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Koyen, Osborne, Karam each net
2 wins in Tuesday Manuf. Cup action
12.30.2009 – T.J. Koyen won the first and last finals of the day Tuesday at the Margay Sprint Championships, and Sage Karam and Austin Osborne each took two wins in between to make it three double winners on the first race day of the Manufacturer’s Cup side of Daytona KartWeek by Cometic Gasket.
Koyen’s wins came in Yamaha Supercan Lite and Komet Piston Port Heavy. The Wisconsin native drove his Merlin to fairly close victories in each final. Manufacturer’s and Gold Cup regular Ryan Phillips took second in Supercan Lite by less than a half second, while Patrick Olsen finished just 0.078 seconds back of Koyen in KPP Heavy.
Shinya Michimi, who has advanced to the senior ranks in 2010, drove to a solid third-place finish in Supercan Lite, ahead of Phillips and Tony Jump. In KPP Heavy, Corey Reeves (third), Stewart and Bill McLaughlin completed the top five.
Austin Osborne is back in 2010 and the young Texas shoe was extremely strong Tuesday. He drove his Birel to a 0.076-second win over Zane Smith’s Top Kart in Cadet Final 1. Emerson Reed was third, followed by Gresham Wagner and Tyler Moneypenny. After a sixth-place finish in the Cadet points in 2009, Osborne looks to be off to a fast start in 2010 and judging by the way he ran Tuesday, he appears to be the possible favorite for the Cadet title this year.
Osborne returned in Race No. 6 and dominated Komet Piston Port Sportsman. Gresham Wagner charged to second in the early going, and appeared to be headed after Osborne. But Austin played it cool and was very smooth around the seven-tenths-mile sprint course. He kept a good distance between him and Wagner, and ended up winning by nearly five seconds. Ashley Rogero was third, while Zane Smith and Brandon Jarsocrack battled to the line with Zane edging Brandon for fourth.
Over 50 karts entered TaG, and only 30 started the main meaning over 20 loaded their hauler early. When the 14 laps were in the books, Jacob Sekey (Arrow) found himself in victory lane with a big 1.5-second win over Mike Giessen (Haase). Matthew Powers was third, followed by Kenneth Hildebrand and Billy Lewis rounding out the top five. NASCAR Sprint Cup racer Jamie McMurray finished a solid seventh, while A.J. Allmendinger won the consolation race to make the field. He dropped out early in the final. Indy car star Dan Wheldon qualified for the main, but did not complete a lap.
Sage Karam was one of the stars of the opening race day of KartWeek. The Pennsylvania racer won Komet PP Jr Heavy and backed it up with a fine drive and victory in Yamaha Jr Lite. Karam’s Birel finished in front of Florida’s Nick Neri in KPP Jr Heavy, while Shawn Sharkey, Sam Beasley and Austin Self filled out the top five.
Many of the same drivers returned for Yamaha Jr Lite, and newly crowned Triple Crown champion Sam Beasley looked like he was headed for his first victory of the day. Beasley opened up about a second advantage over Karam in the early going, but after halfway Sage blasted to the rear bumper of the Ohio driver and made a pass for the lead less than a lap later. He proceeded to open up a 0.604-second advantage and drive to a comfortable win over Beasley. Self picked up another top five with a fine third-place result. Neri and Jake Cole were fourth and fifth.
Gresham Wagner didn’t let a fourth- and second-place finish to Austin Osborne get his spirits down. Wagner and the rest of the young drives of Yamaha Sportsman Heavy hit the track in the second-to-last race Tuesday, which saw Gresham drive to a fine victory over Kyle Tilley and Ashley Rogero. Wagner got it done as quick as he could as temperatures rapidly dropped as the sun set on Daytona International. By the time the checkered flew in Sportsman Heavy, the temperature must have been around 45 degrees with a cool breeze chilling the racers’ and fans’ bones.
Kevin Nelson won over a short seven-kart field in Yamaha Pipe. Nelson had prefinal winner Tony Jump all over his back bumper throughout most of the race. Jump looked to have the faster kart and may have been biding his time, but with two laps to go his engine went sour and he pulled off. Randall Potter took second and Chuck Tate third. Tate set the race’s fast lap but spun out in the opening corner, which put him nearly a half track behind the leaders.
Tennessee’s Jeff Jewell started 2010 off right with a win over Nelson in Yamaha Masters. Jewell led the early stages of the 14-lap affair before Nelson made an inside pass in Turn 1 to take the lead just past halfway. Jewell persevered, however, and when many were expecting Nelson to cruise to the victory, Jewell came back to make a last-lap Turn 1 pass to regain the top spot. He held on from there, crossing the stripe 0.344 seconds in front of Nelson. James Perkins took third in the 13-kart field.
Racing resumes Wednesday with the final day of Daytona KartWeek. Ten national classes are slated to go off before the sun goes down, and finally racers are experiencing some warm weather in Daytona Beach. While it’s been sunny all week, it’s also been chilly and at times downright cold. Wednesday is supposed to reach a comfortable 70 degrees, and everyone in the Daytona pits will be thankful before most of the race teams head back north for the remainder of the winter season.
Check WorldKarting.com throughout Wednesday afternoon and evening for unofficial results from Wednesday Margay Sprint Championships action.
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