SKUSA Red River Regionals at Kartways of Arkansas July 12-13

Let me qualify this report by first saying we only came to race, but after we got back we had several request to put up some news.  Most of this is from my feeble memory so bare with me....

Small turnouts sometimes result in great racing, and that's exactly what this weekend proved.

Kartways of Arkansas is located in south-central Arkansas in the rural town of Warren.  One of the cleanest facilities you will ever find, even the restrooms are kept cleaner than most 4 star restaurants.  The .5 mile glass smooth track is truly designed to emphasize driver skill as it has 3 second gear turns that demand heavy braking yet smooth lines to get the best exit speeds.  With this track being the most distant for the core of the Red River competitors, only the hard core showed up.  As a result the racing action was excellent.

Reid Miller snatched the opportunity to get everyone involved by working a deal with track owner Gary Smith to set up a 50-50 race using the 8HP CRG concession karts.  Well, 8HP before the governors were disabled anyway.  Reid rallied the teams together for a "no-rules" runoff with 50% of the kitty going to the winner.  Simply put it was big fun for all including Bill Tally, Rodney Berryhill, Rik Crews and few other not so famous drivers.  A real hoot to watch as well.

S1/G1

The S1 race had 8 entrants, while the G1 only brought 3.  With all 3 G1 entrants being on the lighter side, Director Rodney Berryhill made the call to allow the G1's to shed 10 lbs so they would be able to dice with the 385 lb S1 competitors a little easier.

It seemed like everyone had their own equipment struggles in various heat races but somehow it all came together for everyone.  Chris Story, working hard to find the grip finally found the "last jar of adhesion" at the track turning laps within a tenth of Collin Lynns record setting time from last year.  Perseverance paid off for the Story's as Chris was first to the checker in the main.

David Trimble coming off a very respectable 2nd place finish at Barrie, was very fast until his carb boot failed, and with no spares had to rely on borrowed parts to run the main.  David came alone and demonstrated that a privateer can be very fast.  Watch for this driver to move up next year.  Despite the ill-running motor, David still managed a close 2nd place.

Reed Froelich also came to win, but had problems with his ignition forcing him to fall back on the OEM CDI.  That hurts at this track as you need as wide of a powerband as you can get.  Reed's Brembo-braked Tonykart certainly had the braking the track demanded and managed a respectable 3rd place.

Roberto Coreale in the hands of master tuner Bill Tally easily won the G1 race running midpack with the S1's.  The Herber brothers, some of the best guys you could ever race with finished 3rd and 4th.

Derek Denman showed up to run S1 despite having focused on road racing this year.  Derek showed some excellent times in Friday practice about 2/10 off the track record with old hard tires, but lost 3rd gear and had to race with his tired road racing motor.

K1

With only (4) K1's, the racing was top-notch.  Ryan Kinnear and Jeff Carter put on a lap after lap battle that resulted in a few exciting lead changes in the main.  Oscar Aguilera came home 3rd.

80Jr

In his first year of karting, Brad Coleman seems to show the skill it normally takes several years to acquire.  Not only did he win, but by a significant margin.  Silky-smooth.  CR Crews was also there to take the 2nd spot putting up a brave battle from midpack to earn the 2nd place finish.

Rotax Jr

Once again Brad Coleman won the Rotax Jr race, and not by a little.  Brad simply had the turn exit speed on this track and checked out from the other 3 competitors who were bumper to bumper throughout the race.