New Combat chassis proving fast around the country
Coyote Motorsports racers are setting the bar high this summer in two of the country’s top 4-cycle sprint kart touring series – the Cup Karts North America (CKNA) Champions Cup in the Midwest and the Maxxis 4-Cycle Sprint Series in the Southeast.
Recent events between the two series have produced a number of feature wins for Coyote drivers, including triumphs by Blake Boon, Chris Carroll, Elmer Edmonson Jr., Scott Kleman, Jim Lipari and Jason Yarbrough.
The Champions Cup – formerly the 206 Cup – held the first major touring series event in many years at Michigan’s East Lansing Kart Track June 30-July 1, which marked Round 3 of the Champions Cup Central Division. A number of Coyote racers jumped at the opportunity to race at East Lansing, some who had never been to the track and other veteran karters who hadn’t competed there in well over a decade.
At the event’s conclusion, Coyote drivers would rack up five feature wins – two for Blake Boon in the Sportsman features, two by Jim Lipari in Senior Heavy, and one for Scott Kleman in Saturday’s Senior Medium.
Boon continued his domination in the Champions Cup Central Division. Fresh off a dominating weekend at the Mid-State Kart Club in Springfield, Illinois, Boon drove his 2018 Coyote Combat to wins in every round of competition at East Lansing, comprising both Saturday and Sunday’s qualifying, two heat races and feature.
The Rochester, N.Y., driver would pace a field full of Coyotes. On Saturday, Boon led four Coyote chassis across the finish line. Joseph Bolen would finish second, Jordan Cline third and Joey Cline fourth. Joshua Bolen, also on a Coyote, finished sixth.
Sunday’s Sportsman main event featured a sweep of the top-five positions by Coyote drivers. Boon would win again ahead of Joseph Bolen. This time Joshua Bolen improved to finish third with Jordan and Joey Cline rounding out the top five.
While Blake was busy controlling the Sportsman division on his Combat, Jim Lipari was in the midst of similar domination in the Senior Heavy class on his 2018 Combat. Lipari would in fact sweep the weekend in Senior Heavy, qualifying pole both days and winning each day’s pair of heat races and main events.
On Saturday, Long Island’s Chris Cirillo would finish third to Lipari on his Coyote while Justin Wishard took fourth. Sunday’s Senior Heavy feature saw Wishard improve one spot to take third. Cirillo would retire early from the race.
Four Coyotes took the green in Saturday’s Senior Medium main event with former national champion Scott Kleman scoring the win on his familiar red No. 92 Coyote. While Kleman’s paint scheme looked the same as always, the Michigan driver was on a new 2018 Coyote Combat for the first time. Kleman wasted no time proving the Combat’s capabilities, qualifying second and finishing second in both heats to fellow Coyote Combat driver Ryan Cassidy before prevailing in the main event.
Cassidy, a multi-time national champion in his own right, would finish third to Kleman with Justin Wishard taking fifth. Ben Wagenhals made his return to the seat at East Lansing and he’d finish seventh.
Sunday’s Senior Medium main would see three Coyotes inside the top five. Cassidy took second with Kleman third and Wishard fourth. Wagenhals was eighth.
The lone Coyote in the Junior division belonged to Jacob Bolen. Jacob fought hard all weekend, finishing fourth Saturday and improving a spot to take the final step on the podium (third) in Sunday’s Junior feature.
Maxxis Series at Jacksonville
The Maxxis 4-Cycle Sprint Series continues to gain traction in the Southeast. The six-race series visits Jacksonville, Kershaw and Barnesville before a season-ending Championship race at Jacksonville this November.
The series had its best turnout yet on June 30 at 103rd Street Sports Complex in Jacksonville. Again, a number of Coyotes were in attendance and three of the six classes saw Coyote drivers race to victory.
Florida’s Elmer Edmonson Jr. scored the win in the Junior feature aboard his Coyote Combat.
Chris Carroll was one of the big winners on the weekend. Carroll won the LO206 Masters feature and earned $500.00 in the process. Masters was the event’s featured class, meaning it boasted a $500-to-win purse.
The LO206 All Pro feature saw longtime Coyote driver Jason Yarbrough score the win over fellow Coyote pilot Sean Meier.
Coyote racers will continue their travels in the coming weeks as we move into the second half of the 2018 racing season.
Next up for the Champions Cup is Central Round 4 July 28-29 at the historic G&J Kartway in Camden, Ohio, which will include night racing on Saturday. The Champions Cup North Division will run their fourth round August 18-19 at the Badger Kart Club in Dousman, Wis.
The Maxxis Sprint Series will be back in action August 25 at Lamar County Speedway in Barnesville, Ga.
Coyote racers and teams are in action every weekend this time of year from coast to coast between club races, weekly tracks and regional and national series. If you need parts, assistance or have comments, please contact Coyote Motorsports at 585-352-0806 (10am to 5pm Monday through Friday).
Leave a Reply