Fall/Winter '05/06 Series Champions

KAM Kartway dedicates series and awards to John Makula

Rhome, TX (May 11, 2006): While there wasn’t the fanfare of a traditional awards banquet, it was an awards presentation to remember. The scene was touching for all in attendance as the drivers lined up to receive their Fall/Winter Championship trophies, when it was announced that the entire Fall/Winter Series was being dedicated to John Makula who passed away shortly after the series started. Each trophy was engraved with his name to pay special tribute a fellow kart family member. John brought Granddaughter, Elizabeth Richardson into the world of karting because of his love for dirt racing. “Racing was always with my dad. In his early days he co-owned a car in Hartford and raced on a dirt track,” said Theresa Richardson, John’s daughter. Emotions remained high when Elizabeth was named the 3.5 HP Advanced points Champion and was presented with a special trophy.

   Drivers and fans alike enjoyed great weather throughout the entire Fall/Winter series at KAM Kartway that offered 9 different classes. In fact no one had to even break out the winter coats until the last race of the series on March 26th.

   Determination of talented young drivers resulted in two classes having 1st place ties for the Championship title. Hot Stock drivers Jarrett “Fire Ball” Roberts and Brandon Hays and John “Johnny B” Boland and Ashley Cox of the 3.5 HP Beginner class, respectively earned Championship titles. Second place in Hot Stock went to Rachel Welch and to Daq Querry in Pure Stock, while Haylie Renfro was named 3rd place Hot Stock champion and Jeff Davis the same in Pure Stock.

   Midway into the series in the Kid Kart class had a few sprint track/asphalt crossovers with Jacob Loomis taking 2 feature wins as he tested out the dirt. But nothing was going to stop Amber Cox from a clean sweep victory as she followed in her sister’s footsteps, who won the same title in the previous series. Briar Broadstreet came in 2nd and may have to fight off his sister next season as she is chomping at the bit to race too. Third place victories went to rookie Drew Komarek.
   Rookie Nicki Evans had everyone take notice of her as she ran away with the 1st place prize in the Pure Stock class. Third place honors proved to be a battle between Jeff Davis, Ben Saye and Sydney Sisk with Sisk going home with the trophy in the end., while Trevor McIntire was awarded 2nd place.
   Super Stock Champion Kaley Engstrom was a model of consistency all season as she positioned herself with 10 podium finishes in the eleven race Fall/Winter Series at KAM Kartway and was crowned the Points Champion. Strategically counting on the one drop per series rule so that she could compete in the World of Wheels invitational in February (where she won her class) which overlapped one of the series’ races, Kaley outraced 18 registered drivers for the back to back Championship win. Coming in a close second place was our very own medic’s son, Brandon Ward and 3rd place when to Brandon Walker.
   Racing guru Hunter Jones, who travels 2 hours each way just to race at KAM, made a clean sweep with first place in the Modified Champ class while the brother and sister team of David and Aislynn Honeycutt finished 2nd and 3rd respectively.
   The 2 adult classes - KT100 and World Formula brought back several veteran drivers, but we missed out on the father/son dueling competitors in the KT100 class with James and Brent Carson. I guess the younger Carson didn’t want to be shown up again by his dad who took home the 3rd place prize this go around, while Jeff Gitchel and Charles Newman battled it out for 1st and 2nd place.
   Dorian Morgan showed much improvement as he secured 1st place honors in the World Formula class, from last season’s 3rd place finish. Harley Parkerson who often brings his grown son to be HIS crew chief took 2nd place while Stanley Gill earned a respectable 3rd place.