4th Annual ‘Christmas in Dixie’ being held December 27-30 at the dual track Cross Roads Motorsports Complex in Jasper, FL. For more information on ‘Christmas in Dixie’ and entry forms visit AKRA’s website at www.akrainc.com or call the AKRA office at 704-764-8138.
Two Double at AKRA Dirt Season Finale’
Story by Bruce C. Walls
Photos by Bruce C. Walls
And Susan Taylor-Walls
MARGARETTSVILLE, VA-9/28/08 - Racers in the AKRA American Speedway Championship Dirt Series concluded their 2008 season at Margarettsville Speedway in Margarettsville, N.C. Saturday September 27th as part of a double show that included the 7th Annual Maxxis Moore Money Pro Series Big Kahuna. Two AKRA racers were double winners that Saturday. Josh Haire won Super Heavy and Stock Heavy and Chase Rawlings topped both Junior 1 Purple Plate offerings.
Piloting a Mishue Motorsports powered Galaxy kart; Haire earned both poles with times of 15.937 and 15.524-seconds on the ¼-mile clay track. Super Heavy was a two-racer battle between Haire and Brandon Watson. Watson’s machine gave up on lap nine of 15 leaving Haire the sole competitor. Two laps later Haire took his first checkered flag of the day.
Stock Heavy was more competitive with six vying for the win. David Meade was second fastest qualifier turning a 15.710-seconds lap. Walt Barnes, of Monroe, N.C. and Nick Scott, of Myrtle Beach, S.C. shared row two. Flagman Lee Bob Waltrip showed them the green flag. Haire and Barnes pulled ahead of the field battling for the lead. Haire held on as Barnes challenged him at every corner. With just three laps left a lapped kart got sideways in the middle of the track. Haire spotted the lapped kart and maneuvered past him. Barnes didn’t see the lapped kart as fast and spun out to avoid hitting him. Barnes gathered his kart back and ran down Haire in time to trail him by just 0.319-seconds.
“We had a good kart all night,” said Haire, of Erwin, N.C. “We ended up with two wins in two classes. I saw the lapped kart pull across the racetrack. I lifted a little bit, but I don’t think Walt (Barnes) caught it in time and he slid up the racetrack a little bit. Me and him were about tit for tat. I want to thank the Lord, my dad and mom, my girlfriend and everybody here helping me today. Walt and I had some good runs this year in the AKRA series. This is a great series to run with.”
Meade followed Barnes across the stripe four seconds later in third. Scott scored a fourth place finish followed by Paul Whaley who rounded out the top five.
Barnes blasted around the tack in 15.438-seconds for Stock Medium’s pole. Scott started next to him and hustled into the early lead. He quickly pulled away from Barnes on his way to a 4.793-seconds advantage over Barnes at the stripe. Meade made third, Cain crossed fourth and Forsyth followed in fifth.
“We got the kart hooked up pretty good that time,” said the winning Schu Powered Phantom Icon pilot. “It was a little bit loose, but we’ll see if we can pick it up a little bit in the next race.”
Rawlings, of Emporia, VA ruled the first Junior 1 Purple Plate class from start to finish with Millsboro, DE driver Zach Bullis behind him the whole ride. Bullis threatened in the early laps then fell back a little in the final laps. “I was nervous because I felt him (Zach Bullis) behind me and then I couldn’t feel him anymore,” described 10-year-old Rawlings. Bullis trailed Rawlings by 1.024-seconds. Trailing in the top five behind Bullis were Zachary Taylor, Trevor Brightwell and Millsboro, DE driver Jace Darling.
“The kart was just fast.” Rawlings reported after his first win. “I want to thank my dad and Nathan and Tom,”
Justin Kirby clocked the Junior 1 Purple Plate Race 2 pole with a 16.603-seconds rounding. Bullis turned the second fastest qualifying lap at 16.756-seconds. Kirby captured the early lead with Bullis battling him from behind. Further back Rawlings was closing in on the leaders from a third place start. Several laps into it Rawlings engineered a freight train by Kirby for the lead bringing Brightwell with him. When they reached the stripe for the final time Brightwell was 0.291-seconds behind Rawlings. Bullis was third under the checkered flag followed by Darling and Kirby for the top five.
“The kart was same as last time-fast.” Rawlings said. “I want to thank Tom, my daddy, Mason and P&P Speed Shop. The kart was same as last time-fast.”
Jason Cain started on Stock Lite’s outside pole. He and pole winner Andy Forsyth battled side-by-side through turns one and two. As they battled down the backstretch Cain slipped into the lead when they approached turn three. Cain continued leading from there until the end where he was 2.012-seconds ahead of Forsyth at the end.
“We finally got our tires right and it finally hooked up for us,” said Cain of Roanoke Rapids, N.C. “The Desperado Chassis was running real good Desperado is the way to go. My daddy builds the fastest motors around.”
Lewes, DE led foot Brandon White blistered the track with a 15.084-seconds top qualifying lap. It was the 16-year-old’s first Animal race at Margarettsville. Kevin Turner was second quickest with a 15.146-seconds. White led the field three times around before Haire took it from him with Turner tailing closed behind. Haire and Turner battled nose-to-tail leaving the rest of the eight-racer field in their dust. When they got the three to go signal Turner got going and took the lead. Turner was out front for the white then the checkered flag which he captured just 0.088-seconds head of Haire for the day’s second closest finish. Stony Creek, VA racer Adam Beville was third across the striped followed by White and Justin McDonald in fourth and fifth.
“His (Josh Haire) kart came in quicker than mine did,” Turner of Raleigh, N.C. offered. “But mine got better and better the longer we ran until we were able to get by him there with three to go. The Icon kart was a little loose, but it started coming around there towards the end. The P&P Speed Shop motor was awesome. The track’s a little wet here before the sun went down so we’ll have to make some changes for the next race.”
Those changes didn’t work. Beville earned Animal Heavy Race 2’s pole with a track record setting 14.770- seconds. White’s best lap of 14.819-seconds also broke the 15-seconds barrier. When the green flag dropped White and Beville battled side-by-side until they got between turns three and four. Haire, Turner and Scott freight trained by Beville heading for White. White dove low blocking off their charge while Beville forced his way in at sixth. Haire hounded White trying to get by him. In the final laps White pulled away from Haire building a 1.088-seconds finish line advantage over Haire. Turner trailed in third followed by Scott and McDonald.
“That was fun, it was a good deal,” White said in victory lane. “The Eclipse kart handled like a dream. It was rolling through the turns and down the straight-aways. It was pulling it was good. Eddie Mishue’s motor was amazing. Mishue Motorsports all the way! That was an amazing race.”
White’s younger brother Alex won the first Junior 3 Gold Plate race. Alex struggled in qualifying producing a fast time of 15.885-seconds lap that had him starting fourth. Austin Wyatt clocked the pole time in 15.526-seconds. Wyatt was enjoying leading the early laps while White worked his way through the field. White reached second when they got the mid-race signal. Two more laps and White was leading.
Wyatt stayed glued to White’s tailpipe crossing just 0.105-seconds later.
“This is my first time running Gold here,” White said. “The kart handled really good it stuck everywhere I went and drove good. The Mishue motor was awesome, the best I’ve ever seen. I want to thank Mishue Motorsports, my dad, and my tire man Jamie.” Bradley Sacra was third across the stripe. Richard Parks was fourth followed by Sam Lilly in fifth.
Sacra scored Junior 3 Gold Race 2’s win from a seventh place start. Wyatt was the fastest qualifier with a 15.381-seconds lap. Hunter Colson hustled into the early lead. Sacra stuck to his tailpipe. As they were breaking from the pack Sacra saw an opportunity and took it. Colson tried to recapture the lead, but got tangled up in scrap for second with Brett Heatherly. Colson secured second setting his sites on Sacra who had put a lapper between them. Sacra kept the petal to the metal building a 2.790-seconds over Colson at the finish line. Heatherly held onto third and was followed in the top five by Richard Parks, Jr, and Wyatt.
“I’m not sure if passing that lapper at the end helped or not, but I sure was fast,” said the 14-year-old Spotsylvania, VA based Moon Power South powered Phantom Icon pilot. “The kart handled very good and the Moon Power South motor was great. I’d like to thank my dad, Dougie and Murray.”
Trey Tarlton and Sean Keith Stanley split the Junior 2 Blue Plate races. Stanley, an Amelia, VA based 12-year-old piloted his Tod Miller Racing Engines powered Olimpic Joker kart around the circuit in 16.185-seconds for Race 1’s pole. After a first lap caution Stanley led them single file back to the green flag. Stanley shot into the early lead with outside pole winner Houston Smith glued to his tailpipe and Tarlton trying to get to him from third. Tarlton took second and then the lead as Stanley slipped back to sixth. Meanwhile, J.B. Loomis was going in the other direction from a sixth place start. Loomis nearly reached Tarlton. He needed a few more laps. When Tarlton reached the stripe for the final time, Loomis was 1.385-seconds behind him.
“It started sliding a little bit at the end, but it was pretty good,” Tarlton explained. “The Ultramax EL handled pretty good and Mike Schumacher’s motor was great it pulled me around the corners and down the straights and everything. I want to thank Mike Schumacher, my mom and my dad, Chris and Shelby Statton.”
A 16.020-seconds lap put Smith on Race 2’s pole. Stanley turned a 16.072-seconds lap for the outside pole from where he charged to the front. He stayed there taking the checkered flag with a 0.999-seconds advantage over Tarlton. Grayson Brightwell grabbed third, Smith was fourth across the stripe followed by Loomis who rounded out the top five.
“The kart was the best I’ve ever driven,” the 12-year-old winner said. “The first race the spark-plug wire fell off, but it didn’t do anything. This race it was a whole different kart. She flew through one and two. That motor’s always been good. Of all the motors I’ve had I think that one’s the best.”
Ryan O’Connor and Justin Kirby won the Junior Sportsman Champ classes. Kirby clocked both pole times traveling the circuit in 17.057-seconds for the first and cracking the 17-second margin with a 16.896-seconds lap for the second pole. When the first green flag waved Kirby captured the early lead with the field nose-to-tail behind him. Ryan O’Connor, of Chesterfield, VA, piloted his Tod Miller Racing Engines powered Rage Nitro kart through the field from a third place start. O’Connor took second and then engineered a freight train past Kirby for the lead. On their way to the front O’Connor’s brother Timothy got under a competitor sending them spinning. Ryan O’Connor took the lead with his brother trailing, Bailey Moore in third followed by Kirby in fourth. The field stayed lock in those positions for the rest of the race with Ryan ruling his brother by 0.843-seconds.
“When my brother got under that one guy I know he didn’t mean to,” said the 11-year-old winner. “He (Timothy O’Connor) was trying to race him and he thought he had him and he got into the side of him and I just went on past them and drove on the rest of the race. I would like to thank my dad, Gill McCauley, my sister and all of my family, my brother and all of my race opponents, Tod Miller for the motor and Rage karts. The kart handled phenomenally, it was awesome.”
Kirby was back at the front when the green flag waved for the start of the second Junior Sportsman Champ race. He wasn’t about to let another race get away from him. Kirby hustled into the early lead and tried building on it. As determined as Kirby was Timothy O’Connor was equally determined to stop him. O’Connor stayed glued to Kirby’s tailpipe for all 15-laps ending in the day’s closest finish. Just 0.082-seconds separated them at the stripe.
AKRA racers, both dirt and asphalt will meet next during the 4th Annual ‘Christmas in Dixie’ being held December 27-30 at the dual track Cross Roads Motorsports Complex in Jasper, FL. For more information on ‘Christmas in Dixie’ and entry forms visit AKRA’s website at www.akrainc.com or call the AKRA office at 704-764-8138.