Title Implications Abound in Tri-C Karters’ Penultimate Round for CSK Racing

The seventh event in the Tri-C Karters 2019 season marked the penultimate round in the championship, and with it, an important last chance for many drivers looking to keep their hardware hopes alive. For CSK Racing, a pair of drivers would lock in their final results one round early, while two others bolstered their chances at moving up the standings in the finale…

100cc TAG Masters

Round #7 saw one big thing change for CSK Racing’s Mark Connell: luck. Kicking off the year strong, the previous three rounds had unforeseen issues keeping him from the sharp end, but this past Saturday showed what he could do once again. A solid time in qualifying would set the field for the first heat race, with Connell emerging from the opening melee in the third position. He would be able to hold off race-long pressure to maintain that spot, crucially gaining a handful of points in the process. Heat #2 would be more of the same, this time with an even better start that saw him exit the opening corners in 2^nd, before settling into the third spot, where he would eventually finish.

Like the second heat, the Main would see another solid start from the rookie 2-stroke driver, slotting into second at the beginning, and holding onto it for a handful of laps. He would eventually slip to 3^rd, but then would hold off non-stop pressure throughout the race to be in the right place at the right time. When a last lap attempt for the lead went south in front of him, Connell would steal away the runner-up spot, coming across the line 2^nd for his second podium of the season. Perhaps even more important, were the valuable points gained on his closest rivals, now sitting just 9 points astern of 2^nd in the championship with one round to go…

100cc TAG Masters (Top 5)

1. Robert Perez              2329
2. Steve Jasinski             2145
3. Mark Connell              2136
4. Bryan Williams          2049
5. Dana Estes                 1944

206 Masters

The 206 Masters class has been dominated all year by CSK Racing drivers, with Lukas Dziemidok and Jose da Silva each scoring three wins a piece across the opening six events. With just two events to play, things got a little more elbows up, and things would be anything but smooth in the penultimate round of racing.

The first heat race would see the pair of title contenders slot into 5^th (Dziemidok) and 7^th (Da Silva), but immediately make inroads to the front, with the former making it into the lead in quick succession. Eventually, Lukas would settle for 2nd, while da Silva would work up into the 4th spot before the checkers fell. Heat two would see Da Silva continue his march for the front, making the pass on his teammate for second early on, but unfortunately would lose the draft of the leader in the process. In the end, it would be P2 for him, while the point leader held off the chase pack to secure 3^rd.

The Main would be anything but storybook for our season-long front runners, as right from the start there would be contact in the front row, which would cause a chain reaction with several drivers involved; Lukas included. While Jose would make it through still in the spot he started, contact just a couple laps later would see him drop several more positions, and lose a lot of time in the process. From there it was a salvage effort, one that would see Da Silva settle for 5^th, while Dziemidok would climb from nearly last, to 7^th when the checkers fell.

It may not have been the event they wanted, but it was still enough for Lukas Dziemidok to claim the 206 Masters championship one round early, and Jose da Silva to lock in 2^nd!

206 Masters (Top 5)

1. Lukas Dziemidok        2336
2. Jose da Silva              2258
3. Steve Jasinski             2142
4. Pietro Moro                2116
5. Sean Bradley              2088

Senior 206

Arguably the closest championship fight in all of Tri-C is the 206 Senior category; heading into Saturday the top three were separated by just 10 points, and when the dust settled it would still be far from over…

For the second round in a row, rookie competition karter and title contender Seth Willits would score the top spot in qualifying, and would lead the field away in heat one. He would maintain the top spot for the opening couple of circuits, before slotting into second when one of his title rivals made the move for the lead. Not willing to settle for second, Willits stole back the top spot on the final lap to score the heat race win. Heat two would see Willits out front again, and again under heavy pressure by a title rival. This time however he would not relinquish the top spot, albeit with a good amount of side-by-side racing in the process.

In the main the fireworks would start even before the green flag flew, as the second row on the grid would get together coming to the green, knocking both drivers out -and the point leader in the process. This would turn the potential battle royal between the three championship contenders, into an eventual one-on-one match up with the two that were left, as the duo pulled away from the infighting behind them. As the laps clicked off, Willits would eek out the slimmest of margins, bringing home his second win of the season, and with it valuable points that see him lead the championship by 25 heading into the Season Finale…

206 Senior (Top 5)

1. Seth Willits                2287
2. Dakota Tate               2262
3. Riley Dugan                2221
4. Evan Karp                   2103
5. Lukas Dziemidok        2075

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CSK Racing would like to again thank all of their customers for coming out last weekend, as well as congratulate all of our drivers for their success in round #7. We’re looking forward to the Season Finale on the Tecnico configuration in about a months time on October 19th! Want to get in on the fun? There is only one more chance this year! Hit us up to get on track in one of our rental packages, or inquire about how you can get coaching from some of the best in the 206 business. And remember, CSK Racing offers VLR kart and part sales trackside at CalSpeed Karting, so feel free to hit us up for all your VLR needs!