Under sunny skies and absolutely perfect temperatures for racing, Round 13 of the 2012 TKC Championship was host to a full paddock of drivers eager to scratch their competitive itches before the three-week Labor Day break.  Rains on the preceding Saturday made dents in the drought conditions but hampered the efforts of teams looking to shake down karts before race day came.  Those rains cleared out Saturday evening, leaving behind the best conditions we've seen for racing so far this year.  A threat of rain existed for Sunday afternoon, and right as competition wrapped up for the day, the skies opened up on JRP Speedway.  But the hard work of everyone in attendance ensured everything important was covered up and taken down just in time.

Missing from the paddock, however, was the perennially hard-to-miss visage of Bryan Barrett - driver in the F4 class and crew chief to two other entries.  Brian was fortunate to survive what he described as a "massive heart attack", and was recuperating from surgery here in Tulsa under doctor's orders to take it easy.  While we missed having Bryan at the track and know how much he wanted to be there with his family and friends, we're happy to know he's survived to make it back another day.

In the Kid Kart class, the #00 of Bryce Barrett gave pops something to be proud about by setting the pole winning time in qualifying.  Not to be denied however, was the #48 of Rachel Callahan who stormed off to a dominating win in the final.  The #12 of Dylan Dugger, whose daddy will be racing at Bristol in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race this week, brought home the stars and stripes in 2nd place, with Barrett finishing in 3rd to bring home the hardware.  Fast lap of the day went to Rachel Callahan in the heat, with a best time of 40.199 seconds - better than 2.5 seconds quicker than the next fastest circuit on the day.

The #182 of Benny Cantellay was knocking on the door of the JRP lap record for the F4 Medium class earlier in the day, and delivered again in the final to claim the victory.  The 77x of Paul Churchwell was 4.7 seconds behind in 2nd place at the finish, but it was the #43 of Ken Foster whose exhaust pipe had failed resulting in his early retirement from a strong running position up front.  Well behind the fray, places 3rd through 6th were within striking distance of one another, but it was the #42 of Kyle Pearce who made his way through the field after a less-than-electrifying start to claim the 3rd and final podium position.  The #95 of Gene Pearce had been running in 3rd but eventually succumbed to the younger.  The #1 of Tadd Moore returned to the track, and had Gene in his sights but could not close the gap - especially after Kyle made it by despite a tough, quick, contact-free fight through the infield section.  Moore finished in 5th on the day, ahead of the #7m of Todd Gunter and #02 of Brent McKay - both of whom made their TKC debuts and who finished 6th and 7th respectively.  Foster's retirement saw him classified in 8th place, 7 laps down.  Fast lap of the day in class went to Cantellay with a time of 31.793 - less than a quarter second off the all-time best.

In the Junior 1 2-cycle final, the #48 of Joshua Callahan made it a perfect two-for-two result for the Arkansas-based family.  While Callahan was cruising to victory, Quaile was able to hang on to 2nd by less than a half second over the #159 IAME Gazelle-powered Tony Kart of Austin Jeffries who would finish in 3rd.  The #18 of Max Stephens took the checkers not far behind them in 4th place.  Callahan's fast lap of the day came in the heat at 29.897 seconds, making him the only driver quicker than the 30's on the day.

Despite yards of exhaust header wrap, bad luck caught out the #000 of Morgan Bain who was looking to bring home a 1st place trophy in the Junior 1 4-cycle final.  With a clear road ahead, her exhaust pipe failed, thusly retiring her from the lead on lap 9.  This followed a strong 12-second win in the heat race, where she would also set fast lap of the day at 30.343 seconds - less than a quarter off this class's all time best.  At the finish though, it was Cole Quaile who made it by on lap 10 and never looked back to claim the victory.  Russel Dugger in the #70 kart matched the performance of his younger brother Dylan by earning a matching 2nd place trophy, while Keaton McKay in the #24 came home in 3rd.  Bain was classified 4th on the day after her early retirement, but maybe the fast lap honors will ease the sting of knowing what could have been.

In the Sportsman class, the final boiled down to a battle between Paige Evans in the #08 and Steven Younger in the #86.  This followed a heat retirement on lap 4 by Sydni Murdoch's #26 kart, meaning she would be classified in 3rd place on the day.  The supremely experienced Evans put in another solid, mistake-free drive en route to a 5 second victory and further extending her formidable championship lead.  Her performance in the heat set the bar for fast lap of the day, with a best of 28.601 seconds.

The TAG final was run under increasingly cloudy skies with a threat of rain and hints of encroaching thunder, but as fast as these karts are, there wasn't enough time for the storm to influence the results.  The fastest kart on this day belonged to the silver #1 of defending class champion Gavin Moore, who was driving with a purpose all day.  Moore earned pole position in qualifying, got superb starts in both the heat and final, claiming both wins as well as the overall fastest lap time with a best of 26.472 seconds in the final when it mattered.  The #30 of Christian Duarte was almost identically quick on the stopwatch, but at the checkered flag, Moore had extended his lead to 1.6 seconds in a disciplined, zero-error drive.  The #19 of Rey Ferreyro Jr. earned the 3rd podium position walking away from the #4 of Jesse Woodyard, who will be competing out of state later this season.

In the TAG Heavy final, drivers were anxious to get their race in before the thunder grew any stronger.  Following the TAG group and watching the clouds continue to darken, it was clear that this field had a sense of urgency.  The #97 of Jerry Isaacs, who set the pole in qualifying and won the heat race convincingly, did not enjoy his best start as the green flag fell and dropped back into the clutches of the pack.  Ahead of him, the #26 of Kirk Murdoch had a clear track after seizing the lead position.  Three laps later, as Kip Anderson in the #7 was racing Isaacs hard at the bottom hairpin, Isaacs pulled away on the backstretch entering Daytona - then suddenly, the crowd saw the red #7 climb up the back of Isaacs' blue #97, spinning both drivers out as the field charged by.  Anderson's kart took the worst of it, retiring immediately to the pits, while Isaacs continued on momentarily unaware that his radiator and exhaust pipe had been crushed.  after 5 more valiant laps, his water temp gauge begged him to pull off, and he retired on lap 10.  The #48 of Jason Shackelford, clear of the carnage, was by himself in 2nd place as the 22m of Scott Matejec could get no closer.  Fellow Amigos Racing driver Don Grace in the #14 came home in 4th place as last kart on the lead lap.  Chad Matejec in the 23m steered clear of the melee as well, to earn a 5th place finish.  Isaacs and Anderson's retirements classified them in 6th and 7th respectively.  Isaacs pole time of 27.299 seconds would be the fast lap of the day in class.

Then the rains came!  Drivers and teams collected their trophies hurriedly, stowed what was left to put away in their trailers, and high tailed it out - just in time for the skies to clear. 

We hope everyone made it home safely, and look forward to a relaxing three-week break for Labor Day before resuming the last third of the championship season on September 9th with another clockwise special event.  See you there!