Wampum, Pa. (August 27, 2012) – The Coyote Motorsports team accomplished another great weekend at round four of the 2012 World Karting Association Gold Cup Series at Pittsburgh Int’l Race Complex, the popular western Pennsylvania venue formerly known as BeaveRun.
Coyote drivers scored eight wins at Pittsburgh’s Wilson Circuit to lead all chassis manufacturers in the win column for the second Gold Cup national in a row.
Nick Fauci, Jake Lutz and Tim Stiefel each won two main events.
Fauci swept the Sportsman 1 features in a couple of terrific races with his fellow young competitors. The wins came only a month after Fauci won his first Gold Cup feature of his career at Michiana Raceway Park.
Lutz won Jr Medium and Jr Heavy for his fourth and fifth wins of the 2012 Gold Cup campaign. The only thing that slowed Lutz was an accident in Jr Lite, which relegated him to a fifth-place finish. The multi-time national champion is now in solid position to add to his growing national title collection with one race remaining in the series.
Tim Stiefel triumphed in both Masters classes. The New York veteran hasn’t lost in the Masters classes since the Jacksonville opener. Tim’s sons Josh and Tyler also competed. Tyler finished sixth and ninth in the Sportsman 2 features while Josh finished fourth in Animal Amateur Medium.
Dakota Bell won his first Gold Cup feature of the year and his first behind the wheel of a Coyote. Bell raced his Michigan Kart Supply / Baker Racing Engines XP to the win in Stock Lite after finishing second in Friday’s Money Race. He also ran third in Sunday’s Stock Medium feature.
Sarah Luoma’s family recently purchased a brand-new 2012 XP and put it together in time for Pittsburgh. Luoma promptly put the new chassis in Victory Lane with her win in Restricted Junior. The win marked Sarah’s second of the Gold Cup season as she continues to prove she’s one of the best junior racers on the circuit.
Coyote owner Jim Lipari spoke with great enthusiasm while recapping the team’s success at Pittsburgh.
“We’re on cloud nine here at the shop,” Lipari began. “There’s some great competition at the Gold Cups and our drivers are all running awesome. Finally some luck went Dakota’s (Bell) way. He’s been one of the fastest karts in the senior classes this year and it was great to see him finally get a win in Stock Lite.
“It’s just unbelievable how well Nick Fauci is doing, getting two wins at BeaveRun,” Lipari continued. “People should have paid admission to watch the Jr 1 races this weekend! It was some of the best racing I’ve seen in a long time. Trevor Vargo after a freak accident where another kart caught his helmet and ripped him out of the kart. He left in an ambulance and they checked him out and he was fine and he rushed back to race, which was great to see.”
Lipari also pointed to a number of other Coyote racers who helped carry the Coyote banner high in western Pa.
Young Evan Bovee and his family entered their first Gold Cup race and ran very respectable in their inaugural appearance on the circuit. Bovee finished eighth and ninth in the Sportsman 1 main events.
Fellow Sportsman 1 racer Joshua Stark ran well but had some bad luck on Saturday. Stark returned Sunday to net a strong fifth-place result in Sportsman 1 Heavy.
Ryan Bavineau, C.J. Leturneau and Tyler Woods all accomplished top-five finishes in the Junior categories.
Bavineau was fifth in Restricted Junior and enters the fifth and final round of the Gold Cup only 10 points back of Dustin Demattia for the national championship.
Leturneau ran a solid third in Restricted Junior and finished fifth in Jr Heavy, just ahead of Bavineau.
Woods was sixth in Restricted Junior but his best finishes came in the Clone with second- and third-place in the Jr Box Stock finals.
The senior divisions saw Cayla Chapman, Scott Kleman and the Zobkiw brothers all score top-fives.
Chapman was fifth in Amateur Medium while Kleman ran fourth in Stock Lite and sixth in the Money Race. Dylan Zobkiw finished a fine third-place in Stock Heavy while Jason Zobkiw was fifth. Dylan also added a fifth-place run in Sunday’s Stock Medium and seventh in the Money Race.
Coyote drivers swept the top-three spots in the Masters Medium feature. As noted, Tim Stiefel captured the win with Cayla Chapman’s dad, Michael, finishing second. Jerry Cole was back in the saddle at a Gold Cup for the first time in a couple years. Jerry finished third.
Even Jim Lipari came out to race in his first appearance at a Gold Cup since the Jacksonville opener in March. Lipari netted a pair of sixth-place finishes in Stock Lite and Stock Medium.
Lipari took time to thank several key members of the Coyote team.
“I want to thank Mike Fauci, who’s been a crew chief of sorts, especially with the junior racers. Mike’s helped our entire program a great deal and it’s showing. Also, thanks to my dad for coming to the event and helping out. If it wasn’t for him I wouldn’t have been able to race. And thanks to our welder and fabricator Brandon Goetz, who came to the race and helped out all weekend,” Jim said.
Next up for the Coyote Motorsports team is the final round of the 2012 WKA Gold Cup Series, a Sept. 21-23 stop at New Jersey Motorsports Park. The event, which is the series’ Grand Nationals, is the first time the Gold Cup has raced at NJMP, and the series will run the 0.48-mile Avenger Circuit.
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