6 races down, 6 to go!!! We are at the half way point of the 2015 NOLA Sprint Kart Championship at NOLA Motorsports Park. Going into race number 7 of the season, 5 of our 14 classes are in tight points battles with less than 100 point spreads from the leader to 2nd and 3rd place in some classes. But with plenty of races left, the competition has time to close the gaps and make a race of it going into the doubleheader finale in November.
The classes of Junior 1 and Junior 2 is the faster growing group, using restricted Briggs & Stratton Local Option 206 engines, these are the classes for the entry level racers ages seven to fifteen years old. Macon Moore (Iconic Edge) leads Junior 1 currently with the most wins at 3 this season, but Ayden Guilbeau (Coyote) who has won the last 2 races in the class holds the points lead by 40 going into July. Max Meyer (CRG) who won the first race of the year maintains 3rd in points with a 72 point gap to Ayden. Micheal Causey (Coyote) leads Seth Corbin (Margay) in Junior 2 by 120 points.
Senior 4-cycle has been an interesting class to watch this year. The senior class using Briggs & Stratton’s Local Option 206 engine has had plenty of competition but all behind one man. Greg Lacoste Jr. (Margay) has carried his momentum from 2014 to wins in 5 of the last 6 races and spread his points gap of over 260 points to Scott Griffin (Razor) and Peter Tufaro (Margay). Lacoste at this time also leads the Mid West Regional standings and sits 2nd in the national standings for the Briggs & Stratton Weekly Racing Series presented by RLV.
Rotax Micro Max with healthy participation has been a class full of good racing this year. Cole Killian (CRG) leads the points standings with 3 wins and a 38 point lead over Jesse Mitchell (CRG) who has claimed 2 wins this year as well. Keeping his year alive, Noah Jourdan-Carollo (CRG) scored a critical win in race 6 closing the points gap to 137 to the leader. But with close racing in this class, the championship is still wide open.
The most on track competition has come from the Rotax Junior Max class this year. 2014 Junior Max champion Logan McDonough has been the dominate driver with 4 wins on two different chassis makes, CRG at season opener, Tony Kart starting race 3. Mini Max graduate Bryce Boada (Kosmic) has been able to keep McDonough honest going into the second half with 2 wins and creating a slim 38 point gap behind him in the points. Tyler Bruno (CRG) by way of consistent podium finishes maintains 3rd with a 114 point gap to leader McDonough.
The classes on Rotax Senior Max and Masters Max have been one sided for the first half of the year. Reigning Senior Max champion Everett “Rett” Thomas has dominated the year thus far with 5 wins and a points gap of 250 points. The J3 Competition driver does not seem to be slowing down even with switching to the new CompKart chassis from his championship winning Kosmic starting in May. Although there is plenty of racing to go and Zach Rouse (Energy Corse) is in the best position, Rouse has been the only man to top Rett this year in race 2 of the season opening doubleheader and is the closest to him in the points. The SodiKart team mates of Blaine Cavin and Jacob Crowell are not far behind though, both scoring podiums and consistent top fives in the first half of the season. James Dix (Birel) has enjoyed a dominate yet uncontested lead in Masters Max with 5 wins on the year and a healthy 800 point lead.
The most unpredictable classes have been Rotax DD2 Max and DD2 Masters for 2015. Luis Zervigon (CRG) has rocketed to lead in DD2 Max after missing the season opening doubleheader, winning the last 4 straight races in a row against all comers including Canadian karting champion Austin Riley who visited NOLA in April. The hot streak has put him 31 points ahead of 2014 class champion Chad Clark Jr. (CRG) and Al Hassenboehler (CRG) in 3rd. Winner of the first 2 races of the year, Tennessee’s David Grant (CRG) sits 4th currently in the standings. Todd Meyer (CRG) stretched out his lead early in DD2 Masters winning the first 3 races of the year. Chris Clement (CRG) and Doug Thornton (CRG) who started the season late have played a good game of “catch up” in the standing with both winning the last 3 races, Clement in Races 4 and 5, Thornton in Race 6. Meyer knows the heat is on and will be looking for a win early in the second half of the season to defend his points lead.
The Shifter Kart classes for this years NSKC, even with the addition of the highly anticipated Shifter Open class, have been light on entries for the first half of the season. Dallas Lassalle (CRG) and Stephen Lamana (CRG) have the closest battle in Shifter Open with Lamana 75 points to the good with 4 wins on the season. Lassalle has answered the challenge, claiming the last 2 class wins to keep the points battle close. Will these two continue to go back and fourth going into the second half of the season? Anthony “Hardcore” Harwin (CRG) leads Joseph Bernos (Birel) in S4 or Shifter Masters. Both have wins in class this year with Harwin 400 points ahead in the standings.
Race 6 and start of the second half is scheduled for Saturday, July 18th under the glow of the moonlight and artificial lighting. This will be the first of two night races this year and we can’t think of a better way to kick off the remaining 6 races than with some Saturday sprint kart action! The NOLA Sprint Kart Championship is also offering kart racers from abroad to come and join in the fun as well, starting June 21st, any kart racer that has never raced in the NSKC will receive 50% off their entry fee, discount applies to NSKC License holders and non-license holders.
About NOLA Motorsports Park and the NSKC, located less than 20 minutes west of New Orleans, NOLA Motorsports Park is a world class facility that has hosted two international karting events, the 2013 Rotax Pan American and Rotax Grand Finals, is the largest and most versatile karting facility in North America capable of running 80+ configurations and up to three configurations at the same time. The NOLA Sprint Kart Championship will hold 12 races over 10 months with the majority being single day events with two doubleheader weekends and two Saturday night races. Focusing on affordability and competitiveness, the NSKC’s kart classes are based on the national rulesets for Briggs & Stratton’s Local Option 206, the United States Rotax Max Challenge and Superkarts USA’s Stock Honda Shifter Category, helping to ensure that experienced and novice karters can all have a level playing field to compete in. Albeit a local or sometimes referred to as a “club” series, the NSKC often draws over 60+ racers, rivaling that of some larger regional events, not only from the state of Louisiana, but Texas, Mississippi, Alabama and Tennessee. For more info on the NSKC and NOLA Motorsports Park, visit our website at www.nolamotor.com or send an email to [email protected]
Everett “Rett” Thomas scores a dominate 5th win on the season in NSKC Race #6 (Photo: BigFont Photography)
Logan McDonough leads the Rotax Junior Max standings at the season’s mid way point (Photo: BigFont Photography)
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