Close racing in I-55 Sprint Series finals SPRINGFIELD, IL - The final round of the I-55 Sprint Series had good participation and some great racing under the lights at Mid-State Raceway with some very close finishes. With 50 bonus points available for the fourth race in this series, many of the St. Louis Karting Association (SLKA), regulars made the trip up to Springfield, IL to do some night racing under the lights and compete for the series championship against the Mid-State Kart Club (MSKC) regulars. Although the SLKA regulars swept 8 of the 10 classes in the final points, some of the point battles were decided by just one or two points over MSKC competitors. The feature races produced some very close finishes with competitors using the long back straightaway at Mid-State to do make some dramatic last lap draft and pass maneuvers. Even the Kid Kart class produced an exciting finish when Noah Nigro and Trevor Boblitt went to the high and low side of a lapped kart, going three wide through the final two corners. The closest finish was in the Yamaha Supercan class where Ryan Ruf held off a last corner charge from Greg Grafton by just .004 seconds. The Yamaha Lite class had another close finish when Alex Pezzolla beat Chris Shearburn to the line by just .066 seconds. In the 2-Cycle Junior class, Greg Dingus edged Samantha Miles by .243 seconds and the 4-Cycle heavy class had a close finish with Tod Hayes edging Chad Kruger by .347 seconds. At the end of the racing program, the series awards were presented at the start finish line by the MSKC president, John McQuinn. An impressive display of around 100 trophies were handed out for the evenings top five in each class and for the series top five in points for each of the 10 classes. Class point champions were awarded a five-foot high trophy and a class champion jacket that will have their name embroidered on it. The top five in each class received large trophies, and all of the kid kart competitors received large equal sized trophies. The inaugural season of the I-55 Sprint Series was declared a success by the SLKA and MSKC officials. The intent of the series was to give the club racers a chance to sample racing at another track by bringing their entire club to another track. Club points were also awarded so as to not take away participation from the clubs local racing program. The end result was bigger classes, very competitive racing, and nice bonus awards for the series class champions. The plan for the 2004 I-55 Sprint Series is for the SLKA to host a Spring and a Fall race at Pevely, and for the MSKC to host two summer night races under the lights at Mid-State Raceway. For more information on the series, see www.midstatekartclub.com . Mid-State Raceway Results from September 6, 2003 (final I-55 Sprint Series points race) Kadet: 1.) Trevor Boblitt, 2.) Noah Nigro, 3.) Jordan Laukaitis, 4.) Joseph Patrick, 5.) Gage Hectar 4-Cycle Rookie: 1.) Jack Miller, 2.) Bradley Brittin, 3.) Jeremy Remmick, 4.) Matt Bruns, 5.) Nick Scaduto 4-Cycle Junior: 1.) Greg Dingess, 2.) Becky Kaestner, 3.) Tommy McKenzie, 4.) Jeff Green, 5.) Joshua Williams 4-Cycle Light: 1.) Ryan Cassity, 2.) Jennifer Best, 3.) Matt Riggs, 4.) Bryan Vought, 5.) Chad Miller 4-Cycle Heavy: 1.) Todd Hayes, 2.) Chad Kruger, 3.) Cale Downs, 4.) Jerry Miller, 5.) Mike Nesbitt Jr. Sportsman: 1.) Kody Hughes, 2.) Matthew Laukaitis, 3.) Brett Cogo, 4.) Mario Nigro, 5.) Dillon Womack Jr. Supercan: 1.) Greg Dingess, 2.) Sam Miles, 3.) Tommie Nigro, 4.) Tim Sykes, 5.) Adam Crepin Yamaha Supercan: 1.) Ryan Ruff, 2.) Greg Grafton, 3.) Dustin Kessinger, 4.) Matt Riggs, 5.) John Weiss Yamaha Lite: 1.) Alex Pezzolla, 2.) Chris Shearburn, 3.) Derek Crockett, 4.) Mark Duffy, 5.) Ralph Wofford Yamaha Heavy: 1.) Brian Hannon, 2.) Mark Duffy, 3.) John McCracken, 4.) Tim Bade 125cc Shifter: 1.) Tim Barnard, 2.) John Barnard, 3.) John Hoppa, 4.) Todd Martin, 5.) Doug Allen TAG: 1.) Gary Kolek, 2.) Neil Quick, 3.) Derek Crockett, 4.) Steve Levinson, 5.) Jerry Henry I-55 Sprint Series Final Points (top 5) Kadet Participants: Jordan Laukaitis, Joseph Patrick 4-Cycle Rookie: 1.) Bradley Brittin, 2.) Matt Bruns, 3.) Jack Miller, 4.) Nick Scaduto, 5.) Jeremy Remmick 4-Cycle Junior: 1.) Greg Dingess, 2.) Becky Kaestner, 3.) Tommy McKenzie, 4.) Joshua Williams, 5.) Jeff Green 4-Cycle Light: 1.) Matt Riggs, 2.) Bryan Vought, 3.) Jennifer Best, 4.) Mark Williams, 5.) Brian Litteken 4-Cycle Heavy: 1.) Cale Downs, 2.) Chad Kruger, 3.) Mike Nesbitt, 4.) Todd Hayes, 5.) Jerry Miller Jr. Sportsman: 1.) Brett Cogo, 2.) Matthew Laukaitis, 3.) Kody Hughes, 4.) Dillon Womack, 5.) Kevin Bade Jr. Supercan: 1.) Greg Dingess, 2.) Andrew Goodhart, 3.) Sam Miles, 4.) Kaleb McCain, 5.) Becky Kaestner Yamaha Supercan: 1.) Ryan Ruff, 2.) Matt Riggs, 3.) Dustin Kessinger, 4.) Derek Crockett, 5.) John Weiss Yamaha Lite: 1.) Derek Crockett, 2.) Alex Pezzolla, 3.) Chris Shearburn, 4.) Mark Duffy, 5.) Ralph Wofford Yamaha Heavy: 1.) Brian Hannon, 2.) John McCracken, 3.) Tim Bade, 4.) Kent Laukaitis, 5.) Mark Duffy 125cc Shifter: 1.) Tim Barnard, 2.) Todd Martin, 3.) Sherry Hufstedler, 4.) John Barnard, 5.) John Hoppa