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Tuesday Evening Road America Karting Club Season Finale
ELKHART LAKE, WI – Perfect weather greeted racers for the final race of the
2006 Tuesday Evening Road America Karting Club championship on August
29th. Close, intense racing was the norm all season around the Briggs
& Stratton Motorplex at Road America. This final night would prove
to be no different as the class champions demonstrated that their titles were
well earned.
The three Junior Sportsman classes were first on track for their main
event. Animal Sports class champion Jeffrey Bartz took the lead from the
start and quickly distanced himself from the field. The battles were
behind him as three karts fought for second. By the halfway mark Collyn
Winkel grabbed the spot and held it to the finish. Meanwhile, Briggs
Raptor and Kohler Sports titlists Justin Erickson and Joshua Steinke were
having a race of their own. On the final lap the two came together,
causing Steinke to spin. Despite the incident both Erickson and Steinke
would take the wins in their respective classes while Bartz went on to the
overall victory.
Nick Melis and Alex Miller led the Kohler Junior field to the green, however
it was Justin Bauer who would get the jump into turn one. Bauer’s lead
was short lived as Miller found his way back to the point by the end of lap
one. Kyle Marten and Nicolas Hammann joined Bauer and Melis in a tight
battle for second, allowing Miller to open up a gap at the front. As the
field was shown the cross-flags for halfway, Bauer and Marten had reeled
Miller back in and began looking for a way past. With one lap remaining
Bauer took a look down the inside going into turn one but couldn’t make it
stick, resulting in Marten taking second. Alex Miller would fend off the
challenges to take the win and put an exclamation point on his championship
season.
Kohler Senior’s final race of the season was shaping up to be a battle
between the Falk siblings with Jamie and LJ occupying the front row. At
the start Niki Feld followed Jamie thru turn one with Robert Falk close in
tow. Jamie stretched her race lead early on as brother LJ needed a few
laps to find his way back to second. Once in second he set his sights on
running down his sister. However, it wasn’t to be as LJ suffered a
mechanical failure allowing Jamie to cap off her class championship with a
feature victory.
Next up was the fastest class of the evening, Animal Junior. Class
champion Collin Jackson was noticeably absent from the grid, allowing the
balance of the field to fight for the race win. Travis Cevaal and Robby
Mueller would start their battle for second in points from the sharp end of
the grid. Mueller moved quickly from the start, beating Cevaal to the
first turn and maintaining his lead. Nevertheless, Cevaal had the kart
to beat on this night and took the lead back after a few laps. Cevaal
proceeded to drive away while Mueller, Colin Gliniecki and Erin Winscher
contested the second spot. Mueller did enough to get second in the
points as he edged Gliniecki in a photo finish. However, the night
belonged to Travis Cevaal, taking his second consecutive victory to close out
the season.
The final group of the night consisted of Animal Lite, Animal Heavy and World
Formula. Animal Junior champion Collin Jackson proved he likes the loud
pedal no matter what the class, taking both heats and pole for the Animal
Heavy feature. Jackson was first to turn one with Animal Heavy champion
Randy Markwardt Jr. right behind. Darrick Lang, Katie Husa and Jeff
Markwardt traded the third spot multiple times early on in the race before
Lang was able to keep the spot. While Jackson was pulling away at the
front, the battle between World Formula champion Carrie Farron and Animal Lite
champion John Veldboom was just starting. Farron took the spot just past
halfway while Brendon Veldboom ended up in front of John for the win in the
class. When the checkered fell it was Jackson taking the Animal Heavy
win with champion Markwardt just over three seconds back.
Finally, special congratulations go out to all of the TERAKC Kid Kart
competitors. Throughout the season they were consistently the biggest
class and always provided great racing action. It was a real treat to
watch the next generation of karting champions continue to learn and improve
with each race.
Although the Tuesday Evening series has come to an end, the Road America
Karting Club weekend series still has one event left on the 2006
schedule. The season finale for RAKC on September 30th will feature
trophy races and prize raffles. All karters are welcome, so come on out
to the Briggs & Stratton Motorplex at Road America and help us finish 2006
with a great event. For more information please visit the RAKC website
at www.rakartclub.com
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