Great weekend at Road America for inaugural Briggs & Stratton Motorplex Oval Championships participants By Bob Vehring ELKHART LAKE, WI - You couldn't have asked for more, the brand new Briggs racing facility, oval track, sprint track, and 1/8-mile drag strip, surrounded by the 4-mile Indy car track, with SCCA cars doing 150+ mph. The rain stayed away and the temperature cooled down some for the weekend. With the park-like setting of the pits and camping area there isn't a better place for kart racing. The first class to take to the track was the 4-Cycle Jr. III class. This quickly turned into a battle between two of the fastest racers in the two different Burris series, Adam Carlson of the Burris Circle Tour and Chris Yelk from Meadowview Kartway. Adam grabbed the lead from the green with Chris right behind him followed by Tanner Bollton, Jimmy Sivia and Bryce Dunn. Bryce is a multi-time Badger Kart Club sprint season Champion and this was his first time on an oval. Late race lapped traffic forced the front runners to split with Adam going high and Chris diving under. Chris came out slightly ahead but on the last lap Adam grabbed back the lead and took the checkered flag. The Yelk family led by proud parents Mike and Cathie, spent Saturday night thrashing on the karts until 2a.m. All the hard work paid off with Chris winning in Sunday's Jr. III race and older brother Jim, in his rookie season, taking the win over fellow Meadowview Kartway racer Nick Hanna on the last lap in the Animal class. Quite a weekend for this very talented family in their first time ever on asphalt! I'm sure you'll be hearing more on this group. The Pro classes are always hotly contested and this event was no exception. The Stock Medium class race had the always-fast Jacob Humphrey taking the flag over Richard McGill, David Budres, Danny Boynton and T. J. Mertes. The F200 Factory wars saw Regan Vehring winning the race, with Tiffany Wester, Dan Bakke and Andrea Page behind him respectively. This race was put together with the idea of bringing together racers from all the different tracks in the surrounding states, both dirt and asphalt, for two reasons. Number One is good racing and Number Two is to meet new racers and make new friends. I think we succeeded in both very well. There are too many people to thank for pulling this race together individually but a few I must mention, Dave Larson and the IRA, The Inside Track, John Nuttall the Burris Circle Tour crew, Kurt & Missy from Meadowview Kartway and their workers for making the whole event run smoothly. And most importantly our sponsors Briggs & Stratton, Burris Racing, Max-Torque, Flatout Group and Gecker Motorsports/Bulldog Chain. Through these sponsors we gave out almost $4000 worth of prizes in the drawing, sending a lot of racers home very happy and looking forward to 2003. RESULTS: 4-CYCLE SENIOR MEDIUM: 1st - Jacob Humphrey, 2nd - Richard McGill, 3rd - David Budres 4-CYCLE JUNIOR I LITE: 1st - Ben Stumpf, 2nd - Alex Stumpf, 3rd - Aaron Katzenberg KOHLER JUNIOR: 1st - Robby Mureker, 2nd - Collin Jackson, 3rd - Eric Bakke BRIGGS STOCK JUNIOR: 1st - Cody Daul 4-CYCLE SENIOR HEAVY: 1st - Dean Daul, 2nd - John Adams, 3rd - Sean Duncanson KOHLER LITE: 1st - Rick Kretcshmon, 2nd - Matt Bakke, 3rd - Wade Michael 4-CYCLE JUNIOR III: 1st - Chris Yelk, 2nd - Tanner Bolten, 3rd - Jimmy Sivia BRIGGS ANIMAL: 1st - Jim Yelk, 2nd - Nick Hanna F200: 1st - Regan Vehring, 2nd - Tiffany Wester, 3rd - Dan Bakke JUNIOR CHAMP KARTS: 1st - Matt Scott 4-CYCLE JUNIOR III LITE: 1st - Adam Carlson, 2nd - Chris Yelk, 3rd - Tanner Bolton KID KART PARTICIPANTS: Jacob Zellmer, Blaze Daul, Jeffery Bartz, Caylie Dunconson Visit the International Racing Association Here!