Cassity wins Legends, Meier P2 in Senior Heavy for Coyote at CKNA Grands 6

A feature win, two poles, six heat wins, four top-5s & six top 10s for American-made Coyote Racing Chassis at NCMP!

NEW CASTLE, Ind. — Sixteen racers competed on Coyote Zenith chassis at this year’s Cup Karts North America Grand Nationals at New Castle Motorsports Park, the sixth annual edition of what’s become the biggest 4-cycle race of the year held anywhere in the world. More than 350 racers competed at the Grands totaling 409 race entries for the event’s largest turnout ever.

Coyote Motorsports came away as one of the seven chassis manufacturers to win prestigious 2022 Grands finals among the eight classes offered. Ryan Cassity proved his driving prowess once again as the veteran Illinois racer wheeled his 2023 No. 53 Coyote Zenith to the Legends win in a dominating performance.

Cassity never left a doubt in the increasingly popular division for drivers age 50 and up. He’d top a 38-kart field to win the pole award Friday afternoon and go on to sweep the three heat races before leading the final wire to wire, pulling away late for a 1.1-second win over the largest Legends field of the year.

The big win came on the heels of Cassity’s Legends championship in the 2022 Cup Karts North Division, which he closed out with impressive wins in both Legends and Senior Medium at Michiana Raceway Park in August.

Cassity was one of about 50 drivers to double-up and run a second class at the Grands. He’d enter the Masters division for drivers age 35 and up and run strong in it, as well. He’d qualify P7 of 46 and win heats two and three to enter the final on the pole with the best average finish among the three heats. He’d miss the setup slightly in the main, slipping back to second on the start and eventually battling most of the race for third and finishing P4 to become one of the few drivers to leave NCMP with a pair of top-five finishes.

Sean Meier continued his string of impressive performances at major CKNA national races. With a growing young family, the Jacksonville, Fla., native makes only a handful of appearances at kart races each year, and when he does show up, he makes it count.
Meier battled at the front of the pack in Senior Heavy throughout the event. He’d earn Coyote’s second pole Friday, clearing a 40-kart field by 0.2 seconds for the award. He’d finish fourth, third and second in the heats and go on for a close P2 finish in the final to nearly win his first CKNA Grands race.

Pennsylvania’s Brandon Jarsocrak led Coyote in the 70-kart Senior Light and Medium divisions. The Pennsylvania racer rode a beautiful new No. 138 Precision Performance Karting (PPK) / Coyote Zenith for the second straight year at the Grands and he was one of the top drivers all weekend.

After qualifying results of P11 in Light and P22 in Medium, the four-time USPKS champion had to work for everything he got in the heats. He’d progressively advance in the Medium rounds, closing the prelims out with a P4 finish in the third B/C heat and going purple in the process.

In Lights, he’d finish fourth and sixth in the first two heats before scoring the win in heat three to start P8 in the 16-lap main. Unfortunately, heavy contact with a couple other karts on the opening lap would bring a quick close to Jarsocrak’s race only a corner in.

Down but still with another shot, Jarsocrak would return to the track Sunday afternoon for the Senior Medium final. He’d start 13th and race inside the top 10 after advancing several spots early. He’d go on for a P7 result to give the Coyote camp its sixth top-10 result at the Grands.

Here’s a recap of the remainder of the Coyote roster at the Grands.

James Inscoe traveled to Indiana to compete in Masters and Legends. The Masters class didn’t go as planned for the Florida driver as he had issues throughout the rounds of competition. His Legends effort was solid, though, as he went purple in heat three while finishing fifth before going on for a solid P6 finish in the final to become one of five Coyote drivers to accomplish a top 10.

Inscoe has raced as much as anyone throughout the 2022 season. Before the Grands, he won a Masters final at Barnesville, Ga., during the WKA Gold Cup event, where he was one of the top Legends and Masters racers in attendance.

eKartingNews.com’s Rob Howden was a surprise entrant on a brand-new 2023 Coyote Zenith at the Grands. Howden teamed up with PPK to wheel a new No. 37 Zenith in Legends. The Canadian would qualify P9 and start the final 14th after up-and-down heat races. Howden would save his best drive for last. Starting 14th, he’d work his way toward the front throughout the 16-lap final, and make several late-race passes to round out the top five for a strong performance to close out his Grands weekend and his first on a PPK Coyote.

Past USPKS winner David Galownia also joined PPK in Masters. A mechanical issue left David P14 in the final as an axle or gear hub shifted in the feature. Galownia posted the 5th fastest time in heat three on his way to a P7 result. Galownia had a top finish targeted for the final and was disappointed with the P14 result.

Chris Carroll ran Senior Medium and Heavy at the Grands and drove his No. 12 Zenith to a 14th-place result in the Senior Heavy final. The South Carolina transplant from Rochester, New York started the final 31st after a couple DNFs in the heat races and passed 17 karts to advance into the top 15. Carroll once again showed some great speed at a CKNA national but lacked the luck to go along with it.

Three Coyotes entered the 52-kart Junior division at the Grands and 2022 Cup Karts South champ Owen Lloyd had the best result of the group. The Waycross, Ga., driver started the final in P16 and quickly advanced as high as P4 until he was involved in contact around halfway, dropping him a number of spots in the running order. He’d come away with a P13 result.

Florida’s Ronnie Klys raced hard in the top half of the Junior field. Klys would finish 18th in the final after qualifying P19 and finishing as high as eighth in the heat races. Klys has also been doing a lot of racing this year as an NFKC regular at 103rd Street and traveling with other touring series.

New York’s Jordan Cline did well at New Castle in the juniors. The female racer qualified P27 and have a best heat finish of 15th in her second round. Cline raced hard in the final and ended up P33 in the huge field.

Cup Karts North regular Tim Stiefel entered his familiar No. 5 Zenith in Legends. Stiefel had top-10 speed all event, as evidenced by his P10 qualifying effort and heat finishes of P7 and P8. He’d start eighth in the final and run as high as sixth before settling into seventh for the second half of the contest. Unfortunately, contact on the last lap relegated the New Yorker to a finish of 19th.

Kyle Lohmar left NCMP with a top-20 finish. The Illinois racer finished a couple spots behind Carroll in the Senior Heavy final, taking 16th. Lohmar raced around the top 15 all event with a best finish of 15th in heat two.

Hudson Brown had a very respectable run in his first weekend racing Senior Light. The Maryland racer qualified 33rd of 68 and impress in heat three with a strong P7 finish against many of the nation’s best. The run would lock him into the 50-kart final without having to run the LCQ, and he’d battle hard to a P20 result in the main event.

After an up-and-down weekend, Scott Kleman would finish P3 in the LCQ to qualify for the Light final. The Michigan veteran finished 31st in the main event and did have speed on his No. 92 Zenith, but not a lot of luck to go with it.

Austin Hill showed some good speed throughout the event in both Senior Light and Medium. After qualifying a solid P18 in Lights, he’d finish P9 in heat one for his best result of the weekend. A couple of 20th-place results in the heats two and three locked him into the final, but he’d become involved in an incident and DNF. In Medium Hill qualified 37th and improved throughout the heat rounds with finishes of P18, P14 and P10. He’d run into trouble in the final while running about 20th; he’d finish 34th.

After qualifying 31st of 46 to take time, Chris Cirillo had some good heat race runs in Masters including a P10 result in heat three. His final would end early on lap 5 while running 20th. Chris split his time between driving and tuning for his stepson Hudson Brown.

From everyone at Coyote Motorsports, a salute goes to all Coyote racers, team members and family for all their efforts in attending and competing at the CKNA Grand Nationals 6. The Grands has become a huge event in karting and with your help and support Coyote Motorsports left as one of the top manufacturers in competition. Your efforts do not go unnoticed as we continue to strengthen the Coyote brand into the future!

And a special thanks goes out to Nisa Dykstra. Nisa coordinated parking for our teams and the annual Coyote BBQ and party. She went out of her way to help the Coyote Motorsports family, as she does every year.

More Coyote racers at the Grands!

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Coyote Motorsports is a custom kart manufacturer and full-service machine shop capable of in-house manufacturing nearly every component on our popular line of go-kart racing chassis with a keen focus on continuous development of our 4-cycle sprint karting chassis and products.

To learn more about Coyote Motorsports, visit our official website at CoyoteKarts.com, shop for parts and components at our online store at CoyoteKarts.com/shop, or contact the shop at 585-352-0806 10am to 5pm, Monday thru Friday.