The first indoor
racing event held in the state of Rhode Island in almost 50
years provided many potential story lines. Several Long Island
go-kart drivers decided to take advantage of their opportunity
to be a part of the historic event, each hoping to walk away
with a headline of their own. Justin Bonsignore, who did not
intend to compete and had not turned a single lap of practice
all day, walked away with a runner-up finish, while Eric Zeh had
a solid fourth-place run.
Zeh was credited as
being the fourth fastest in time trials, after the fastest kart,
driven by Tyler Robertson, was disqualified due to a weight
infraction. Zeh had posted a fast lap of 9.8918. He started his
heat race from the fourth position, but had been shuffled back
as far as 7th at lap 4. He quickly made his way back through the
field, bringing his kart to third by lap 7, and going on to
finish the event second.
Bonsingore showed
up at the track, intending only to watch. He had removed the
engine from his machine, under the impression that another
driver was going to "rent" his kart for the race. When the other
driver failed to show up and Bonsignore watched the karts
running practice, he made the decision to go to work and get the
kart ready to race. He made it on to the track in time for time
trials, and attempted to qualify without getting any practice on
the track.
Bonsignore was
credited with the sixth fastest time, as his fastest lap was a
9.9783. He started third in his heat race. Using an inside pass
to take the lead on the initial lap, Bonsignore led every lap in
the event.
Zeh started the
feature event from the pole, with Bonsignore seventh. Zeh shot
out to the lead. Bonsignore was involved in an incident on lap 1
of the event that collected numerous karts. While he was able to
continue, he had to restart from the 12th position. Chris Daley
and Zeh put on an exciting battle for the lead in the early laps
of the event, swapping the position several times over the
course of two laps. By the time the caution came out on lap 5,
Zeh was in second. Bonsignore had started to make his way back
through the field, and was in the 7th spot for the restart on
lap 5. Zeh was involved in an incident himself that brought out
the caution on lap 12. At that time, there were 11 karts left on
the track. Bonsignore had gotten back up tot he fourth spot, and
Zeh was forced to restart from 11th. A quick caution came out,
and Zeh had gotten back up to 8th. Bonsignore took over the
second spot with five laps to go in the event. Bonsingore held
on to the second spot, while Zeh continued to move closer to the
front. When the checkered flag waved, Bonsingore was credited
with a runner-up finish, while Zeh brought his kart home in
fourth.
"Wild Bill" Smith,
an infrequent competitor on Long Island, made the trek to Rhode
Island. The driver had also gone down to Atlantic City in
January, but failed to qualify for the feature event. He was
hoping for better results in Providence, but was unable to
achieve that in the first night. Smith recorded a fast lap of
10.7110 in time trials, and had to start his heat race from the
12th position. Smith's heat race was dominated by Chris Daley,
who later went on to win the feature event. Smith's kart spun
coming off of turn 2 on lap 8 of the event, drawing a caution.
Smith started ninth in the consolation event, with only the top
six finishers transferring to the feature event. After making
contact with the kart of Rhode Island's Mike Marfeo that brought
out the caution, Smith restarted the event 13th. While he was
able to bring his kart up tot he 11th spot, Smith was forced to
watch the night's feature from the sidelines, with the hope that
the second night of racing will yield better results.
Champ Kart Feature
Finish (20 laps): Chris Daley, Justin Bonsignore, Ron Milford
Jr., Eric Zeh, George Bark Jr., Tammy Smith, Tim Buckwalter, Jay
Dimond, Dennis Perry, Andrew Swisher, Nick Hadden, Clinton
Mills, Paul McCollum, Bryan Ray, Evan Beaulieu, Ryan Arsenault,
Tyler Robertson, Andrew Hutchinson, John Hillman, TJ Laro.
Source: Tracy
Chirico/LongIslandJam.com
Posted:
March 7, 2009
