Briggs & Stratton and BKC join to host 8-hour endurance race DOUSMAN, WI - Briggs & Stratton, in cooperation with the Badger Kart Club, hosted an 8-hour endurance race at the Badger Raceway in Dousman WI. This race offered a chance to show off the new Briggs & Stratton World Formula motors. Each of the fifteen team's entry fees included a sealed World Formula Motor and the pieces needed to run it. At the end of the event, the teams were allowed to keep the motors, which helped to fill up the entry list quickly. This race also helped to increase the funds of the Brannam Fund. The Brannam's were ex-members of the Badger Kart Club who were recently killed in an automobile accident with drunk driver. Bob Brannam and his two sons were killed instantly and his wife was severely injured and is just now getting out of the hospital. Their stepson Joey was not in the car at the time of the accident. The Badger Kart Club had established a fund to help out the survivors of the Brannam family. In attendance at the race were Phil, Ron, Tim and Jessica Brannam to also help the cause of their stricken family members. All proceeds from the race were given to the fund. In addition, a collection jar was placed by the free T-shirts for all of the participants to help out with what they could. On the Friday before the race, the racers were all greeted by hot and humid conditions. Coupled with an extremely sticky track, everyone was complaining about tight karts all weekend. However, no one complained about the World Formula motors as they ran virtually flawless all weekend. There were plenty of teams on hand Friday afternoon to try and break in the new motors and get some seat time in. Already the jawing and teasing was going on. On Saturday, the temperatures rose even further, topping off around 90 degrees in the paddock and around 100 degrees on the asphalt. Teams that still hadn't solved their "pushing" problems only saw it worsen. However, many teams overcame this as practice times got lower and lower with every lap. The grid was selected by a computer-generated draw. Once the race started, the karts quickly began to spread out. Many teams opted to change drivers every half hour and soon fresh drivers were entering the race. However, a couple of teams elected to go with 45 minute or even 1 hour stints, thus saving precious time lost in the pits. The crew that went on to win started with Regan Vehring for the first shift. Vehring managed to drive well over an hour before having to come in for fuel. Besides being one of the fastest karts on the track, Vehring also stayed out so long the team was now several laps up on the next place finisher. At the halfway point, race officials had decided to throw a mandatory red flag to come in and let drivers change oil, make changes, etc... After the break, the karts were lined up by how they crossed the finish line and they were restarted. Because the bunch was so close together, any slip-up would be disastrous and that proved to be the case. On the 2nd lap of the restart, the 2nd place kart spun. As karts checked up and swerved, one kart ran over the front of Bryce Dunn's kart, injuring the young drivers leg. Dunn was taken by his parents to a local hospital to be checked out and all was fine. He returned later to watch his team finish the race. Somewhere around the 5-hour mark, the skies opened up with a huge rain. The rain only lasted for about 20 minutes, but there was standing water everywhere. A quick driver's meeting was held to determine how to finish the race and an overwhelming vote to continue was heard. So everyone headed out, swept off the track and puddles and with the high temperatures and wind from the front that moved in, the track was ready to race in about 45 minutes. By now, Team Vehring had moved up quite a number of laps and had a dominating lead. But then Team Vehring driver Jesse Schwabe tangled with another kart with about 20 minutes left in the race. The resulting incident left Team Vehring's kart with a bent axle. Schwabe came into the pits and the team decided to chance it and finish the race with the bent axle. Lap after lap, Schwabe drove by with the kart hopping horribly. However, he was able to hold off long enough to take the checkered flag at 7:00pm to win the race for Team Vehring. Afterwards, the exhausted racers stopped to pick up their free T-shirts, pose for pictures and congratulate the winning team. A big thanks goes out to Briggs & Stratton and Badger Kart Club for making this event a huge success!