July 23, 2023

Saturday, July 22nd was a picture-perfect day for racing. Low humidity, lots of sunshine, and that sweet smell of burning race fuel.

Steve Newbold here for LRR, covering all the karting action from Atlanta Motorsports Park Kart Summer Series Round 5. Join us as we dive into all of the high-octane karting action!

We start our AMP race day with the LO206 Cadets. This division consisted of 8 drivers battling it out for 15 laps. The field was led to green by Hunter Wilson in his #4 machine, who fell back to 7th within the first lap. Camila Canache (#126) would lead the field for two laps and be overtaken by Lincoln Massey (#7) and Ryan Hall (#19). Lincoln Massey would pull away from the rest of the field and continue his season dominance and win the LO206 Cadets Round 5 event. During his interview, Lincoln credited his victory to his dad for fixing his sprocket issue from the pre-final.

The next division on track was the always exciting LO206 Junior division. This 10 kart field was led to green by Alyssa Vascocu (#107), followed very closely by Javier Soto (#95). The biggest battle of the race was for second. Soto, Luke Kohrman (#08) and Clay Bowman (#9) were pod to pod coming through the tightest part of the course. Soto would fall back to fourth in the battle for second. Alyssa Vascocu would dominate this division with a commanding 7.8 second lead to claim the checkered flag in the LO206 division. Clay Bowman finished 2nd, and Javier Soto was 3rd.

Next on course was a personal favorite of mine, TAG Sr and Master. This division was filled with all kinds of action, especially between the top two drivers. Pablo Benites (#44) and Matheus Prates (#308) swapped paint for the entirety of the race with some impressive crossover passes and some very tight blocks and chops. Danny May and an unknown driver made contact exiting the S’s causing some wheel hop. The final results from Race Control for SR; Danny Perez (#82), Pablo Benites, and Matheus Prates. For Master; Brandt Estes, Jake Feder, and Danny May were the top 3.

Next up was the Jelly Bean Kid Kart division. These young drivers are only 5-6 years old, and are learning the ropes on the Jelly Bean Circuit at AMP. The field consisted of 5 drivers who drive with the determination and willpower of an F1 driver. Nazar Martyneko (#05) would claim the victory in the Comer division and Luca Vino-Figueroa (#68) would win the LO206 division. If you would like to get your future F1 driver on course, AMP offers Arrive and Drive karts for children 5 and up. They too can experience the thrill of the Jelly Bean, please reach out to AMP via phone or email for your track reservations today, and tell them Steve from LRR sent you.

Now we get to my favorite division that AMP has to offer, the LO206 Masters. This race was very tame, with only one local caution involving three karts clipping each other and spinning off track. Danny May (#9) had a commanding lead of almost four seconds. The battle of the race was between Adam Phillips (#315), Aaron Cox (#28), and Brandt Estes (#17) for second place. Danny May would pull off the victory while Aaron Cox would hold on and claim P2. Adam Phillips rounded out the podium in 3rd.

TAG Cadets and Rookies were the next to take the green. An intense battle began very early on in the Cadet division between Gabriel Lopez Velarde (#108), Callen Berghoefer (#126), and Ryan Peres (#12). These Cadets made it 3 wide within the first lap and maintained close quarters the entire length of the race. Final results for the TAG Cadets; Callen Berghoefer, Gabriel Lopez Velarde, and Ryan Peres formed the podium.

We’ll switch over to the Rookies, where the story involves Camillia Canache (#26), who was given a penalty for jumping the tram lines in the pre-final. she would go from pole to P4 to start the final, but quickly regained position. The final results from Cadet; Callen Berghoefer claims the victory followed by Gabriel Lopez Velarde and Ryan Peres closing out the podium. The final results from Rookie; Camillia Canache claims the victory followed by Issac Carvalho (#21) and Joseph Saddington.

You can almost smell the sweet octane of the next class while reading this article, as KA100 SR was next on the grid. Spencer Mast (#41) would lead the high-powered KA100 division to the green flag. The battle for the lead was intense from the drop of the green until the final lap. Spencer Mast and Zack Frank (#198) made contact early on in the S’s, resulting in Frank getting spun while in the lead. We are unsure if the contact resulted in Frank pulling off-track. Two laps later, the S’s collected another driver, resulting in a local caution. The action did not stop there, as on the final lap in the final corner, Ian Spencer (#54) and Christian Blevins Jr. (#917) made heavy contact. From multiple video replays and personal opinion, it looked like Blevins went to overtake Spencer, and Spencer made contact resulting in the #917 of Blevins making contact with the wall. Personally, I believe it was a racing incident. Spencer Mast would claim the victory, with Ian Spencer in 2nd and Jarvis Li in 3rd.

I bet you can feel the rumbling of the next division through this article, as next out were the LO206 Seniors. This is the largest division AMP has to offer, with a staggering 29 competitors. The action began early with some early 3-wide battles, and some drivers making contact early on. Juan Pablo Garcia (#198) and Ryan Fiorentino (#2) put on one of the most impressive battles I have ever witnessed. Ryan pulled alongside Garcia entering turn four, looking for the pass on the final lap. Garcia shut the door on Ryan. Ryan then went full send into the S’s to overtake Garcia. The action continued in turn 15 when Garcia pulled alongside Ryan, and this would result in a drag race to the line. Garcia would win the race by .028 of a second. The final from LO206 SR; Juan Pablo Garcia, Ryan Fiorentino, and Carson Craig (#55).

KA100 JRs were the next to take the green. In the first corner, Eli Dunn (#842) and Talon Laney (#48) made contact, resulting in both drivers losing multiple positions. Andrew Hammill (#905) pulled away to a commanding lead early on. The biggest battle of the race was between Oliver Najbrt (#10) and Myer Lewis (#410). Myer got a little loose and lost the draft with Najbrt. Najbrt tried to close the gap on Hammill, closing the gap to just above a second, but it would not be enough. Final from KA100 JRs; Andrew Hammill, Oliver Najbrt, and Myer Lewis.

We “shift” gears now to the fastest division AMP has to offer, Shifter Karts. These high-horsepower, high-octane machines can reach speeds upwards of 100 mph. The Shifter field was rather large for today’s event, with 9 drivers taking the track. Sam Avrutsky (#24) had a perfect jump to start the race. Daniel Perez (#282) would start with a 5 second penalty for jumping the start in the pre-final. That penalty would not slow him down however, as he was quickly up to P2. On lap 3, Eric Huewe (#223) was involved in a single kart spin-out that resulted in him making heavy contact with the wall. From video replay, it looks as though he might have broken a steering link as the kart veered hard left. Sam Avrutsky would take home the hardware followed by Jake Feder (#612) and Daniel Perez.

This wraps up our coverage from Atlanta Motorsports Park. Be sure to tune in on Atlanta Motorsports Park’s YouTube page to watch all of the racing action from the kart circuit as well as the car circuit. As always, it has been a pleasure working with the wonderful staff at AMP, and we will be out again for the next race day. Be sure to check out AMP at AtlantaMotorsportsPark.com for all of your racing needs.