Team Claussner sweeps Endurance Karting's "Charlotte 400" CHARLOTTE, NC - After a long day of swapping positions, strong race strategy and just plain good, hard racing, it came down to the final two laps for the GT 40 win in the Charlotte 400, April 20, 2002. As the Thunder Valley team led the GT40 field into the closing laps, the track was lined with boosters rooting for their favorite participant in the duel. Spirit I was chasing the Thunder Valley rear bumper, straining to close the distance as the laps wound down, bringing the sun-baked crowd to its feet to watch and cheer. Finally, only two laps from the checkered flag, Spirit I slipped by to take command for the final time and took the win by a mere .813 seconds in one the closest finishes in Endurance Karting history. Winston Cup winner Ernie Irvan's GT1 Team Spy 4 with protege Kevin Conway, fellow W.C. winner Lake Speed Sr. and W.C. Team Manager Lake Speed Jr., combined good strategy with strong driving skills to inch away from the entire field, beating the GT2 winners, Red Shift Racing, for the Overall win by one lap. That's an average of only .12 seconds per lap over the full distance, including pit stops. And while we're talking about amazingly close finishes, another hard-fought, daylong battle saw the Hardtails beating Big Boyz Motorsports for sixth overall and first in GTBB by just under 12 seconds. That's a measly .026 seconds per average lap for eight hours! Great work!It doesn't come much closer. The complete results will be on the site within four days. It was all Team Claussner in the Charlotte 200, Sunday April 21, at Lowe's Motor Speedway as the team(s) swept the top two spots in GT1 and claimed the top two overall positions as well. Claimed the top two spots? In a concession to the unusually hot, humid, summer-like weather, event organizer Johan Schwartz, shortened the event to two hours and provided each team with two karts, doubling the number of karts on the track while giving each participant the expected amount of seat time. And more! Disregarding the heat in a rather amazing turn of events, the three-man Team Claussner became Claussner and Claussner II as the drivers rotated back and forth between their racers! Their consistency showed in the results as Team Claussner led Team Claussner II home by a close, 6.288 seconds! They didn't look too fresh after the event (and nobody seemed to be standing too close, either) but with a trophy in one hand and a plaque in the other, they looked very, very satisfied. However secure it might look on paper, their sweep was by no means assured as Team Yankee followed them home a mere 7.444 seconds back, taking first in GT2 and third overall. The Fossils narrowly avoided extinction by the Dinosaurs to bring home the top prize in GT40 while claiming seventh overall, 22.302 seconds ahead of the second-placed, eighth overall Dinosaurs. GTBB was the playground of the Barr None crew, followed through the summer swelter 50.664 seconds later by Big Bone. It may not have been exactly where they wanted to finish but judging by the looks on their faces, Big Bone had Big Fun. All in all, it was a great weekend at Lowe's Motor Speedway, with more than 30 people taking advantage of Friday's school and practice sessions. Our Endurance Karting scholars found themselves going quicker with each session as they learned the ins and outs of the Lowe's karting racecourse. Some were reported to have taken as much as 8 seconds off of their first attempts at the track! A look through the results shows the amazing equality the fields attained by the time the weekend's events were finished. For more information on Endurance Karting visit their website at www.Endurancekarting.com.