The final race of TKC's 2012 season benefitted from some of the best weather imaginable, despite the calendar showing November and the clocks having just been set back an hour.  An appeal to TKC members from the board of directors to make the season ending event memorable and big was responded to by a big turnout of spectators and racers, the most notable of which were the Amigos clan which included Tulsa television celebrities Jason Shackelford and Justin Glover.  Pitting beside them was NASCAR Camping World Truck Series driver Russ Dugger, fresh off his race at Texas Motor Speedway as well as having competed with Amigos racer Ken Foster in the Goldrush event at Hallett Motor Racing Circuit.  Dugger was serving as crew chief for his two oldest sons' karts, but we understand he would have raced if a seat was available. 

That alone is probably as good an indicator as any how much Tulsa Kart Club has grown, and is impressive by itself even if one ignores the fact that over 100 individuals competed with TKC during the season, and that regular competitors drive hundreds of miles to take part in our championship.  2012 was definitely a growth year for Tulsa Kart Club, in a climate where karting organizations in other parts of the country (and even other parts of Oklahoma) are struggling.

Key to TKC's success is an emphasis on maintaining a family-friendly environment where competition is nothing without camaraderie.  Officials are careful to keep things from getting too serious on-track or off, which can be a challenge anytime racers are involved, but the feedback they receive and the attendance figures both indicate that their approach is working - TKC is healthy and growing.

On track, only one class had a genuinely close points battle to be decided in this final event of the season.  The TAG championship would have been clinched by either Gavin Moore or Christian Duarte if the other was unable to make the race; since that didn't happen, Duarte would need a field of at least 7 karts, and to win the final while Moore finished last in order to claim the points title.  Unfortunately for Duarte, there weren't enough entries for him to prevail, but he did win the event, and Moore did finish last.  After a long and hard-fought season, only 32 points separated the two drivers, and Gavin Moore hung on to defend his TAG class champion title.  Duarte finished first, ahead of a hard charging Derek Proctor who moved up from Sportsman in Round 17 and will compete in TAG full-time for 2013.  Proctor had been close in lap times to his competition most of the day, but in the final, he turned in a cracking 26.19 second lap and sent the message that he will be no rookie pushover next season.

In the Kid Kart class, Reese Moore took the top spot on the podium in the final while Rachel Callahan took a victory lap - her immense points lead had been insurmountable for quite some time.  The 2013 season however, could shape up to be very competitive with a number of rookies returning as seasoned veterans.

The Junior 1 two-cycle class saw Joshua Callahan - big brother to the Kid Kart champ - put an exclamation point on his championship effort by winning his last race of 2013.  Having not missed a race start all season, Callahan could have sat in the stands and let the drops formula work out that he won by 50 points over Cole Quaile.  As it was though, he was able to clear Austin Jeffries #159 kart by nearly 3 seconds in the final for another strong victory.  Cole Quaile took the checkered flag in 3rd, while Kennon Anderson finished in 4th.

Cole Quaile's last race of 2012 in the Junior 1 four-cycle class didn't go to plan - he tangled with Morgan Bain's kart early on and finished six laps down - but he too had already clinched the class points championship in Round 17, so it couldn't have stung too badly.  Their coming together paved the way for the #70 of Russel Dugger to battle with Justin Kessler's #23 kart in a gripping back-and-forth.  Dugger was just fast enough and just clean enough to prevent Kessler a clean opportunity to pass, but any slip mean curtains.  At about the halfway point in the race, Kessler made his first and only mistake in Turn 1 where he spun out right behind Dugger.  Losing over 10 seconds on-track while he got going again, Dugger brought his kart home clean and mistake-free for a great victory.  Reese Moore, also doing double duty, finished 3rd on the lead lap.  Bain and Quaile finished 4th and 5th respectively.

In the F4 Medium class, eight competitors took to the grid for the final.  Joining the fray were first-time Amigos affiliates Chris Barnes, Joe Trizza, and Jared Glover in karts prepared by RPMotorsports for the event.  Amongst themselves, it was Glover who took home bragging rights ahead of Trizza, then Barnes (who, incidentally, produced a gorgeous and entertaining video of their weekend with TKC).  Ahead of them on track, the #182 of Benny Cantellay led from the first lap and did not look back.  Jeff Starkweather in the #3 was knocking on the door, but could get no closer than drafting distance and finished 2nd, 1.5 seconds behind.  The #43 of Ken Foster, who put up a great fight with Cantellay in the heat race, finished 3rd.  Kyle Pearce finished two places ahead of Gene Pearce, which was significant in that it gave both men exactly the same number of points in the championship.  The tie however goes to Kyle, owing to his victory in Round 16; Gene had not won a race this year.

The TAG Heavy field was set to be 14 karts, but for two retirements before the final, so it was an even dozen who took the green flag in the last event of the TKC 2012 Championship season.  The 22m of Scott Matejec, having started every event, was effectively locked-in to the points lead as of the conclusion of Round 16.  The same was true of both 2nd and 3rd place, which were locked up by Jason Shackelford and Kip Anderson respectively.  Shackelford particularly made impressive progress in developing his race craft over the season, and the field has been so deep that a couple of bad races could quickly evaporate points leads.  Each of the top points finishers in 2012 accomplished something special, and TKC congratulates them all on their success.  In the final, returning all-time lap record holder and track champion Luke Waller set a quick pace - as always - and stormed off to the lead where he would stay while letting the TAG Heavy lap record know he was in the neighborhood.  The #26 of Kirk Murdoch was the only other kart to run in the sub-27 second bracket, and finished 2nd with a strong performance.  Matejec brought his kart home in 3rd, a second ahead of Shackelford.  Don Grace was barely a half-second behind Shack in 5th, and was seven seconds clear of Juan Gomez in the #29 who made his first ever visit to TKC.  Chad Matejec's #23m finished 7th, with Charles Martin in 8th, and Jerry Isaacs who fought to a 9th place finish one lap down.  Kyle Fincher finished 10th in the #3 kart, while Scott Blair and Sean Stevens finished 11th and 12th respectively.

Sun set quickly on JRP Speedway, and on the 2012 season.  While you're racing, it seems like it will go on forever; when it's over, it seems like it had just begun.  The members of Tulsa Kart Club look forward to a long and restful winter offseason, so that they can return in March to do it all again.  We sincerely thank everyone who helps make our club events the fantastic experiences they are - from the fans to the drivers and crews to the members who pitch in whenever needed.

Up next will be the annual awards banquet, in January after the hectic holiday season has drawn to a close.  We're looking forward to seeing everyone then!