Thursday night action
Thursday’s are for kart racing at Brighton Speedway – a great turnout of 49 karts rolled through the back gate ready for action. Family, friends and fans packed the infield of the racetrack and found a spot to cheer on their favorite drivers, hot laps and heat races in the books and feature lineups were set.
The Box Stock 1 division was first to hit the track with 8 karts of 5 and 6 year old drivers split up into 2 groups to control chaos.
Feature 1 – Carter Phillips in the #07 and #88 Ryker Ostrom upfront with #11jr Max Sopaz and #8jr Karson Connell on row 2 – Green in the air and Phillips on the Go Fast pedal first with a fast #11jr Max Sopaz throwing out a line and trying to keep pace. Laps clicked off as Phillips put a little distance on the pack, Sopaz and Ostrom both testing the high line but not making much ground on the race leader. A late race yellow and heartbreak for 2 of the 4 competitors Karson Connell and Max Sopaz both forced pitside due to mechanical failure. Green and white in the air on the restart Phillips with the jump on Ostrom, hard into corner 1 and off corner 2 – Ostrom spins the tires and Phillips pulls an advantage down the backstretch – Phillips clean into 3 and throws it SLIDEWAYS off of 4 with checkers in the air….. #07 back on the gas, pointed the right direction and across the line – Carter Phillips with the win Ryker Ostrom with a close 2nd.
Feature 2 – #11 Kane McBride and #48 Emerson Clarke leading #36 Rowan Rosborough and #57 Libby Sandercock to green. McBride with the hot shoe early putting the Castleton Hills RV #11 in the top spot as 3rd place starter #36 Rowan Rosborough charged through to catch the draft for second. McBride kept it clean until just before the halfway point, a slick track and tires heating up starting to show on the #11 kart – Rosborough to the top spot – hard on the outside down the frontstretch with #57 Libby Sandercock making ground on the pair. A few yellows slowed the pace but #36 was in the zone, clean air and a fast kart – Rowan Rosborough putting another plaque on the mantle, #36 with the win – after a hard hit mid-race Libby Sandercock was able to put the #57 in the runner-up spot, #48 Emerson Clarke and #11 Kane McBride 3rd and 4th respectively.
9 karts to the track for the Rookie 1 feature event – #44n Nora Grant and #01 Keely Patterson on point. Patterson with the run off the top side into the top spot as they ran hard off corner 2, Grant holding her own in the Anson Construction sponsored ride and Lucas Wannamaker keeping pace in his #39 as the battles heated up all around the track. Halfway point and Patterson still holding strong a nice line and clean air #01 atop the scoring tower – #39 Wannamaker shuffled into 2nd and hard charger #92 Race Turner making his way from a 7th place starting spot to throw his hat in the ring for a podium finish as laps clicked off. Double sticks in the air and action heating up – Patterson setting the cruise control in the #01, Wannamaker a solid 2nd, Turner holding off a gaggle of karts for the 3rd spot with #4 Kason Sager, #68 Gunner Ellis and #05 Liam Baldwin throwing haymakers for a chance at bronze. Checkers in sight – Keely Patterson with the big win in the Mater Consulting #01 – 2nd to Lucas Wannamaker – #92 Race Turner crossing in 3rd with a 3 wide battle behind him outta corner 4 – as the dust settled Gunner Ellis survived for 4th, Nora Grant squeezed through for 5th, #4 Kason Sager was the meat in the 3 wide sandwich and settled for 6th, #23 Austin McBride, #7 Carter VanDenBeukel and #05 Liam Baldwin 7th through 9th in an exciting finish.
Box Stock 2 rolling off the grid next – #22 Jackson Gregory and #41 Hudson VanDyk on the front row and on the gas down the front stretch. Action Jackson Gregory to the top spot in the Norwood Auto Wreckers ride with Picton’s Reese Kerr sliding into 2nd position off the hop with the #7 kart. Gregory Racing had the kart to beat early, with Jackson falling back to 2nd momentarily but then regaining the lead from Kerr all while #12 Emmett Ferguson climbed the ladder to 3rd from a 5th place starting spot around the halfway point in the race. Laps counting down and the handling was fading on the #22 – Reese Kerr moves by for the lead and Ferguson follows suit as the pair shuffle the Gregory kart out of line. Some nice smooth laps for the Kerr Construction #7 – Reese Kerr with her first win on the season, Emmett Ferguson put the #12 in 2nd on the podium, #17 Keaton Chatten went from the back to the front and back again to end up in 3rd, a pair of Hudson’s in 4th and 5th – #8 MacMullen and #41 VanDyk, Jackson Gregory and #10 Abel Kiltz in 6th and 7th across the scales.
#91 Kara Veenstra and #86 Sawyer McFadden out of corner 4 to start off 10 laps of Rookie 2 feature racing action – Veenstra with a great start in the SV Heating and Plumbing ride as McFadden slides down to catch the back bumper as they power onto the backstretch. Veenstra looking good for the first 4 laps until a slight misstep off of corner 2 and McFadden saw the light – drag race – give the spot to the #86 of McFadden. From here on out it was an almost flawless performance from McFadden, hitting marks and making time – give the W to Sawyer McFadden in the APEX Graphics #86 machine, Kara Veenstra holds off all other contenders and picks up a season high 2nd place, #37 Ella Wannamaker battled through and finished up 3rd, #13 Vayda Dayton 4th, and #88 Jase Fargey couldn’t quite make the high line work and ended up 5th.
#10ax Alyssa Nolasco out of Odessa and #41 Peyton Lambert from Carrying Place winding up for a wild Junior Sportsman 2 feature event with 15 laps on the clock – Nolasco ready to go first, getting the bite off the inside and putting the #10ax atop the scoring tower as 10 thundering karts gave chase. Nolasco had the kart to beat on the night at the front of the pack as she was almost untouchable lap after lap – 2nd place was up for grabs – Peyton Lambert, Jase Patterson, Lily Walters and Max VanDyk all jumping in on 2 spot action looking for a chance to take a swing at the race leader. As the laps counted down, it was still #10ax at the top – Alyssa Nolasco extending her points lead and getting the win, #101 Jase Patterson tossed the brake pedal out and wheeled it for a second place finish, #41 Peyton Lambert in a smooth and steady podium finish. 4th through 10th had #15 Charlotte DeWal, #10 Ayden Gordon, #51 Cole Cousineau, #48 Knoxin Wells, #11 Bentley Fulton and #29 Lily Walters.
Junior Restricted under the lights to finish off the nights racing action – #93 Kaden VanGemeren and #01 Blake Gregory keeping everyone tightened up and ready as they thunder down the backstretch. VanGemeren to the lead in the Silbro Construction ride with Gregory falling in line in front of 4th place starter #47 Colton White as the rolled into corner 3 and 4 to complete lap 1 of 15. Points leader #70 Finley Mahoney, on a tear this season, hooked up and passing karts, picking his way from the 5 spot to challenge for the lead 4 laps in the books – give the lead to #70, Gregory follows through momentarily until a string of caution flags flew and slowed the Gregory Racing entries charge forward. Mahoney put it on lock and counted down the laps as a couple hard chargers – #11g Teegan Grosse and #7 Tate Black coming from the back 2 rows – climbed the ladder and set sights on the #70, too little too late – Checkers out and Finley Mahoney with a big win, Grosse and Black rolled across the scales in 2nd and 3rd. #19 Bentley Davidson picked up 4th, #72 Chase White 5th, #93 VanGemeren 6th, #10 Hanna Merry 7th, #01 Blake Gregory and #47 Colton White finished the running order.
One week off and then the final night of Thursday Night Thunder is September 3rd – don’t miss your chance to see the stars of tommorrow battle it out on the little track – the only thing that is better then reading StoryTime is catching it in person – Check out www.brightonspeedway.com<http:
