MSSS opens 2003 at Gateway By Dave Cole MADISON, IL - The first event of the Russell Karting / Dunlop Tire Mid-States Super Series and the K.A.R.T. Mid-America Road Race Series happened at Gateway International Raceway, April 4, 5, and 6th. Friday saw great weather until about 3pm and rain came down to stop practice for the day. Saturday saw windy and chilly weather but still bright sunshine came down to somewhat warm everyone up. Sunday saw rain storms wash out Sundayıs events that sent everyone home early. The first race of the day saw six Sprint Novice drivers take the green flag, Brian Ellis, Matthew Gilbert, Chance Holder, Anthony Nika, Ashley Presnell, and Brooke Wankel. Five of the six finished the fifteen-minute race to see the checkered flag. Matthew Gilbert ran the best time of 1:33.2. The third race saw the first race of the new Shifter Kart Illustrated Formula 125 Enduro Challenge, Presented by Dunlop. The program is a four race series racing within four racing organizations, WKA, KART, Championship Enduro Series, and Mid-States Super Series. The series is to promote the laydown 125cc gearbox karts. For more info on the series, contact Brian Wilhelm or SKI. Eight drivers took the green flag with newcomer to the 125 gearboxes Kyle Schreiber out to the early lead. The lead didn't last long as Kyle got involved into an accident that took him out of the event. This gave the lead to Brian Wilhelm who kept the lead till about seven minutes to when he had mechanical problems. This then gave the lead to Robert Lawson who ran steady lap times to keep him in the hunt, which paid off to grab the first victory of the season. Tim Richmond, Scott Fiesler, Brian Wilhelm, and Mark Horne followed him. Both Schreiber and Wilhelm ran times of 1:06.6. The other fast class in the third race was the Williamson Family 100cc Piston Port / Controlled class. Six drivers took the green flag and saw Ron Taylor out to a comfortable lead. John Scavuzzo slowly caught Taylor and attached himself to his rear bumper. The two were able to run lap times of 1:10.0. On the last lap, Scavuzzo was able to make the pass and edge out Taylor by 0.1 seconds. Santo Scavuzzo and Bob Cole followed the top two. Another great class to watch was the Signature Signs Yamaha SBX Sportsman, which had the second largest field of 16 drivers on the grid. Road racing legend Randy Fulks found the front early and brought Scott Grenier and Dave Hechler also. The three pulled away from the rest of the field running lap times of 1:13. 3. With about fifteen minutes left in the race is when the Hechler started getting anxious. Hechler and Grenier went back and forth a few laps till Hechler controlled the second spot. He then diced around with Fulks during the last few laps until the last lap when Hechler was able to get in front of Fulks and all three drivers drag raced down to the checkered flag. Hechler took the victory by 0.271 seconds and Fulks beat Greiner by 0.174 seconds. Austin Henry and Brad Read finished out the top five. The forth race saw the biggest field of the day, eighteen, in the Greenflag Motorsports Sprint CIK 125 class. The Bermuda driver Jason North dominated the class. North was able to run lap times of 1:06.2 with his moto engine and came within 0.3 seconds of lapping the entire field. The show to watch was second through fifth as Joe Barth, Jeremy Lightwine, Ted Steffke, and Melvin Nelson went back and forth throughout the entire thirty-minute race. The WNNCO Properties Sprint WKA 125 saw two new drivers to the Gateway facility. Harold Deihl III and Randy Easton completed the thirty-minute race with Deihl taking the win and a best lap time of 1:08.3. Race five saw three classes in competition with the quickest class being the Yamaha Heavy. Six drivers took the green flag with Scott Grenier coming off a happy third place finish earlier taking the checkered flag. Jay McQuinn was the runner-up; both had a best lap time of 1:12. Mike Baldus, Kermit Watson, and Kelly Grant rounded out the top five. Nine drivers were on the grid for the competitive Piston Port SSX Can class. Kirk McEtheny took the checkered flag and the best lap time of 1:16.4. John LaRue, Jim Steinbach, Jarrett Corcoran, and Kenneth Dessler followed Mc Etheny. Brad Read top the top spot in the KART / MARRS Piston Port HPV class. He ran the best lap of 1:13.3 and was followed by Nick White and Michael Garrett. The fastest race of the day was race seven, which included the Shifter Kart Illustrated 250 Twin class. Fresh off the victory at Fontana, Johnny West grabbed another victory and the fastest lap of the weekend with a time of 1:01.7. Jerry Echols followed West. Unlimited saw a good battle between Shawn Menzel and Tim Gilbert. Menzel was able to finish on top and have a best lap time of 1:04.5. Steve Tillman followed Menzel and Gilbert. German Motors Controlled Limited was the next quickest class with Tom Disch edging out Rod Williams by 0.29 seconds. Kevin Kann and Mike Ronke followed. Disch also ran the best lap time of 1:08.3. Mick Vollmar took the top spot in the KART / MARRS 100cc Open class. Dennis Ondrejka, Roger Hatcher, Keith Wedel, and Jim Yount followed him. Vollmar had the best lap time of 1:10.4. In race eight, the John LaRue team took the Enduro Team SSX Can class while the Bob Cole team took the Redeye Electronics Sprint Team SSX Can class. Braedon Maurer took the Sprint Jr. Briggs class, followed by Michael Kocsis and Michael Phillips. Maurer ran the fastest lap time of 1:25.1. Walter Dahlquist took the Sprint Briggs, followed by Scott Tomasik, Chris Hall, and Joey Presnell. Dahlquist had the fast lap of 1:28.1. Race results for races 2 and 6 are unavailable at this time but you can see them and the rest of the weekend's results at www.michkartclub.org in the Mid-States Area. The next event will be the Road America Super nationals, presented by Badger Kart Club and Dunlop Tire, on June 13-15.