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CKI - Florida Cup
Homestead, FL
March 12-14, 2010
Homestead, FL
March 12-14, 2010
News
January 12 2010 - WKA Man Cup Race Report - Daytona
The start of the 2010 WKA season kicked off between the holidays at the famed Daytona international Speedway in Daytona, FL. As in years past several drivers aboard Merlin chassis found them selves in the mix as the checkered flags fell.
The Jr sportsman classes brought a new name in the Merlin spotlight as veteran racers Joel Jens and 2009 Cadet Champion Kyle Kalish made their move into the Jr categories. Emerson Reed would throw his name in the hat as a top sportsman contender beginning the 2010 season with 3 podiums and 4 top tens. Reed would grab the pole in Saturday’s Cadet qualifying following it up with a pre-final win. The feature would have Emerson showing the way until a hard fought battle on the last lap which would see Reed settle for 3rd.
Sunday’s Cadet race would showcase the young drivers traffic abilities as struggles in the qualifying session and the pre-final would grid him 10th to start the main. After picking through traffic early on Reed would set out for the lead trio closing the gap at a rapid pace. The final lap would see the battle expand to 4 karts as Reed evaporated the gap completely. Taking the high line through the final corner Emerson picked up the 3rd position missing the win by a mere tenth of a second. All top 6 drivers showed great ability at such young ages with 3 tenths separating 1st through 6th.
Emerson would see the podium again in the Yamaha Sportsman Lite category finishing a strong 2nd position in the final. Komet PP Sportsman would also have Emerson in the mix as he piloted his MR28 to a 6th place result.
The Junior categories would see an immense amount of talent as in years past. Komet PP Jr Lite would see Shawn Sharkey achieve a 3rd place finish behind top competitors Nick Neri and triple crown winner Sam Beasley. Logan Bearden would also grab a top ten in the 10th position in the lite field. Sharkey would again arrive 3rd in the Heavy edition of the Komet Jr class. Jake Cole would come home in the 6th position and Joel Jens would make it in the top ten with a 9th place finish in his Jr debut. Yamaha Jr Lite saw 2 top ten results with Kyle Kalish posting a 9th place finish in his first JR event and Jake Cole would take a podium spot in the 5th position. The Heavy category would see Jake Cole post his 3rd top ten of the weekend in 8th position while Kyle Kalish continued to improve with a 7th place result. Shawn Sharkey came home sixth improving on his results in the Lite class.
TJ Koyen would emerge from Daytona as the leading Sr Merlin driver. Koyen who competed in 3 classes per day tasted victory in both the Komet Piston Port Heavy class as well as the Yamaha Supercan Lite category. Koyen put on a show in the Super Can Lite race by moving into second with Ryan Phillips in another Zip code out front. Laying down lap after lap TJ closed the defecit and made a white flag pass stick for the win. Shinya Michimi showed great speed in his Sr class debut by posting a 3rd place finish with fellow Merlin drivers Colton Ramsey and Sean Donnelly finishing 6th and 10th respectively.
Koyen’s second victory in Saturday’s competition came in the Komet Piston Port Heavy category where he executed a clean sweep of qualifying, pre-final and final events.
Komet Piston Port Lite would see 4 Merlin drivers inside the top ten as the checker fell with Colton Ramsey leading the charge in 2nd. TJ Koyen would again visit the podium in 4th as Shinya Michimi ended the final in 7th with the fastest race lap. Scott Kopp would end the day 9th in the Lite field. The Parilla Leopard field would see Sean Donnelly with a fantastic drive to a podium spot with a 4th place result and Tommy Andersen who rebounded from opening lap contact to end 8th. Andersen would also grab a top ten in the TaG Senior category finishing 9th as Brian McEvoy would bring home 8th in the TaG Masters division in his first outing.
In addition to the race results Merlin drivers were in attendance at the Manufacturer’s Cup Season ending banquet. Congratulations goes out to 2009 point champions Jason Foley and Kyle Kalish. Kyle Kalish took home top honors in the Cadet category with a dominating season that saw 5 feature wins, and 2 additional top 3 results towards his point total. Jason Foley would take two championships in the Yamaha Super Can Heavy and HPV Heavy categories while posting 4 top 5 results in each category as well as scoring 3 victories on the season. Special awards were also received by Tommy Andersen 2009 Sportsmanship of the year, Shawn Sharkey/SCS Racing/Merlin Karts for 2009 Best Appearing Team and Trent Hindman Most Improved Junior Driver of the year.
The next event on the WKA Manufacturer’s Cup tour is at Michiana Raceway Park in South Bend, IN. Merlin drivers & support will again be on hand to battle for the top spot at the May round.
For more information on Merlin Racing Chassis please visit www.merlinusa.com
Click Here to Read More News
The start of the 2010 WKA season kicked off between the holidays at the famed Daytona international Speedway in Daytona, FL. As in years past several drivers aboard Merlin chassis found them selves in the mix as the checkered flags fell.
The Jr sportsman classes brought a new name in the Merlin spotlight as veteran racers Joel Jens and 2009 Cadet Champion Kyle Kalish made their move into the Jr categories. Emerson Reed would throw his name in the hat as a top sportsman contender beginning the 2010 season with 3 podiums and 4 top tens. Reed would grab the pole in Saturday’s Cadet qualifying following it up with a pre-final win. The feature would have Emerson showing the way until a hard fought battle on the last lap which would see Reed settle for 3rd.
Sunday’s Cadet race would showcase the young drivers traffic abilities as struggles in the qualifying session and the pre-final would grid him 10th to start the main. After picking through traffic early on Reed would set out for the lead trio closing the gap at a rapid pace. The final lap would see the battle expand to 4 karts as Reed evaporated the gap completely. Taking the high line through the final corner Emerson picked up the 3rd position missing the win by a mere tenth of a second. All top 6 drivers showed great ability at such young ages with 3 tenths separating 1st through 6th.
Emerson would see the podium again in the Yamaha Sportsman Lite category finishing a strong 2nd position in the final. Komet PP Sportsman would also have Emerson in the mix as he piloted his MR28 to a 6th place result.
The Junior categories would see an immense amount of talent as in years past. Komet PP Jr Lite would see Shawn Sharkey achieve a 3rd place finish behind top competitors Nick Neri and triple crown winner Sam Beasley. Logan Bearden would also grab a top ten in the 10th position in the lite field. Sharkey would again arrive 3rd in the Heavy edition of the Komet Jr class. Jake Cole would come home in the 6th position and Joel Jens would make it in the top ten with a 9th place finish in his Jr debut. Yamaha Jr Lite saw 2 top ten results with Kyle Kalish posting a 9th place finish in his first JR event and Jake Cole would take a podium spot in the 5th position. The Heavy category would see Jake Cole post his 3rd top ten of the weekend in 8th position while Kyle Kalish continued to improve with a 7th place result. Shawn Sharkey came home sixth improving on his results in the Lite class.
TJ Koyen would emerge from Daytona as the leading Sr Merlin driver. Koyen who competed in 3 classes per day tasted victory in both the Komet Piston Port Heavy class as well as the Yamaha Supercan Lite category. Koyen put on a show in the Super Can Lite race by moving into second with Ryan Phillips in another Zip code out front. Laying down lap after lap TJ closed the defecit and made a white flag pass stick for the win. Shinya Michimi showed great speed in his Sr class debut by posting a 3rd place finish with fellow Merlin drivers Colton Ramsey and Sean Donnelly finishing 6th and 10th respectively.
Koyen’s second victory in Saturday’s competition came in the Komet Piston Port Heavy category where he executed a clean sweep of qualifying, pre-final and final events.
Komet Piston Port Lite would see 4 Merlin drivers inside the top ten as the checker fell with Colton Ramsey leading the charge in 2nd. TJ Koyen would again visit the podium in 4th as Shinya Michimi ended the final in 7th with the fastest race lap. Scott Kopp would end the day 9th in the Lite field. The Parilla Leopard field would see Sean Donnelly with a fantastic drive to a podium spot with a 4th place result and Tommy Andersen who rebounded from opening lap contact to end 8th. Andersen would also grab a top ten in the TaG Senior category finishing 9th as Brian McEvoy would bring home 8th in the TaG Masters division in his first outing.
In addition to the race results Merlin drivers were in attendance at the Manufacturer’s Cup Season ending banquet. Congratulations goes out to 2009 point champions Jason Foley and Kyle Kalish. Kyle Kalish took home top honors in the Cadet category with a dominating season that saw 5 feature wins, and 2 additional top 3 results towards his point total. Jason Foley would take two championships in the Yamaha Super Can Heavy and HPV Heavy categories while posting 4 top 5 results in each category as well as scoring 3 victories on the season. Special awards were also received by Tommy Andersen 2009 Sportsmanship of the year, Shawn Sharkey/SCS Racing/Merlin Karts for 2009 Best Appearing Team and Trent Hindman Most Improved Junior Driver of the year.
The next event on the WKA Manufacturer’s Cup tour is at Michiana Raceway Park in South Bend, IN. Merlin drivers & support will again be on hand to battle for the top spot at the May round.
For more information on Merlin Racing Chassis please visit www.merlinusa.com
Click Here to Read More News