Carlton continues domination in Utah - Saturday Report

It was another hot day in Tooele, UT for the second round of the Snap-on Stars of Karting Western Division at the Miller Motorsports Park. Temperatures were over 100 degrees again with many competitors making sure they were keeping cool and hydrated along with the Stars awesome staff, keeping everything on time. It was another Gary Carlton victory in the ICC division as Tyler Dueck earned his first win of the year, extending Team Intrepid/Champion Racing’s ICA win streak to five after Scott Jenkins four wins to open up the year.

ICC
The final group of Gatorz Pole Qualifying was the headline ICC class. PCH Motorsports Nicholas Halen (CRG) was the first out of the box to hold on to the provisional pole before Ryan Yop put his Sodi Kart USA/G-Phactory machine on the top spot. After the halfway mark, defending ICC national champion Gary Carlton stole the P1 position with his 54.518 out lap. Fritz Leesmann made it CRG 1-2 on the front row with his late charge, coming in just 0.002-seconds short of the pole position. Team Intrepid/Champion Racing’s Jordy Vorrath also made a late charge, posting the third best time with David Jurca (Italkart) dropping Yop to fifth. After the drivers went through the scale house, Vorrath was found to be underweight, removing him from the standings and moving Richard Benitez (Kosmic) into the top five.

Carlton got the hole shot as others had trouble getting of the grid with Jurca, Leesmann and Yop filling the top four spots. Matt Jaskol (Top Kart), from the seventh starting spot, moved up with the lead group. Leesmann moved up to second early and began tracking down Carlton as Jurca, Yop, and Jaskol were a few clicks back. Halen was the man on the move, running the fastest lap of the race while closing ground on Jaskol for fifth. Halen eventually made his way up to second after Leesman pushed outside into turn one, dropping back to fourth. Carlton took the win with Halen second, making it a CRG 1-2 again on the front row. Jurca and Leesmann set to start the main event from row two with Yop and Jaskol from row three. Vorrath was the man on the move, getting into the top ten before engine troubles put him on the sideline with five laps to go.

Jurca grabbed the holeshot at the start of the ICC main event as a few drivers got together in turn one with one kart flipping over. Fortunately, everyone was fine and the race went on without stopping. Jurca’s time at the front was short lived as Carlton made the pass into turn one beginning lap two. From there, it was all Carlton as Leesmann and Halen found their ways to the front for a CRG 1-2-3 finish. Behind them, Jurca was holding on to fourth for most of the race until dropping a wheel off in turn 7, allowing Jaskol, Hayden Duerson (Italkart) and Yop by. The driver on the move was Vorrath, starting from 21st spot, as he eventually got to eighth and began closing on Jurca. After getting by Jurca, he put his head down and got by Yop and then Duerson to finish fifth.

PCH Motorsports ICA
23 drivers are on hand for the ICA group this weekend, hitting the track for their 15-minute qualifying session. Most of the drivers clocked in their quickest laps in their first few laps, including pole winner Tyler Dueck. The Team Intrepid/Champion Racing pilot put himself atop the charts early with a 56.202 lap time. Michael Hogg (Italkart) was second with Jacob Neal making a late jump into the top five. Jake Rosenzweig was fourth with Cody Jolly also moving up, putting CRG’s sitting third, fourth, and fifth.

After a questionable start to the ICA Prefinal, Neal moved from row two into the lead after the opening corner, with Dueck, Rosenzweig, and Hogg dropping back to fourth as they pulled away from the battle for fifth. Most of the race the front four ran cleanly until Hogg pressured for third but Rosenzweig earned it back before the checkered fell, Neal taking the comfortable win ahead of Dueck. Jolly was able to get by Nicholas Tonkin (Birel) for fifth with one to go.

Neal was able to grab the lead to start the ICA Final but it was Dueck who quickly stole the spot on lap two, pulling out to a small gap. Lap five, Neal dropped to 15th after going off in turn one. The battle on track was for P1 as Rosenzweig was able to chop into Dueck’s lead until on lap 10 when the engine slowly began to fail, pulling off the track. Jolly was then moved up to second with Tonkin running third. Attrition began to hit the class at the halfway mark, beginning with Tonkin exiting the track with a broken exhaust. Dueck cruised to the win by 5.496-seconds over Jolly with Hogg earning his best Stars ICA finish in third. Nick Boulle (Gillard) was fourth with Neal bouncing back to round out the top five. When the checkered flag fell, only nine karts were running.

JICA
Gustavo Menezes (Tony Kart) led the way in JICA Gatorz Pole Qualifying with a 58.232 lap. IKF Region 7 star Branden Underwood (Top Kart) was second fastest with Florida Winter Tour champion Jarvis Gennari (Tony Kart) starting the Prefinal third. Fellow IKF Region 7 star Donny St. Ours (PTK) was fourth with Dusty Davis (Maranello) rounding out the fast five.

A few drivers getting off in the opening corner of the JICA Prefinal as Menezes, Gennari, and Davis pulled out in the front pack. Lap five saw Davis drop out of the race with mechanical problems, leaving Gennari, Menezes and Garrison Masters (CRG) in the lead group. The man of the race was Team Top Kart USA’s Brendan ‘Mini’ Phinny, starting from the 17th spot and quickly moving into the top ten. Running the fastest laps of the race, Phinny eventually moved up to the lead group, getting by Masters and Menezes before taking the lead from Gennari heading into turn one. Phinny would take the win by 0.488-seconds with Gennari, Masters, and Bijon Spinazzola (Maranello) rounding out the top five.

A five kart battle began the JICA Final with Phinny, Underwood, Masters, Menezes and Gennari leading the way. Phinny was untouchable though as he posted the fast lap of the race and went on to win his first Stars JICA race. Tony Kart USA drivers Menezes and Gennari ran to podium finishes. Masters was mixing it up with both until he dropped a wheel and fell back in the field. Coming from 17th starting spot, Miles Maroney (CRG) worked his way to finish fourth, his best run in Stars JICA competition, ahead of Underwood. The front five would change in the tech barn as Underwood was disqualified for a technical infraction, moving Tatiana Calderon (Tony Kart) to fifth.

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