Race Report from Thunderhill Raceway 9-11-10

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The NASKART Series was back at Thunderhill for its 5th of 6 scheduled races at its home track in Kyle and race number 13 of the season the "ROY SMITH MEMORIAL 27". This weekend's race was dedicated to Roy Smith one of the original founders of the NASKART Series who passed away back on August 9th. This was our first time back to Thunderhill since he had passed away. The weather was back to being HOT and so was the action!!!

 

In Qualifying action, first out to qualify was #12 Frank Mena returning to action after what seemed like a long layoff to the season with his freshly built motor. Frank was on the pole until the #20 of Lyndon "Captain" Kirk knocked him off the pole. But it wasn't for long as Roy Smith's granddaughter, the #07 of Megan Smith, ousted Kirk for the pole time right after Kirk had set pole. Team ROCKHARD Racing's #88 Kaleb Kreis was up next and had set pole the last 2 visits to Thunderhill. But tonight was not to be his 3rd as he came up short and qualified 5th for the evening. Next up to try his hand at the pole was Team ROCKHARD Racing's owner #29 Marty Kreis and he was close but came up .13 hundreths of off the Megans time and settled for 4th in qualifying. #14 Pearland Care Car's Andy Taylor was next but was off the pace as he was trying to get his kart jetting right...he finished 8th in qualifying. Team ROCKHARD Racing's #24 Chris Terry, fresh off of his 3 wins in a row, went out to try and knock Megan off of the pole and did by a mere .020 seconds. Last up to shoot for the pole was Mike Steinman in his #16 3M/Austin Architectural Graphics kart and on his 2nd lap of qualifying nudged passed Chris Terry to take the pole and the bonus point that goes with it. With only 2 points separating Steinman and Terry for the Championship lead....every point will count for these 2.

 

For the main, the field was inverted for the start of the race. Putting Team ROCKHARD Racing's #48 Kevin Hummell, winner of the last Thunderhill Race, on pole with #14 Andy Taylor outside pole. On the 2nd row was the #12 of Frank Mena and #20 of Lyndon Kirk. 3rd row was Team Rockhard's father/son duo of Marty #29 & Kaleb #88 Kreis. 4th row saw the #07 of Megan Smith and #24 Chris Terry. And bringing up the rear for the start in the 5th row was #16 Mike Steinman. As the field lined up for the start of the race, the green flag was given to Ronnie Smith (Roy's son and Megan's Dad) to start the race. As the field wentthru truns 3 and 4....Ronnie dropped the green flag and the racing was on!! Coming around for the first lap, Team ROCKHARD Racing's #48 Kevin Hummell lead the field to the line with #88 Kaleb Kreis and the #07 of Megan Smith nose to tail on the back bumper of Hummell.

With Steinman #16 and Mena #12 battling for 4th. on the 2nd lap going into 3 the field tighten up and were 2wide with 3 karts nose to tail in both lines. Steinman being on the bumper of Megan Smith and pushing thru the corner made Megan's kart get tight and she pushed up into the outside lane bumping the #88 of Kaleb Kreis and getting him out of shape and him moving up the hill in turn 4 with the #29 Marty Kreis taking evasive actions in order to not get spun. This opened up a hole in the middle that the #07 was able to go through and Steinman followed through on her bumper. Coming to the start finishe for the 2nd lap saw Hummell #48 still in the lead but Megan Smith went to the outside line around the outside of Hummell going through turns 1 and 2 to take the lead. Steinman was able to follow her line coming off of turn 2 and went around the outside of Hummell and Mena, who was trying to pass hummell on the inside. The field opened up alittle between each other for thext couple of laps...but Steinman was eyeing the back bumper of Megan Smith and trying to catch her in her draft and try to make a break away from the field. The order from lap3 to lap seven was unchanged until the #24 Chris Terry started having a tire go down. He would try to nurse it to the Competition yellow but was unable to and had to pit under green to change tires. Meanwhile up front...the #20 of Kirk had a big push from the #29 of Kreis and was able to force his way past the #12 of Mena going into 3 taking over 3rd spot. On lap 10 he got another great bump draft from the #29 to make his way inside of Steinman #16 going into 3 and bringing the #29 and the #12 with him, dropping Steinman back to 5th. The next couple of laps saw some close battling going on between the #12 of Mena, #16 of Steinman and the #20 of Kirk as they were chasing down the #29 of Kreis who had moved into 2nd behind the leader Megan Smith. As they came to the line for lap 13 and the competition yellow...the order was #07 of Smith, #29 of Marty Kreis, #20 of Lyndon Kirk, #16 of Steinman and the #12 of Mena. #88 Kaleb Kreis was 6th followed by the #48 of Hummell and the #14 Taylor.

 

As they lined up for the double file restart and the green flag flew....Megan Smith was able to jump out to the lead again while all the boys battled for position to see who was going to try and lead the train to catch her. Steinman was able to drop in behind Kirk with hte #12 of Mena following them and dropping the #29 of Kreis back to 5th. from lap 16 to 20 saw Steinman up in 2nd as the #20, #12, #29 and the #88 battled back and forth trying to get to Steinman's bumper for 2nd while Megan smith was opening up her lead up front. Steinman was holding them until lap 21 when Kirk #20 was able to go by bringing the #29 of Kreis with him. Steinman was able to work his way back under the #29 of Kreis to take 2nd On lap 23 with 4 to go Steinman was all over the bumper of the #20 Lyndon Kirk. Bump drafting with Kirk to try and break away from the teammates of ROCKHARD Racing and run down the Leader, Megan Smith. But Megan had opened up a 12 to 15 kart length lead on the field as they were battling hard for position with just a couple of laps to go. With 2 laps to go Kirk got tight and went hi out of turn 4 and Steinman dropped to the inside to take over 2nd again but going into turn 3 Kirk put a bumper to the inside tire of Steinman and moved him up the track to take over 2nd place again. This allowed Marty 7 Kaleb Kreis to get back to the bumper of Steinman and move inside to drop Steinman back to 5th. Coming off of trun 4 for the checked flag though...was Megan Smith #07 taking the win by at leat 10 karts over the battle for 2nd. When Kirk came off of turn 4 he went a little high leaving the door open for the #29 of Marty Kreis to get inside and beat him to the line for 2nd!! Kirk 3rd, Kaleb Kreis 4th and Steinman coming home in 5th. What a great race for the fans and for Megan Smith who after 3 years finally won her 1st Thunderhill Raceway Race...on her grandpa's memorial race. Roy must have been riding with her!!!!! GREAT JOB MEGAN!!!

 

 

The NASKART Series returns to Thunderhill Raceway on Friday September 24th for the Thunderhill Raceway Spectactular and the last race of the season at Thunderhill. Come watch the racing in this series as the points chase tightens up with only 7 races left to go.