Heading into the first round of the Stars of Karting West Championship many of the drivers have shown their speed, but bad luck struck almost every race.   This would be the turning point for some and a return to the top for others.  All of the drivers of Team Top Kart USA with the exception of Kyle Wiegand, who is currently working on a rigorous testing program preparing for the Shawano Stars round, made the long trip out to Utah.

Brendan Phinny of Kartel Motorsports put on a dominant performance this past weekend taking both Final wins in his first season of JICA competition aboard his Swedetech powered Top Kart Flash.  One of his most impressive performances was in Saturday’s Prefinal where he went from 18th to 1st.  This result set the pace for the remainder of the weekend.  IKF star Branden Underwood made his first appearance in the series and showed why he is one of the top junior drivers in the country.  Branden qualified second on Saturday and finished in the top five in the Final but was disqualified in tech after accidentally running the wrong pipe.  With that fixed for Sunday, Branden continued his strong performance with a fifth in the Final.  Pierce Baldus had a challenging weekend with two 18th place finishes.  Look for Pierce to improve at the next round of the championship.

After having a couple bad races, Tyler Thomas returned to top form where he started off the season.  Tyler qualified on pole for Saturday’s races and was followed by fellow Top Kart drivers Andrew Murray in 6th, Jacob Will in 8th, Tyler would go on to win the Prefinal and Camden Geise who didn’t even make a lap in qualifying came from last to finish 4th.  In the Final, Tyler put on a great battle with Sage Karam, but came up just short to finish 2nd.  Camden Geise came away with another top 10 finish in eighth followed by Andrew Murray in 10th, and Jacob Will in 12th, and Luis Tyrrell in 14th.  Thomas once again captured Sunday’s pole.  Jacob Will was 5th, Geise in 10th, Tyrrell in 13th, and Murray in 15th.  Sunday’s Final was an exciting one with teammate Thomas and Geise battling it out for the win.  Thomas would make the pass on the main straight coming to the checkered flag to edge out Geise by the narrowest of margins for the win.  Will followed with a 5th and Tyrrell in 8th.

Johnny Johnson and the team have been struggling all year, but finally shook off the gremlins to score a fifth place finish in Sunday’s Final with help from stand in tuner Steven Barros.  This was a great result that will help the team move forward for the remainder of the season.  In ICC Matt Jaskol had a rare off weekend, but still drove to another solid top five with a fourth in Saturday’s race.  Sean Noonan is improving every weekend while working together with Jaskol and came away with a 16th and a 15th in the two finals.

For more information on Team Top Kart USA please visit www.grandproducts.com or email Chris Wehrheim at info@risingstarmotorsports.com.