WKA: Pit Board 2008-08-05

WKA's Pit Board presented by AMB i.t. - 08.05.2008

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Heat Turned Up For Carnesville Dirt Nationals

08.05.2008 - The 95+ degree mid summer temperatures will pale in comparison to the heat that will be applied this weekend, August 8-10, at the Georgia Karting Complex in Carnesville, Georgia. The Briggs & Stratton Speedway Dirt Series hit the homestretch in their drive for the coveted championship in the Jimmy Rivers Performance Works Nationals.

Several drivers will be looking to hold onto multiple class points leads in preparation for the September finale at Beechnut Raceway in Tennessee next month. Headlining the leader board is young Dakota Baggette from Lakeland, Florida, the leader in the Briggs Junior Sportsman 2 Lite and Heavy classes. Also looking to maintain his success is Ryan Montgomery from Fairmont, West Virginia, owning the top spot in the Briggs Junior 1 Lite and Junior Sportsman 1 Champ classes. In the Senior category, Chris Beazley from Bowling Green, Virginia will try and keep his momentum going in the right direction, leading 3 classes, Briggs Heavy, as well as the Limited Medium and Heavy divisions. Fellow Senior driver Josh Robinson from Titusville, Florida will look to do the same in Briggs Medium and Raptor 330.

Combine that with a plethora of Grand National winners fresh off their victories in Margarettsville, North Carolina, and the stage is set for a blockbuster weekend, full of heat and excitement!!!!

Activities for the Jimmy Rivers Performance Works Nationals will get underway with gates opening on Thursday from 4-9pm. Gates will re-open Friday at 7am with a full slate of practice scheduled for 1-7pm. 2 jammed packed days of racing will follow on Saturday and Sunday, beginning with practice at 8am each day, with racing to follow.

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WKA Competitor, Jessica Brannam, Racks Up Multiple Championships in Local Series

08.05.2008 - Going into the last race of the season, 17 year old Jessica Brannam from McHenry, IL, found herself with her back against the wall. Jessica entered the race at Blackhawk Farms Raceway in 3rd place in the championship points standings. The only way she could possibly win the championship in the Championship Enduro Series, Briggs Animal 360 division was to win the race.

Not only did she win the race, she did it by finishing just .004 seconds ahead of her closest rival. Once the points were totaled up after the race it was found that she had actually tied for first place in the championship. Due to the way the tiebreaker works, Jessica was eventually crowned the champion.

After the race Jessica was very excited. "I am very happy we won the championship, but I wish we would find an easier way to do it." Brannam went on to say, "I owe all my success to my great sponsors and my race team. I especially want to thank my lead mechanic Dave Lehman. Dave came to our team full time this year and he has been a great asset."

In the CIK 125 #1 division Brannam thought things would go much easier. Entering the weekend event she held the points lead in this division. All Jessica had to do was finish 6th or better to take the championship in this division as well.

Right from the start things did not go as well as she had hoped. Do to a scoring glitch during qualifying; Jessica's 3rd fasted time was not recorded. This meant that instead of starting 3rd she was put all the way back to 13th on the starting grid.

That was not the end of her problems. While pushing her go-kart to the starting grid, her crew found a problem. There was not enough time to fix the problem, so there was no choice but to send her out to race and hope for the best.

Jessica went out, and drove her heart out. She was able to move her way up to a 6th place finish and just barely squeezed out another season championship. "Just when I thought we had it all worked out, another problem would pop up. The whole race it felt like I was driving with the brakes on." She continued, "I'm just happy we won another championship for my sponsors. All of my sponsors are so important, but two sponsors I really need to thank are, Russell Karting Specialties and 4 Cycle Central. They supply me with most of my equipment."

Jessica also won championships during 2008 in the River Valley Kart Club series, Briggs Animal heavy class and the 125 shifter #1 class. This brings Jessica's career total to 38 championships.

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Upcoming National Races:

Jimmy River's Performance Works Nationals
August 8-10, 2008
Georgia Karting Komplex, Carnesville, GA
www.worldkarting.com

Upcoming Divisional Races:

Great Lakes Sprint Series
August 8 -- 10, 2008
New Castle Raceway
New Castle, IN
Penny Farmer 616.453.0737
www.glsseries.com

NY State Asphalt Championship Series
August 9 -- 10, 2008
Chapel Hill Raceway
Humphrey, NY
Mike Friel 716.945.3150
www.chapelhillraceway.com

Maryland Speedway Pavement Divisional
August 10, 2008
Sandy Hook Speedway
Street, MD
Dave Koehler 410.882.2375
www.sandyhookspeedway.com

NC Pavement Summer Series
August 16, 2008
OCR Action Sports Park
Rougemont, NC
Ollie Spain 336.214.8072
www.ocrpark.com
olliesworld@yahoo.com

Northeast Dirt Series
August 16, 2008
Turkey Trot
Ft. Edward, NY
Pat O'Rourke 203.926.9096
www.wkanortheast.com
porourke@trans-clean.com

Pennsylvania Dirt Kart Series
August 17, 2008
Cove Valley Speedway
Curryville, PA
Doug Diethrich 610.750.4501
www.padirtkart.com
ded58@verizon.net

-credit: wka