Newton, IA – The PG Racing Championship Enduro Series visited the new Iowa Speedway for the first kart racing event ever held at the facility on August 25 and 26.
The track, which was designed by NASCAR driver Rusty Wallace, is a state-of-the-art
motorsports facility featuring many amenities and is one of the nicest tracks in the country. The 50 garage stalls were available to rent and many teams chose to pit
inside the garages, which was a wise choice for Friday, as rain would wash out the entire
day of practice. Fortunately the rains moved out and the racers were treated to sunny
skies with temperatures in the 70s and 80s all weekend.
Iowa Speedway is on of the nation’s most state-of-the-art motorsports facilities. It is the first ever driver designed speedway built with input from Rusty Wallace. The tri-oval is 60 feet wide and the 9-turn, 1.3 mile road course designed by Alan Wilson utilizes over half of the 7/8 mile banked oval. The track is unique in that it is the first modern race track ever built without an outside concrete wall, instead utilizing the SAFER Barrier as the sole retaining wall surrounding the track. The kart racers enjoyed the modern facility
which has a large air-conditioned meeting room for holding the drivers meetings, 50 competitor garages, air-conditioned restrooms with showers and plenty of paved pit
space in the infield. The track also has wireless internet service available and two live web-cams located in the tower which can be viewed on the track’s web site, www.iowaspeedway.com.
Series officials choose to race the course in the clockwise direction to allow for more run-off area as the karts entered the infield course coming off of the oval. They also slightly reconfigured one of the infield turns, racing behind the rumble strips in a paved run-off area instead of through the normal road course. This was done in part due to the height of the rumble strips which are directional and not designed to be utilized in the clockwise direction.
Since Friday practice was rained out and this was a new track for everyone competing,
three rounds of practice were held Saturday morning which seemed to be just enough
track time to get familiar with the circuit and figure out the optimal gearing. The combination of a flat-out oval with drafting and a somewhat technical infield road
course made for a fun combination that most of the racers seemed to enjoy. Lap times
for most classes were under one-minute with the CIK 125 shifter karts lapping in the
48 second range. Due to the extended practice on Saturday, the racing did not end until close to 7 pm.
Overall, entries were down a little, especially in the laydown classes. There was some
local support from the nearby Marshalltown sprint track racers who were trying their
hand at some big track racing for the first time. The TAG Senior classes had the largest
fields with 23 karts competing in the Saturday race. Brad Read edged Derek Crockett by
just .072 seconds in the Saturday TAG Senior class in which the top five were separated
by only .54 seconds at the finish. On Sunday, Johnny and Adam Johnson finished in a rare tie for first place with Josh Phillips and Brad Read a close 1.7 seconds behind. The TAG Heavy classes were won by Eric Erickson both days with Brad Read just .1 seconds back on Sunday. This was Brad’s first weekend competing in the TAG classes and he did quite well in his Russell Karting prepared kart.
The long run on the oval to the start-finish line created plenty of drafting opportunities
and some other close finishes. The TAG Cadet class on Sunday saw Kyle Donahue finish just .064 seconds over Angela Donahue with Hunter Tankersley .174 seconds back
in third place. David Koeferel edged Regan Vehring by just .022 seconds in Sprint Briggs Animal 335 and Koeferel beat Jessica Brannam on Sunday in Sprint Briggs Animal 360 by .114 seconds. The closest finish of the weekend saw Jessica Brannam
edge Ashley Frieberg by .014 seconds in the Sunday Sprint CIK Yamaha SSX Can class.
One of the most dramatic finishes of the weekend was in the Sunday CIK 125 Sprint race. After 25 minutes of the lead pack drafting each other, with Owen Wharton at the point on the final lap, Lance Lane drafted to the high side and Joe Sturm dropped to the
low side of Wharton to take the win by just .016 seconds. Lane came up short and finished in third just .035 seconds back. The Saturday CIK 125 Sprint race finish was less dramatic as Derek Crockett had drafting help from Clayton Prater to pull out to a seven second win over Lance Lane and Joe Sturm. Early leader Josh Lane, who had the field covered both days, experienced tire problems and had to pit for a tire change both days.
The red flag was waived a few times over the weekend. Once for the Novice race when two TAG Cadet class karts got hooked together in turn one coming off the oval. In the TAG race on Saturday, one kart seemed to have lost his brakes and could not make the turn-in off the oval. He kept going straight and ended up hitting the SAFER barrier but was not injured. In the Sunday Sprint CIK Yamaha SSX Can race, Regan Vehring had a
scary looking accident when his left front spindle broke while turning into the infield.
He ended up pushing into the infield barrier and flipping. The result was some broken bones in his foot, although he was back at the track later in the day.
Several competitors were double race winners over the weekend including
Kyle Donahue in TAG Cadet both days(who said he never lifted), Colin Campbell in
Sprint Yamaha Novice both days, Ryan Premo in Junior Enduro Lite and Heavy,
Ralph Wofford IV in Spec Moto 125 both days, Ashley Freiberg in PP Can Sprint
360 and 340, Courtney Atkinson in Junior Sprint YBX Can both days, David Koeferler
in Sprint Briggs Animal 335 and 360, Austin Duncan in TAG Junior both days,
Stephanie Schumacher in Sprint Junior 4-Cycle both days, Mike Stroik in OHV International both days, Erik Erickson in TAG Heavy both days and Nolan Waak
in Yamaha Sprint Lite and Heavy.
The final event for the 2007 PG Racing Championship Enduro Series will be held at the
Milwaukee Mile road course on September 14 – 16. Visit www.badgerkartclub.com
or www.championshipenduroseries.com for more information.
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