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Archives February 2009
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2-11-09 Kerman Kart Club Brings Excitement for 2009
Kerman
Kart Club has added to their 2009 improvements. Recently This will be a first for a California Kart Track to hold club races at a temporary circuit. This will aid in competitive kart races taking away the advantage of practice time. To further get their information out to the karting community Kerman Kart Club has created a new website for the club with all the information from the beginning of Kerman Kartways to the newest Midway Madness. Check out the improvements being made to Kerman Kart Club at KermanKartClub.com 2009 Schedule March 28-29 May 23-24 Memorial Pro Race July 4-5 Central Valley Championship August 15-16 October 11- Buttonwillow Raceway 2009 Board of Directors
2009 Classes & Weight
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2-27-09 IKF Grand National Logo has been Approved Rolling along nicely for this time of year. IKF BOD has approved our Logo for T-shirt printing. Now we just got to start getting the sponsorship in and get the back of the shirt filled with sponsors. We have 1 Primary Event Sponsor (KARTEL) and 2 class sponsors (MMS, Jeff Wamre's Company). We also have about 5 more close to sponsoring a class. Interested in sposoring a class please contact Brian Rivera with Northern Nevada Kart Club
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2-25-09 GATORZ CHALLENGE OF THE AMERICAS HEADS BACK TO CALIFORNIA FOR ROUNDS THREE AND FOUR
February 26, 2009 (Orange, Calif.) – The
second edition of the Gatorz Challenge of the Americas
kicked off in fine style a month ago at Phoenix’s PKRA
track. A lot of new faces and a new track produced some
surprises, as well as great battles in each and every
class.
With the first two of six races now done,
the series heads to another new track – the Calspeed
Karting Center, located at Auto Club Speedway in
Fontana, Calif. While it is new to the Challenge of the
Americas, it is a familiar stomping ground for most of
the local racers, as well as the Gatorz Karting Cup. In
fact, this weekend’s races kick off the 2009 Gatorz
Karting Cup season, ensuring there will be some local
flavor that may mix up the standings a bit.
Dave’s Performance Rotax Masters
John Crow (birel) had a nearly perfect
weekend in Phoenix, holding off a charging Tyler Brooks
(Kosmic) all the way until Sunday’s main, when Brooks
took the lead early and drove away after an
uncharacteristic mistake by Crow. Crow maintains the
points lead heading into the Fontana round, ahead of
Brooks, Ian Thomas (birel), Mike Daniel (CRG), and David
Harwin (CRG). Based on how Phoenix went, Fontana may
well be another shootout between Crow and Brooks, with
the other three drivers and Paul Bonilla (birel) racing
for the final spot on the podium.
Gobirel.com Rotax Senior
There were a lot of new and familiar
names slugging it out in Gobirel.com Rotax Senior at the
opening two rounds in Phoenix, but it was two familiar
names that came out on top at the end of the weekend.
Wes Phillips (birel) took the Saturday race, but a DQ
after Sunday’s premain opened the door for Joey Collins
(Top Kart) to take an almost easy win. Collins leads the
points standings, Phillips sits in second after a run to
fifth following his DQ, and Joey Wimsett (Intrepid) is
third. Several drivers took turns running at the front
and will no doubt be in the hunt at Fontana, including
Stepanova Nekeel (CRG), Michael Self (Tony Kart), Joey
Licata, Jr. (CRG), Cameron Jocelyn (birel) and Andrew
Novich (birel).
Reaction Karting Rotax Minimax
After dominating this class in 2008, it
is no surprise that Michael Davis (birel) is the points
leader after the first two rounds in Phoenix. What was a
surprise was Michael Womack’s (birel) victory in the
Saturday race, and on the strength of that win, Womack
finds himself second in the points championship. Riley
Reyes (CRG) and Royal McKee (CRG) showed the speed to
win in Phoenix; in fact, Reyes won two races at the
recent IKF Region 7 opener at Fontana and may be poised
to take his first Gatorz win.
Overdrive Karting Rotax Junior
Were it not for a minor mechanical issue
in his Sunday premain, Phil De La O (CRG) would have had
a perfect weekend at his home track in Phoenix. So
dominant was he that starting last for Sunday’s main
event did not stop him from winning – by a healthy
margin, no less. However, there was great racing behind
him in Phoenix, as Taylor Miinch (Top Kart), Adrian
Starrantino (CRG), Lou Pagano (birel) and Phillip Orcic
(Mach 1) put on a show for the Phoenix crowd. The
question that Fontana will answer will be if De La O’s
speed came from racing on his home track, or if he is
clearly head and shoulders ahead of the rest of the
field.
De La O Motorsports Rotax DD2
The class numbers may be on the light side but DD2 produced great racing in Phoenix. Scott Campbell (Italkart) swept the weekend’s races but was pushed hard by Troy Castaneda (CRG), who actually had the speed to take pole position in qualifying on Sunday. It will be interesting to see how this race shakes out as most of the drivers in DD2 have no prior experience on the Calspeed layout.
Racing action can be followed on the live blog at
www.gatorzkarting.com throughout the race weekend.
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2-25-09 Tri-C Karters Race Action
Tri-C Karters Return to Adams Motorsports Park
It was like déjà vu for long time club members as the Tri-C Karters returned to Adams Motorsports Park on Valentines day after an absence of five years. The 2009 season opener was held under sunny skies and warm temperatures, a welcome break after the original forecast of rain. This season the Kid Kart class, sponsored by Andrew Murray Motorsports, is a championship class for Tri-C Karters. In this class Luis Ortiz Jr. was the big winner of the day finishing first in both the main event and the second heat race. Hudson Morrow, Hayden Wagner, Brody Thrails, and Justin Hodge rounded out the top five. Justin Hodge ended up the winner of the first heat race. In the HPV-1 Cadet class, Nick Ramirez made a clean sweep of qualify-heat-and main races. The race for the second spot on the podium was a hotly contested one with Skylar Estrada, Henry Falls-Hand, and Chancellor Tiscareno running nose to tail throughout. Ian Wesolowski ran down the pack to make it a four way battle. In the end, Henry Falls-Hand won the spot followed by Chancellor Tiscareno, Skylar Estrada, and Ian Wesolowski. Sheila Bukamier-Nash won the HPV 4 Senior class. She was the pole sitter but lost the heat race to Zachary Tobin after spinning out and working her way back to the second spot. In the main event she passed Zachary to take the win. Long time member Kanji Takagi finished third. Nick Ramirez swept the Junior 1 class, sponsored by Empire Karts, with Ian Wesolowski coming in second over Chancellor Tiscareno by a mere .214 second margin. The TAG class was won by Lloyd Mack followed by John Molinare and Brad Bowman. Qualifying was interesting when Brad Bowman stuck his motor and spun off. He was able to run the rest of the event on the down on power unit. Robert Brooks won the TAG Masters class.
The drivers in the newly added World Formula classes,
sponsored by Hyper Racing Engines, put
on a show. The World Formula class had 10 drivers in
the class which is very respectable. In qualifying
Tristen O'Rear qualified on point in the junior class
with a 48.882, and Chelsea O'Rear qualified on point in
the senior class with a 49.830. The pre main showed
great signs of racing with Emmanuel Mestre coming from
the back of the field to battle with Tristen O'Rear for
the lead. With just a few laps to go Emmanuel took the
lead from Tristen with a great pass in the little Monza
and would go on to win the pre main.
In the senior class Chelsea O'Rear and Gabriella Robles
battled back and forth for the first half of the race
but Chelsea would have a slight gap at the finish for
the pre main win. It was time for main event Emmanuel
Mestre would lead the field to the green flag but
Tristen O'Rear was the leader coming out of turn one.
Emmanuel would regain the lead in a few laps and never
looked back, while Chelsea and Gabriella would battle
for a few laps in till Chelsea had a spin trying to take
the lead from Gabby, and in the back of the field Joe
Grable was able to work his way up to finish third and
Chelsea with a nice recover from her spin to finish
second and Gabriella took the win the Senior class.
Jared Torres won the HPV 2 race coming in first in
qualifying, heat and main. Parker Stanway ended up
second in the main event in his debut race in Junior 2.
Tristan O'Rear finished second in the heat race. Kenton
Koch won the HPV 4 junior race.
The motto for the HPV 4 Plus race was "Old Guys Rule". To race this class, sponsored by Oswald & Yap Attorneys, you must be over 35 years old, or weigh more than 190 lbs. Race veteran Brian Phillipsen took the win over a field of 14 drivers. After a DQ in qualifying, Stu Hayner moved through the pack to finish fourth in the heat race and second in the main event. These "old guys" beat out 19 year old Tyler Brooks forcing him to settle for a third place finish. Pole sitter Mike Bowers finished a solid fourth and. Greg Pringle had a good run, rounding out the top five.
Tri-C Karters will return to Adams Motorsports Park
again for round 2 on March 21st before going to Grange
Motorcircuit for their April, May, and June races. To
learn more about Tri-C Karters visit
www.tri-ckarters.com.
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2009 Tri-C Karters Race Day
Awards Info
Are you aware that there is an alternative to receiving
a trophy at the end of the race?
Just as in 2008, the club will be offering drivers a choice of race day awards; Drivers have the option of receiving a trophy or a Gift card. Gift cards may be redeemed for purchases from our sponsors, or they may be applied to future race entries.
For 2009, an engraved plate will be give to each award
winner, even if they choose the Certificate.
Gift cards will be issued in amounts according to the following formula: First place $30.00 Second Place $25.00 Third Place $20.00 Fourth Place $15.00 Fifth Place $10.00 Trophies or gift cards will be awarded according to IKF rules - 1 for 3 racers, 2 for 5 racers, 3 for 7 racers, 4 for 9 racers and 5 for 11 or more racers. This program is OPTIONAL. Drivers have the option of a trophy OR a gift card. Novice Cadet Drivers and Kid Kart drivers after position 5 will receive participation trophies. New for 2009: Win Stickers and Placing Results Plaque
Every time you win your class at a Tri- C Karters Club
in 2009, you'll receive a Win sticker.
Placing Results Plaque !!! To commemorate their finish in each event, each awarded driver will receive an engraved plate for their class/race placing along with their trophy or certificate. Custom Trophies, Tri-C's trophy supplier, has created a special wooden plaque for drivers to mount and display their engraved plates;.....a way to display one year's triumphs in an attractive and orderly fashion. If you would like to order a 2009 Tri-C Karters Race Series wooden Placing Results Plaque, please ask for the form when you receive your trophy or Contact Custom Trophies @ 951-845-6311. The Special pricing for Tri-C members is $19.93 including tax and your plaque will be delivered to you at the following club race.
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2-21-09 FX Racing Makita Team Introduces Shifter Karts to Moto Fans at AMA Supercross Event in San Diego The FX Racing Makita Team played matchmaker this Valentine’s Day, introducing fans of Supercross racing to the thrill of kart racing. Through a relationship with Makita Industrial Power Tools, FX Racing garnered a shifter kart display in the Makita Demo Truck in the Supercross paddock. Makita has been involved with Supercross for many years and has recently initiated a presence in the kart racing market with FX Racing as a partner. The innovation and quality of Makita tools have made them well recognized as some of the best in the world. This fact is well appreciated by those who spend their time pushing racing vehicles to maximum performance, whether they are a weekend motocrosser, a tuner for a top supercross team or a kart racer striving for the championship. The FX Racing Makita Team brought a new Trackmagic Hornet chassis with Swedetech Honda power to show the Supercross fans a prime example of a high-performance racing kart. Makita had plenty going on for the fans also, including the appearance of 2008 Supercross Champion Chad Reed, which brought a crowd of thousands right to the FX Racing display. The kart setup generated a lot of excitement, with a steady stream of people coming by to see what this four-wheeled rocket was all about. The fact that this class of shifter kart used a powerplant the moto guys were very familiar with was a surprise to many, and a big plus. The FX Racing crew at the event definitely got a workout as product experts, fielding tons of questions about the performance, operation and maintenance of a racing kart. At the end of the day, as the crowd made their way into the stadium to watch some of world’s best moto riders go head to head, there were a large number of them who were now fans and future participants in kart racing. Thanks to a partner like Makita, who sees the common bond that ties all weekend racers together, and FX Racing, this Valentine’s Day introduced a whole new area of powersports to the supercross fans —definitely sparking some new affairs of the high-performance kind. FX Racing USA, LLC is a professional motorsports and marketing organization with headquarters in San Diego, CA offering programs ranging from auto and kart racing to corporate team building and training. The kart racing efforts are supported by Monster Energy, Makita Industrial Power Tools, K&N, Bell Racing, Trackmagic Racing Karts and Swedetech Racing Engines.
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2-25-09 SKUSA
CENTRAL STATES CHALLENGE ANNOUNCES 2009 SCHEDULE
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2-18-09 PROKART CHALLENGE SOUTH revamps for round two at willow springs
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2-18-09 SEAN RAYHALL TESTS AT ROAD ATLANTA Young 13 year old professional open-wheel race car driver Sean Rayhall (from Winston, GA) will be testing at the famous Road Atlanta road course this week on February 19th with Comprent Motorsports (from Athens, GA) in a Formula Enterprise class race car. “I can’t wait to work with Kevin Kloeper and Comprent Motorsports again” mentioned Rayhall. “The last time I tested a car with them, it was phenomenal, and I couldn’t have asked for any more from the team.” Rayhall is preparing for the 2009 Skip Barber (open-wheel) National Championship after winning 9 of 12 Skip Barber Regional races last year on the way to winning the 2008 Skip Barber Southeastern Region Championship, making Rayhall the youngest ever open wheel Champion in North America. Sean Rayhall is hoping to follow up his brief 4-race debut in the Skip Barber National series in 2008, where he became the youngest open-wheel National event race winner, when he won the New Jersey race at the age of only 13. With strong hopes for more race wins in 2009 and the opportunity to win the National Championship at the age of 14, Rayhall’s goal is to be the youngest driver to ever win an open wheel “National” Championship in North America. Rayhall also commented that “Road Atlanta is not only my home race track, but it’s also my favorite, I’m really looking forward to getting in the car this week.” Rayhall has been testing often over the winter off-season months in preparation for the 2009 championship season, and will follow the Road Atlanta test this week with additional outings at Sebring and Talladega race tracks prior to the Skip Barber National Championship season opener on March 17th at Sebring raceway in Florida. |
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2-18-09 BOWLES STANDS ON THE PODIUM IN NASCAR TOYOTA ALL-STAR SHOWDOWN
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2-11-09 Southern Oregon Karters and Medford Kart Track Receive Additional Face Lift Recently Southern Oregon Karters extended the facelift of the facility. Located in Medford Oregon, within the Jackson County Sports park lies the ¾ mile kart track holding 11 different race configurations. The kart track is just a small piece of the sports complex which also includes a Clay dirt oval, Drag Strip, R/C car track, as well as many baseball fields. Approximately 1 year ago Southern Oregon kart track received a partial facelift in a paving of 1/3 of the track, however the club recently extended the paving.
With the
new paving added to the track, 2/3 of the track now has new
pavement with the last 1/3 planned to be completed by the
IKF region 11 series race. The new paving now extends from
the beginning of the front straight all the way through turn
3. The new paving also included a widening project to bring
the track up to National specs. With the newest changes the
Southern Oregon Kart track will now only add to the exciting
racing action the track already holds.
To see
pictures of the Southern
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Region 7 Opener Saturday Report IKF Region 7 is under new management this year and is now
being called the IKF Region 7 Championship Series presented
by Bridgestone. Along with the new front man for the series
came new classes, new rules, new outlook, and some new faces
in the pits. Taking in a little racing themselves were past
IKF Region 7 head honchos, Lloyd Mack, Chris Villareal, and
Don St. Ours. All in attendance (135 entries for Saturdays 9
classes) were greeted to a day of on again off again rain.
The usually sunny Southern California has been enjoying its
second rain of the season for the last few days and that
weather carried on over to the race weekend. Friday practice
was not affected by the precipitation, nor was qualifying on
Saturday, or even some of the prefinals. Murphy’s law
requires that any rain take place for main events, and
practice just to keep things interesting. Probably the biggest surprise of the event was the
resurgence of the PRD class. Last season I doubt we saw more
than ten drivers in a single race. Now with better promotion
and word of mouth getting out about the cost effective TaG
Spec class it was the largest class of the day, and quite
possible the weekend. More impressive than the twenty-five
participants was that it is a senior class. Region 7 is
ruled by the Juniors and for a full field like this to
outnumber the HPV Cadets it is sign of good things to come. |
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Region 7 Opener Sunday Report The weatherman apparently is not a mental giant and his
prediction of 30% chance of rain fell short, buy 70% or so
on Sunday. The day was filled with just enough wetness to
keep drivers on rain tires for day two of the IKF
Championship Series presented by Bridgestone. At times it
came down hard like a monkey on the last banana. The old
“when it rains it pours” saying was pretty fitting today
because drivers who were fast yesterday continued with
quality rain performances today too. What was thought to be World Formula for most turned out to be the combined World Formula Sr. and Jr. They ran together and intermixed so it was a 4-cycle free for all. Tristen Orear dominated all the times on track sessions on Sunday. Sure as a Jr. it might not be a fair fight, but the first driver to finish overall is the winner. From qualifying to leading all the laps in the final you could do no better than Orear. He drove it home with an impressive 20-second advantage over Matias Podboj. Podboj did battle early with John Wallace and Brad Hellwig before clearing them for 2nd place. Wallace maintained 3rd overall while Gabby Robles came home 4th and the 1st of the Sr. drivers. Sunday’s TaG race might just be the best win for Travis Lowe so far. Andrick Zeen scored the pole as 7 of the 20 drivers scheduled to start didn’t. Neil Alberico was off pole just two-tenths off Zeen with Lowe holding down 3rd. The prefinal turned out to be the Lowe and Alberico show with Lowe just taking the win. Lowe went flag to flag but that doesn’t really encompass how hard he had to work to keep himself out front. Alberico would gain a little ground, but Lowe would counter with a few fast laps of his own. At the finish he had a solid 3-second lead on Alberico. Brett Felkins gained a few positions in the final to end his day on the podium in 3rd. Steve Weiner was the TaG Masters winner. All in all the weekend went pretty well. Running the first race of the year with new rules and management is hard under the best circumstances and the rain just made it harder. It was great to see some different teams out at the event who have been running other series the last few seasons. I think what we’ll find is that the second event of the year at Buttonwillow will be fine-tuned a bit more and some of imperfections will be ironed out. Having right around 250 entries is a pretty good start of the season, and a great base number to grow off of. After all was said and done the PRD Spec class pulled down the largest number of drivers for the event. World Formula also had a respectable showing as did the normal Junior 1 classes. Missing though were Kid Karts. We were well short of last year’s average in what was one of the most consistent classes of the year. Hopefully a little better weather next month will inspire a few extra people to dust off the old kart and strap on the brain bucket for racing at the Buttonwillow Kart Track.
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Team Challenger Registration: Friday February 20, 2009 Location: Rico’s Pizza- 2650 Northgate Blvd. Sacramento, Ca 95833 916-921-6700
Team Challenger will be holding a sign in for interested drivers for the 2009 Season. More information will be available as well as open discussion held with parents on that evening. Team Challenger will have several seats available for the 2009 season, but space is limited. We are going to try our best to accommodate as many drivers as possible. This year’s program will be made up of families that have karts already as well as Team Challenger provided karts.
Team Challenger will be hosting a HPV1 division (8-12) and a HPV 2 class (12-15). Rule packages will also be discussed as well. We are working on finalizing a 13 event schedule as well as 3-4 training days for team participants. If parents are interested in the program please contact program administrator Darin Stahl at drskartsports@hotmail.com.
Team Challenger is now set up as a non-profit through the Cultural Marketing Center and is able to accept donations of product and cash. We greatly appreciate those who have stepped up so far, but we are still in need of donations for equipment and up-keep costs.
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2-9-09 IKF Region 6 Gold Cup to host FREE Four-Cycle Tech Seminar
After the sucess of
Portland
Karting Association's IKF 4 Cycle Tech
Seminar. Region 6 Coordinator Bill Hettick felt it would
be a great service to rest of the regional racers to
host another Seminar prior to the start of the 2009
racing season. With the growing interest in four-cycle
racing in the area, Bill Hettick felt this is a great
time for new and experienced racers to learn more about
post race IKF Technical Inspections. The seminar will
use the
Briggs &
Stratton Animal and World Formula engines
as examples of the procedures and fundamentals used for
post race IKF technical inspections. Also there will be
some basic 4 cycle theory and tuning tips to help
prepare the racer on race day.
Febr. 21st at The Free IKF 4 Cycle Tech Seminar will be held 7330 Bothell Way NE Kenmore, WA 98028 Time: Noon-4:00pm or a bit later. Seminar Instructors: Chris Hatch - IKF Region 6 Road Race Coordinator & engine builder Tom Martinet- IKF Region 6 Gold Cup Head Tech Inspector Marty Patrick TKO Power Plants Motor Builder of the year 2008 Gold Cup Mike Schorn - IKF National Board Member, IKF 4 Cycle Committee Member & PKA President Beverages and snacks provided by BAM Racing Reserve your space now! For More Info call 206-353-6569 or e-mail wghrock@comcast.net
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2-5-09 Wagner finally gets championship
Jan 11, 2009
SUN VALLEY - In
racing there is an
old saying how a
driver first has to
lose a championship
before they're ready
to win one. Well in
the case of Spanish
Springs High School
sophomore Chelsi
Wagner, the saying
is in triplicate.
Tribune/Dan
McGee
-
Chelsi
Wagner
sits
in
her
family's
home
with
some
of
the
trophies
she's
won
with
the
Northern
Nevada
Kart
Club.
This
Saturday
evening
she'll
add
a
champion's
trophy
to
her
collection.
Tribune/Dan
McGee
-
Chelsi
Wagner,
a
sophomore
at
Spanish
Springs
High
School,
heads
down
the
front
straight
at
Desert
Park
Raceway.
This
year
she
raced
to
the
TAG
Junior
championship.
Tribune/Dan McGee - Chelsi Wagner and Christian Scholz have some fun at the trophy presentation after a day's racing at Desert Park Raceway. They battled all season but in the end, Wagner won the TAG Junior title by 41 points. Over the past four years she's been runner-up three times and now has finally won a championship. Despite being only 15, Wagner is a veteran racer with the Northern Nevada Kart Club. "When I was younger, about 5, I did T-Ball and was about 7 when I ended it," she said. "That and go-kart racing are the only two sports I've ever done." Over the years her grandfather Ed Diederich has been a mentor, mechanic, chief sponsor and advisor. In fact he introduced Wagner to the sport after taking her to drive the go-karts that are by the Grand Sierra Resort and Spa. Asked what happened next she said, "I said that I liked them and he said, 'would you like to go see what a real go-kart looks like?'" From there it was off to Desert Park Raceway, the home of NNKC, where her grandfather arranged for her to drive a Kadet kart. "I absolutely fell in love with it the first time I went out there," she said. "I think I got my first kart when I was 5 and 6 years old when I did my first race." And like most rookies, Wagner found being on the track was a lot different than watching the action. "Back then the classes were pretty big so it was a little more than I thought I could handle. I got discouraged as I didn't come in the front," she said. "It was a little harder than I thought it was going to be." She did stick with the racing because at that time she was the only girl racing in the club. Wagner wanted to prove that she could race to those that doubted her abilities. Two years later, it was time to move up to the Junior 1-2 class. After watching some of her fellow racers move up, and feeling she was as good as they were, Wagner knew she could handle this change. "When I moved up I did pretty well as I got fifth in almost every single race. There were like 10 karts and I've been told that I can adapt to new things pretty well so once I moved up, I was ready to go," she said. The Junior 1-2 class is for racers 8 to 12 years old and Wagner spent the next four years racing with this group. Then it was time to move up into what is now TAG Junior. This meant adapting to a slightly heavier kart with a more powerful motor, which meant she had to change her driving style. The Junior 1-2 uses a Komer that's slower to accelerate while her new class has more power and quicker throttle response. "The Komer is slower on the get-go and if you're not on point with your acceleration, you're going to lose positions," she said. "But with the TAG, once you step on the gas, you're going!" In her first race with the new class, Wagner quickly found this out when she hit the gas at too early and spun. "It was a very big transition because it was a little bit faster than I thought," she said. To keep Wagner safe, her grandfather arranged the gas pedal so Wagner couldn't hit full speed at the end of the straight. This gave her some time to get used to the new handling. "But when he finally let the pedal go all the way, it was really like exhilarating, you got the big jolt of excitement because you got the full speed," she said. Wagner and David Brant started competing against each other as soon as they began to race. Once they got into TAG Junior their battles reached epic portions and it changed their friendship. "They started calling us the 'Dynamic Duo' because when we were out there with a different class, we would be the only two people they would watch," she said, "We used to be called the 'eight-wheeled kart' because we were so tight knit, so close together and we had such clean racing abilities that it was a very nice race to watch." For the past three years, Wagner has been the runner-up to Brant. It was a time of both frustration and motivation for her. "I would get discouraged because I would be in front for most of the race then, all of a sudden, he'd pass me and pull away," she said. "I figured out that I didn't have the stamina he does as I was getting tired at the end of the races. So I started to lag off of the speed because I couldn't handle the kart any more. "So once I figured that out, I started working out and getting more stamina. And I started staying with and beating him. And he didn't like it." She added that after that things became chilly between them. Yet Brant was a huge motivating factor for her eventual success. "I wanted to show him that I was not just a girl that was just a runner-up to him," she said. "And I was going to show him that I am a girl that can beat you and I will be the first girl to beat you. Because at that time he wasn't racing IKF, was only racing club races and I was the only girl that was racing against him." Since then Brant has moved up and does a lot of racing with the IKF so his appearances at Desert Park are infrequent. However, his departure hasn't meant that this year was a cakewalk for Wagner. In fact she began to feel the heat from another young racer, Christian Scholz. "We've been friends since he started racing because I used to help him. So I guess it was bad on my part because I gave him tips, showed him how I raced and my lines," she said. "Well it's okay when he's not racing with you, but when he's racing with you, he knows where you're going to go and where he can pass you." This past season those two battled at every race forcing Wagner to make some changes. "We had good racing and I changed a couple of my lines during the season because he would pass me in certain places where I didn't know people could pass. But he pulled it off," she said. Like most racers, Wagner has found a technique to keep her self up to speed. Oddly enough, it's a negative that gets a positive, as she uses self-criticism during a race. The result is anger that becomes motivation to do her very best and to be as fast as she can be. "So it brings out like an inner devil in me that wants to go faster, wants to do better, so I basically motivate myself inside my helmet," she said. " I honestly put myself down and when someone passes me I say, 'you suck Chelsi, get'em back.'" Her dealing with the frustration and motivation of being a three-time runner-up has not gone unnoticed among her peers. Over the past four seasons she's matured both as a person and with her driving. "A lot of people said I've improved greatly over this past year because I'm more aggressive and will take you side-by-side in any corner. Last year, if you went side-by-side with me I'd say, 'go ahead, I'll let you go,'" she said. And over the past years the relationship between her and her grandfather, a veteran motorcycle racer in his own right, has also changed. A few years ago she even stopped listening to his advice. But not anymore. "It was teen rebellion as I thought I knew everything and was like the queen of the world. Then I found out that once I stopped listening to him, I was losing races and wasn't coming in as close as I could be," she said. "And it was like, wait a second, he may know things I don't." Wagner freely admits that if it weren't for her grandfather and his wife Sandy, she wouldn't be racing. They are her main sponsors and fund all of her racing. "If they weren't doing anything I would not be racing, I'd be sitting at home and doing nothing on race weekends," she said. "I would not have a kart and would be a regular teenager. He learns more about my kart every single race, knows how to make it better, and he has more racing underneath his belt than I do so he knows what he's talking about." Now with her maturity and success she's also getting help from long time kart racing shop, MMS. This past season Wagner and Scholz traded victories and staged very close battles with each other. Oddly enough, she never knew how the points race was actually going. "The first time I realized that I had a chance was the third or fourth race as I was ahead of him (Scholz) in points," she said. "I didn't' know I had it, because no one would tell me until the very last race after I won." All season those around her kept telling Wagner that she could lose this title if he let up. Even though she had the championship sewn up at the night race, she continued to press on. When the final checkered flag waved, Wagner ended up 41 points ahead of Scholz. Her success has brought about a change between Wagner and her old rival, Brant. "The title feels very good. And I'm starting to get David's trust back because he's going, 'oh, you've actually won, good job.' He's starting to talk to me more and I'm very happy because I've gotten back to being semi sort of friends with him," she said. Her accomplishment is ever more special due to the fact that only a handful of females have raced and won championships with the club. "It feels great, I love the championship and I'm only like the second or third girl in the club to earn one," she said. Looking ahead, Wagner knows the defense of her title is going to be tough. Several drivers are coming out of Junior 1-2 and they include, Logan Wyman, Nicky Pritchard and Austin Dement. While she could have moved up a class, Wagner was asked to stay in TAG Junior by both Dement and his father. "I'm going to have a lot of good racers to compete against and I'm going to have my work cut out for me. A lot of people say, 'oh you're going to have it, you've got a lot of experience,' it's like no I don't," she said. "Austin has been to many Grand Nationals, many Stars races, many other big races that he's had to basically had to grow up from and he's a really good racer." Even though Wagner could have moved up a Class, she's staying in the juniors because Austin and his father Bill Dement asked her to. It's quite a compliment as they felt she'd be Austin's main competition this next season. Asked about the future, and acknowledging it's a long way off, she expressed a wish of someday turning pro and racing either an Indy Car or in NASCAR. Right now however she's savoring finally being a champion. After four years of hard work, she's going to enjoy it. Asked about what's the best part of racing for her, she said, "The feeling of accomplishment, the feeling of when you win a race and it's a close one like you're not necessarily better than the other guy but you're better in that race. It's a rush of adrenaline and it's amazing." This Saturday evening Wagner will be at the NNKC awards banquet and be awarded the championship trophy she's worked so hard for. And she'll undoubtedly acknowledge her appreciation to family and friends that have helped her reach this level in racing.
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