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Laps for Kids Team Shatters 24-hr Guinness World Distance Record |
By Adam Abraham
(CHANDLER, AZ) — World records are rare in the making, but that
distinction now rests securely in the hands of Gary Kannegiesser,
58, who with an assembled a four-man team, shattered the Guinness
24-hour World Distance Record in a Kart on an outdoor course.
Driving a TaG-configured TonyKart, Kannegiesser and his Laps for
Kids team drove 1,312 laps around the 1.2 mile course at the
Bondurant School of High Performance Driving (Chandler, AZ), for a
total of 1,574.2 miles (2,533.43 km). The previous Guinness Record
of 1,062.5 miles (1,709.9 km) was set in 1997 by a team in Northern
Ireland. |
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Starting off at 1:03:03 pm on December 10, 2005 under the clear and
mild Phoenix sun, things looked anything but auspicious, as a
fowling plug brought the kart to a stop after traveling roughly 100
feet. However, with a quick replacement, the run was on its way.
They endured cold night temperatures, successfully evaded rabbits
and black cats that crossed the track, and unscheduled breakdowns to
finish 24-hours later with the World Record firmly in hand.
With scheduled refueling stops each half hour and driver changes on
the hour, the team of Kannegiesser from Avon Lake, Ohio, Alan
Rudolph, 29, of Phoenix, Timmy Megenbier, 14, of Melrose Park,
Illinois, and Phil Gordon, 47, of Chicago, along with a pit crew
headed by Tim Megenbier, met and surmounted every obstacle that
arose. With racing legend Bob Bondurant waving the checkered flag,
it was Rudolph who brought the kart across the line at 1:02:59 on an
overcast Sunday, December 11, 2005, to complete the 24-hour epic.
The World Record breaking team averaged almost 66 miles per hour
over the entire course of the run, with Megenbier posting the
fastest lap time of 51.1 seconds over 1.2 miles, or 84.2 miles per
hour. Megenbier, who is the highest finishing North American in
Rotax Max history with a 5th place at the 2005 World Finals in
Canary Islands, deftly piloted the TonyKart without incident.
Alan Rudolph, who is the Chief Instructor at the Bondurant SuperKart
School, three-time King of the Streets Champion at the Rock Island
Grand Prix, and holder of numerous national titles in karts and
other cars, was behind the wheel when the 125cc engine blew… twice.
However, the team was well-prepared, installing a backup engine in
less than 20 minutes. However, when the backup engine yielded lower
lap times, Crew Chief Tim Megenbier quickly assembled his crew and
performed a rebuild, subsequently reinstalling the engine.
Several hours later, in the dead of night (with much lower air
temperatures), the engine went out again with Rudolph at the wheel.
However, since the half-way mark to the old record had been reached
in roughly nine hours, even with the engine changes, everyone was
confident that the record was going to fall with plenty to spare,
even if there were more engine rebuilds. Fortunately, there were
none. After the second rebuild, the kart engine performed flawlessly
for the rest of the race.
The previous Guinness Record was eclipsed a 5:30 am, or 16.5 hours
into the run, with Kannegiesser at the wheel. He was also behind the
wheel when 1,500 miles was surpassed with a bit more than an hour
remaining.
Phil Gordon, who was born in Jamaica and now, lives in Chicago,
brought great passion for the sport, and technical expertise to go
along with his driving prowess.
Cap Henry, 15, of Bellevue, Ohio, served as an alternate, but wasn’t
called on to drive. He nonetheless epitomized the level of
preparedness that marked a team that was determined to succeed.
This was a great moment for karting in America, made more special by
the cause behind it, and the struggles that went into making the
entire event happen.
Kannegiesser, who is the founder of Laps For Kids (www.lapsforkids.com),
came up with the crazy idea for a World Record attempt to bring
attention to karting as the cradle of motorsport today, and to raise
funds for the Victory Junction Gang Camp (www.victoryjunction.org)
in Randleman, North Carolina, that was founded by Kyle and Pattie
Petty, and actor Paul Newman, in honor of Adam Petty, who died in
2000.
Karting is very much a family enterprise for many who love the
sport, and the Laps for Kids support team showed it. Kannegiesser’s
was supported by his two sons, Dane and Robert (“B.G.”). Timmy
Megenbier was supported by this dad Tim as Crew Chief, and his mom
Angel. Alan Rudolph’s wife and daughter cheered their man as he
piloted the kart the final hour into the history books.
The goal of raising $1 million wasn’t met, but Kannegiesser is
undaunted. It is possible that something else even more valuable was
exceeded, as four men and their families came together to imagine
new possibilities, while presenting and promoting the sport that
they love.
Conceived almost fifty years ago, karting is moving away from being
the Rodney Dangerfield of motorsports, where it rarely gets any
respect. Kannegiesser and the Laps for Kids team did more than break
the Guinness 24-hour distance World Record for a 4-man kart team.
They pushed the envelope of possibility, showing us how karting can
continue bringing people and families together for good and noble
causes, while at the same time, having loads of fun.
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