Kessinger/McCormick "Endurance Kings" of the Fall Classic Endurance Sprint Race at Mid-State Raceway By Chris Shearburn SPRINGFIELD, IL (Oct. 20th, 2002) - Endurance races have always been said to separate the men from the boys. Or maybe the strong from the weak? In any case, it provides a battleground for those only worthy. To be considered worthy you must possess such qualities as consistency, patience, and overall speed. Mid-State Kart Club held the Second Annual Fall Classic Endurance Race which hosted fourteen of the toughest Sr. Supercan teams from around the Midwest. On October 20th, the stage was set. The place was Mid-State Raceway. The venue was an hour long race to test durability, patience, and who could go the fastest for the longest. The teams lined their karts on the front straightaway based on sign-ins. On the pole was the #7 kart of Greg Grafton, who would be driving two entries in the race, and Jack Gerber. Starting second was the #31 of Dustin Kessinger and Flynn McCormick. Third on the grid was a solo driver of Kevin Corsier in the #2 entry. In fourth starting position was the #48 of Mike Otto and Bobby Cummings. Rounding out the top five was the Jayson Escritch and Tony Loniewski #22 machine. The first twist in the race was the Le Mans style start. Drivers were required to stand at the edge of the infield grass across from the karts and wait until the green flag dropped before getting to the kart, starting the enegine, and taking off. This made for interesting debates among the teams as to who should start the race. Many felt the younger and better athletic driver was the one to do it. However, some teams just had to go with who they had. Once the green flag dropped, the drivers sprinted to their karts, the engines fired, and they were off! Quickly jumping into the lead was the #31 kart. The #31 was able to get out to a several kart length lead by the time they headed into the concrete turn for the first time. Off the line in second was the #48 and in third was the #7 who started from the pole. After the first lap it was #31, #48, #7, #2, and #28 rounding out the top five. It looked as if the field would make it the first few laps without a hitch but on the second trip through the concrete turn the #9 and #11 tangled sending the #11 a half a lap back and the #9 to the pit area. On the same lap, a change for second position occured as the #7 kart made the move down the long straightaway around the #48. The next few laps proved fatal to the #48 as the team slipped through the field another few spots and lost the lead draft. By the tenth lap the race was about five minutes in and the #31 had pulled out to a 1.3 second lead over the #28 who had taken over second position on the seventh lap. On the eight minute mark the #10, who had a first lap spin, was moving through the field nicely before throwing a chain in the concrete turn. On the same lap the #6 made a move for second over the #28. A few minutes later the #22 decided to pick up the pace and moved into the third position dropping the #28 to fourth. The next lap the #22 passed the #6 dropping him back to third. Two laps later the #6 made the move back to second which allowed the #28 to follow through dropping the #22 back to fifth again. By this time the #31 had built up a 3.9 second lead over the second pack. When the dust settled amongst the second pack the #6 had taken over second with the #22 in third and the #28 in fourth. At the fifteen minute mark the second twist in the race began. The pits opened which allowed teams to come in, change tires, fuel, switch drivers, or do whatever needed done to their kart. Most teams opted to just switch drivers which made for some fast stops. By the twenty-five minute mark several teams made their way into the pits including the #28, #6 and #22. By the thirty minute mark all but a few teams had made their stop. By the thirty-five minute mark most all teams made their stop except for the #31. When things cycled through, the #6 had resumed second position but the #7 had taken over third, which relegated the #22 to fourth. By the forty minute mark the #7 caught the #6 for second position. Shortly after the #6 tangled with a lapped kart dropping them through the field. In the lead the #31 still powered around the track carving through the field putting many good karts a lap or more down. On the forty-three minute mark the #31 finally made their way to the pits for a driver change after building almost a two-lap lead over the field. When they came out of the pits second and third place zoomed by to get back on the lead lap. This set up for one exciting fifteen minute dash to the finish. When the #31 got up to speed they had a 28.2 second lead over second and a 31.1 second lead over third. Most would think this is enough to cruise to victory, but the race only got more exciting. With thirteen minutes to go the #22 took over second position dropping the #7 to third. By now the lead was cut to 22 seconds. With ten minutes to go the leader ran into heavy lapped traffic which allowed the #22 to get the lead down to sixteen seconds. Once things settled down the lead stabilized until eight minutes to go when the #22 started to close the gap in a hurry. With five minutes to go, the lead was down to seven seconds. Fortunately for the leader the #22 encountered the same heavy traffic that slowed their pace earlier in the run. This allowed enough of a gap for the last few minutes of the race for the #31 to hold on and take the win by just 2.8 seconds. The #22 made a valiant run towards the end but came up just short and was forced to settle for the second place trophy. The #7 held on for third, fourth went to the #48 kart which was the last kart on the lead lap, and rounding out the top five was the #20 team finishing two laps down to the leader. The top five teams were awarded with nice trophies. Look for the return of this popular event next year at Mid-State.