The Keystone Unlimited All-Stars joined up with the Upstate NY UAS for a trip to Race-1 Motorspeedway for a Memorial Day Weekend show. This was a bonus race for the Upstate and the first “Wild Card” race for the Keystone region. After several days of hot humid weather in Northwest PA, the hopes were there that the showers would hold off for one more night. A few drops had come down by the time I arrived and looked like everything was going to pass.. looked was the key word. A steady shower followed some thunder and Mother Nature’s own light show. The track did get wet, but not nearly what the surrounding areas had. Prior to the track run in, a meeting was called to determine how to run out the races for the night. Instead of the 2 heats and feature, we followed the along with the other classes with a qualifying – heat- feature program.
With the rains subsiding, the Dubois banked oval was able to shed a lot of water and with the diligent work of the track staff, we were ready to practice and qualify. The UAS was the last group out for qualifying, as to let more karts work in the track and help keep the track from coming up. With a slick track, the prior classes saw times hovering in the 11-12 second bracket with a few breaking into the high 10’s. Early in qualifying, Kirk Cox cracked a sub 10 second time and the look on the spectators faces suddenly was priceless. Here is the qualifying times listed fast time first for the driver (not in lap order):
Heats were separated into 2 groups, which saw Heat “A” go to Kyle Pease in a close race. Heat “B” was a great race which looked like Skip Giberson was going to take it, but a broken chain left him coasting and seeing Ben Taft sneak past for the win. The feature saw a couple early cautions, mainly spins that took drivers into the infield. There were a few close calls, but all in all, a pretty solid race. Feature results:
All in all, it turned out to be a pretty solid night of racing. I cannot thank Any Watt and the staff at Race-1 for their hard work and optimism that the race was going to get in. The track was pretty good for the amount of rain it took. It is a lot of fun to be a part of an event that many have not seen a muscle kart before. I received a lot of compliments, questions, and saw some great reactions especially when the feature came around. Thanks again to everyone who came out and made the night a fun time! It was a pleasure meeting the Giberson crew and getting to catch up with those up north. The next Keystone UAS race is a trip to Red Rock Raceway in Claysburg, PA for our first National ¼ pts race of the season on June 18th. Upstate NY has a trip to Paradise slated for a ¼ pts race with the Empire UAS on June 11th. Steve T
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What another great way to open the season than joining up with the Empire and Upstate NY UAS regions in a trip to Flat Run Speedway. Nineteen muscle karts came down on a very iffy weather day to take on Morrisdale oval. For many, this was the first time to a track so far this season and also the first times the engines fired this year. The staff moved the UAS to 3rd out which was nice because of the travel times. Hotlaps were quick to follow as we were chasing some forecasted showers and possible storms. By the end of hotlaps, a heavy sprinkle was coming down. The clouds lifted and the muscle karts rumbled out for the first round of heats. Heats were broken up into “A”s and “B”s.
Heat 1 “A” was short 2 karts. The XXX of Brandon Oldham had is V-Twin aerate the block during hot laps. Hillary Truitt’s 20 would not start on the grid. Racing action went underway and a clean race it was. When the checkers flew, Dan Burket took the first heat of the season. Heat 1 “B” was a great race, with only 1 caution when the 21 of Mike Clark slid off between turns 1 and 2. Great back and forth running that had John Garde at the point most of the race. Garde picked up the win followed by the 12 of Kyle Pease and 77 of Bobby Baldwin. Heat 2 “A” was another straight forward, clean race that saw Ben Taft with the win. Heat 2 “B” was fast and clean and saw the 12 of Kyle Pease taking the checkers ahead of John Garde. This was shaping up to be a solid feature. The drivers were making those last minute changes with hopes of winning the season opener and taking max points in the Empire’s National ¼ point event. The feature started with a spin as Kyle Pease was turned and nearly ended up in mine and Steve Windle’s lap at the on/off grid. Pease kept it going and went to the tail. The race was pretty clean and straight forward. Attrition took some of the favorites like the 63 of Ben Taft who was leading at the time of his issue. Dan Burket who was strong in both heats succumbed to an issue and had to leave early. 8 of the 18 muscle kart pilots pulled ff before the final laps. What a race it was as Pease was riding a missile through the field, weaving through traffic and finishing 4th. Up front the leaders sorted out and powered by his red headed Swiss Auto – Bobby Baldwin held on for the win! Feature Results: 1.) 77 Bobby Baldwin Swiss Auto- Empire 2.) 72 John Garde Sudam 135 - Empire 3.) 51A Steve Windle Jr – B/T KTM 250 - Empire 4.) 12 Kyle Pease - Wankle – Empire 5.) 77F Denny Furlow – Honda 450 – USNY 6.) 707 Paul Deasey – Honda 390- Keystone 7.) 6 Tom Voeltz – Sudam – USNY 8.) 70X Ron O’Neil – Twin Tt75 9.) 12(1) Harry McElhaney – Sudam- Keystone 10.) 21 Mike Clark – Tecumseh Star – Keystone 11.) 20 Hillary Truitt- FR125 Rotax Maxx- Keystone DNF 12.) 10 Zach Clark – Sudam- Keystone DNF 13.) 31 Richard Jordal -131 Sudam – USNY DNF 14.) 63 Ben Taft – Taft YZ250- USNY DNF 15.) 79 Dan Burket – Honda GX390 – Keystone DNF 16.) 7X Eric Grice – CRF450R- Empire DNF 17.) 22 Jeff Drugan – Sudam –Empire DNF 18.) 38 Randy Adair- Twin Parillas- Keystone DNF 19.) XXX Brandon Oldham- V-Twin- Keystone DNS This was a great race night! Many people came up and complimented me on how much fun it was to watch, how well the drivers behaved on the track, and how polite everyone was there. Thanks to Miranda and the crew at Flat Run for giving us the opportunity to race and working hard to make sure we could get it in. Also, throwing in a bonus to the purse! Thanks to Be Tram Motorsports for handing out stagger tapes as a thank your for the support at the tracks. Next race is at the Big-1 at Race-1 for the Keystone and Upstate NY is on SUNDAY May 29th. This is a Wildcard Race for the Keystone. Andy has added $250 to the purse for the event. |
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August 2023
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