Karters from the Midwest enjoy racing at the Briggs & Stratton Motorplex By Sue Nuttall ELKHART LAKE, WI - Oval and Road Racers enjoyed a weekend of racing and fun at the Briggs & Stratton 600 at Road America. It was a perfect fall day as racers from Wisconsin, Illinois and Indiana poured into the Briggs & Stratton Motorplex. The oval racers took center stage on Saturday with seven classes running races from 50 - 150 laps around the 1/5th mile oval. The track, with a year of seasoning, is running fast and smooth, allowing for passing opportunities in every corner and down both the front and backstretch. First up were the Kid Karts with a full house. After qualifying (just like the big guys), fast qualifier, Kyle Kalish took the pole position for the long 50-lap race. The last half of the race was a duel between Kalish, Austin Hintt and Morgan Schissel with less than a half of a second separating them most of the time. Schissel finally established a lead position, which he held until the checkered flag waved. Austin Hintt held off Kalish for the second spot and Kalish finished third. Other top finishers included Kyle Heywood, Jeffrey Bartz and Elliott Smith in the 4th through 6th positions respectively. The lap chart of the Jr. 3 race would lead you to believe that the victor, Zach Axlen from Sheboygan, Wisconsin dominated the race. He led every lap from start to finish. However, the action on the track told a different story. Jordan Thiel and a team made up of Matt O'Leary and Tyler Kemp raced along side Axlen for 100 laps with a pass on almost every lap. O'Leary's kart handled beautifully in turns 1 and 2, Axlen was strong in 3 and 4 and Thiel was fastest on the straight-a-ways. So on most laps, O'Leary or Thiel would pass Axlen and then coming around turn 4; Axlen would be back into the lead again. Axlen, an accomplished national snowmobile racer, put the pedal to the medal for his biggest feature win in karting. Thiel made a great inside move to take second and the O'Leary/Kemp team shared the third place trophy. A three-way battle raged in Jr. 2 with fast qualifier Ben Stumpf holding the lead for most of the race. Matt O'Leary, Aaron Katzenberg and Tyler Peterson all formed in a draft and chased down Stumpf with 4 laps to go. Katzenberg attempted an outside pass and O'Leary dove to the bottom. O'Leary held the line around turn one and came out ahead. After 50 laps of green flag racing, O'Leary finished first, Stumpf was second by 1/10th of a second, and Katzenberg finished third. Dylan Barbosa found the right setup and took a big lead in the Jr. Sportsman Champ Karts. Jacob Zellmer was close competition until he pulled out on lap 41 of the 50-lap race. Behind the leader, the race for second place was as hot as it gets. Jacob Bandaly had run most of the race back in the 7th spot. With just 10 laps to go, he started to make his move. He showed remarkable patience as he picked off one racer after another. Then with only 5 laps to go, Bandaly moved into second place, right in front of Colton Clevenger who settled for third place. The F200-OHV class brought out different strategies for the long 150-lap race. The early leader, Regan Vehring was intent on putting a lap between himself and Joe Moser by the first pit stop. Moser's strategy focused on saving the tires for a run at the end. Regan ran out of time for the 'one lap down' strategy and when the first pit stop was held, Moser erased almost a full lap deficit. Then the adrenaline kicked in and Moser and Vehring were focused on winning. Vehring took over the lead with 12 laps to go and never looked back winning by a margin of over 2 seconds. The Freiberg brothers, from Lockport, Illinois both had excellent showings with Brian handily winning the Jr. Champ Kart 100-lap feature and Eric beating Collin Harrell and Joe Johnson in the Sr. Mediums. Chris Faestel won the Briggs Animal class and Corey Domenick won the F200-Jrs. The racers and their crews had a great time racing at such a beautiful facility and look forward to making the Briggs & Stratton 600 an annual event. Results: Kid Karts: 1.) Morgan Schissel, Marshall, WI; 2.) Austin Hintt, Poplar Grove, IL; 3.) Kyle Kalish, Wauconda, IL F200: 1.) Regan Vehring, Milwaukee, WI; 2.) Joe Moser, Delavan, WI; 3.) Ryan Vehring, Milwaukee, WI Sr. Medium: 1.) Eric Freiberg, Lockport, IL; 2.) Collin Harrell, Menasha, WI; 3.) Joe Johnson, Slinger, WI Jr. 2: 1.) Matt O'Leary, Dyer, IN; 2.) Ben Stumpf, Menasha, WI; 3.) Aaron Katzenberg, Pell Lake, WI Jr. 3: 1.) Zach Axlen, Sheboygan, WI; 2.) Jordan Thiel, Appleton, WI; 3.) Matt O'Leary, Dyer, IN; 4.) Tyler Kemp, Conyers, GA Jr. Sportsman Champ: 1.) Dylan Barbosa, Yorkville, IL; 2.) Jacob Bandaly, Villa Park, IL; 3.) Colton Clevenger, Cherry Valley, IL Jr. Champ: 1.) Brian Freiberg,Lockport, IL; 2.) Jimmy Sivia, Waukegan, WI; 3.) Ryan Marshall, Kansasville, WI