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| Central States Challenge Attacks Gateway International Raceway |
| Thursday, 01 July 2010 13:03 |
 The second event of the season for the Superkarts! USA Central States Challenge took competitors from across the Midwest to the arch city - St. Louis - and the Gateway International Raceway for round three of the series. Contested over two days, racers competed on a temporary circuit inside the facility that incorporated the oval, road course and other paved areas. Drivers were given plenty of track time Saturday to get accustom to the long and challenging course before qualifying took place at the end of the day. Two heat races and the main event on Sunday decided the winners for the event.Evan Walters was one of the winners to leave Gateway as he made his first series start and scored the feature victory in S2 Semi-Pro Stock Moto. The event began with Derek Crockett as the driver to beat following qualifying with a 52.275-lap time. Walters was second in the order with point leader Lukas Johnson third. Crockett however would be unable to compete in the races following an engine failure Sunday morning during warm-ups. Johnson took advantage as he would go on to win both heat races. In the final, Johnson and Walters went back and forth for the lead. Lap traffic would come into play and Walters took advantage. Taking the lead, he would hold on to the checkered flag to score the victory over Johnson and Kyle Gnau.  TaG Senior welcomed former TaG national champion Brandon Adkins and former series competitor Justin Vancil back to the Central States Challenge TaG Senior division. The two were classified 1-2 following qualifying with Adkins holding the advantage with his 53.498 lap time. Adkins went wire-to-wire in the first heat but in the second heat, he would drop to the tail of the field in the opening lap. That left Vancil to take the win over Drake Ostrom with Adkins able to climb back to third in the eight-lap moto. Adkins was quick in the opening lap of the feature race, working himself back to the point. Adkins would lead until lap four when his chain popped off and put the Ohio native on the sidelines. This put Vancil back to the point he would hold off a charging Shane Walters for the victory with Ostrom completing the podium.Indiana’s Karl Weber made his total win count for the season three with another solid performance at round three. After scoring the top spot in qualifying (54.796), Weber was able to fend off Mick Gabriel after an early battle in the first heat. Weber crossed the line first in the second heat, only to be penalized three spots for jumping the start, handing the win to Colton Brooks with Mason Daughters and Nathan White placed in front of him in the order. In just four laps, Weber found his way to the point as he cruised to the victory over Gabriel and Daughters. The S5 Junior Stock Moto category was a battle of attrition. Joe Reed led things in qualifying with Colton Brooks and Colt Masewich each taking a heat win with mechanical issues keeping Reed from finishing both races. In the feature race, Reed was able to keep everything together to score his first victory of the season over Masewich and Brooks.  The TaG Cadet division witnessed great battles throughout the event. Kyle Kennedy was the only driver to post a lap under the 1-minute mark (59.875) to claim the pole position. From outside row one, Austin Mayton took the point from Kennedy and led all eight laps of the first heat. After Caden Bolz led the opening lap of the second heat, Mayton returned to the point to lead the remaining laps for the win. With Kennedy on his heels early in the feature, Mayton went off course and fell to the tail of the field. Kennedy took over the lead and was never challenged to score his first victory of the season over Bolz and Kyle Potts.Despite a close running field in the local option Yamaha Junior Sportsman class, Luke Kohlbecker came away the victor. Kohlbecker was tops in qualifying and the first heat before Luke McCollough and Brady Garmon were able to relegate him back to third in the second heat. Garmon looked to have the feature locked away until two laps to go when he would retire, Tours in Lithuania rakonds.com handing the lead and the victory to Kohlbecker with Connor Stuart sliding into second ahead of McCollough. In S4 Master Stock Moto, Rick Freund fought off the challenges from Kyle Donahue to score his second feature win of the season while Jordan Lake ran uncontested in the G1 category.  The series is now anticipating its first visit to the USA International Raceway in Shawano, Wisconsin for the second double-header of the year over the July 9-11 weekend. The event will be a warm-up for the upcoming Superkarts! USA Mother’s Polish SummerNationals at the same facility on July 16-18. The Central States Challenge drew at random two free entries to the SKUSA Pro Tour event for the point leaders in the SKUSA classes. S2 driver Lucas Johnson and S4 pilot Rick Freund had their names drawn out of the hat for the free entry to rounds three and four of the SKUSA Pro Tour.To find out more about being part of the 2010 SKUSA Central States Challenge, visit www.centralstateschallenge.com otherwise contact Pam Freund by email at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it or via phone at 636-262-7678. It is recommended that regional competitors submit their membership and license applications to SKUSA headquarters as soon as possible. |