A strong showing for
Road Racing Series at Daytona
12.30.2009 – In a time when America is still struggling through difficult economic times, the racers of the Dunlop Tire Road Racing Series driven by Mazda continue to flock to Daytona Int’l Speedway in the midst of the holiday season. Daytona KartWeek by Cometic Gasket has so far been another good one. Speedway Dirt entry counts are fairly strong considering the tough season the Southeast touring season just went through, and Manufacturer’s Cup’s Margay Sprint Championships again have over 500 entries and a number of classes that saw more than 35 racers attempt to make the final field.

But the series that is really showing what it’s made of is the Road Racing. As of Tuesday night, entries neared the 600 mark, some 50 better than last year. Most of the 40 to 50 classes in competition this week have double-digit starting fields, and many are classes are over 15. With only 13 race groups fit into two days, sometimes five different class categories take the green flag at once, putting some 60 to 80 karts on the track at one time.

After a full day of practice Monday, seven race groups hit the track Tuesday. The red flag has waved only a couple times all weekend, and there are no major injuries to report.

Race group 1 saw Woodbridge Kart Club and WKA national regular Beth Chryst drive to a popular win in CIK 125 Shifter 1. Chryst took the win over Colby Bradley and Mikey Wright, however both those drivers were disqualified after the checkered flag flew – Bradley for tipping the scales too light and Wright for pushing. Donald Saniti was then awarded the runner-up spot.


CIK Shifter winner Beth Chryst (3) follows in the early going

Bret Spaude, who races just about everything imaginable on the Road Racing side at Daytona, drove to victory in Spec 125 TaG by 0.639 seconds over Richie Warren. Kevin Learnard was third.

Brian Duensing won a close affair in WKA 125 Shifter 1. Duening crossed the line less than two tenths of a second in front of both second-place Bob Anderson and third-place Bob Peurifoy.

Race 2 had the laydown enduros on the track. Enduro veteran Nate Grindell continued his success on the high banks when he scored the win in 100cc Controlled Spec. Grindell dominated the 45-minute race, winning by over 23 seconds over Randy Fulks and third-place Rick Fulks. Sixteen karts started the class.


Nate Grindell is two for two on Tuesday

Justin Taylor backed up in double-championship season in 2009 with a convincing win in 100cc Pipe Heavy. Matt Michel and Ryan Hatcher finished second and third.

And Richard Marz found victory when he won PP Can Lite over 2009 champion Courtney Atkinson. Atkinson finished 1.3 seconds back of Marz, while Eric Larue crossed the stripe in third.

Six classes hit the track in the third race of the day. Jonathan Evans and Kevin Colborn split the Briggs Animal senior mains. Evans won over Mike Stroik in Animal 335 and Colborn got the win over Regan Vehring in Animal 385. Around 20 karts started both classes, meaning Wednesday’s Animal 360 should have approximately 40 starters.

Tom Smith won Briggs Jr Sprint Lite over Alec Meda. Derek Somers continued his hot streak with a win in Jr Sprint Lite. Andrew Boyer led the race for a time before dropping out just past halfway.

David Bruinsma is a former Road Racing Series regular who now only makes occasional appearances. One race he never misses is Daytona, and the Florida racer made it count with big win in PP Can Sprint 360 #1 over Andy Hollenbeck. Although Bruinsma says this is his last year competing on the big track at Daytona, he must have had fun in this one. Hollenbeck led most of the race and third-place finisher Adam Myers was in the mix, as well. Bruinsma came on strong in the late stages and pulled away on the final lap to score a 1.7-second win over Hollenbeck.

And Chuck Gafrarar continues to prove he’s one of the best TaG racers on the series with a win in Stock Leopard. Aaron Jones finished second, although Aaron Telitz pressed Chuck G for much of the 30-minute race. Telitz dropped out with 10 minutes to go and Gafrarar cruised from there.

Race 4 had 13 dual-engine enduros take the green flag in B Stock. Michigan’s Jim Farr took the win by 19 seconds over Gary Schenkel. Robby Harper finished third. The fast laps of the race were set by Randy Fulks (2:04.263) and Anthony Lazzaro (2:05.825), although both drivers fell victim mechanical woes and did not finish.

Anthony Honeywell found victory in Formula 100 over Jennifer Ferreira. Bill Miller finished third, and was the last kart to finish the 45-minute grind of 12 starters.

Brian Wilhelm drove his hot-looking laydown shifter kart to a dominating win in Formula 125. Wilhelm finished over a minute ahead of Mitch White to garner the victory. The Arkansas racer’s 125-cc enduro may be the fastest kart at Daytona this year. His fast lap was clocked at a blazing 2:00.355.

Race 5 saw a few local-option classes take the track along with two national divisions. In the local options, Kevin Rusnak got the win in Clone 385, Dominic Greco in LO 206 385, and Jeff Ford in Open Sprint 1.

In the national categories, Chuck Gafrarar drove to his second win of the day in TaG, which is a new division in 2010 and features the conventional sprint-style TaG karts minus the layback seats and butterfly steering wheels, among other features. Aaron Telitz again gave Chuck G a run for his money, but finished 0.162 seconds back. Beth Chryst got her second podium finish of the day with a nice third-place run.


Chuck Gafrarar on his way to second win of the day.

Fourteen pipe sprinters took the green in WKA Sprint 1. Adam Myers utilized a new Comer engine and blasted the K-71s and Yamahas with a 22-second win. Ed Shampine, who is making a return to kart racing after a five-year hiatus, finished second in a tight battle with third-place Otto Vollmerhausen and fourth-place Courtney Good. Bruinsma was fifth.

Brian Fisher crossed the finish line first in Race 6’s Stock Honda 1, but crossed the scales light in post-race tech. Fisher’s tough break handed the win to Brian Davies. Tiffany McCollum had a nice run to finish second, and Stephen Young took third.

Brian Wilhem returned to the track after scoring his Formula 125 win and proceeded to dominate Unlimited. Wilhelm won by 48 seconds over Carl Goutell while Jeff Metter rounded out the top three.


Possibly the fastest kart at Daytona, Brian Wilhelm.

Nate Grindell joined Gafrarar and Wilhelm as Tuesday double winners with a win in Race 7’s 100cc Controlled. Grindell’s fast lap was 2:13.621, which was over a second better than his closest competitors. Milo Schonover was second and Brian Morse third.

Port Royal, Pennsylvania’s Andrew Boyer was Jr Enduro Lite. Dick Charest won over four other vintage karts in Vintage 1.

Shane Grossman took the top step on the podium for his win in PP Can Heavy. Grossman got the win over Can Lite winner Richard Marz and third-place David Goodwin.

Margay’s Keith Freber is back at Daytona again in 2009 and won over a competitive field in Yamaha Sportsman Medium. Freber pulled away at the end for an 11-second triumph over Matt Michel and 2009 class champion Scott Buerman. Courtney Atkinson tried the sportsman class for the first time and took fourth.

Wednesday will mark the final day of Daytona KartWeek 2009. Six race groups will take the track before racers pack up and head home. After a relatively cold day Tuesday, weather is beautiful in northern Florida today and this is undoubtedly be the warmest day of the week. Temperatures are expected to be around 70 degrees under sunny skies.

Keep checking WorldKarting.com throughout the afternoon for unofficial race results from Wednesday’s six groups.