Morris, Illinois (September 21st-23rd)

 

    GCK Motorsports hosted the last INEX Nationals Regional Qualifying Race for the 2007 season at Grundy County Speedway on Saturday Sept. 22nd. You could see license plates from Texas, Tennessee, Michigan, North Carolina, Indiana, Iowa, and more. 29  Legends Cars and 9 Bandolero's raced for the "A" Main provisional awarded to each divisional winner for the INEX Nationals in Las Vegas October, 11th-13th. The racing was intense and amazing but before we get to the results, here's what happened  the night before.

    Friday night Grundy County Speedway hosted 21 Legends Cars, 7 Bandolero's, and 3 Mini Cups. Most teams showed up to use this race day as a tune up for the Qualifying Race the next night. Legends (Pro) fast Qualifier was (#69H)Jimmy Hansen, Legends (Semi-Pro) was (#12C) Jason Coleman, Legends (Masters) was (#59) Larry Will, and Legends (Rookie) was (#29) Dennis Sheppard. Bandolero (Young Gun) fast qualifier was (#84) Vern Fagerberg, and Bandolero (Bandit) was (#9) Chance Gonnan. Mini Cups did not qualify. Heat Race winners were (#158) Jason Richardson, (#12L) Kyle Lapier, (#84) Vern Fagerberg, and (#29G) Garett Goodwin. Feature Winners by divisions were: Legends (Semi-Pro) (#71) Blake Brown, Legends (Pro)(#D3) David Moyes, Legends (Master)(#59) Larry Will, Legends (Rookie) and Bandolero (Young Gun)(#84) Vern Fegerberg, Bandolero (Bandit)(#9) Chance Gonnan. When the last feature finished, the bon-fire was started and some went to bed feeling no pain!!

    Saturday's program included the GCK regulars with all of the karting divisions. 75 entries filled the day and some of the best racing all season took place as the points championships were still being settled. The GCK Motorsports web site should be updated soon with the current standings and mylaps.com all ready has the lap times and results from this weekends races. The big story on Saturday Night was the INEX Nationals Regional Qualifying Race. This years RACEceiver Legends Car and Thunder Roadster Asphalt Nationals will be held at "The Bullring" in Las Vegas, Nevada on October 11th-13th. When you win your division at a regional qualifier, you secure a provisional starting spot in the "A" main at Nationals. This is what was at stake Saturday Night at Grundy and teams from all over came to earn that provisional. Qualifying was amazing with Legends (Semi-Pro) (#12c) Jason Coleman turning a 17.262 lap bettering by 1/1000th of a second the 17.263 lap turned by Legends (Pro) (#69h) Jimmy Hansen. Fast time for the (Masters) division was set by (#78) Herman Greinig while the fast (Rookie) was (#84) Vern Fagerberg. The Bandolero's were also racing for Vegas and the Pole Position in the (Young Guns) was (#2) Anthony Metallo while (Bandits) was claimed by (#23) Kyle Bradley. 21 Legends Cars started the 30 lap qualifying race and would you believe "Caution Free" for all 30 laps with that much at stake!! Like I said earlier, some of the best racing all season. Divisional Winners were: (Semi-Pro) (#71) Blake Brown, (Pro) (#69h) Jimmy Hansen, (Masters) (#78) Herman Greinig, (Rookie) (#84) Vern Fagerberg (Young Guns) (#28) Jesse Bernhagen, (Bandit) (#23) Kyle Bradley. The rest of Saturday results and times can be looked at by clicking on this link: http://www.mylaps.com/results/showevent.jsp?id=254474 .

    Sunday almost felt like a day of rest compared to intensity of Saturday's race program but there were still GCK Championships to be settled so rest would have to wait. Several teams would indeed pack out and the Sunday program was lighter but 59 entries still kept thing busy. Again, the complete results can be viewed on mylaps.com but here's the list of Divisional Feature Winners: (#9) Jarrod Pritchett, (#2) Anthony Metallo, (#23) Kyle Bradley, (#6) Sean Clavey, (#89) Stephen Kammerer, (#18) Mike Bartlett, (#24) Heidi Goodman, (#19) Alan Monaco, (#9) Bryce Kaiser, (#71) Blake Brown, (#69) Jimmy Hansen, (#59) Larry Will, (#29) Brian Tedeschi, (#21) Rachael Pinkerman, (#9) Christian Janssen, (#64) Elana Halverson. 

    Saturday Night, October, 6th will be the Season Finale for the GCK Motorsports 2007 season and the last chance for teams collect Championship Points. At the time of this report, there were still 4 completed points race dates not posted on the GCK web site but Mickey will have it updated soon. Remember this season each racer will be able to drop one race date from the total but not a DQ race. This system really helps the teams as someone may have missed a race or had a really bad day. Keep checking the web site for updates and the Banquet schedule. See Ya At The Races,  Woody

 

Hello All, This has not been a good year for weekly reports but lets get you up to date. As of today, the last race posted on the points page is from July 22nd. The August 4th race was rained out. The August 12th was attended by 61 race teams and the results can be found on mylaps.com. August 25th was another rain out so there wasn't really too much to report in August. Some Legends cars ran on Sept 1st with the UMARA Midgets and Sept 2nd with the Grundy County Speedway weekly series' "Night of Features". These were not GCK Motorsports points races but last nights Legends and Bandolero races with the ASA Late Models was. The results should be posted soon on mylaps and GCK. 

    G.C.K. is off the weekend of this weekend and will run again Sept. 21st, 22nd, and 23rd. The Friday night race is for INEX Legends and Bandoleros only and is not a GCK points race. The 22nd and 23rd races include all of the GCK Series classes and the Saturday night race is the INEX Regional Qualifying race for the Legends and Bandoleros. This should be a big night for GCK and bring your snacks (drinks) for the bon-fire after Saturday nights action. The season finale will be October 6th followed by the big banquet. Stay tuned for details about the Banquet.

    Most of the Championship battles are still undecided and with 3 points races left, the remaining races should be intense. Here is a summary of the top three racers the GCK Championship Standings:

 

Baby Champ; Ryan Shepherd, Scott Korinek, Jarod Pritchett

Kid Kart; Austin Coffman, William Dunlevy, Julia Malosh

Junior Champ; Travis White

Junior Purple; Ashley Rex, Krystal Uteg, Olivia Middleton

Junior Turquoise; Shawn O'Neal

Junior Gold; Austin Alldred, Gary Kohring, Andy Jones

Stock Light; Matt Holzgrafe, Andy Jones, Heidi Goodman

Stock Heavy; Tom Flores, Jimmy Yurs, Jay Yurs

Turquoise Champ; Thaddeus Malosh, JoJo Flores, Christian Janssen

F200 Junior 1; Colton Beatty

F200 Junior 1 Champ; Elana Halverson, Conner Janis

F200 Junior 3 Champ; Mike Flores

F200 Senior; Rob Blake, Jimmy Yurs, Colton Beatty

F200 Senior Champ; Stephen Kammerer, Rachael Pinkerman, Mitchell Garfield

Bandit; Kyle Bradley, Chance Gonnan

Bandolero; Jimmy Uteg, Vern Fagerberg, Jimmy Wessel

Future Stars; Garett Goodwin, Brian Tedeschi, Jacob VanWazer

Mini Cup; Jim Cryer, Tom Ellis

Legends Rookie; Rachael Pinkerman, Dan Sheppard, Dennis Sheppard

Legends Semi Pro; Jason Coleman, Branden Allen, Mickey Kudlicki

Legends Pro; Jimmy Hansen, Kyle LaPier, Jeremie Johnson

Legends Master; Dave Townsend

       

    This has been an amazing season thus far and these closing races should put an awesome finish to 2007. See Ya At The Races,  Woody

Money Talks!!  The Grundy County Fair Races were Spectacular!!  On July 1st, three divisions of racing put it on the line for big money. The Mini Cup cars numbered 22 total. While 9 Future Stars raced for huge trophies, 13 Pro Mini Cups raced for the cash. John Dewey #51 set fast time in Qualifying with a 19.229 second lap but got passed on the last lap of the feature by #55 Mason Mitchell who collected the big check!! 

    Pro Briggs was a collection of Flat Head (Lights)(Mediums)and (Heavies) totaling 24. What a show these karts put on for the crowd. The drafting and passing was amazing and the speeds on the 1/3 mile were incredible. Michael May #105 qualified 6th fastest while Aaron Katzenberg set fast time with a 19.112. Michael made the right adjustments and won his heat race and by lap 3 of the feature made his way to the front of the field. The racing behind Michael was intense and by the end, Jeff Everts #7 got around Aaron for second place by only .17 seconds. Michael posed with the $1000.00 check with pride!!

    The last money class of the day ran until Midnight for the $1500.00 dollar to win prize. 29 Legends Cars were divided with 6 rookie running for trophies and 23 running for the cash. Fast Qualifiers Blake Brown #71 and Jason Coleman #12c were DQ'd for wheelbase infractions and had to start their heat races from the rear. Heat "A" was a photo finish claimed by Blake over Jimmy Hansen #69h by .025 seconds. Heat "B" was another photo finish claimed by Kyle Lapier #46L over Jason Coleman by .052 seconds. With a 7 car invert for the feature, Blake Brown and Mike Slabenak #46s making up the front row. After 3 laps, the inside row of Blake Brown, Michael Bilderback #2, and Jimmy Hansen were 1-2-3. On lap #10 Jimmy passed Michael and started stalking Blake for the lead while Jason and Kyle were making there moves into 3rd and 4th. Jimmy had to leave the race on lap 14 when his front bumper broke handing 2nd place to Jason. By lap 17, Brandon Allen #12a got around Kyle for third. Brandon got around Jason on lap 27 and Kyle moved into 3rd on lap #28. On Lap #33, Brandon spun himself out passing a lapped car moving Kyle into 2nd and Jason into third. A green white checkered finish saw the leaders going three wide into turn three of the last lap and a mad dash for the checkered flags. The result was Blake Brown by .13 seconds over Kyle Lapier with Jason Coleman claiming 3rd. All of the leaders passed tech and Blake took home the big check.

    Monday night (July 2nd) saw Jason Coleman claim the pole by .011 seconds over Jimmy Hansen and Jimmy claiming the Heat "A" win and Alex Arelano claiming his first heat win of the season by staying out in front of Heat "B". Jimmy Hansen set fast lap during the feature but on lap 17 lost the his exhaust collector and lost horsepower. Jason went on to claim the feature over Brandon Allen and Jimmy Hansen. Brandon was later DQ'd for dragging his bumper giving second place to Jimmy and Kyle Lapier 3rd. The next race for GCK Motorsports will be on July 22nd. See Ya At The Races,  Woody

June 14, 2007 (Morris, Il.)

   

    Sorry for the delay this season but the early reports took a long time to post and I got used to having extra time write them. All of the results from the first 5 races are posted on mylaps.com under gck motorsports. By clicking on a race date, you can pull up each division of racing as well as the finishing order and lap times. The GCK Motorsports web site has the point standings as of week 5 for all of the divisions except Legends cars. An informal meeting was held after last Sunday's race (results not posted yet) and the decision was made to split the Legends divisions by class rather then group them all together. Because the Legends Master's, Pro's, and Semi-Pro's race together every week, the thought of one overall points champion was considered but INEX requires the points to be split for their national records. It's just easier to split them up for Grundy as well and give the local teams a chance at 3 separate championships. My best guess at the top two in the Legends point standings right now are:

 

Master's Division;

Dave Townsend

Tim Brockhouse

 

Pro Division;

Jimmy Hansen

Kyle Lapier

 

Semi-Pro;

Jason Coleman

Brandon Allen

 

Division Point leaders after week #5 are below,

 

Baby Champ: Scott Kornek, Kid Kart: Dalton Fergus, Jr Turquoise: Shawn O'Neal, Jr Gold: Austin Alldred, Stock Light: Matt Holzgrafe, Stock Heavy: Jimmy Yurs, Turquoise Champ: JoJo Flores, F200 Jr 1: Colton Beatty, F200 Jr 1 Champ: Dakota Morris, F200 Jr 3 Champ: Mike Flores, F200 Sr: Jimmy Yurs, F200 Sr Champ: Rachael Pinkerman, Bandolero Bandits: Kyle Bradley, Bandolero Young Guns: Vern Fagerberg, Bandolero Outlaws: Alyssa Plunge, Future Stars: Garett Goodwin, Rookie Legends: Dennis Sheppard.

 

    Week #6 results are not posted yet so I'll wait until after week #7 results and combine the reports. Some week #6 highlights were, Dennis Sheppard winning his heat race and as his Dad drove along side him to congratulate him, the two made contact and sent Dennis into the wall destroying the winning car. Dennis was OK and Dad later joked "That's what he gets for beating me." Jason Coleman again set fast qualifying time and then claimed his first overall Legends Feature of 2007 with a last lap pass around Brandon Allen. Jimmy Hansen blew up his primary car during his heat race and started the feature from 17th in a back up car with braking problems. Jimmy claimed the hard charger award by passing 12 cars and finishing 5th. Mother Nature seems to be a mute subject this season as every race date has been kept and the early forecast for this weekend is 94 and Sunny!! See Ya At The Races,  Woody

Morris, Illinois (05-06-07)

 

    Race weekend #3 for GCK Motorsports was another great weather day at Grundy County Speedway.  66 teams showed up for the 3rd points race of the season and 22 of them were Legends teams. Let's call it sweeps weekend for several race teams. 10 of the 16 racing divisions were swept by teams that were ready for the challenge. A sweep is earned by winning both heats and the feature. This is not an easy task during the 3rd week of racing as teams are starting to figure out their programs and it will only get tougher as the season progresses. Let's start with the list of sweepers:

Bandolero Young Guns:    #84 Vern Fagerberg

Bandolero Bandits:    #23 Kyle Bradley

Bandolero Outlaws:    #53 Alyssa Plunge

F200 Sr Champ:    #21 Rachael Pinkerman

F200 JR Champ:    #38 Mike Flores

F200 JR 3:    #21 Colton Beatty

Briggs Heavy:    #0 Aaron Katzenberg

Briggs Gold:    #54 Gary Koehring

Briggs Light:    #257 Matt Holzgrafe

Kid Kart:    #8 Austin Coffman

Way to go to all that swept and for all others, time to catch up!!

Here's the rest of the feature winners from week 3:

Baby Champ:    #16 Scott Korinels

F200 SR:    #98 Chris Lishamer

Champ Turq.:    #9 Christian Janssen

Mini Cups:    #296 Garrett Goodwin

    The last group of winners comes from the Legends Divisions. 6 rookie legends teams ran the first heat but #24 Max Macnamara was too fast for rookie status and ran heat #2 and the feature with the pro's and semi pro's. #20 Matt Booker went on to claim the rookie feature win. Qualifying honors went to #12c Jason Coleman with a lap of 17.346 seconds. Heat "A" went to #69 Jimmy Hansen and Heat "B" was claimed by #2 Michael Bilderback. #05 Jeremy Johnson led the first 3 laps of the feature and #20 Ross Kenesth led the next 10. Meanwhile Jimmy and Michael were making they way through the field towards the front. On lap #14 Michael and Jimmy cleared Ross and started their battle. Michael held Jimmy off from lap 14 to 18 but Jimmy got a run going into turn 1 of lap 19 and beat Michael to the white flag. Jimmy remained in front for the final lap claiming his 3rd GCK Motorsports Feature in a row.

    This season is off to a great start and Mother Nature has yet to claim a race!! Great job by the staff and stay turned for the points updates that are coming soon. See Ya At The Races,  Woody