The weather could have been a lot worse for Tulsa Kart Club's eighth round of the 2012 Championship than it was.  Forecasts called for temperatures in the mid-90's and bright sunshine with a strong wind, but clouds moved in just before the finals to cool things off a bit.  In just about every class, the cooler track and denser air resulted in the day's fastest laps late in the day. 

In the TAG Heavy class, Scott Matejec laid claim to a feat the legendary Jimmy Clark performed eight times - pole, fastest lap, and led every lap of the race - while Jerry Isaacs in the #97 kart had the drive of his life.  Isaacs, who had made progress on the stopwatch all day, and started from 3rd on the grid in the final.  However, a good start by Jason Shackelford in the #48 shuffled him back to 4th on lap 1.  Undeterred, he began chasing them down and on lap 6, just before Daytona, seized on an opportunity presented by Shackelford battling with the #26 of Kirk Murdoch for 2nd.  Side by side, Shackelford and Murdock slowed on the backstretch just before the entrance to Daytona, and Isaacs flew by inside them making tarmac where none existed.  Clearing two positions in one fell swoop, he was alone in 2nd almost a half-lap behind Scott Matejec in the #22m.  Always quick, Matejec was in no danger of being chased down in 10 laps - or so everyone thought.  Chase down Matejec is exactly what Isaacs did, making enormous gains on the entrances to Daytona and the turn 1 - turn 2 sector.  In the span of less than 6 laps, Isaacs was on the rear bumper of Matejec and the race was on.  Matejec would establish a gap going up the backstretch out of the hairpin - an area Isaacs continues to work on refining - but the gap would evaporate every lap by the time they came around for turn 1.  But the back bumper is as close as Isaacs would get before running out of laps.  At the checkers, Matejec would hold on to a 0.71 second lead over Isaacs in 2nd.  Jason Shackelford would hold station in 3rd, briefly surrendering the spot to Murdoch before the latter retired from the race on lap 8.  Kip Anderson finished in 4th, a second behind Shack.  Don Grace piloted the #14 to a solid 5th place finish, with Jeff Starkweather the final man to take the checkers in 6th.  Scott Blair suffered an overheated and quite probably ruined engine on lap 11 of the final, but was classified 7th.  Murdoch was classified 8th after his retirement, and Arturo Munoz was classified 9th - his kart very nearly ruined after a freak incident saw him back into the fence through the Daytona turn ejecting him from the kart, uninjured (as they are supposed to do).  Fast lap of the day was awarded to Scott Matejec for his lap of 27.315 seconds in quali.

In the Kid Kart final, Alex Richardson in his #24 slowly and patiently waited for the green flag - and when he saw it, he marched away from the field.  By the time the checkers flew, the three youngsters were each in races of their own.  Richardson claimed first by a whopping 24 seconds ahead of rookie driver Rachel Callahan in the #48.  Even younger rookie driver Bryce Barrett piloted his #00 entry to a 3rd place finish, just one lap down.  Alex would also set fast lap of the day in the final with a time of 39.780 seconds.

For the F4 final, it looked like the #182 of Benny Cantellay would have all he could do to get back around the #00 of Bryan Barrett.  A photo-finish in the heat went to Barrett owing to transponder placement - Cantellay's was much further back than it needed to be, which he wasted no time in correcting.  Cantellay made it by Barrett at the start in the final, but Barrett got the position back by lap two and was looking tough to beat until his muffler broke through the Daytona banked turn on lap 8.  For the second race and for different reasons, Barrett would see the black flag and finish last.  The rest of the race was a breeze for Cantellay who was 7 seconds clear of Ken Foster's #43 at the checkers.  The best race was definitely back there for what was to be 3rd until Barrett's retirement, with three drivers covered by one second.  Chris Pearce would storm his way through the field to finish 3rd after taking the green flag in 9th, followed by Jase Martin in the #9 and Kurt Harris in the #5.  Kyle Pearce would lead Gene at the stripe for 6th and 7th respectively.  David and James Cypert - another family racing with us in the same F4 class - would finish 8th and 9th respectively.  Fast lap on the day went to Benny Cantellay in the heat race, with a time of 32.272 seconds.

Junior 1 took the track next for it's final, where again the race was mid-pack while the leader ran away.  The #48 of Joshua Callahan again demonstrated his mastery in hot conditions, legging out a 12.5 second lead by the finish.  OKC-based driver Austin Jeffries in the Gazelle-powered #159 kart made a strong showing in his TKC debut, finishing very much by himself in 2nd.  The #19 of Jake Richardson ultimately prevailed in the battle for the last podium step over Kennon Anderson, Cole Quaile, and Max Stephens.  Quaile was 2nd on the grid for the final, but was gang-rushed at the start by the rest of the field and shuffled back to 5th after becoming entangled with Max Stephens in turn 1.  He would clear out in 5th, and would not find a way through to challenge for the win.  On the penultimate lap, Stephens tried to capitalize on a mistake by Quaile entering the hairpin, and the two again made contact side-by-side.  Quaile would end up stalled off-track, his race done.  When it was all over, the finishing order was Callahan in 1st, Jeffries in 2nd, Richardson in 3rd, with Anderson in 4th, Stephens in 5th, and Quaile a lap down in 6th.  Joshua Callahan would also lay down the day's fastest lap at 29.730 seconds in the final, the only driver in the 29's.

In the Sportsman class, five drivers would do battle for fame and glory.  Paige Evans' #08, which seems undefeated in races where her equipment doesn't fail, was under serious pressure from the #2 of Derek Proctor.  On the clock, Proctor had been quickest, but Evans' racecraft and determination was on display as she held on for a wire-to-wire victory.  In fact, the only driver who did not hold station from their starting position was the #26 of Sydni Murdoch who suffered a first-lap chain failure after a spin resulting from contact with the #86 of Steven Younger.  At the checkers, Evans was first by less than 0.15 seconds ahead of Proctor.  Ryan Harris ran a solid race and continues to dial in his new ride, finishing 3rd with a new personal best lap.  Steven Younger made his way through the turn 1 shemozzle (as David Hobbs would call it) unscathed, and finish fourth while Murdoch would retire in 5th.  Fast lap of the day went to Proctor with his lap of 28.611 in the final - around 0.05 seconds better than Evans.

The Junior 1 4-cycle class saw some excitement early in the final, also near Daytona, where Justin Kessler in the #23 made a really smart and impressive save of his kart after it shed a front wheel.  He was able to get it onto pit road and avoid spinning or hitting a single thing as the wheel bounced to a stop beside him on lap 10.  Ahead of him, Morgan Bain in the #00 kart could get no closer than 4 seconds behind the #14 of Cole Quaile, who finished in 1st and 2nd respectively.  Cole also claimed fast lap of the day with a best of 30.296 seconds in the heat race.

Wrapping up the show was the lightning quick TAG class, which had some of the closest racing all day.  In the heat, the #4 of Jesse Woodyard got a jump on polesitter Gavin Moore at the start, who could not find a way past.  Moore's fast lap was actually 0.02 seconds better, but could get no closer than 0.19 seconds behind Woodyard at the finish.  In the final, Moore started on the outside in 2nd and refused to cede the lead at the green flag.  He and Woodyard were as close as could be, wheel to wheel, yet contact free through turn 1 and Moore claimed the spot by the time the pair exited the 2nd turn.  From there, he set about building a small but significant gap up the backstretch and through Daytona, into turn 1 again.  But what the crowd could not see were Moore's hubs moving ever inward on his axle, ruining the balance of his kart and leaving him vulnerable to attack from Woodyard.  With three laps to go, Woodyard made a clean and brilliant pass on Moore who could not defend, through turn 2, and began to march forward.  At the checkers, he had built a 0.45 second gap on Moore to claim the victory.  The #19 of Rey Ferreyro Jr. had an uneventful trip to the final podium position with his 3rd place finish, 10 seconds behind.  Woodyard claimed fast lap of the day in the final, but only just - his time of 26.323 was less than 0.05 seconds better than Moore in a very closely contested battle.

Round 9 of the 2012 championship is in two weeks' time, and will mark the return of the Bus Stop configuration.  Very fast, tight racing action is sure to impress drivers and fans.  We will see you there!