June 1, 2024

The second round of the Georgia State Karting Association (GSKA) Championship came to beautiful Dawsonville, Georgia at Atlanta Motorsports Park on Saturday, June 1st.

The atmosphere was filled with so much excitement despite the gloomy overcast weather. Despite Mother Nature, we had yet another record turnout with 171 drivers throughout 18 different divisions. This remarkable turnout is a testament to the growing karting community here in Georgia and the Southeast in general.

The LO206 Seniors took to the track with 34 drivers for their Pre-Final. Justin Sherbert (85) would lead the Swann Mechanical Seniors to green with a fast time of 1:01.465. Alongside Sherbert on the front row was Wesley Bacon (06), who was only slower by a total margin of .165 seconds. The green flag would fly but that would last for long. At the crest of turn 2, karts would be going three and four wide. This resulted in a seven kart pileup, with multiple drivers making heavy impacts with the wall and each other. This incident would block the track, resulting in a red flag. No drivers were injured, but unfortunately multiple drivers’ days came to a quick end.

With the red flag in the second turn on lap one, officials were determined to restack the field and retry the start. After a few attempts at a restart, we got a lasting green flag. The Senior division wanted to put on a show early, utilizing the full extent of the track limits and going four wide into turn 4, and again into The Kink. We even had a pass in the grass. As the main pack entered turn 9, we had yet another sizable pileup of four karts. All drivers would continue, but it would cost them time and positions. Austin Johnson (116) would be your leader after a absolutely chaotic first lap.

Juan Pablo Garcia (198) would take to the point after an impressive two-for-one pass to start lap two. Garcia, Johnson, and Noah Rivers (222) would maintain first through third for a majority of the race. The top four would have a breakaway halfway through the ten lap Pre-Final. This would also lead to a shake up of running order, as Garcia would fall to fourth after being freight trained by Rivers, Johnson, and Peyton Bridges (52). With two laps to go, the heat really turned up on our leader Noah Rivers.

Rivers would struggle to hold of the hard charging Johnson. Garcia would push Rivers to the inside in turn 9, sending Johnson to fourth. The battle would continue entering turn 14. In turn 18 we would see the final push for the lead. Johnson would nose out slightly ahead of Rivers. Bridges would be in pursuit of Johnson, also poking his nose into the battle for the win. Johnson and Rivers would cross the line at exactly the same time, according to the naked eye. After further investigation, video replay and multiple checks of timing and scoring determined that Austin Johnson crossed the line .0001 seconds before Rivers in the closest finish in AMP history!

Johnson would lead the remaining 34 karts to green for the Final race. As the green fell, the action began. Most of the field would fall into line after the first lap. Johnson, Rivers, Garcia, and Bridges would maintain their respective positions for the first three laps of the twelve lap final. The no. 521 of Jason Stephen would lose a wheel that came flying off on track, causing a local caution into turn 3.

The top twelve karts would form a freight train and start to gap the rest of the field with six laps to go. Your K&M BBQ halfway top 5: Johnson, Rivers, Bridges, Garcia, and Fiorentino.

Lap 8 would see some passing action, as Garcia would push the boundaries to complete an overtake on two drivers to move into third. A mistake on Garcia’s part would push him back to the fifth position a short time later. The white flag would fly with Johnson, Rivers, and Bridges battling for the podium positions.

Johnson and Bridges would break away on the final lap, but that would not hold back Garcia. Garcia charged hard from fifth to third and made an attempt for a double pass in the last set of corners. The top three would be side-by-side-by-side entering the straight. A slight bobble from Rivers would push him down to fifth. This would allow Johnson to claim the checkered, followed by Florentino and Garcia to round out the podium.

You can find all of the results here on Race Monitor. Be sure to tune into all of AMP’s socials for any future schedule changes and all future streams.

Cover photo: Connor Cochran/Liberty Racing Review