Christian Brooks
Luke Selliken
Nash Motorsportz Senior Max Sunday Report
The 15-minute qualifying session for the Senior drivers was another cat and mouse
act, with everyone looking for a dance partner in the hopes of scoring the pole posi-
tion. Saturday top qualifier Luke Selliken (Kosmic) was the first to break loose, and ran
out front to set the early pace. He was followed by a group of drivers, but it wasn’t until
he slowed down and went to the back that he was able to use the draft and post a blis-
tering 46.028-second lap. No one came even close to matching that pace, as Selliken
waited on pit lane for someone to do better. Mason Marotta (Tony Kart) charged late,
working with RPM teammate Stepanova Nekeel (Tony Kart). Marotta only came within
three tenths of Selliken’s time, but that was good enough for second in the order. Satur-
day winner and point leader Christian Brooks (Tony Kart) ended up third with Brenden
Baker (Tony Kart) and Nekeel making up the fast five.
Sr. Max
Mason Marotta
Selliken led the field to the green flag in the Prefinal, but it was Marotta who showed the way for the entire 17-lap event. A fight for the
second spot gave Marotta enough breathing room to run unchallenged to a two-second advantage by the checkered flag. Selliken was
shuffled back to sixth on the second lap, as Brooks took over the second spot. The fight for third then heated up, giving the point leader
enough space to cruise to the runner-up finish. Pagano came away with the third spot for a time, until Nekeel stole the position for a lap,
before the 2Wild Karting driver retook the position. They ran that way until the final lap, when Selliken tried for a move on Pagano in the
penultimate corner – turn 11. Both drivers pushed wide and Baker slid past both, crossing the line in third. Selliken finished fourth with
Pagano fifth and Nekeel sixth. The fastest kart on the track was actually the Formula K of Jake Craig. After getting shuffled off at the start,
he came from 21st to ninth in 17 laps.
The 25-lap Final was setting up to be another showdown to the flag. Marotta and Baker broke away out front, and the two exchanged
the lead a few times. This allowed the lead group to grow from five to eight. They settled back down and Selliken helped to push the two
away. Selliken got racey, and the trio fought for the lead once again, closing up the top-eight together once again. The fighting continued
with Baker and Marotta taking turns at the point. A hard battle for the second spot allowed Marotta to break away, and that was all he
needed. On lap 20, Baker and Nekeel made contact fighting for position, and then Pagano and Jim McKinney (Tony Kart) did as well,
shuffling up the order. When the dust settled, Marotta scored the victory by just over one second ahead of Selliken with Brooks landing
his third straight podium finish to help in the championship chase. Gustavo Menezes (Tony Kart) laid down fast laps all race, and climbed
to the fourth position with Josh Kurtz (FA Kart) scoring fifth.