JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — The World Karting Association held their second Vega Tire Gold Cup Series South race of the season June 23-24 at 103rd Street Sports Complex and a couple Coyote racers outlasted the extreme hot temperatures and periods of rain to leave the North Florida Kart Club-managed track with P1 hardware.
With thunderstorms in the forecast, WKA officials announced earlier in the week the event would be shortened from a three-day show to two days with five rounds of practice Friday and the complete racing program Saturday. A single round of qualifying would run after practice Saturday morning followed by two heats and two finals serving as rounds three and four of the six-race series.
Masters was one of the largest classes at the event with 12 entries and Ron Klys owned the day on his No. 9 Coyote Zenith chassis.
Klys opened Saturday qualifying P1 by more than 2 tenths of a second over his closest competitor. He’d win both pre-finals and go on to claim both 14-lap finals, winning each race by more than a 1 second margin.
The performance solidified Klys’ status as one of the top 206 Masters drivers on the East Coast as he continues to rack up wins and podiums in just his third year of racing. And he does it all while maintaining his primary focus on his son, Ronnie, who has become a championship driver and one the fastest 206 junior racers in the country over the past couple years.
Click here to view Ron’s Coyote Driver Profile. Great job at 103rd Street, Ron!
In the juniors, Mason Donahue and Ronnie Klys entered their Coyote Zeniths and WKA’s new class structure allowed them to race the new 206 Featherweight division, which permits junior drivers at least age 14 to compete against the seniors at a 345-pound minimum weight.
Donahue led the juniors in the first Featherweight final. He’d finish a solid P3 behind a couple of the top 206 senior competitors in the country. Donahue was even more impressive in the second Featherweight final, crossing the finish stripe P2 and only a kart-length behind the winner.
Ronnie Klys recorded finishes of P4 and P8 in the Featherweight finals, while 2022 NFKC champion Austin Speck rode his No. 2 Coyote Zenith to finishes of P6 and P7 in the 10-kart class.
A short field of three drivers entered Junior Yellow and Donahue came away with some P1 hardware. After finishing a close P2 in the first final, the Fleming Island, Fla., racer notched another WKA Gold Cup win with a triumph in the second final. Ronnie would finish second to Donahue in the last Junior final of the day.
Other Coyote racers in attendance at WKA Jacksonville —
Shawn Chiarello drove his No. 3 Zenith to a solid P5 result in the 11-kart Senior 360# Round 3 final — a great job for the second-year racer.
Jack Hughes finished a couple spots behind Chiarello in the same race. The second-year racer finished P7 in the Round 3 Senior 360# race and also finished P7 in the Round 4 final later in the day.
In addition to finishing just outside the top five in Featherweight, Speck added P8 and P9 results in the pair of Senior 360# mains.
Jeffrey Revis entered his sharp No. 28 Zenith in Masters. The Weeki Wachee, Fla., third-year racer fought some mechanical problems and rounded out the top 10 in the Round 3 final.
The next WKA Gold Cup race is scheduled for July 15-16 at Carolina Motorsports Park in Kershaw, S.C. The series will close with their North / South Shootout – Grand Nationals on Labor Day weekend at Charlotte Motor Speedway’s kart track, where we expect a number of Coyote teams will be in attendance.
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