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Gatorz Karting Cup Lights up the Night
Championships get decided in next-to-last '07 round.
Kevin Krefting  |  Posted July 16, 2007   Orange, Calif.
Ryon Beachner handily won G-Phactory TAG Senior. (Go Racing magazine photo)

There were more than a few storylines to look after as the Gatorz Eyewear Golden State Karting Cup moved into the newly renovated Apex Racing center in Lake Perris for the weekend. There were championships to be decided and plenty of new faces to keep things interesting.

The race marked the first time since 2004 that the series had raced at the facility, and Apex Racing owner Dave DiMond was thrilled to welcome the Gatorz Karting Cup to his Rocky Moran-designed track.

"I can't think of a more fitting series for us to have here for our first major racing event," said DiMond during the driver's meeting.

Series owner Andy Seesemann was equally thrilled to bring the series back to Lake Perris.

"Some people have criticized the facility, but the fact is that for the facility to be able to continue its improvements, we have to support them by coming to race here," said Seesemann. "Dave has done a lot of work to improve the track and he has a plan to continue improving the facility. He's done a great job with the track and we're happy to be back."

Grange MiniMax

Save for the last race at Buttonwillow, Dakota Dickerson (Birel) has had things his way in Grange MiniMax all season long. With but two races left in the season, a win would lock up the season championship for good ahead of Al Simpson (Birel).

But as he said in his trackside interview, Simpson was looking to win and keep his title hopes alive. He demonstrated so by taking pole by a mere .057 of a second ahead of Dickerson. Michael Davis (Birel) would line up third.

Simpson kept his lead at the start while Davis slotted ahead of Dickerson, with the three running in a freight train until Simpson crashed exiting turn three on the fifth lap. Davis inherited the lead for three laps until he threw a chain, ending his race and leaving Dickerson to take the lead and win the pre-main, with Nicholas Silva (Kart Mini) second and Cody Langevin (Top Kart) third.

Picking up the fumble and heading for the endzone, Dickerson converted his pole position to a win in the final by a huge margin of 13 seconds – and clinched the Grange MiniMax season championship. The dominating win was a fitting way to take the championship, as the win was Dickerson's fifth win in seven races this season. Silva took second, while Davis worked his way back up to third at the end.

Alive Design Rotax International

With a championship battle raging between Joey Collins (CRG) and Cory Pollock (Birel), this class was made even more interesting with an influx of drivers who would give the two a run for their money. Collins took pole, but Grant Hebner (Tony Kart) was second, James Kennedy (Sodi) third, Pollock fourth, and Pier-Luc Oullette (Arrow) fifth.

Collins left them all behind in the heat race, which was uneventful except for Connor DiMond (CRG) – who has done more laps at this track than anyone – throwing away his seventh place starting position into the turn two gravel. Kennedy and Hebner went backwards, with Pollock taking second and Oullette third.

The main took a while to get started, as the front row of Pollock and Collins were both a bit trigger happy, but three wave-offs got them slowed down enough to take the green. Pollock stormed around Collins to take the lead, Hebner suddenly slowed exiting turn one – making a mess of the midfield – and the race was on between Pollock and Collins.

Collins stalked Pollock until the twelfth lap, when he stuffed it inside Pollock in turn seven to retake the lead. Collins maintained a small margin over Pollock until the pair hit traffic. While Collins made a daring move to hurry past lapped traffic in turn seven, Pollock had to decide between running into lapped traffic or going off the track, so he went straight off in the esses – gaining massive airtime, passing the traffic and closing the gap to Collins in one fell swoop. It was a move that rankled some – it left a mess of the track – but was a crowd pleaser. Further back, Kenny Maler (Birel) and Connor DiMond both crashed out in separate incidents.

In the end, however, Collins pulled out a gap again to win the race, and clinchd his second straight Alive Design Rotax International championship. Pollock had second easily in hand ahead of Kennedy, Oullette, and Matt Ostiguy (CRG).

Dave's Performance Rotax Masters

With a field that swelled with potential winners, this group promised some of the best racing of the day. Last season's champion Mike Mautner (Birel) showed up for a one-off, and was joined by PKC TaG Masters points leader Paul Bonilla (Birel), Rob Logan (Tony Kart), and Full Throttle Karting owner Andy Seesemann (Birel).

Missing in action were points leader John Crow, and second in points Waqar Meyer, who fractured some ribs during Friday practice. This race would drastically alter the points standings.

After qualifying, it was Bonilla on pole, with Logan second, and Mautner third. Buttonwillow winner Rob Whitley (Tony Kart) was mired down in thirteenth

Bonilla led the heat race from start to finish, while behind him it was Seesemann who was making moves, picking off Logan at the start and Mautner into turn one later in the race to end up second. Mautner finished third ahead of Tony Kart twins Logan and Ian Thomas.

The main began frantically as Seesemann got the jump on Bonilla heading into turn one, with Logan slipping into second. Logan's run at the front would be short-lived, as he found the turn two gravel on the second lap, leaving a freight train of Seesemann, Bonilla, Mautner, and Thomas. On the sixth lap, however, Thomas got into the back of Mautner – who had gotten into the back of Bonilla – launching Thomas over Mautner and taking off the former champions' front nose. Mautner's race was over while Thomas fell back to thirteenth.

This left the battle for the lead solely to the dueling Birels of Seesemann and Bonilla. Despite being slightly quicker, Bonilla only had one shot at Seesemann during the thirty-six lap race, but couldn't make it stick and Seesemann quickly repassed him.

Seesemann went on to win his first race of the season, with Bonilla second and Rob Whitley making good progress to end up third, ahead of Travis Irving and Brian Hommel.

MyChron4 Junior Rotax

The class which has taken the lion's share of drama and controversy has been MyChron4 Junior Rotax, and this weekend was no exception. Heading into this weekend the points championship was a close battle between Miles Maroney (CRG) and Justin Coplen (CRG) with Cameron Jocelyn (Birel) close behind.

Qualifying threw a curve ball at both competitors, as Taylor Miinch (Birel) took fast time but was a DQ at the scales. Victor Carbone (Kart Mini) would up on pole, with Austin Childs (CRG) second and defending class champion Race Liberante (CRG) third. Maroney was back in sixth and Coplan way back in tenth.

Drama began before the pre-main got underway as Coplen bounced off a curb and threw a chain during the warm-up lap. He was able to get it back on and drive to the pits for repairs, making it out as the field took the green flag. Carbone had the whole race to himself, but action ensued behind him as Lou Pagano clouted the turn three barriers, and got going again, a lap down but wedged in the line of karts contesting the second through seventh positions.

The results were predictable, and as the line of karts behind him got impatient it came to a head on the eighth lap, dumping Jacob Pearlman (Birel) into the dirt in turn nine. Once that was sorted through, Donny St. Ours (PTK) outlasted Liberante for second, with Maroney taking fourth after taking heavy pressure from Dylan Stalker (Birel) the entire race.

The main got off to an exciting start when Corey Neveau (Tony Kart) got the first turn all wrong and spun through the dirt, causing a knock-on effect that knocked rookie Jeremy Kane (CRG) off the track and into retirement. Justin Coplen also found himself in the dirt in turn two, going down a lap and putting his championship hopes in jeopardy.

At the front, a raging battle broke out between Carbone, St. Ours, and Miinch. Each led the race but Miinch controlled the race for most of the second half, until Carbone got by with five laps remaining. On the final lap, Carbone clearly wanted to defend his lead and ran a defensive line into turn two – a prime passing opportunity – and turn seven. Miinch dove for the inside in seven but ran into Carbone. Hard contact between the two sent Carbone off the track and into the dirt, losing any chance of the race win. Miinch crossed the line first, but was penalized for the move after the race, and placed behind Carbone in the final standings.

Once that was cleared up, St. Ours won his first MyChron4 Junior Rotax race, ahead of Miles Maroney and Cameron Jocelyn.

Metal Manipulations Club Rotax / Precision Works DD-2 / G-Phactory TAG Senior

Having already wrapped up the DD2 Mini Series championship, Antoni Czerniewski (CRG) took DD2 and overall pole ahead of the first TAG Senior driver Ryon Beachner (Tony Kart). Third overall was the Club Rotax of Ari Baquet (CRG) who was ahead of John Stewart (Birel) and Russ Jordan (Birel) – the two battling for the points championship.

Beachner got the jump on Czerniewski at the start, but it took a lap for Czerniewski to get by and streak off into the distance. However, he fell off the track on the seventeenth lap, allowing Beachner to win overall and Austin Nichols (CRG) to win DD2. Baquet had the Club Rotax field covered until he parked it in the dirt coming onto the front straightaway with five laps left. He was in the dirt long enough to let Stewart through for the win.

Clearly on a mission, Czerniewski battled through the field in the main to pass Beachner for the overall lead after twenty-five laps of battle. John Stewart had thrown his Club Rotax lead away at the start, and a battle raged between Nichols, Kyle Neveau (Arrow), Jordan, Chris Kindberg (Birel) and Baquet. The first casualty was Baquet, who went off track in turn one. But the big off was Czerniewski, who hit the barriers in turn three – hard – and brought out a red flag. Since the race was more than halfway, the race was called, with Beachner winning G-Phactory TAG Senior, Jordan winning Metal Manipulations Club Rotax, and Nichols winning Precision Works DD-2.

The series will go on an extended hiatus as many of the series competitors travel to Colorado to race in the Rotax Grand Nationals. The final Gatorz Karting Cup race of the year will be September 22, at Moran Raceway.
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