KAM Kartway hosted a Crew Chief Appreciation night Saturday and all the drivers got to introduce their Dad (and even one Mom) to the crowd at intermission. They all got a special gift from the track in appreciation for all they do to make their child’s dream of racing a reality.
We had 10 Young Guns drivers that was split into 2 groups which is sponsored by Doug’s Auto Repair. This is our non-compete class for beginners with all drivers getting Winner trophies as we want the focus to be on learning and building skills and not on winning a race when they barely know how to drive a high tech race machine. Half the class are Rookies while the other half are second year racers, so that lends itself to unpredictable situations and plenty of driver error mishaps. But the focus is on learning and you learn better by gaining knowledge from your own mistakes.
We had one Young Gun driver move up to the Jr 1 class joining a group of racers with more experience and skill sets. Parker McElroy was not intimidated and held is own in 5th place from start to finish. Kolt Simmons in the #1 lead the 15 lap Feature from the green and the entire went flag to flag without a caution. Cade Mennega took 2nd, Langston Fetty took 3rd, and Bentley Smith took 4th.
Cutter Bell moved from Jr 1 to the Jr 2 class sponsored by Tony’s Auto Repair, and proved he was more than ready for the jump with a 4th place Feature finish sponsored by engine builder Jimmy Rivers. This group is mostly 2nd year veterans to the Jr 2 class and highly competitive. 2018 Rookie of the Year Dylan Blackburn took the lead in lap 6 and fought hard to secure that position until the checkered flag came out. Beginner Jordan Druschke was an impressive 2nd place Feature finish and also took home her first win in the class in one of the heats. Luke Reynolds raced hard for his finish in 3rd place securing his spot out the Podium.
The Jr 3 division sponsored by the MWRP indoor series made up the largest class of the night with 14 drivers, resulting in the need for a B-Main to determine the starting line up for the Feature. The bottom 6 drivers from the two groups of heats ran a 10-lap race with where the top 4 would advance to the A Main. The filed of 12 drivers saw only one caution with Scout Spraggins in the #10 maintaining the number one spot for the entire race (oh, and he was the driver with the Mom as his Crew Chief). Logan Reynolds drove his #12 to a 2nd place finish while Richard Zimmerman piloted his #11 to finish out he Podium in 3rd place. Bad luck befell Calvin Kemp who races the class with his twin sister Mayzie Kemp as he hit the wall coming out of turn 4 in lap 9 causing that caution which turned into a full Red as a precaution to be checked out by the track medic. He suffered equipment damage and could not finish the race while his sister went on to secure an 8th place finish after she took the win in the B-Main.
Our Outlaw 250 Class, sponsored by Snap on Tools, provided us with a first-time class winner in Blayne Murphy (#21) after he took the lead in lap 7 and held on to the finish line in a hard-fought battle with the #28 of Ethan Bundrick. Landon Thompson in the #7t came in 3rd while Tatum Bell (“Boss Hog”) took his #8t machine to 4th place finish. Bad luck fell on Kaden Bennett who had taken a heat win suffered equipment failure and fell out before taking the green flag.
The coveted Open Outlaw/500 class sponsored by 777 Graphics had a stacked field of 8 drivers with reining class champion Emilee Lowry taking wins in both heats and the Feature making it a clean sweep for her. Fellow female driver, Gracie Sonntag took home 2nd place beating out all the boys and while being challenged by Sean Knox in the 21K before getting loose under the white flag and being passed by brother Wes Knox as he took his #55 to the winners circle to round out the Podium in 3rd place.
Our Adult Pro Clone class sponsored by Camp Gladiator had an upset last lap racing incident which caused the leader, Brock Miller to lose his spot as Mike Gracie managed to get his #65 kart around him for the checkered flag. Brock managed to secure 2nd place running the number #39 in honor of the late racer Jaimie Lough who died earlier this year in an auto accident. Bob Ramirez finished out the Podium while doing double duty all night as the Crew Chief to grandson Isaac who races Young Guns sharing the #7.
We also had a Run What Ya Brung class added to the roster when a small group of them added KAM to their racing schedule. The Feature winner was Alan Leach in the #3, 2nd place was Jason Walters running the #10 and who was also the event Flagman making Race Director and track Owner Mike Engstrom fill in for him as he got to play a little, and 3rd place was Mike Gracie in the #65.
Another highlight for the evening was Outlaw 250 driver Mitchell Mobley sitting in with track Announcer Chris Wright and helping call the races during the heat races. Mitchell broke his brake foot recently and is under doctor’s orders not to race. He also went live on Facebook for fans during the Features. Overall he did an impressive job and we hope to have him back at the next race while he recovers from his injury.
Our next race is Saturday, June 22nd where we will hold Water Gun Wars in the infield at intermission. Gates open at 4 and races start around 7pm. We are located in Rhome, Tx just 14 miles West of Texas Motor Speedway on Highway 114. To learn more about our track or the drivers visit us online at www.kamkartway.com and be sure to Like our Facebook page @KAMkartway.
KAM Kartway was established 15 years ago and is owned by Mike & Kelley Engstrom who also own KAM Motorsports an Outlaw Kart Race Shop located at the track.
Call us toll free at 1-844-4Outlaw.