The 2001 season for the Burris Circle Tour got underway Sunday, May 6th at Lake Geneva Raceway.  The tour, in its 7th year, has become the premier speedway series for karting in the Midwest and is a cornerstone event of the Burris National Speedway Series.  Over 110 karters ranging in age from 5 to 60 joined in the fun.  The competition was close and the racing was fast.

 New classes for the 2001 season include the F200-OHV.  This class features open competition between Briggs and Stratton, Tecumseh, Kohler and Honda Engines.  Ryan Vehring, a Milwaukee resident, used his previous experience at the track to nail the set-up and sweep the heats and feature.  Greg Shafer, William Huck, Jr. and Carols Paulino finished the feature in second through fourth, respectively.  The series has also added the Jr. Yamaha Class and Jr. Champ Sportsman to the roster.

Nine Kid Kart competitors were on hand for opening day.  This fast growing class shows the talents of our youngest drivers ages 5 to 7.  This weeks participants were Joey Mandarino, Alex Stumpf, Halle Nissen, Jacob Zellmer, Jacob Sekey, Mackensie Piller, Rylee Bholen, Brandon Ivian, Clint Kliem and Bailey Nissen.  The drivers all did a great job of learning about the flags, lining up, starting and running wide open.  Flagman Dana Tagenhorst said after the races, “These kids are going to be real competitive by the end of the season.” 

The Senior Lite class got off to an exciting start with new faces in the class.  Ryan Rockhold, Jacob Humphrey and Rick Johnson moved up from a successful season last year in the Jr. class, and Joe Moser, last year’s Heavy Champion, moved into the Lite’s.  Could he have his eye on the Overall Championship trophy?  From the drop of the first green flag, Rockhold and Moser ran side by side around the 1/3 mile banked track.  The drivers swapped the first and second spots throughout the day, but neither could pull away.  Rockhold swept both heat races and the feature, but his total margin in all three races was less than a kart length.  Humphrey, the heat race winner in the B Group, Kelsi Guess and Ricky Johnson were right behind the leaders in 3rd through 5th respectively.  The class is sure to provide some of the best racing around in 2001.

 The Jr.I class (formerly Novice Briggs) gave novice and experienced Jr. Racers a place to show their stuff.  The class of 17 was so large that the heat races were run in separate groups.  In the first heat race, Billy Hulbert took the checkered flag for Group A, and Zack Jacobs won in Group B.  Tyler Peterson in Group A won the second heat race and Ben Stumpf won in Group B.  The class combined for the feature event with action throughout the field and tight side-by-side racing.  Peterson won the feature and was followed closely by Hulbert, Adam Carlson, Ben Stumpf and Corey Domenick.

 The Champ Karts were out in force on Opening Day.  This year’s class structure includes the Jr. Sportsman Champ running a purple restrictor on a Briggs 5hp motor, the Jr. Champ running an unrestricted Briggs 5hp and the Star Champs, the Senior Class running Tecumseh Star Motors.  Frank James Slabenak won the Jr. Sportsman Champ feature in his first race after moving up from the Kid Kart class.  Mickey Kudlicki, Sara O’Dell and Jessica Kudlicki were second through fourth.  Danielle Gale, Nick O’Dell and Gina Mooi were very competitive running neck and neck – at times 3 wide in the Jr. Champ class.  Mooi won the first heat, Gale won the second heat and O’Dell slipped in to take the feature win.  The Star Champs put on an awesome display with Jack Benson and Johnathon Foster battling for the lead.  The final results were Benson, Foster, Jason Krage and James Maher.

 Other standout performances came from Mike James in the Yamaha Class, Nikki Yepsen in Sr. Medium, Tim Toussaint in the Super Mini Cups and A.J. Morgan who beat a strong field in the Jr. III class.  The second race in the 2001 Burris Circle Tour is schedule for May 20th at Lake Geneva Raceway.  You can find results, points and other information on the Circle Tour by pressing the Race Results button.