More Track Records Fall During Round 3 of Stars of PGP Kart action

For the Stars of PGP Kart Fall-Winter Series the New Year began the same way the old year ended: With blazing speed and tumbling track records.


By the time Round 3 of the series wrapped up on Jan. 2, five new speed benchmarks were set, with Jerry Peterson (Rotax Master), Jessica Dana (TaG Senior), Jersain Orozco (Yamaha), Jeremy Bolstad (F200) and Nick Larson (World Formula) writing their names into the PGP Motorsports Park record book.

The first round of kart racing in 2011 at PGP can be viewed on-demand from eventbuilder.com by following the link on www.PacificGP.com. The Stars of PGP Kart Fall & Winter Series returns to action with Round 4 on Feb. 6 and the finale on March 6.

SHIFTERS

Sean Naslund and Parker McKean put on the show of the day in the Stock Moto Light Pre-Final, battling back and forth as the laps wound down to a Steve Perdue win. Perdue also won the final event, nursing his kart to victory after shattering a brake rotor. McKean, whose Rotax Junior package was packed up for an upcoming Gatorz event, finished second in both the Pre-Final and Final. In his first race back at PGP after a late-September injury, Naslund returned to the podium with thirds in both the Final and Pre-Final. In the Stock Moto Heavy division, Bruce McKean was first.



In the World Formula class, Nick Larson held off a hard-charging Randy Taylor for the victory. Taylor, who had the fastest lap in the final event in his first race in the category, was second with Kevin Larson rounding out the top three.



Orozco made the trip to PGP from Ephrata, Wash., to set the Yamaha standard and Bolstad, who likely will switch to the Rotax Senior class for Round 4, lowered his own fast time mark in F200. Racing for the first time in a competitive kart, Craig Taylor got faster and faster throughout the day in the Clone category.

RENTAL KART (BIREL SPEC)

The large Rental Kart (Birel Spec) class was once again highlighted by a battle between Maurice Shawver and Cameron Grimes-Hess, with the victory in this round going to Shawver. Grimes-Hess, the winner in Round 2, finished second and Jerrett Cangie, who normally races in the Stock Moto Light class, was third.

ROTAX/TAG



In the Rotax Senior class, Russell Francis led flag-to-flag for the victory while Joey McGuire, impressive in his return to Rotax racing at PGP, finished second and Travis Henson was a fresh face on the podium in third. Peterson set the new track record in winning the Rotax Master class with Jerry Pitts second while Caleb Daniells was first in Rotax Micro. Joseph Schwager won the Rotax Junior class, with Molly Helmuth runner-up and Tessa Daniells rounding out the top three.



Dana made her debut in the TaG Senior class memorable with the new track mark and a win the final event, while Tyler Tanner made his PGP debut by finishing second. Derek Wang recovered from early-race contact to earn a podium finish with the fastest lap of the finale.