SPENCERPORT, N.Y. — It’s been a hot summer on and off the track for Coyote Motorsports as our racers have wheeled Zenith chassis to wins and championships in a number of different series across the United States and Canada.
On the regional stage, Hudson Brown, Ryan Cassity, Cade Jaeger, Christopher McKeithan, James Overbeck and John Price have all raced to big wins and top finishes between Cup Karts North America’s Northeast, North and Canada divisions as well as the Route 66 Sprint Series.
In club competition, Brown, Chris Carroll, Chris Cirillo, Luke DaCosta, Jake Drew, Ronnie Klys and Pauly Massimino have all scored wins in recent rounds at Trackhouse Motorplex, North Florida Kart Club and Nicholson Speedway.
Here’s a rundown of some of Coyote Motorsports drivers’ success over the past few months!
CKNA North at Whiteland
Cup Karts closed out their 2023 North Division — the original CKNA series — with a July 21-23 event at the newly renovated and expanded Whiteland Raceway Park in Indiana.
Ryan Cassity closed out his championship season with another sweep of the Legends finals. The Illinois racer won over a 9-kart field in both days of competition. The pair of victories earned Cassity the North Division championship in the class even with missing rounds 3 and 4. Cassity was able to use the two missed races as “drops,” and he went undefeated in his six other starts with two wins each at MCC Cincinnati in April, Autobahn Country Club in May and Whiteland in July.
Junior sensation Cade Jaeger joined Cassity in the win column at Whiteland. A penalty negated Jaeger to a P14 result in Saturday’s Junior final, and he was able to recover strongly with a big win in Sunday’s 15-lap main. More on Jaeger later in this article!
James Overbeck and A-Maxx Racing’s Adam Maxwell finished P2 and P3 in Senior Light on Saturday. Overbeck would return Sunday to finish fourth in the Light final, while Maxwell ran into problems and ended up P21.
Overbeck added finishes of P2 and P4 in the Senior Medium finals, while Maxwell finished seventh in Saturday’s Medium final.
Justin Cassity ran Masters on Saturday at Whiteland, and he brought home a top five with a P5 result.
CKNA Northeast at Pittsburgh
The inaugural CKNA Northeast Division closed its successful 2023 series the weekend after Whiteland with a July 28-30 show at Pittsburgh International Race Complex. The event marked the first major 4-cycle series race at Pitt Race’s challenging Wilson Circuit in about a decade, and 180 entrants made it one of the biggest 206 races of the year.
Senior Light was the largest class with over 40 drivers taking the green flag each day. Coyote racers shined in the Light finals and dominated the podium both days.
(Kart Lounge photo)
On Saturday, Coyote racers finished 1-2-3 for a podium sweep as the Coyote Youth Movement was in full effect. Overbeck was “Briggin it” for the second weekend in a row and he scored the win over Snap Ya Neck Engines’ Hudson Brown and Precision Performance Karting’s Christopher McKeithan. All three wheeled 2023 Coyote Zeniths to their top runs.
Scott Kleman gave Coyote four drivers in the top 10 in Saturday’s Light final. The Michigan veteran finished a solid P7. Anthony Dimaggio, Brady Eickhoff and Joey Cline all battled hard but finished outside the top 25. Dimaggio was P27, Eickhoff P29 and Cline P33.
Sunday’s Light feature had Coyotes taking two of the three podium slots including the win. The race was shortened when a heavy popup shower drenched the track just past the halfway mark. McKeithan had taken lead a couple laps previous and he was in the right spot at the right time when the rain came. With officials calling the race complete after it hit halfway, McKeithan would get the win to give Coyote drivers triumphs in both of the hotly contested Senior Light main events.
Saturday Light winner Overbeck rounded out the podium with a P3 result while Brown recorded another top five with a P4 finish. Eickhoff had a better race Sunday and ended up P14. Kleman was just outside the top 15 in 16th. Dimaggio finished P29 and Cline had a tough day, finishing P32.
Brown’s pair of top fives at Pitt were enough to net him the 2023 Northeast championship in Senior Light. In addition to his consistent Pittsburgh finishes, Brown captured Senior Light final wins at OVRP in April and New Jersey in June. Congratulations on a great Northeast season, Hudson!
Overbeck and McKeithan each added another podium to their total in the Senior Medium finals. Overbeck would finish P2 in Saturday’s final. Sean Meier flew to Pittsburgh from his Jacksonville home and was fourth in Saturday’s Medium race. McKeithan rounded out the top five.
Pennsylvania’s Alex Greenzweig had a nice drive Saturday to finish 14th. Eickhoff showed speed all weekend and came away with a P17 result in Saturday’s Medium feature.
(Kart Lounge photo)
With the Senior Medium championship on the line Sunday, McKeithan drove an outstanding race in the rain in the weekend’s final contest. The North Carolina racer would finish P2 and finish ahead of his closest challenger in the standings to win the Medium championship. Overbeck (P4) and Brown (P7) joined McKeithan in the top 10.
McKeithan’s championship came in his rookie senior season in one of the most competitive classes and series in the country. Very impressive, Christopher!
Overbeck showed amazing consistency throughout the weekend with a win, P2, P3 and P4 results between Light and Medium finals.
Meier, Greenzweig, Eickhoff and Chris Carroll did not start Sunday’s Medium final due to the wet weather.
Meier did pick up a couple of podiums with a third-place drive Saturday and a runner-up finish Sunday in the Senior Heavy mains.
Cade Jaeger was one of the top juniors in attendance on his No. 64 PPK / Coyote Zenith. The age 12-to-15 category started nearly 40 karts both days, and Jaeger was at or near the front of the pack all weekend. The Wisconsin youngster would finish a close third in Saturday’s final before driving to a big win in Sunday’s main.
The win gave Jaeger back-to-back CKNA Sunday final wins between Whiteland and Pittsburgh. The Wisconsin PPK / Coyote racer has quickly become one of the top juniors in the country in 206 competition.
Five other Coyote drivers entered the Junior division. Female racer Jordan Cline finished a solid P12 in Saturday’s final. Jenna Barnard was 21st, Lucas Shelton 22nd, Tristan Searl 29th and Alex Raccuia 30th.
On Sunday, Shelton, Raccuia, Barnard and Searl all improved on their Saturday result — Shelton came home 14th, Raccuia 17th, Barnard 19th and Searl 26th. Cline was running inside the top 10 early but she was involved in an incident that relegated her to a 32nd-place result.
Kid Coyote racer Spencer Hite capped his championship season with another pair of wins in the Kid Kart division. The Pennsylvania racer went undefeated in Kid Kart at OVRP, New Jersey and Pittsburgh rounds. We’re looking forward to Spencer’s move to Cadet in 2024!
Maryland’s John Price netted a pair of podiums in Masters on his No. 44 Coyote Zenith. Price finished third in Saturday’s final and second in Sunday’s race. Price’s consistency paid off as he won the Masters Northeast championship. Between OVRP, New Jersey and Pittsburgh, Price finished no worse than fifth and scored the Saturday Masters win at Jersey.
Jason Zobkiw capped his impressive Northeast Series with a P4 result Saturday in Masters. Zobkiw ended up fifth in the class’s final points in his return to karting after a couple years off.
Tim Stiefel had three P4 finishes between Legends and Masters. Stiefel’s P4 in Masters came in Sunday’s final.
After a win at OVRP and a pair of seconds at New Jersey, Cirillo ran into bad luck at Pittsburgh. His best finish was a seventh in Sunday’s Masters race, but he still finished second in the final standings.
New York’s “Wiggidy” Wayne Handzlik followed the entire CKNA Northeast Division and earned top 10 in Sunday’s Masters race with a P9 result. Handzlik would finish just outside the top five in the final Masters standings in sixth.
James Inscoe made a long tour from his Florida home first to Whiteland for CKNA North then to Pittsburgh for Northeast. Luck wasn’t on his side, unfortunately, and he wasn’t able to finish many of the races. Inscoe did manage a P6 result in Saturday’s Legends final.
Rodrigo De Francisco entered Legends and came away with finishes of seventh Saturday and sixth Sunday. De Francisco placed third in the Legends final standings.
John Dwyer ran Cadet and recorded finishes of P11 both days. Dwyer ended up second in the division’s final point standings after following the Northeast tour all season.
The Frederick family was at Pittsburgh with Trentin Frederick entered in Medium and Zavrina Frederick in the Sportsman. Trentin fell ill after qualifying Saturday and did not run the rest of the event. Zavrina had a couple of top 10s with a P10 Saturday and P9 Sunday.
Rick Reinhold was on his sharp No. 007 in Legends. Reinhold had some fun on Saturday, and finished ninth in the final.
McKeithan wins north of the border at CKNA Canada
Christopher McKeithan stayed in the Northeast for an extra week after CKNA Pittsburgh and took advantage of his travels with a visit to Goodwoods Karting in Ontario for the final round of the 2023 CKNA Canada Division.
(PPK photo)
McKeithan was super impressive at the event and he won three of the four races he entered on his No. 19 PPK / Coyote Zenith.
The North Carolina native easily swept the Senior Medium class, winning by wide margins in both finals.
In Senior Light, which was the event’s largest class with over 30 entrants, McKeithan qualified P1 Saturday and won the first heat race before a DNF in heat two and the final. Christopher didn’t let that get in down as he returned Sunday to record a clean sweep with the pole, heat win and a dominant win in the final by a 4-second margin over P2.
Still a rookie senior 206 driver, McKeithan is one of the hottest 4-cycle sprint racers in North America and he now owns wins in both the US and Canada — something very few drivers can claim!
Route 66 at Whiteland
Coyotes have been hot in Route 66 Sprint Series action this summer between PPK driver Cade Jaeger and A-Maxx Racing standouts AJ Stoner and Adam Maxwell.
The series returned to action with their third round of the year August 11-13 at Whiteland Raceway Park.
James Overbeck handled the 206 Senior division in another impressive performance. Overbeck rode his PPK / Coyote Zenith to the triumph by a 1-second advantage over his closest competitor. Overbeck dominated the class all weekend with a pole award and wins in both heat races.
A-Maxx’s Adam Maxwell finished P6 in the 13-kart field.
Cade Jaeger was back in action on his PPK / Coyote and raced to another strong result, this time a close P2 in the 20-lap final. Jaeger did win Route 66’s Hoosier State Championship in Junior for scoring the most points in the Indiana races at New Castle and Whiteland. Overbeck won the same award in 206 Senior. Great job, Cade and James!
AJ Stoner didn’t match his Route 66 win at Road America in the series’s second round. Riding his Coyote Kryptonite, Stoner qualified P6 of 16 and finished P7 in heat one before not finishing heat two nor the final. Better days will be ahead for the Indiana youngster.
Trackhouse Motorplex Karting Challenge
Coyote racers have been dominant in the super competitive Briggs Senior division at Trackhouse (formerly GoPro) Motorplex’s Karting Challenge series in 2023.
Luke DaCosta scored the Round 5 Briggs Senior win in April and the LCD Fab-sponsored racer is now the class’s points leader with four rounds left in the season. Since Round 4, DaCosta hasn’t finished worse than P8 and he has four top-three podiums including his win in the spring.
Second in points is Hudson Brown, who owns four Briggs Senior wins at Trackhouse thus far in 2023 including the most recent race on August 12. Brown missed rounds 5 and 6 to race the CKNA Northeast show at OVRP, but he’s been in attendance at every other Karting Challenge event and he’s always tough to beat at Trackhouse on his No. 21 Snap Ya Neck / Coyote.
Pauly Massimino made a rare Briggs appearance in May at Trackhouse and he promptly scored the Round 8 win in a close contest over Brown.
On the same weekend, 2022 ARCA West Series champion and current NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series driver Jake Drew made a return to karting behind the wheel of a No. 29 PPK / Coyote Zenith and picked up the Briggs Heavy Round 7 win in a close race over Chris Cirillo.
Next up at Trackhouse is Round 11 on Saturday, Sept. 16.
NFKC Florida State Championship at 103rd Street
Chris Carroll was able to put some of his bad luck behind him a week after CKNA Pittsburgh when he traveled a few hours south of his Summerville, S.C., home to compete in the Florida State Championship Summer Shootout event at 103rd Street Sports Complex.
Carroll scored a popular win in the Masters final on his No. 12 PPK / Coyote Zenith, and pocketed $500 for his efforts. James Inscoe, Kevin Medearis and Ron Klys were other Coyote drivers in the field, all placed inside the top 10.
In Senior 350, Sean Meier came home a close P3 with Mason Donahue continuing his rookie senior season with a solid P6 result. Ronnie Klys joined Donahue in the senior ranks for this one, and finished eighth. Austin Speck rounded out the top 10 on his Coyote with Shawn Chiarello and Jack Hughes P14 and P15 on their Zeniths.
Ronnie Klys won the Junior final, and his dad, Ron Klys, podiumed in Senior Heavy with a P3 result.
Great job to all Coyote racers at the North Florida Kart Club!
August 19 top-3 sweep at Nicholson
Up the coast from Jacksonville is Nicholson Speedway in Maryland, a technical quarter-mile bullring that’s been attracting good crowds for their Saturday night club races.
On Saturday, August 19, Chris Cirillo led a top-three Snap Ya Neck Engines / Coyote sweep in the Senior 206 division. Cirillo scored the win on his No. 06 Zenith ahead of Brody Kellner in P2 and John Price in P3.
Lucas Shelton won the 206 Junior race on the same night. Shelton was also riding a Snap Ya Neck-powered Coyote Zenith.
Next up at Nicholson another night race Saturday, Sept. 9.
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Congratulations to all Coyote drivers and teams on an outstanding summer. As we head into the fall and more big races on the horizon, don’t hesitate to contact Coyote Motorsports at 585-352-0806 or email coyotekart@gmail.com for all your karting needs.
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