Race Recap | Colorado Karting Tour | Round 06

The 2018 Colorado Karting Tour championship season continued into the 6^th round of the championship season with a return to Peyton Colorado’s SBR Motorsports Park. Set into the rolling hills northeast of the Colorado Springs area, the scenic racetrack was utilized in the counter-clockwise direction. Several showers in days previous to race day kept the track swept of accumulating significant rubber or grip, despite driver’s best efforts on Saturday prior to the event. With 78 drivers compiling for over 90 entries, the turnout was strong, albeit down slightly from earlier in the season as the tour turns on. A moderate breeze with intermittent gusts broke up the day, causing some tents to go flying early in the day. Scattered brief rain showers temporarily dampened the spirits of those in attendance, but the sun returned almost immediately to dry out cold attendees.

First on the track were the Kid Kart drivers, utilizing the half-track configuration at SBR. In qualifying, #44 Rhys Bowman laid down the top time, with a 46.658, followed by #20 Elijah Khrestsov and #25 Matteo Quinto. At the drop of the green flag for the heat race, a scattered field of drivers raced into the first turn. Out front would be Khrestsov, with #17 Jerome Rondeau taking advantage of a tangle between Bowman and Quinto to rise into the second position for much of the race. Undeterred by the early tangle, Bowman would charge back up through the pack as the laps wore on, with Quinto also racing forward to overtake Rondeau in the waning laps. At the checkered, Khrestsov would take the win, followed some distance back by Quinto, Rondeau, Bowman, and #8 Parker Dosmann. As the field grouped up for the final, other racers were happy to see that the formation was beginning to get the hang of a rolling start! At the green Quinto would get the initial jump, followed closely by Khrestsov. As the lead duo disappeared down the hill out of sight, it was anyone’s race on the opening lap. Suddenly, a small tangle between the two drivers, with Khrestsov coming out on top, Quinto again a few paces back. Behind them, Bowman ran largely uncontested in 3^rd, followed by Rondeau, and #16 Tyler Treadwell, who battled briefly with Dosmann. Back out front and Khrestsov was well in the lead, but Quinto was not giving up! After falling back at first, Quinto was chipping away slowly at #20’s lead, inching closer and closer. It wouldn’t be quite enough by the finish, however, as Khrestsov would take the victory, followed by Quinto, Bowman, Rondeau, Dosmann, and Treadwell.

Next up were the LO206 Heavy drivers. In qualifying, #403 Jeremy Davis set the quick time, with a laptime of 49.947, followed by #76 Rodney Ebersole, and #57 Robert Holubar. In the pre-final, Davis lead early, followed by Ebersole and Holubar, the lead trio separating themselves from the rest of the pack more and more with each passing lap. Further back, #70 Gregory Robinson was having a solid run, continuing to inch his way forward in the finishing standings as the year progresses. A spin by #28 Brian Hoffman collected several drivers near the top 5, including #86 Nathan Sewolt, #42 Randy Flores, and of course Hoffman. At the line, it was Davis, followed by Ebersole, Holubar, Robinson, and Flores. As the green fell for the final, it was Davis and Ebersole respectfully battling for the lead through turn 1. Davis again would assume the point after the first few corners, followed by Ebersole and then Holubar, picking up where they left off in the pre-final. In the opening laps, Davis struggled to pull away from the others in the lead pack, but slowly, steadily, his advantage began to grow. Ebersole and Holubar did not trade positions very much, but Holubar was certainly not going to give up on the back bumper of Ebersole. Further back, Robinson and Flores were trading positions back and forth, with Robinson finally gaining the advantage in that battle, leaving Flores to run in 5^th. #771 Daniel Lopez avoided early chaos to slip into the 6^th position, where he would run for a while before Sewolt and #84 Geoffrey Peel would overtake him. A spirited battle between Lopez and #8 Craig Mansfield ensued in the waning laps of the final, entertaining many in attendance. Back up front, however, it was all Davis, who would run wire-to-wire to take the win, followed by Ebersole, Holubar, Robinson, and Flores.

Up next were the Henry’s Welding Junior Rotax drivers. In qualifying, the top time was set by #214 Macy Williams, laying down a time of 39.472, followed by #217 Liam Letzsch and #218 Jack Armstrong. In the pre-final, Letzsch got a slight jump on Williams accelerating off the line, but had to fall back one position as Williams held the inside line through turn 1. As the field began to string out slightly, Armstrong made a move to the inside of Letzsch to pull himself into the 2^nd position. Suddenly, chaos erupted in the middle of the field, as a tangle between several drivers in the hairpin area caused the field to scatter, with Armstrong, #278 Timmy Trostel, and #286 Adam Ambraziunas coming out with the short end of the stick, hung up together, blocking the track. With the track relatively quickly cleared by the drivers, some were able to continue. Shortly after, #99 Nolan Payne’s pre-final came to a pre-mature end, slipping slowly and resignedly into the infield to watch the rest of the race. At the line, Williams took the win, followed by Letzsch, and #298 Cameron Lazaroff. In the final, Letzsch made his best effort to gain the inside position on Williams heading into the first turn, but was forced to slot into the 2^nd position. Armstrong was on the move in a major way, elevating himself up to the 3^rd position within the first few laps, with #299 Daniel Fellows hanging strong in 4^th. A big slip by Lazaroff saw him slide down the standings in the opening laps, slotting into the 6^th position after a strong run in the pre-final. As the race wore on, Williams and Letzsch ran fairly close together, with a gap beginning to open up at the halfway mark in the race. The driver really on the hunt throughout the race was Payne, who slowly picked off drivers steadily with each passing lap, elevating himself to the 4^th position in the final tally. At the line, Williams took the victory, followed by Letzsch, Armstrong, Payne, and Fellows.

The Amsoil Junior 1 field this year has seen a variety of front-runners. SBR would be no different. In qualifying, #61 Dylan Archer set the quick time, with a laptime of 44.891, narrowly ahead of #60 Rye Myers and #5 Alex McPherson-Wiman. As the field accelerated into the opening turn for the pre-final, it was Myers with the jump thanks to a push by #11 Vaughn Weber from 4^th position. Mcpherson-Wiman looked briefly to the inside of Archer into the opening turn to make it 3-wide, but thought better of it and was shuffled further back as a result. Out front it was Myers, Weber, McPherson-Wiman, and Archer back to 4^th, the top quartet barely ahead of another group of drivers lead by #13 Tavian Rougemont. Suddenly, the field scattered heading into the hairpin as multiple drivers spun, crashing into each other and becoming tangled, with #77 Kaden Dosmann and #22 Archer Eversman colliding after avoiding the initial accident. Eversman eventually was able to get going again, but with help, and was therefore disqualified for the event. Dosmann was unable to do so, and therefore spent most of the race sitting in the infield watching the action. Out front and unscathed in the chaos, Myer was relatively alone and in control, with Rougemont now in the 2^nd position after the turn 2 tangle. At the line, Myers would take the win, followed by Rougemont, Archer, Weber, and McPherson-Wiman. Having licked their wounds and hammered on the karts some, many Junior 1 racers were back in top form for the final. At the green it was Rougemont on the outside with the jump, swinging past Myers into the opening corner to take over the lead. Myers wouldn’t give up that easily, however, and hung on strong to 2^nd position, where a battle among multiple drivers was beginning to form. Soon enough, a pack from 2^nd all the way to 7^th ran nearly nose-to-tail, an epic display of the parity between those in the category. On lap 5 Myers attempted to make things interesting, briefly overhauling Rougemont for the lead, only to be shuffled back to 2^nd just half a lap later. After a strong initial run, Weber slipped backwards through the lead pack, composed of multiple drivers including a stellar run by #28 Deanna Hoffman. The driver truly on the move, however, was Eversman, who put on a true charge from the rear of the field, picking his way one-by-one through the field and into the lead pack. At the line, bickering among several drivers in the lead pack allowed Rougemont to sneak away to his first win in the Junior 1 category by a reasonable margin, followed by Myers, Hoffman, Eversman, and Archer. After a strong run early, Weber would settle for the 6^th position, with McPherson-Wiman fighting a damaged kart the last to finish with the lead pack in 7^th.

Despite being a little slower than their Junior 1 counterparts, the KMG Heating and Plumbing Junior 1 Cadet drivers were about to put on a race arguably even more intense than their faster friends. In qualifying, #51 Joelle Lewis continued her strong qualifying record in 2018 with a pole time of 47.561, followed by #34 Allie Nelson and #1c Cadence Presley. With several drivers in the 47-second bracket, things were poised to be exciting in the pre-final. As the field raced into the first corner Lewis lead the charge, with Nelson slipping back a few spaces as Presley, #11 Tyler Pompian, and #85 Andrew Wilson all challenged for position. Presley made quick work to settle into the 2^nd position, now setting his sights on the leader Lewis. Over the 10-lap contest, the gap between Lewis and Presley grew smaller, with Presley challenging for the lead on lap 8, briefly leading before Lewis took it back on the final round of the SBR circuit. At the line, it was Lewis, Presley, Nelson, Wilson, and Pompian. In the main, Lewis again lead early, but a train of several karts followed her closely in the lead pack. After a strong showing in the pre-final, Presley seemed to be slightly off the pace, dropping back several positions early, elevating Nelson briefly to the 2^nd position, followed by Wilson, and eventually Pompian. Presley began to find his mojo a little later in the main, closing back in on the leaders as his tires warmed. Back out front, and Lewis was receiving a serious challenge from Wilson. Lewis lead for several laps as Wilson looked for a way by, before overtaking #51 heading into one of the final corners. With Wilson in the lead, it seemed that Lewis turned up the pace slightly, not struggling at all to maintain a position right behind the leader, which allowed the rest of the lead pack to briefly catch up. Wilson looked back several times, running a slightly defensive line that caught the official’s attention. Despite several efforts, Lewis couldn’t quite make the pass work at first, which opened the door for a closing Nelson to slip past her after several chances late in the race. Further back, Pompian, Presley, and #58 Nathan Fero had their own battle brewing, with Pompian working, and working, and working on Fero to finally find his way by near the end of the race, but not before #5 Gage Korn worked his way through that pack after a masterful drive from further back in the field. At the line, it was Wilson preliminarily with the win, followed by Nelson, Lewis, Korn, and Presley. A post-race review shuffled the finishing order slightly, elevating Nelson to the top of the podium, Lewis to the 2^nd position, and Wilson to 3^rd.

Next up were the Rotax Senior, Master, and TaG drivers, as well as Unser Karting KA 100. In qualifying, #22 Seth Axelson laid down the quick time of 40.009, followed by #23 Quinton O’Donnell at 40.442. #145 Greg Welch was an impressive 3^rd overall, taking the top time in KA 100 at 41.781, with #76 Everest Fedler and #14 Kenny Schmied rounding out that field’s top 3. #642 Mike Manov rolled his way to the Rotax Master pole position, with a time of 42.221. In the pre-final, Axelson wasted no time checking out to an early lead, with O’Donnell in tow. As the race progressed, the gap grew slowly to a 4 second lead, with Axelson leading flag-to-flag to take the victory in the division followed by O’Donnell. Welch similarly lead the way in KA 100, the running order similar to qualifying. Manov soldiered on alone in his division, finishing 3^rd overall. In the main, Axelson again got the jump on the start, but O’Donnell wasn’t going to let him out of his sight so easily this time. For a few laps, O’Donnell hung tough with Axelson, before he began to slip back ever so slightly. As the race progressed, this gap grew as O’Donnell faded, but still well ahead of 3^rd position overall, the leader of his division in Master that was Manov. Early race contact between Fedler and Welch rooted Welch to 2^nd for a brief period of time, before the experienced driver overtook Fedler to resume the lead. At the line, Axelson, Manov, and Welch would be the division winners, with O’Donnel 2^nd overall for Rotax Senior, and Fedler and Schmied completing the field of KA 100.

On track next were the mighty Loan Simple SKUSA Stock Honda and Open Shifter drivers. In qualifying, #666 Norbert Laczko emerged on top, laying down a time of 39.350 on his Evinco Reds. #12 Josh Weis was 2^nd fast, leading the Stock Honda division with a time narrowly short of Laczko, with #314 Jacob Meister 3^rd overall. As the engines revved for the standing start for the pre-final, Weis seemed to get the best launch, holding off Laczko into the opening corner. With #666 in his rear view mirror, Weis grabbed gears and kept it smooth up front, while Meister ran close behind Laczko for 3^rd overall. After a rough start, #19 Cole Timmons was on the move, elevating himself up to 4^th overall at the checkered. At the line, it was Weis, Laczko, and Meister the top 3 overall. In the main, Weis struggled to launch off the line quite as cleanly, with Meister getting a monstrous start in his Open Shifter KZ kart. Soon enough, however Weis was underway and quickly caught up to #314, and overtook him for the overall lead, relegating Meister to 3^rd as Laczko similarly followed him through. As the race progressed Weis again lead in dominant fashion, opening up a larger lead on Laczko and Meister, who traded positions several times before the running order was settled and separation was established. A strong start by #21 was investigated by officials to possibly be a jump, with his final position being moved further back as the kart began to have engine issues later in the race. Just like the pre-final, Timmons was battling for position, struggling to find a way past #9 Cody Russell for most of the race after having to head to the back of the field due to a stalled kart on pre-grid. Eventually, Timmons would slip by. At the line, Weis would emerge victorious, taking the overall and category win in his SKUSA Stock Honda, followed by Open Shifter winner Laczko, Meister, Timmons, and Russell completing the top 5.

Up next were the Junior II drivers. In qualifying it was #98 Cameron Lazaroff setting quick time, laying down a 45.248, narrowly ahead of #214 Macy Williams and #78 Timmy Trostel. In the pre-final, the entire pack of 4 drivers roared off into the first turn together, with Lazaroff leading early, followed by Williams. The lead duo attempted to draft away from the rest of the field in the opening laps, but Trostel and Fellows were having none of it! Trostel was the first to drop the gloves, taking the lead a handful of laps in before Williams would answer right back a lap later. From there, Lazaroff and Williams would do their best to pull away from the rest of the field, barely able to do so for Williams to take the victory at the line, followed by Lazaroff, Trostel, and Fellows. In the main event, Williams lead the opening circuit, with Lazaroff in tow. This time, the 2 leaders seemed to have their mojo figured out, bump drafting steadily away from Trostel and Fellows, who battled initially before separating in their respective positions. As the race wore on, Lazaroff stayed glued to Williams’ bumper, briefly looking here or there, biding his time. With 2 laps to go, Lazaroff it was go time, moving past Williams to the inside in one of the final corners. Williams remained composed, and would take back the lead later that lap in the hairpin. All in attendance knew at this point that the race wasn’t over, however! As the leaders rounded the final corner, Lazaroff lunged to the inside, but not quite enough! At the line, Williams took the win by a nose, squeaking out an advantage over Lazaroff of just 0.072 seconds! Trostel would come 3^rd, followed by Fellows in 4^th.

Micro and Mini Max were up next. In qualifying, #160 Rye Myers set the pace, with a laptime of 42.608, ahead of #161 Dylan Archer and #177 Kaden Dosmann. Running alone in his category, #22 Archer Eversman was on pole in Micro Max and would naturally lead the way the entire day in his division. In the pre-final, Myers would lead flag to flag, but not without some competition at several points in the race from Archer and Dosmann, both of whom ran close behind in a pack of 3 for much of the race. #107 Braden Hindson was on the move towards the end of the race, slipping past Archer for the 3^rd position at the line, following Myers and Dosmann to the checkered flag. In the final, Myers would again lead early, with Dosmann and Archer in tow. Just like the pre-final, The lead pack separated from the rest of the field, but this time it was Archer and Myers out front. As the race progressed it was clear that Archer might have something for Myers, who certainly was not able to pull away from ‘the shark,’ following him like a shadow. Suddenly, the white flag was displayed, and Archer knew it was go time! As the leaders rounded the final hairpin, Archer drew to the inside. The leaders raced into the final kink corner towards the start/finish, and suddenly, contact! Myers on the inside, Archer on the outside, with Archer getting the short end of a side-by-side stick, running into the grass as they raced to the line. Myers would take the win after review by officials, followed by Archer, Dosmann, #199 Morris, and #107 Braden Hindson. Naturally, Eversman would run smoothly on to claim victory in the Micro Max division.

Last but certainly not least, the Adult LO206 Light racers took to the track. In qualifying, #12 Austin Chalman set the pace, with a time of 49.299, ahead of #21 Henry Korn and #22 Adam Rylance, a series newcomer from New Jersey! In the pre-final, Chalman would lead early, followed by Korn briefly before an issue would relegate him far down the standings, from where he would attempt to recover. Rylance was happy to take the spot over in 2^nd, running just ahead of #21x AJ Jacobellis for much of the race. Further back, the field was a bit chaotic, with several drivers battling for the edge of the top 5. At the line, Chalman would take a big victory, followed by Jacobellis, #4 James Michael-Lewis, and Rylance to 4^th in the waning laps. As the green fell for the final, several racers were on the move. In particular, Henry Korn was still working to recover from his pre-final spin, moving past a handful of drivers early as Chalman would again lead the charge followed now by Michael Lewis. #145 Duncan Warnke was looking strong for some time before Korn would blast past him and the rest of that small secondary pack. His sights set on the leaders, Korn would do his best to chase them down, to no avail. At the line, Chalman would take the victory over Michael-Lewis, a scant 0.275 second back! Korn would finish his charge in 3^rd, followed by Warnke and a slipping Jacobellis.

With the race day over, Colorado Karting Tour racers hung around for the podium presentations. Many had contested multiple classes on the day, and were excited to applaud their fellow racers for their successes. After a trying day in the timing booth, Chief of Timing/Scoring CJ Weidner was recognized with the “True Karter” award. A random raffle drawing netted Kid Kart driver Matteo Quinto with a set of Evinco Blues.  Others quickly packed up, and hit the road, determined to come back rested and prepared for Round 07 at Action Karting.

As a racing series largely driven by the tireless efforts of a driven group of officials, volunteers, and supporters, The Colorado Karting Tour in particular wishes to thank our series supporters, our raceday crew of Donny Holder, Ian Francis, Cody Dempster, Kenny Francis, CJ Weidner, Jack McPherson-Wiman, Julie Williams, McKaylie Williams, Craig Mansfield, Danielle Hindson, Steven Chapman, Ryan Tucker, Ron Rudolph, the SBR Motorsports Park staff for putting on a great event. By and large, these individuals and team members support kart racing in Colorado not by choice, but by a drive to see the sport grow and benefit the racers, who themselves understand the time and effort these individuals put forth to put on an event that they can come and enjoy.

The Colorado Karting Tour will soon head to Morrison, Colorado to host Round 07 of the 2018 Championship Series at Action Karting on August 26th. This course shall be run in the counter-clockwise direction, and is shaping up to be an outstanding event! To reserve your pit spot, contact the team at Action Karting.

CKT’s next board meeting will be on September 11, at Great Scott’s Eatery, Denver from 6-9 PM.

To stay up-to-date with all of CKT’s media, announcements, and scheduling, head to our website: www.coloradokartingtour.com, or via Facebook @ColoradoKartingTour-CKT. You can also find us on Instagram @coloradokartingtour