Winner collects $415 Cash - Over $2500 Cash/Prizes Given Out after Feature
It was a chilly and humid night of racing. And when the feature was over, and the top three finishers stopped their karts to be interviewed on the front stretch, one driver had claimed the first Triple Crown feature win of her career, while the second place driver had claimed his first Desoto Champ Kart Series Florida Triple Crown Championship!
Twenty-four champ karts came to take their shot at winning Race #4 of the 2nd Annual Florida Triple Crown Series. This series consists of four races, with one drop allowed, at four different “stock car” tracks across Florida.
Triple Crown Race #4 was sponsored by
VEGA Tires from http://www.TSRacing.com,
GECKER Motorsports at http://www.Geckermotorsports.com,
C&D Motorsports and Hurricane Speedway at http://www.hurricanekartinginc.com,
Cutting Edge Kart Shop at http://www.cuttingedgekartshop.com,
VP-Motorsports at http://www.VP-Motorsports.com,
HEAT RACING of Brandon, Florida,
J. Hite Exterminating at http://www.hiteexterminating.com , and
Competition Karting, Inc. (CKI) in Welcome, NC
National Semi-Trailer Corp at http://www.nationalsemi.com/
Thanks to all sponsors for their support of the Desoto Champ Kart Series!
One driver made his first series start last night. ASA Super Late Model Driver, and owner of Ambassador Racing School, JR Garcia joined the series, piloting the #16 champ kart owned by Top Deck Concrete Inc. owner Paul Letourneau.
Two six-lap heat races were held, with the odd pill draws running in the first heat, and the even pills in the second. The HEAT RACING HEAT RACES were sponsored by HEAT RACING, located in Brandon, Florida. Please thank Robin and Gary Green for their support of the Desoto Champ Kart Series, the next time you place an order with HEAT RACING!
Each heat awarded a $25 HEAT RACING store coupon for first, with $15 for second and $10 for third, for a total payout of $100 in store coupons!
In the first heat race, polesitter and 2008 FKA Stock Animal Champion Chase Fitzgerald quickly hooked up with Cutting Edge Kart Shop teammate Tara Henderson in their similarily-decaled champ karts, and tried to pull away. However, 2008 Desoto Super Speedway Late Model Champion Dustin Chisholm would have no part of that, as he continued to dice with the twosome, driving high and low. On the final lap, Chase moved to the inside of Tara, and grabbed the win. Tara finished second, followed by Dustin Chisholm. Ron Sanford moved from the rear of the field to grab fourth, with Tim Simmons claiming fifth.
In the second heat race, a war was waged at the front. Both Romay Venta and 2008 FKA Outlaw 100cc Champion Mike Nicosia started at the back, and quickly displayed their muscle, as both marched towards the front. On the final lap, Romay got a run down the back stretch and tried to squeeze it under Tracy Wilson heading into turn three. Contact ensued, and before it was over, both Romay and Mike Nicosia had spun around and side-swiped the turn four wall. Both would repair their karts in time for the feature. JD Cordon claimed the win in his TS Racing/Victor Peters powered machine, followed by Super Late Model Driver Raymond Folwell in second, with Tracy Wilson grabbing third. JR Garcia nabbed fourth, while polesitter Phil Harp nailed down the fifth place spot.
After the heat races, series director Phil Harp gathered the two heat winners together. A large foam dice was rolled, and the number SIX came up! 
The first six rows would be inverted in the feature!
The feature rolled out onto the track at approximately 9:00pm behind the flashing lights of a very large pace truck! There were more than a few astonished and curious faces in the crowd. For many, this was their first exposure to a competitive karting event. When the track announcer gave the signal, the fans stood up and waved back as the champ kart drivers gave the fans the traditional pre-race wave, as they rolled down the frontstretch!
When the green flag flew, the action was intense, as the field sorted itself out.
Although a few cautions flew for karts that had spun or slowed on the racing surface, it was a contact-free race (no contact with the wall, or wrecked karts).
Quickly moving to the front was Tara “The Terror” Henderson, with her teammate Chase Fitzgerald glued to her rear bumper.
Ron Sanford slowly worked his way through the pack, and appeared to have a lot of speed in his machine. However, once he got to the third place spot, he had no drafting help, and was unable to close the gap on the front two. Unless the racing gods were to bless him with a caution, his fate was sealed…
A four-kart battle also waged throughout the feature for the fourth through seventh place spots, between Raymond Folwell, Dustin Chisholm, Tracy Wilson and JR Garcia.
On the final lap, Tara Henderson proved to be too strong, as Chase Fitzgerald could not put a move on her, and she crossed the line first, taking the win.
Congratulations to Tara Henderson for winning her first Triple Crown victory! (Second DCKS win of her career)
And, with his second place finish, Chase Fitzgerald became the 2008 Florida Triple Crown Champion!
Congratulations to Chase Fitzgerald and the whole Cutting Edge Kart Shop crew and family on their Championship!
Ron Sanford crossed the line with a strong third place showing.
In addition to winning the unique Eagles Head trophy that is given to each Triple Crown race winner and the normal cash payout, Tara also won the $200 CASH Bonus from Cutting Edge Motorsports that was posted for the winner!
All of the top five finishers were invited into tech last night, and asked to remove their heads and shrowds. All five karts cleared tech!
After tech was completed, the cash payout and contingency prizes were given out.
The second (Chase Fitzgerald) and third (Ron Sanford) place finishers received a free Clutch Rebuild, Parts Extra, from Cutting Edge Motorsports !
Also, the sixth place finisher (Tracy Wilson) received a free kart set-up session with Cutting Edge Motorsports !
And after the cash payout and feature contingency awards were given out, the “real” fun began… 
Chase Fitzgerald was summoned to the front of the awards table, and series director Phil Harp presented him with a CROWN and ROBE to wear for his Championship photos as the 2008 Florida Triple Crown “King”!!! Chase graciously agreed, and wore his attire proudly during the ceremony. Several great photos were taken of the King and his court. (These photos will be posted on the series website later on Sunday).
And, even though the Triple Crown Series only has four races (with one drop), the series was able to give away over $1,000 last night in year-end contingency prizes, trophies and giftcards, due to the amazing support of our series sponsors.
The Desoto Champ Kart Series would like to extend a special thanks to Tod Spaude of TS Racing. Even though the economy is down, Tod wanted to do something special to help the Desoto Champ Kart Series Triple Crown participants. As a result, TS Racing agreed to sponsor the year-end points funds for the Triple Crown Series. Thank you Tod and Raymond very much!
Also, a special thanks goes out to Lewis Dowell of Competition Karting Inc. (CKI) in Welcome, NC. Lewis has posted three $100 giftcards, one for each of the three DCKS points champions in 2008!!! (Triple Crown, DSS Track Points, CCMP Track Points). Thank you Lewis very much!
After the feature payout was completed, the following year-end awards were given out last night to the top five points finishers:
1st Place - 2008 Triple Crown Champion - Chase Fitzgerald
Large Eagle Trophy http://karting.4cycle.com/gallery/showphoto.php?photo=2683&size=big&cat=613&ppuser=3316
Champion's Jacket http://karting.4cycle.com/gallery/showphoto.php?photo=2638&size=big&cat=
[B]$100 Giftcard from TS Racing[/B], [I]redeemable for any store merch.[/I]
[B]$100 Giftcard from Competition Karting Inc.[/B][I], redeemable for any store merch.[/I]
[B]FREE ENGINE REBUILD LABOR [/B] (any make), parts extra from [B]GECKER MOTORSPORTS![/B]
2nd Place Triple Crown Series Points - Tara Henderson
Trophy and [B]$150 Giftcard from TS Racing[/B], [I]redeemable for any store merch.[/I]
3rd Place Triple Crown Series Points - JD Cordon
Trophy and [B]$150 Giftcard from TS Racing[/B],[I] redeemable for any store merch.[/I]
4th Place Triple Crown Series Points - Ron Sanford
Trophy and [B]$100 Giftcard from TS Racing[/B], [I]redeemable for any store merch.[/I]
5th Place Triple Crown Series Points - Andy Leserra
Trophy and [B]$100 Giftcard from TS Racing[/B],[I] redeemable for any store merch.[/I]
And after the feature, the names of all the drivers were placed in a drawing for a very special prize. National Semi-Trailer Corporation donated all four of their season tickets to the Desoto Champ Kart Series, for one of the biggest games of the season… the November 18 game against the cross-state Florida Panthers!!! Tara Henderson continued her winning ways, as she won two of the tickets. Tim Simmons won the other two tickets. Thanks very much to Scott Hailey, who is friends with the owner, and arranged for this donation!
Last night, approx. $1200 in cash was paid out to the drivers for the feature payout! Due to the healthy amount, the series decided to pay back money to the top eleven finishers!!!
There were also many door prizes given out at the driver’s meeting (approx. 15!). Thanks to all the sponsors and contributors that donated these prizes!
Unofficial Finishing Order:
- Tara Henderson - Cutting Edge Kart Shop
- Chase Fitzgerald - Cutting Edge Kart Shop
- Ron Sanford
- Raymond Folwell
- Dustin Chisholm - Cole’s Gun Shop/Clearwater
- Tracy Wilson
- JR Garcia - Top Deck Concrete, Inc.
- JD Cordon - TS Racing/Victor Peters Engines
- Brian Scherrer - Cornwell Tools/C&D Motorsports
- Mike Nicosia - Carl’s Fence
- Tim Simmons
- Romay Venta - J. Hite Exterminating
- Alan McKinney - PBS Sales and Service
- Ryan Williams - Gecker Motorsports
- Rance Williams - Gecker Motorsports
- Scott Hailey - National Semi-Trailer Corp.
- Bo Howard - Ambassador Racing School
- Chad Dokken - Competition Karting Inc.
- Ron Letourneau - PBS Sales and Service
- PJ Letourneau - Top Deck Concrete, Inc.
- Phil Harp
- Billy Houston - Cutting Edge Kart Shop
DNS- Danny Scopano - PBS Sales and Service
DNS - Mitchell Stevens - Ambassador Racing School
And after the feature, Scott Hailey, Sandi Letourneau and Tina Scopano laid out a huge spread of food for all the racers and crew. A large crowd quickly gathered in the PBS Racing team pits, to enjoy the ribs, pulled pork, potato salad, baked beans, bread and deserts!!! Thanks very much to Scott, the Letourneaus and the Scopanos for their hospitality.
Thanks to everyone for coming out last night! There were several new faces in the pits. At one point, there were so many new people asking questions about champ kart racing, that Phil Harp gathered them together and did a brief introduction session to the sport of karting in front of his champ kart, for all to hear at once.
For a complete schedule of 2008 ?Events?, and rules, please visit the series website at: http://www.desotochampkartseries.com
If you have any questions about the series, please contact series director Phil Harp at 727-510-5401. Contingency and race sponsorships are always welcomed by Phil for each race. This group is very appreciative of all the race sponsors and supporters thus far in the 2008 season!
The DeSoto Champ Kart Series - A little different… a little bigger… let the drafting begin!
