Thunderhill Race report

[n2racing2]

Once again the NASKART Series was greeting by high temperatures at Thunderhill Raceway for the July 31st race. And once again in qualifying...it was the younger Kreis going out and setting the pace for Pole position. #88 Kaleb Kreis for the 3rd straight race at Thunderhill won the pole and with it the bonus point that goes along. Not Only did Kaleb take the top spot...but his ROCKHARD Racing Teammates took the top 3 positions in qualifying. #48 Kevin Hummell qualified 2nd with #29 Marty Kreis rounding out the top 3. Fourth went to substictute drive Butch Lake driving the #07 for his Grand Niece Megan Smith. Fifth Qualifyer was the series point leader #16 Mike Steinman. After qualifying was over and the karts were teched...it was deemed that the #48 Kevin Hummell was underweight by 1 lb. So his qualifying time was DQ'ed.

 

In the Main, the grid was inverted starting the top 5 at the back of the field. This being the case, it was no disadvantage for Hummell whose time for qualifying was DQ'ed. So setting up the grid...on Pole was the #18 of Kelli Garrett with the #14 of Andy Taylor beside her. 2nd row was the #20 of Lyndon Kirk and beside him the #16 3M kart of Mike Steinman. 3rd row saw the #07 of Butch Lake with the #29 of Marty Kreis. 4th row had the pole sitter #88 Kaleb Kreis and #12 Frank Mena, with Mena asking to be dropped to the back for the start as he was having some motor issues. Last Row saw ROCKHARD Racing's #24 Chris Terry, who didn't qualify, and #48 Kevin Hummell.

 

When the green flag flew...coming to the starting line the front 2 karts #18 Kelli Garrett and #14 Andy Taylor had a tough time getting up to speed which allowed everyone to dice for the lead. But shooting thru the pack and taking off was the #07 of Butch Lake who lead the first lap and starting pulling away as everyone was dicing and falling into line. By lap 3 things had sorted out and Butch Lake seemed to be pulling away with a 8 to 10 kart lead. But #20 Lyndon Kirk and #88 Kaleb Kreis lined up and started drafting to the front creating their own gap on the field. #29 Marty Kreis and #48 Kevin Hummell hook uped to draft behind them. #18 Garrett and #12 Mena were dropping to the back with motor issues as well as the points leader Steinman, who was having a right front tire going flat from the start. By lap 5 Kirk and Kreis had ran down theButch Lake up front who was now having issues with his kart as well...the chain had jumped off and he lost drive which allowed Lyndon Kirk to take the lead with Kaleb Kreis still on his bumper. and following these 2 were the rest of the ROCKHARD Racing team...lining up to run them down and pick up the #88. So they now had 4 of the top 5 positions in the race. With Kevin Hummell coming from the back up to 5th. 2 laps later, #24 Chris terry made a pass for 2nd on # 88 Kaleb Kreis and the order til lap 7 was Lyndon Kirk #20 up front followed by the ROCKHARD Racing TEAM, #24, #88, #48 and #29. On lap 8 with help from #88 Kreis, #24 Terry took the lead from Lyndon Kirk and took #88 Kreis in to shuffling Kirk back to 3rd. And on the next Lap #48 Kevin Hummell passed Kirk for 3rd. #14 Andy Taylor had clawed his way back to 5th by passing #29 Marty Kreis. 2 laps later #16 Mike Steinman had tried to nurse his flat tire to the competition yellow..but the tire starting chunking rubber and he was forced to pit. 2 laps later the order was the same still as they came to the competition yellow and lined up in a double file restart. #16 Steinman returned to the track and lined up at the end of the longest line. On the restart the positions were being traded all around the track. with the #48 Kevin Hummell taking the lead and being followed by the #88 of Kaleb Kreis. Lyndon Kirk in the #20 was 3rd with #14 Taylor right with him. With close action and everyone fighting for positions the field sorted themselves out when Taylor fighting for 3rd position got loose and went high in turn 4 allowing the #29, #24 and #16 to go thru underneath him. Next lap Steinman worked his way around both Martty Kreis and Chris Terry and drafted up to the #20 of Lyndon Kirk. These to past teammates then hooked up and worked their way arounf the #88 and started to chase down the #48 of Hummell. The order was now Hummell #48, Kirk #20, #16 Steinman (3 laps down), #88, #29 and #24. With about 4 laps to go...Kirk got a run on Hummell and tried to move to the inside but Hummell closed the door on Kirk and he had to check up. This made Steinman go hi and the 2 were side by side allowing the ROCKHARD Racing team to draft back up to the two of them. Kaleb and Marty Kreis then made it 3 wide thru 2 and got inside the lapped kart of Steinman and proceeded to draft up to Kirk. Steinman dropped in behind them to draft along. with only a couple of laps to go. LYndon Kirk #20 made another attempt on Hummell for the lead...but left the door open for Kaleb to come thru and draft up to Hummell. Kirk put his head down and tried to catch the two of them but was unable to make ground on them and finished 3rd. On the last lap Kaleb tried his hand at passing Hummell. But it wasn;t to be as Hummell held on to his first win of the season and his first Win at Thunderhill ever. Marty Kreis battled with Steinman the last 2 laps with steinman ahead on the track...but with Marty Kreis finishing 4th and his teammate Chris Terry taking 5th. Steinman finished 8th on the track.

 

The meant that the ROCKHARD Racing Team took 4 of the top 5 positions and had a strong showing all day.

 

Congrats to the ROCKHARD Racing Team and Kevin Hummell for his WIN!!!