MKK's Season Championship settles the score By Lisa White SOUTH BEND, IN - Michiana Kart Klub's ninth season at South Bend Raceway Park finished in great style, as the Season Championship became the deciding factor in many classes. October 12 was race #12 and the track was packed as almost all the club's members raced with non-members who wanted to get one last race in for the year. The features started with 4-Cycle Jr. Sportsman running 12 laps as Justin Jarrett #17 took pole and Grant Lewis #7 outside pole. Tyler Brindley #3 took inside second row and JJ Schafer #6 outside second row. Newcomer Patrick Callahan #9 started inside row 3. Jarrett came back mid-season to put a lock on the 4-Cycle Jr. Sportsman Championship and baring any post-race disqualifications, there would be no way he could loose the season's title. As the green flag flew, the drivers went into turn one three wide with Jarrett coming out in the lead, Lewis second and Schafer in third. Schafer passed Lewis in the front straight of the second lap with Brindley now looking to pass Lewis. As the three battled for second and third, Jarrett timed in with fastest lap at 51.753 seconds. Lewis and Brindley ended up passing Schafer as the race finished with Justin Jarrett #17 taking first, Grant Lewis #7 in second and Tyler Brindley #3 in third. Congratulations to Jarrett for taking the championship! HPV Jr. Sportsman's feature started with Jordan Pennington #8 in pole, Brittany Griffin #96 outside pole, Josh Menting #41 second row inside, David Mitchell #26 second row outside. Pennington took the lead quickly with Menting following closely and Griffin in third. Griffin and Menting would be tied for points if Griffin were to take second place, however, Menting has won more first place races and that would decide the points ranking. Griffin set herself up for a pass on the front straight and passed Menting, taking second. Pennington at this point had a 14-second lead over Griffin and set the fastest lap at 45.079 seconds. As the checkered flew, Jordan Pennington #8 took first place and the championship, Brittany Griffin #96 in second and Josh Menting #41 in third. Congratulations to Pennington for taking the championship! Four Cycle Jr. and Intek Jr. ran their feature together with 4-Cycle new comer Danny Deutsch #23 in pole, Kenny White #8 outside pole, Mitch Pugh #25 inside row two. Intek Jr. class started with Chasity Mottinger #11 pole, Morgan Reynolds #9 outside pole and Eric Schumacher #10 in second row. Deutsch pulled out in the lead with White following closely and Pugh in third. Deutsch took turn five too wide and White took his spot. Deutsch passed White back on the downhill only to give it back to White on the uphill. White maintained his first place position most of the race, with Deutsch in second and Pugh in third. Deutsch took first back after the half-way point, but White made and exciting finish by passing Deutsch with only two turns to go in the last lap, and setting fastest lap time of 47.888 seconds. In Intek Jr., Mottinger came out in the lead with Reynolds in second and Schumacher in third. The points race in Intek is close this season with Schumacher leading by 5 points after drops. Reynolds has to finish in first to win the championship. The class fast lap times were separated by 0.07 seconds. Reynolds passed Mottinger for first as Schumacher moved into second passing Mottinger and continuing down the front straight to pass Reynolds coming out of turn one in first position. Schumacher continued in first position at the halfway point as Reynolds and Mottinger battled, making contact and taking each other out of the race. The race finished with Kenny White #8 taking first and the class championship, Danny Deutsch #23 taking second and Mitch Pugh #25 in third. Eric Schumacher #10 took first for Intek Jr. and his class championship. Congratulations to them both! HPV 3 Medium's feature started with Chris Leason #01 and Ryan Padgett #1 going side by side until turn two with Padgett coming out in the lead. Bart Libert #4 in third, took a spin, landing in eighth place. Steve Church #6 and Matt Long #27 battled for third place as Church held his ground. Padgett led the race 3 seconds ahead of Leason with fast lap time of 42.360 as Long attempted unsuccessfully to take third from Church. The race finished with Ryan Padgett #1 taking first and the championship, Chris Leason #01 in second and Steve Church #6 in third. Congratulations to Padgett for taking the championship! HPV 4 Heavy's feature promised to be exciting with 12 karts running. Ron Dials, Jr. #38 in pole, Matt Wilkey #94 in outside pole, Ben Wilkey #95 in row two inside and David Skinner #89 in outside second row. Matt Wilkey had four points over Dials for the championship, so this race would be the deciding factor. Aaron Coates #7 and Marshall Martin #99 are tied for points going into this race. As the race started, Dials got the jump on Matt Wilkey out of the first turn. Chuck Yoder #10 dropped a chain and left the race early. Matt Wilkey took first position cleanly from Dials with Skinner in third. Skinner passed Dials, but Dials continued on Skinner's bumper, as Skinner inched towards Wilkey 0.6 seconds away. The first three karts, Wilkey, Skinner and Dials, were 0.4 seconds apart at mid-point through the race. Skinner passed Wilkey only to be passed back on the next turn and Dials, in third, went over the top of Skinner taking both the karts out of the race. Phil Stasney #72 moved up to second with Coates and Martin battling for third position. The race finished with Matt Wilkey #94 taking first and the class championship, Phil Stasney #72 in second and Aaron Coates #7 in third. Congratulations to Matt! A tremendous effort was given by MKK's own Ben Wilkey in this year's Rotax Max Challenge Grand Nationals as he qualified 27th in a field of 64 drivers in the International class. The top 37 drivers were within one second in qualifying and only the top 28 transferred to the Pre-Finals, with an additional six from Last Chance Qualifying, bringing it to a total of 34 International drivers. In the Pre-Final race, Ben finished in 17th position, moving up 10 places. In the finals, Ben started at 17th and moved into 10th place. In the finals, Ben's times were in the 38.5 range with the leaders' times in the high 37's. Great job, Ben!! Sunday's 2-Cycle Season Championship First Place Points Winners Spec 100 Jr. Sportsman - Derrick Griffin #95 Spec 100 Jr. SSX - Mikie Breiner #13 Spec 100 Sr. SSX - Ben McCallum #5 Yamaha Pipe/Spec 100 Med - Jerry Lockrey #95 HPV Jr. Sportsman - Jordan Pennington #8 HPV Jr. - Marcus Wind #12 HPV Sr. 3 Med - Ryan Padgett #1 HPV-4 Heavy - Matt Wilkey #95 125 cc Shifters - Curt Lewis #12j Sprint 125 TAG - Jon Koch #06 Sunday's 4 Cycle Season Championship First Place Points Winners 4 Cycle Jr. Sportsman - Justin Jarrett #17 4 Cycle Jr. - Kenny White #8 4 Cycle Sr. Lite - Joshua Deardurff #6 Intek Jr. - Eric Schumacher #10 Animal Sr. - Todd Kirts #00 Michiana Kart Klub would like to thank their sponsors for the 2003 season. The website, sponsored by MRP Motorsports and National Kart News, is continually updated and is an integral part of our club. The class sponsors are as follows: HPV 3 Medium - Stockberger Trucking 125 Shifters - Karter's Pit Stop HPV4 Heavy - Greene Law Offices HPV Jr. Sportsman - Bonnie Menting State Farm Insurance Spec 100 Jr. Sportsman - Pace American Trailers Spec 100 Sr. - Profile Racing Spec 100 Jr. - Michiana Contracting Animals - Fore-Smith Racing These sponsors are why our club is going into its 10th year of racing! Thank you! Be sure to check out web site at www.mkk1.org for points, race results and new pictures. Also posted is information on the MKK Award's Banquet. Points used in this article are not official points. Please look to www.mkk1.org for official points results.