It was a
night of racing to remember, I shall never forget. It was a race where we had
implemented some new rule modifications, that were untried but proved to be
just the ticket to what we had hoped for, and that was a more controllable
field on the initial lap of the race. The results?, we had only 6 cautions in
our entire feature races. Not bad ehh? It all ended up being a great night
with us finishing the field of 15 feature races with 111 entries off at
10:45pm!, our earliest completion time yet in 2001.
But what
started it all off was what made the night so very special, and one I will
never forget, nor ever want to forget. .
In our
Junior Novice "A" feature, it was the #5 kart driven by 10 year old
Phillip Higgs, from Southaven Mississippi, who took the victory and a
well deserved one too. As I went out to take the victory winners circle
picture, Phillip motioned me to him as he had some thing he wanted to say. This
was not unusual as I get that a lot, especially from excited young racers, but
what he had to say to me, was something I was not prepared for. I noticed
tears in his eyes, which again is not unusual as the excitement of winning a
feature race bring tears to a lot of us. But these tears were different, as he
spoke in a broken voice to me thru his helmet that this victory was for his
little brother, who had died. At that point it took everything I had to hold
on to my own composure, and in the next few minutes I learned of a tragedy
that took the life of his little brother Mason just 4 years ago this very
week. And here was this huge heart, connected to this young boy of just 10
years old dedicating his victory to his lost little brother.
I don't know
about most of the race fans out there, but, for me, I do understand how easy
it can be to overlook the real meaning of *why* we do this, and what we hope
to gain by all this. At Atoka you can look in the pits and see plenty of the
*whys* running around laughing and giggling, and learning from each other and
with each other. Too often we take for granted how things are supposed to be,
and over look how things may just be. We all better not forget how lucky we
are to be able to come together and enjoy this sport we all love. The rewards
are in the eyes and hearts of our young racers. What they do, and how they do
it, is a reflection of what they learn from us. I am so very proud of our
young racers at Atoka, and Phillip Higgs, is a special young man who has a
special young heart, and gives us all hope for the future of this planet.
I wouldn't expect
in my wildest dreams that the rest of the evening would go so good, but it
just did. We had first time winners Chaney nnd Ty Young, now affectionately
know as the *Young Guns* both coming away with well deserved victories.
But talk about
first time victories this year? John Henderson, Shawn Knuckles, Kyle
Oberkramer, and Kevin Jarrell, posted impressive first time feature wins for
2001. They were joined by regulars Robert Kennedy, Mark Pasino, Will
Holder, Jake Tucker, Barry Burch, and THREE FEATURE WINNER of the night,
Garrett Gray, who posted victories in Stock Light, Medium, and the
Mod/Lim/Open class.
Awesome ehh?
Our survivor race
was played out with a small field, but these Junior 2 racers drove hard and
never let up and in the end Mark Pasino took the lead from Alan Kirk in the
late laps to take the 40 lap victory.
And all of this
was completed by 10:45
I wouldn't be a
bit surprised if we didn't have some special help from a little angel watching
over us.
Thanks everyone
for supporting us thus far in 2001.
And a special thanks to one 10 year old who has sort of opened my eyes to what
really is important!
See ya all next
race!...Danny
|
Junior Novice
"A" |
| 1 |
Phillip Higgs |
 I
do not really have the words to express the outcome of this race. The
drive to win this race is described above, and the special heart
behind that drive belongs to Phillip Higgs, driving the #5 entry, for
his little brother, Mason, to a special victory in our Junior
Novice "A" feature. You always want to witness special
people and events in your life that touch you; and this victory did
just that. Congrats go out to Phillip Higgs and his crew!!
|
| 2 |
Brandon Malone |
| 3 |
Derek Medlock |
| 4 |
Brandon Moore |
| 5 |
Derek Hagar |
|
Junior Novice
"B" |
| 1 |
Chaney Young |
 It
was the first of the "Young Guns" this race, driving to
victory as Chaney Young driving the #77 kart drove to his first
feature win in our Junior Novice Class "B" feature. Chaney
just started racing a few races ago but he showed everyone, that
ARP is "Young Gun" territory. Congrats go out to Chaney for
his first feature win at ARP!
|
| 2 |
Tyler Ortiz |
| 3 |
Nicholas Brower |
| 4 |
Stone Edwards |
| 5 |
Jonathan Johnson |
|
Junior 1 |
| 1 |
Will Holder |
This
was number six for the #76 kart as Will Holder took his sixth victory
this season on our Junior 1 Class. Will drove a flawless race and came
away with the well deserved win. Congrats go out to Will and everyone
at HBR!!!
|
| 2 |
Garry Boggan |
| 3 |
Tate Dalrymple |
| 4 |
Justin Carver |
| 5 |
Cody Burks |
|
Junior 2 |
| 1 |
Mark Pasino |
It
was Mark Pasino taking the lead on lap #33 from Alan Kirk to go on to
win this nights Survivor Series Race, in a small but very determined
Junior 2 Class. Jake Tucker and first time Junior 2 racer Brent
Rowell. It was a great race from start to finish as Alan Kirk led the
first 33 laps with a determined Pasino right behind him. Congrats go
out to ALL out Junior 2 competitors of this evening!
|
| 2 |
Alan Kirk II |
| 3 |
Jake Tucker |
| 4 |
Brent Rowell |
| 5 |
|
|
Junior 3 |
| 1 |
Ty Young |
I
think you could call him a racer on a mission; his mission was to grab
the victory he has drove his heart out for time and time again, and
this night belonged to the second "Young Gun" of the
evening; driving the #7 kart to victory in our Junior 3 feature, Ty
Young. Ty really wanted this as younger brother Chaney already secured
an earlier victory in the evening and this one was Ty's to savor.
Congrats to the Young Guns and their crew!!!
|
| 2 |
Garrett Mack |
| 3 |
Brandon High |
| 4 |
Lynn Bowman |
| 5 |
Paden Gray |
|
Junior Sportsman
Champ [Purple] |
| 1 |
Shawn Knuckles |
The
largest field of karts this year in our Junior Sportsman Champs
"purple" division, this night belonged to the #1S kart
driven by Shawn Knuckles. Shawn led from green to checkered to obtain
this well deserved victory. Congrats go out to Shawn and his crew for
this win!
|
| 2 |
Tony Pollard |
| 3 |
Garrett Carroll |
| 4 |
Troy Dow |
| 5 |
Kelly Ray |
|
Junior Sportsman
Champ [Aqua] |
| 1 |
Kyle Oberkramer |
Driving
the #3 in our Junior Sportsman Champ Class, was newcomer to Atoka,
Kyle Oberkramer taking his first feature win at ARP. Kyle held off a
very determined Gary Boggan driving the #90 entry to take the win.
Congrats go out to Kyle, and his crew for this victory.!
|
| 2 |
Gary Boggan |
| 3 |
Zach Hutcherson |
| 4 |
Cody Burks |
| 5 |
|
|
Junior Champ |
| 1 |
Jake Tucker |
It
was a young mans first visit to a kart race. Stephen Crain was
visiting his friend for the week, and this night, that particular friend
drove the #73 Junior Champ to yet another impressive victory at ARP.
Jake Tucker took his ninth victory this year in the class to once
again put the Shadow kart in victory lane. Congrats go out to Jake,
and a big welcome goes out to his friend Stephen Crain for
visiting us at ARP!
|
| 2 |
Jeffery Keltner |
| 3 |
Austin Green |
| 4 |
|
| 5 |
|
|
Stock Light |
| 1 |
Garrett Gray |
It
was the first victory of three on this night, for the driver of
the #24 kart, Garrett Gray. Garrett held off Richard Downing in the
#71 kart to take this first of three victories of the evening for the
#24. Congrats go out to Garrett and his crew for this victory!!
|
| 2 |
Richard Downing |
| 3 |
Keith Benson |
| 4 |
Tim Knight |
| 5 |
Carey Moore |
|
Stock Medium |
| 1 |
Garrett Gray |
The
Stock Medium Feature was a wild and exciting one and on the last lap
Garret Gray made a move to get around Richard Downing, going in to
turn one that gave him his THIRD victory of the evening. This night
belonged to Garrett and his crew. Thanks Garrett for the awesome
racing and congrats to you and your crew on your victories!!
|
| 2 |
Richard Downing |
| 3 |
Robert Kennedy |
| 4 |
Carey Moore |
| 5 |
Tim Knight |
|
Stock Heavy |
| 1 |
Robert Kennedy |
Driving
the #15 to victory in our Stock Heavy class was Robert Kennedy. Robert
held off the #6 kart of Mitchell Bridges to take the victory. Congrats
go out to Robert and all his crew.
|
| 2 |
Mitchell Bridges |
| 3 |
Steve High |
| 4 |
T.O. Valesquez |
| 5 |
Bubba Malone |
|
Stock Super Heavy |
| 1 |
Barry Burch |
He
won a victory at our last race and once again it was the #5X driven by
Barry Burch riding to
victory in the Stock Super Heavy Class. Shane Hardin driving the 8X,
surely let Barry know he was there but Barry held off Shane and drove
to a victory. Congrats go out to Barry and all his crew and family.
And that's why we have two pics here, Barry has a lot of help!!
|
| 2 |
Shane Hardin |
| 3 |
Brian Malone |
| 4 |
Billy Bennett |
| 5 |
Glenn Vann |
|
Over 35 |
| 1 |
Kevin Jarrell |
It
was a finale to a perfect night of racing, and it was an awesome race.
Kevin Jarrell chased the #7 kart of William Ivy the whole race, and on
the final lap as both karts went into lap traffic, some contact, but
no spin-outs, placed the #77 kart in the winners circle for the first
time this season. An awesome finish to an awesome night of racing at
ARP. Congrats go out to Kevin and his crew!!
|
| 2 |
William Ivy |
| 3 |
Jeff Ragsdell |
| 4 |
Roger Wilson |
| 5 |
Steve High |
|
Mods-Lims-Opens |
| 1 |
Garrett Gray |
It
was his second race of the night, in fact it was a back to back race
for the driver of the #24G kart as Garrett Gray took his second
victory of the evening, in our Mod/Lim/Open class. Garrett held off
Josh Booker in the #8 to take the victory. Congrats to Garrett once
again for his efforts, and his victories!
|
| 2 |
aJosh Booker |
| 3 |
Brian Malone |
| 4 |
Doug Wescott |
| 5 |
Joe Baker |
|
Senior Champs |
| 1 |
John Henderson |
For
over ten years, Jason Moss and John Henderson have battled many a laps
on a kart track. Both competitors winning their share of victories.
Driving the #7 champ kart, John Henderson took his first victory in
the champ class, edging out a charging #73 kart driven by Jason Moss.
Congrats go out to John, and his crew for this victory!
|
| 2 |
Jason Moss |
| 3 |
Richard Henson |
| 4 |
Pete Crawford |
| 5 |
Johnny Lock |
|
Star Champs |
| 1 |
|
|
| 2 |
|
| 3 |
|
| 4 |
|
| |
|
|
Hard Charger Award |
| |
|
We are going to give out a hard charger award
each week to a driver who shows determination and sportsmanship. This
will most likely be a racer who strives to do his best. I have a
winner this week, but we wont announce it until our next race. His or
her picture will be placed here then.
|
