2006 Superstars of Superkarts
United States Superkart ChampionshipWestern Series
Laguna Seca  

By: David Cole, E-Karting News

ICE winner Anthony Williams and FE winner Ryan Urban with motorcycle legend Wayne Rainey (Photo: Mark Brown)

Since 2001, 250cc superkarts have made an appearance to the famed Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca in Monterey, CA with the help of motorcycle Hall of Fame legends Eddie Lawson and Wayne Rainey. This past weekend, it was the superkarts turn to shine as the ‘Super Stars of Superkarts’ event took place as a support class for the American Le Mans Series event. Also making a return was the United States Superkart Championship, as it held its national finale at the 2.2-mile circuit in 2004, when it was referred to as the World Superkart Challenge.

This weekend would play host to the Western Division season finale with the Formula E and Intercontinental E champions to be decided. With 40 superkarts in total, the karts put on great shows with Qualifying and the Prefinal run Saturday morning and the main event to wrap things up for track activities on Sunday.

First thing Saturday after the day off was a 25-minute qualifying session. Chris Hegar led the way in Formula E with a 1:27.699 lap time, edging Jay Lewis, Ryan Urban, and brother Ryan Hegar. In ICE, Jim Ingram put down the fastest lap ever for a single-cylinder 250cc superkart on the Laguna Seca circuit with a 1:29.741 run. Anthony Williams was a full second back to start the Prefinal outside row one with defending Western ICE champion Ryen Miller putting in the third quickest lap. Paul Band would fill up row two for the Prefinal.

Later Saturday, the group ran their Prefinal event that would line them up for the Final. Hegar and Urban diced the lead for the opening laps in the FE division until Hegar pulled out to a seven second lead over Urban. After dropping back to seventh on the opening lap, Kyle Rice worked his way back up to third ahead of Cory Fancy while Ted Dann rounded out the top five. Ingram went flag-to-flag in the ICE Prefinal while Williams went a lap down early after a foul plug brought him into pit lane. Miller - making his USSC debut with Honda CR power after switching from the 4-storke engine - cruised to second ahead of Band and Trevor Johnson. Rounds completed the top five while Williams worked his way up to 13th.
 

Jay Lewis (14), Will Fleming (78), Kyle Rice (35) making their way through the corkscrew (Photo: Michael Troutman-Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca)

Chris Hegar led the field to the green flag for the final with Urban putting pressure on early. Heading into the corkscrew, Urban went off-course, dropping him back to sixth while the BRC trio of Hegar, Hegar, and 2004 event winner Kyle Martin lead the field. Martin battled mechanical issues all weekend long but jumped from the final FE starting spot to third in the first lap. Martin eventually took the lead from Chris Hegar on lap three before Chris fought back to P1 on lap five. By that time, Urban had caught the lead group and moved up to third, ahead of Martin, by lap six and into the lead the following circuit. On lap nine, Ryan Hegar retired with mechanical issues while a broken exhaust put Chris on the sidelines two laps later. The following lap Martin pulled off with mechanical issues as well while running second. That allowed Urban to cruise to the win with Lewis and Rice to round out the podium. P-1’s Pat Yoshikane and Fancy completed the top five.

Ingram led the ICE field at the drop of the green and pulled out to a comfortable lead over Miller and Williams, who jumped to third from 13th in one lap. Williams worked around Miller the following lap as the two ran nose-to-tail in an effort to catch Ingram. Bad luck would strike Ingram on lap 12 as he retired with engine problems while on his way to victory, allowing Williams to inherit the lead. Miller would try his best to take the top spot but would fall back a few seconds as he ran a low on fuel. Williams went on to take the win, his second victory at Laguna while Miller and Trevor Johnson rounded out the podium. Will Fleming finished fourth with John Rounds finishing fifth.

In the Western USSC standings, Chris Hegar earned enough points to claim the Formula E title for a second straight year, by just two points over Ryan Kurpiewski. Kurpiewski struggled in Qualifying and the Prefinal but bounced back to finish sixth overall in the Final Sunday. Ryan Hegar finished third in his first year with the USSC ahead of Martin and Larry Kurpiewski, Ryan’s father. Despite the win for Williams, it wasn’t enough as Miller repeated as USSC Western ICE champion. John Stafford finished third in the standings while Mark Morrison and Paul Band rounded out the top five.