11/16/2020
KC Sparks
Minnesota Missile Monday: Indoor Season Starts at Emma Indoor Arena
Minnesota Missile Monday: Indoor Season Starts at Emma Indoor Arena
Emma, MO
November 16, 2020
After a few years of asking to be included in their indoor line up, Emma Indoor Arena added the winged karts to the schedule for the 20-21 season and 1KC Motorsports wanted to support the series. Dad worked for a few weeks getting the karts ready for some indoor racing and on Saturday the team made the haul south.
The box stock class had five drivers registered for the initial event. With the increased participants, the format was to run one heat race and the feature.
Heat (10 laps)
The heat race was lined up by draw, putting Anthony Guessford on the pole alongside Sierra Rose Gary. When the green dropped, Guessford took the lead and Haylie Allen moved past Gary to take second place. KC Sparks tried to move into third but nearly spun himself out in turn two allowing Gray to hold third down the back stretch.
Guessford held a lead over Allen until the second lap when Allen was able to get under him down the backstretch and take the lead. Sparks had moved ahead of Gary and on lap five used the same move as Allen and took second from Guessford.
Sparks was running Allen down and coming into turn three, they caught Lexi Frueh and in the middle of the turns, Allen made contact bringing out the caution. Both karts continued with Allen on the point and Sparks in pursuit for the final three circuits.
Sparks made a great move out of turn two and raced side by side into turn three with Sparks on the inside. Sparks jumped a disc that moved his kart into Allen’s line and she made contact with the rear and reclaimed the lead for the final two circuits. Sparks fought a damaged kart and held off challenges from Guessford to take second. Gary and Frueh complete the heat finish.
Feature (15 laps)
The feature was lined up based on the heat race finish putting Allen on the pole and Sparks to her outside. Frueh was unable to make the start after damage from the heat race.
At the drop of the green, Sparks pulled ahead of Allen into turn one but she had the preferred inside line and under Sparks where they made slight contact. They made it out of turn two with Allen in the lead. The lead duo raced ahead of the field with Sparks pulling alongside several times.
On lap three, Sparks had a drive to the outside going into turn one and as he got into the throttle to drive off, Allen slid up the track and ran over his front wheel breaking his momentum. Sparks continued but had a lot of ground to make up.
Lap six saw Sparks close in on Allen as Guessford caught and made a pass on Gary for third.
Sparks made a run to the outside of Allen but was not able to claim the position. In the next set of corners, Allen came off high and cut down across the track to block Sparks’s momentum as he backed out of the throttle to avoid spinning her. In the next corner, Sparks tried to force his kart low out of the turn but hit a slick spot and nearly spun allowing Allen to get away again.
If he hit his marks, Sparks would have one more run at Allen for the race win. Sparks ran some of his fastest laps of the event while chasing Allen down until he overdrove the corner and had to break his drive to keep from spinning out and that provided Allen the uncontested win.
It was Allen’s first ever win in karting!! She was chased across the line by Sparks, Guessford, and Gary.
The Turkey Chase in Lincoln Nebraska has been cancelled for 2020 so the next race for the team will be back at Emma Indoor in December.
Upcoming Schedule:
12/5: Emma Indoor
12/19: Emma Indoor
2020 Partner/Sponsor Appreciation
Autoland; Sioux Falls, SD
Furby’s Auto Repair; Sioux Falls, SD
GRP Motorsports; Stillwater, MN
Last Deck LLC; Jackson, MN
Heser Auto and Detailing; Jackson, MN
DRE Horsepower; Boyden, IA
Jared Bailey Photography; Carlisle, IA
MyRacePass; #TeamMRP #GetTheApp
TL Racing; Jackson, MN
YTD Stats:
Features: 43
Wins: 7
Top 3: 20
Top 10: 41
Heat Wins: 19
Article Credit: Stephanie Sparks