More... PHOTOS RESULTS

 Mike Slabenak, Jr. put his mark on the Star Champ Kart Classic by winning the event for the second straight year.  Mike dominated the event by leading all of the 25 laps.  There was plenty of action for second place.  In the early phases on the race, Jack Benson, Jr. and Dan Breeden battled for second place as Nicole Phillips and Jimmy Maher made a move from the rear. Jimmy, running in the black number 11 kart, sliced his way through the field, making some excellent passes.  During the middle third of the race, Jimmy and Dan diced for the coveted second spot switching back and forth several time.  The heat and the hard driving to get to the front took it’s toll on Jimmy’s tires and in the last corner Dan came up on the outside and pulled ahead to steal second out of his grasp.  The finishing order for the top 5 was Slabenak, Breeden, Maher, Jacob Finney, and Sarah Breeden.

 The feature race in the Jr. 3’s got off to a rocky start with Jordon Thiel and Mason Hadley leaving with mechanical problems dropping them both out of the top ten in the overall points standings. This left the race open for the other top competitors.  Jeff Everts hit the set up on the hot, slick track leading all 15 laps without a bobble and moves into first place in the overall points.  Billy Hulbert was right behind Everts putting the pressure on at every corner.  Adam Carlson in the 08 kart was making his way from the back of the pack to make it a three way drag race for third spot with Nick Chiapetta and Tanner Bohlen.  Nick showed some real grit holding off the strong challenge.  At the stripe it was Everts, Hulbert, Chiapetta, Bohlen and Carlson.

 The Jr. 1 class mixed it up early with points leader Ben Stumpf getting bounced to the outside as the field ran underneath him.  Alex Stumpf and Ross Kenseth took advantage of Ben’s misfortune to run out ahead of the field.  It was a classic battle of two different styles of karts.  Alex was faster on the straight-a-ways and Ross had the advantage in the corner.  In the end, Alex was able to hang on to the lead for his second feature win of the year.  The podium finishers were Alex Stumpf, Ross Kenseth, Dylan Hobbs, Ben Stumpf and Tyler Peterson.

The racers in Jr. Sportsman Champ class really mixed it up this week. Halfway through the race, Mackenzie Piller and Dylan Barbosa got mixed up with lapped traffic, bringing out a yellow flag and starting from the rear of the field.  Then Colton Clevenger took over the front spot.  Michael Martin spun and scuffed off all of his speed.  This put him with quite a gap to make up.  Colton took the checkered with Mackenzie running a strong second.  Then in the last few inches, Michael ran up to snatch third.  Dylan rounded out the top four.

Michael Bilderback and Matt Vice continued their season long clash for the top spot in Jr. Champs.  Today Michael added another win to his credit, Matt was second, Alex Clubb finished just ahead of Ryan Marshall and Mickey Kudlicki.  Trevor Raisbeck had the setup to dethrone Carly Mandarino in the Jr. Yamaha class.

The Sr. Lite race featured age, patience, youth and fearlessness.  Joe Moser, the aged, jumped out to the early lead – if you call ½ kart length a lead.  Jacob Humphrey, was on Joe’s back wheel.  Rich McGill, the fearless, made a daring pass to pick them both off and run out front – by inches – for a few laps.  Shane Morrissey, the youth, was right in the mix, trying every line he could to get by the more experienced drivers.  And in the end, Jacob, the patient, won it in the last 3 inches.

Even the old guys (and gals) put on a great show this week.  J.J. Adams swept both the heats and the feature.  After the races, J.J. said, “This was the first time I have gotten the kart right for the flat track.  It is a lot easier when it drives like this.”  Rob Blake finished second and Denise Kruse was third.  After a few weeks off, Mike James came back to win the Sr. Yamaha race and Anthony Danta took home the big trophy in Sr. Heavy.

 With only one week left in the Short Season Championship for the Sr. Medium class, not much has been decided.  Eric Freiberg, Brandon Eash and Kris McCarty are tied for first.  It should be interesting at the championship race August 18th at the Rockford Speedway.