phoenix2018

Vemme Kart USA Senior Rok Sunday Report PKRA driver Jim McKinney was one of four drivers to complete the weekend sweep at the opening event. McKinney dominated Saturday’s action, with Sun- day’s full of competition. The FA Kart driver just edged out Colin Neal (Vemme) for the fast time in qualifying with a 46.860, beating him by 81 thousandths. A mix- up at the start allowed McKinney to run away to a three-second advantage with veteran Phil Giebler (Ricciardo) jumping into the second spot late ahead of Neal. Before the green flag waved, Neal’s kart died on the pace lap and was unable to refire, ending his hope of racing for a victory. This made the fight for the lead two drivers with Giebler getting the jump on McKinney to open up the 25-lap Final. The two ran nose to tail until lap 20 when McKinney zoomed by Giebler. The follow- ing corners, Giebler struggled to gain speed, and eventually ran out of fuel. This provided McKinney a clear path to complete the weekend sweep with a second victory, establishing himself with the championship lead heading to CalSpeed. Se- nior rookie Filip Niemkiewicz earned his best COTA finish ever, placing runner-up and giving Kart Republic its first podium in the series. The fight for third went down to the wire with PKRA regular Bailey Murphy (Deadly) edging out Brody Shucard (Kart Republic) for the spot. Jenson Altzman (FA Kart) completed the top-five. Bailey Murphy Filip Niemkiewicz