Colorado Sprint Championship Rounds 5 and 6The third and final doubleheader in the 2008 Colorado Sprint Championship season promised the usual amount of tension of any final - who would keep their perfect season, who would finally get their first win, who would take the championship, etc. This has been Ben Schermerhorn's year. The first shifter final of the weekend took place near the end of Sunday's rinse cycle. The track dried in time for the second meeting of the day, so crews put slicks back on and reset the chassis. With one qualifying session serving both finals, Schermerhorn had P1 once again. This time there was nothing lacking in his kart, or Elliot's for that matter. The pair took of f early and left the field fighting for scraps. Elliot kept the pressure on, increasing in speed as the laps counted down, but couldn't come close enough for a serious attempt at the lead. So Schermerhorn took the win at his home track, which not only meant victory at each track this year, but it sealed the overall championship. Mike Petrie (Billet Arrow/TM) returned to the podium after emerging from a crazy battle with Cody Macintyre (Billet Arrow/TM) and Tim Otto (Kartworks GP/TM). Reaction Karting TaG Senior has been incredibly tight all year, with results as unpredictable as Formula 1's mid-field. Even though it seems to be someone else's turn to win every time they hit the track, some patterns emerged. At Centennial it was Shockwave's Greg Welch (Shockwave/Rotax) that retook the pole position for the day in qualifying, which was especially impressive as this is not considered a particularly Rotax-friendly track. Round 2 (or, rather, round 6 in the series) was decidedly better for the Shockwave team, as Welch got the jump at the green to lead out Schermerhorn and the rest of the field. Before the half, both Schermerhorn and Kistler-Collins had pulled into the pits and retired. This helped Welch gather a sizeable lead and he again set the fast lap, though some late race excitement was provided by David Zippie (Doghouse Racing Birel/Leopard) who bridged up to Welch and finished less than a second behind. Rosse took a solid third. With 3 wins to Welch's 2, Schermerhorn earned his second championship in the CSC this year.
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- but nature, just like this year's CSC racers, decided to take it to the next level and rained down on the Track at Centennial. Day 1 was completely wiped out after the first couple of qualifying sessions when a incessant downpour completely overwhelmed the track's carefully planned drainage in two corners. So the call was made to run the two finals on Sunday, at some risk since the outlook wasn't much more promising. But Sunday dawned much better, and despite a decent mid-day shower, provided the excellent racing that has been the hallmark of the 2008 season.
Critical Zone's star pilot has been almost unstoppable in the Billet Performance Karting 125 Shifter class, and has taken victories in the highly competitive Reaction Karting TaG Senior class also. The only real threat to Schermerhorn's CRG/Swedetech Maxter shifter was perennial frontrunner Marc Elliott and his Billet-built Arrow/TM, who has been steadily improving after switching teams and chassis early in the season. Qualifying underscored this, as Schermerhorn put it on the pole with a 53.706 on the freshly-laundered track, but Elliott was closer than ever - only .046 behind.
Schermerhorn got the jump, but it was soon apparent that his rain setup was not the best with the CRG struggling for grip out of the turns. Elliott's Arrow on the other hand was dialed, and after 6 laps took over the point and sailed home to take a hard-earned victory. The classes' rising star Kody Adcock (Critical Zone/CRG/Honda) also worked his way around Schermerhorn late in the race, having moved up from a 4th row starting position and setting the fast lap for the session in the process.
Unfortunately, the first final didn't see the polesitter out front as the entire field swept past at the start; Welch's race ended several laps later, but not before setting fast lap. This left the familiar black and orange CRG/Leopard of Ben Schermerhorn in P1, and he held off Pat Rosse (Arrow/Rotax) for yet another win to add to his '08 collection. Grand Junction winner Dale Kistler-Collins (Kartworks GP/Leopard) rounded out the podium.
Sterling Service's 125 Spec Shifter class has looked like TaG Senior's twin in `08; incredibly competitive, with half the field in contention for a win. Doghouse Racing's Jack Bradley (Birel) made his debut on the pole at his home track with a 55.087, a significant 1/4 second ahead of P2, earning the Kartworks Pole Shot prize. At the green, Bradley took the holeshot and lead the field nicely for the first half of the race, but behind him Rocky Mountain Kartworks' round 4 winner Jeff Field (GP) was recovering from a balky start. Field took over and fended of a late challenge from Shockwave's Jeff Welch (Shockwave) to take his another win, just in front of Welch and Bradley. The second final was a much different game, as Kartworks' other spec weapon Cory Milne (GP) took the holeshot from his P4 grid position to lead the first couple of laps. Round 3 winner Welch then wedged his way into the lead with a nice pass before the chicane to take the point, and, despite the pressure of hearing Milne and Bradley's synched Honda motors behind him, took his second win of the season - and a championship for the family's team. Scotty Muffler's Jake Snider (CRG) took the consolation prize for fast lap.
