eKartingNews.com Recaps Stars’ Ocala Weekend

After two days of good weather, tempered by a small storm cell that dampened a few races on Saturday, the call for scattered thunderstorms became the reality at the weekend as hard rain hit the Snap-on Stars of Karting circuit in its Eastern Division opener at the Ocala Grand Prix Racing in Central Florida. The rain arrived just before the final ICC heat race, leaving the drivers with a wet track for the remainder of the day. The rain was off-and-on, varying in intensity, but the result was the same.

Despite the weather, the racing was good, and in the headline ICC class, Fritz Leesmann inherited the opening race win when Gary Carlton retired following a late race spin. Carlton would come back in Race #2, dominating the 26-lap final in impressive fashion. In the TaG class, Team Top Kart’s Chris Wehrheim swept the mains, showing his abilities in the rain.

ICC
The rains came down just before the third ICC heat race, sending the drivers back to Parc Ferme to change over to their rain set-ups. At the drop of the green, Carlton (CRG) got the jump to the lead while Leesman put down a great start as well to advance from the fourth starting spot to second heading into turn one. Cody Jolly (CRG) moved into the third spot and they remained that way through the 16 laps, avoiding all the carnage and lapped traffic to finish 1-2-3. Jordy Vorrath (Intrepid) was on the move early, powering to 13th to fifth during the first three laps. Battling Mike Vincec (CRG) for fourth, Vorrath made a braking error heading into turn one and the two made hard contact. Vincec was able to continue, but Vorrath broke a left front brake rotor in the process, ending his race early two laps later. Vincec held on for fourth at the end while Ryan Kinnear (Intrepid) moving up impressively from 19th to fifth.

It would be CRG 1-2-3-4 to start the finals with Carlton, Leesmann, Jolly and Vincec occupying the first two rows. Despite Vorrath’s heat three troubles, he would launch from row three alongside Danilo Dirani (Tony Kart), who also had trouble in heat three with a broken silencer.

It was another Carlton-Leesmann front row and they were 1-2 after the first lap of the initial final. Vorrath got a great jump from fifth into fourth behind Vincec as Jolly fell back to begin the race. The front pack remained unchanged as the rest of the field shuffled through the puddles. Things changed dramatically when the Carlton went into turn one and spun around into the KISS barriers, handing the lead and the eventual win to Leesman. A distraught Carlton jumped out of the kart, visibly frustrated, classified 26th for his first race of this year’s title defense.

Leesmann would take over the point and would go unchallenged to the win. Vorrath, no stranger to rain racing, was in a new kart after the heat race crash and moved by Vincec on lap 10 for third and was promoted to second following the Carlton DNF. Vincec would round out the podium with Dirani in fourth and Josh Schreiber (CRG) advancing from 16th to fifth.

In the second final, Carlton would not be denied as he powered away to a dominant victory. The reigning champion would dig deep into the back of the field, as the Stars officials needs to throw many black flags at backmarkers to clear the way for the leader. Carlton would not see another driver on his way to his first Stars win of the year.

Behind the dominant force, Vorrath was on the charge and would best the rest of the field, taking second at the checkered flag. Jolly stayed out of trouble early and maintained his position in third while Dirani came in fourth. Both ran alone on the track for the majority of the event. The fight for fifth got exciting in the late-going as Clayton Snow (Energy) had found some speed, benefiting from information delivered by the Energy factory team in France, which had just completed a successful wet race (third in KZ2) in the WSK series overseas. Snow closed quickly on Vincec in the late-going after he got hung up in a large race puddle, taking the position on the final circuit heading into turn one. Vincec battled right back in turn two, re-taking the position to sit fifth in the final tally. Leesmann was running fourth when he went straight off into turn one, retiring a few laps later and finding out the cause of the off course excursion to be a stuck brake bias that gave h! im 100% front brakes.

Based on the point totals, and the poor finishes of both Carlton and Leesmann, Vorrath will hold the ICC point lead in the East heading to the Race of the Americas at New Castle in May.

TaG ICC
The TaG ICC class made its debut this weekend and to complete its heat races, Matthew Mair (Tony Kart) and Michael Hogg (Italkart) gave the crowd a great battle for win during the final 12-lap sprint, giving us a look of the potential battle in the finals. Hogg led the way early on, until Mair got around for the point. Hogg locked on his bumper for the entire race, but never made a move, giving Mair the win while Hogg had secured the pole for the mains. Chad Allen (Tony Kart) got by Bryan Eady (Intrepid) for third while Jose Zanella (Tony Kart) completed the top five.

Hogg started from the pole position for both finals with Allen outside him on Row #1. Mair and Don McGregor (Italkart) would go from row two with Eady and Zanella on row three.

For the first 21-lap final, it was all Michael Hogg. Getting the drop on the green, Hogg went on to lead the entire race en route to the first-ever TaG ICC final victory. Eady was a close second with Allen, Max Riddle (First Kart), and Mair surviving the wet course to complete the top-five.

In the second main, Hogg would be chased relentlessly by Mair, but the Tony Kart driver could simply not close on the leader. With near identical fast laps, Hogg kept Mair at bay and took his second straight win. Mair beat out his Tony Kart USA teammate Jose Zanella with Allen and Riddle crossing the line fourth and fifth.

TaG
A big pile up in the first turn for third heat race put a number a drivers to the back and ended Joey Wimsett’s (Intrepid) race as he was hit pretty hard and needed some medical attention. On track, the front was a tight nit group with Chris Wehrheim (Top Kart) leading the way with six karts on his tail. Wehrheim and Jeremy Nelson (Kosmic) began to break away from the pack with Chris Larson (First Kart) moving up to third ahead of double winner Edward Fortier (Maranello) with four laps to go. On the white flag lap, Nelson looked inside Wehrheim but lost ground, allowing Larson to take the second spot as they got the checkered flag with Wehrheim getting his first win of the year. Fortier was third with Chris Scribner (Top Kart) winning the battle for fifth.

Fortier and Wehrheim will go from row one with Scribner and CJ Lintner (Arrow) starting from row two for the finals.

With their first wet session of the weekend, the TaG class hit the track with a damp track but no new rain coming down. Fortier got the jump with Wehrheim slotting in behind. A first lap pass going into turn five gave Wehrheim the point. From there he stretched out to a solid lead and the victory by 7.629-seconds over Larson. Fortier fell back with Wimsett and Cabrera having a stellar drive from 14th and 18th move to the front. At the line, it was Wimsett, Scribner, Cabrera, Nelson and Fortier. Scribner would however be removed from the results for tires too wide and Nelson was penalized one spot for passing under yellow.

The second final saw a wetter track with the rain coming down harder for the TaG division. Fortier and Scribner led the field to the green but it was Wehrheim who came across the stripe first on the opening lap. Scribner and Fortier fell in behind with Michael Self (Sodi Kart) getting a good jump from sixth to fourth.

As the race progressed, the 21 lap event would be a showcase for the Top Kart squad with the top two spots held by Wehrheim and Scribner comfortably and the exceptional driver by the Stars rookie Neil Alberico (Top Kart). Showing stints of quickness throughout the weekend and the coaching by Kartel Motorsports Joey Hand, Alberico showed his cards in the last race, moving from 16th into the top five within the first four laps. Eventually moving into third, the Top Kart trio ran uncontested to a sweep of the TaG Final 2 podium - Wehrheim, Scribner, and Alberico. G-Phactory/Sod Racing USA’s Pat Iannucci, another ICA transfer, gained five spots for fourth with Wimsett duplicating his Final 1 performance with a fifth.

MRP Motorsport JICA
With the new day came a lot of excitement early on for the MRP Motorsport JICA division. Drivers were very inpatient and began using their new bumpers more. A number of drivers saw off track excursions, some continuing, some ending their race early. Up front, it was a four driver break away lead by the Tony Karts of Daniel Formal and Phil DeLaO. Joining them were Alex Madrigal (Kosmic) - from the Philippines - and Nick Neri (Maranello). When the checkered flag fell, DeLaO earned the win with Neri just behind at the line. Formal beat out Madrigal with Spencer Pigot (First Kart) getting his best finish of the heats with a fifth place run.

Formal and Neri would start the finals from the front row with Madrigal and Remo Ruscitti (Italkart) in row two. With his DNF, DeLaO will have to come from sixth. In the tech barn however, tech officials found Pigot and Madrigal to be illegal - Pigot with intake issues and Madrigal with a spark plug protrusion. That moved Remo to third and Tatiana Calderon (Tony Kart) to outside row two. MRP Motorsport JICA rookie Sage Karam (Birel) stayed out of trouble all three heat races with a best sixth place finish in heat three, and will go from inside row three alongside DeLaO.

The first of two Finals was a wild one with the JICA running in the wet for the first time this weekend. Crossing the stripe for the first time Neri was on point with the rest of the starting top five falling in behind. The top three got an early breakaway until slight contact between Formal and Remo sent Formal around in the wet conditions, dropping him back in the field. A lap later, the top point was given to Ruscitti when Neri lost it coming onto the front stretch. That moved a charging Jarvis Gennari (CRG) and Karam into the top three. Gennari, the defending class champion, came up from the 10th while the FirstKart.com duo of Spencer Pigot and Miles Maroney - from 17th and 23rd - broke into the top five. Up front, Ruscitti would go on to win his first Stars final about 1.5-seconds in front of Gennari. Pigot and Maroney both were able to get by Karam for third and fourth.

Using his pole position start to his advantage, Formal put down a solid run of laps to take the point in the second final and lead green to checker for the win. The second best run of the 21 lap race was JICA rookie Tyler Thomas (Top Kart). Getting a great start from sixth, he moved into third by lap five and into the second spot by lap seven. The gap between him and Formal remained the same for the rest of the laps with the Tony Kart driver getting the checkered by 1.301-seconds. Happy to keep his rain dance going all day, Gennari was again strong in the wet, moving from 10th to third for a second podium on the day. Neri held on for fourth with Ruscitti completing the top five.

King Taco Cadet
After two failed attempts to get the nine lap heat race going the front two rows swapped giving Santino Ferrucci (S1) the pole and lead position after the first lap. In typical King Taco Cadet fashion, the top spot was not held long with the drivers continuing to shuffle the top spots. In the end, Garret Grist (Top Kart) won a photo finish over Andrew Murray (Birel) by just 0.005-seconds with Ferrucci in tow. Logan Bearden (Birel) was fourth with Trent Hindman (Merlin) fifth.

For the main events, Murray earned the least amount of points with a win and two runner-up finishes and will go from the pole position with Ferrucci’s better qualifying time to break the tie with Grist for the front row start.

Getting underway on the wet track for the first final, Murray got turned around going through turn one, ending a disappointing first final for the Birel driver. Crossing the line for the first time, Ferrucci paced the field with the Canadian Grist in tow. Hindman would be the man on the move however as Grist fell back to the group battling for third. Hindman made the move to P1 on lap 12 but with two laps to go, Ferrucci fought back for the spot. Coming to the line for the checkered flag, it was Ferrucci with his first Stars win by 0.082-seconds at the line in front of Hindman. The rain master in Cadet was Gresham Wagner (Birel), coming from 19th to finish on the third step of the podium. Mason Chelootz (Top Kart) moved up three spots to fourth with Grist making the wrong gear choice to finish fifth.

With the rain coming down hard for the start of the second King Taco Cadet final, Murray and Ferrucci leading the field to the green flag. Unfortunately, the race started out with a red flag situation as many of the Cadet drivers were unable to see heading into turn one with a couple karts mid-pack spinning and blocking the track. Stars officials threw the red flag and put their race to run after the JICA group to allow repairs.

Once the field got to green flag racing, it was four kart lead pack with Murray, Ferrucci, Grist, and Hindman. Battling as they had all weekend long, the four put on a great show for those braving the rain to stand along the fence line. With the laps winding down, Ferrucci and Hindman seem to have the advantage, swapping the top spot. With two to go Hindman held the point with Ferrucci looking for the right spot but a drive through a deep puddle allowed Hindman to stretch out a gap, enough to cruise to the checkered flag. Ferrucci held off Murray for second with Grist crossing the line fourth in his first ever weekend aboard his new Top Kart. After going on his head in the initial start and going to a back up kart, Breyton Santee (Kosmic) rebounded to come from 12th to fifth.

Closing
With the first round in the books, a few things can be said. The Stars staff again put on a great program, with rain and a red flag, stayed as close to schedule as possible. The racing this year will be tight in all the classes, including ICC down to Cadet. Rain visited the Stars opener for the fourth straight year, so maybe Oklahoma was not the curse (so what is????). With that, we now focus on the Western Division opener at Miller Motorsports Park in three weeks. In between that time, EKN will be releasing the new Driver Rankings and Constructors’ Championship.

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