KAM Kartway closes out an Outrageously Successful Summer Series with a blow out Halloween themed Awards Party.

When the 1^st Place Trophy is bigger than the Pink Panther, you know you are racing at the right track.

Rhome, TX, October, 2006:  With over 134 registered drivers there was no Sophomore Slump for KAM Kartway’s second official Summer Points Series.  At the KAM Karting Supply Annual Halloween Party, nine new Champions were crowned.  The Summer Series started on April 1^st and ran 13 races with final showdown in late September with a Halloween themed Awards Banquet.  With costumes ranging from Princesses to Spiderman some of the award winners could barely see over the tops of their trophies. This was thanks in part to our kart moms slash Awards Committee members: Amy Cox, Danko Hogan and Theresa Richardson.  Amy also won Pit Mom of the Year.

Six Feature and 10 heat wins for the series locked up the victory for the #5m, Madilyn Hogan, aka “Pink Panther”,  as she was crowed the Kid Kart Champion.  Only 115 points behind her with regular podium placement all summer long was Emery Potts, who piloted the #55 to an impressive 2^nd place victory.  The Kid Kart class had a few sprint track/asphalt crossovers with Jacob Loomis in the number 9 kart doing double duty all summer, which resulted in a few missed races at KAM, and finished third place overall.   Heidi Sliney who shares the same kart number as her dad took home 4^th place honors with her #74 kart.

Following her Kid Kart Championship from the previous series, Amber “The Hammer” Cox added another first place trophy to her mantel in the 3.5 HP Beginner class, as well as being voted Most Improved Junior Driver by the racers of KAM Kartway.  And don’t let the “Beginner” in the title of this class fool you.  Yes, these drivers may be new to the sport, but they sure look like old hands on the track.  Drew Komarek and Taylor Myers, who seemed more like teammates all summer than competitors, finished 2^nd and third respectively.  Rounding out the 4^th place podium spot was KAM newcomer Branson Sheffer who had to make racing allowances to his dad and brother’s driving careers who both race big cars.

The fierce determination of some talented young drivers resulted in the 3.5 HP Advanced class having a 1^st place tie for the Championship title with Trevor McIntire and John “Johnny B” Boland sharing the top spot.   Not only are Elizabeth Richardson and Ashley Cox BFF’s (Best Friends Forever) they are also each other’s biggest fans and finished in points 2^nd and 3^rd in that order.  Anton Hernandez took home 4^th place honors as well as securing a 2007 sponsorship from Young Racers of America, while Sydney Sisk took some time to race in between Cheer Competitions and rounded out the podium with 5^th place.  

The Advanced Cast Stone Pure Stock class had the second largest number of registered drivers with 19 throughout the Summer.   The shining star of this class was apparent with Andy Hogan not only taking first place honors, but also winning Rookie of the Year with the most heat and feature wins out of all the classes in his first year, and being voted by his peers as Best Overall Jr. Driver of the year.  In fact, his lowest score for his series drop was a 3^rd place finish. Hogan’s family was also voted Best Pit Crew of the Year.  Consistent podium finishes resulted in another young talented Pure Stock driver taking home the 2^nd place trophy, while dual class driver Trevor McIntire placing 3^rd in points.  Sarah Sisk, who pilots the number 8 kart and KAM newcomer Dalton Stevens in the 99 kart, both ran solidly for the fourth and fifth place honors respectively.

KAM Kartway’s Hot Stock class may have seen a range of ten drivers throughout the season; it was Hayli Renfro, Ryan Smith and Daq Querry who consistently fought it out race after race for the top three spots.  Renfro followed up her previous season’s points win in the Pure Stock class with the Hot Stock Championship title, with Smith securing the second place victory. Daq  also periodically ran in the World Formula class and therefore qualified to be nominated for both Junior and Senior awards, and along with Alan Kuhn was honored by drivers with Most Improved Sr. Driver of the Year.  

13^th Green Mortgage sponsored the ever popular Super Stock class that logged a total of 21 registered drivers this year with some incredible displays of talent each time the drivers hit the track.  “Great Race!” was the common sentiment after the checker flag waved by most all spectators in attendance.  These kids just never let the fans down and consistently put on a good show for all in this stock Briggs & Stratton Animal class.  Shane Johnson, Jr. locked in his first Championship title as the point’s leader followed by Nicki Evans who earned the same title from the previous season in the Pure Stock class. Two-time Super Stock Champ Kaley Engstrom took the summer off to visit her grandparents and came back home to overcome a late in the season points battle to take third place.  Engstrom was also voted by the drivers as Best Jr. Sportsman and to the amusement of every one showed up to accept her awards dressed as KAM Kartway’s very own Flag Man, Shane Johnson, Sr.  Making the quick costume change just prior to the ceremony taking place, she reminded everyone how Shane got the track nickname of Shrek, because he used to always wear a bright green t-shirt when he flagged. Despite being the heaviest driver in his class, and notwithstanding some minor mechanical problems that seemed to strike right when he was running up front, Trevor Hamilton finished a strong fourth.  Brandon Ward made a late season class change from Super Stock to the Modified Champ class, but was still able to capture the 5^th place spot.

Speaking of the Modified Champ class; the family feud flipped for this season’s finale with the brother and sister team of Aislynn and David Honeycutt swapping roles as Aislynn inched out her brother for the title.  Keeping with the spirit of kart racing being a family committed type of sporting activity, the Honeycutts were also voted by the drivers as Family of the Year, with the senior Honeycutt also being honored with Best Pit Dad of the Year.  The other top finishers were Shane Johnson, Jr., Steven Lee and Hunter Jones.

KAM also offers 2 official Adult, or Senior, classes with KT100 and World Formula action.   The KT100 was non-stop, bumper to bumper action for every one of their races in this 13 race series with John Goin piloting is way to the Champions Title with Alan Kuhn and Mike Jones not far behind.  At times this trio seemed to be glued nose to tail in some serious yet friendly competition for top honors.  John Sliney may have missed several of the races in this competition due to his big car racing activities, and although newcomer David Reed made his KAM début halfway into the season, these two finished 4^th and fifth respectively.   Goin also walked away with the Best Overall Sr. Driver prize as voted on by the drivers.   Stanley Gill led the points chase early in the World Formula class and was a clean sweep victor with Daq Querry finishing 2^nd and former Rmax challenger George Minchillo rounding it off with third.  Gill also won Best Sr. Sportsman and accepted his awards dressed as Pirate who no one recognized until his name was called and he came up to accept his plaque.

Following are the complete Summer Series Results:

KID KART

1^ST Place – Madilyn Hogan, #5m

2^nd Place – Emery Potts, #55

3^rd Place – Jacob Loomis, #9

4^th Place – Heidi Sliney, #174

5^th Place – Dylan Archer, #32

6^th Place – Briar Broadstreet, #4

7^th Place – Bryce Hauk, #91

8^th Place – Shelby Johnson, #2

3.5 HP BEGINNER

1^st Place – Amber Cox, #5

2^nd Place – Drew Komarek, #44

3^rd Place – Taylor Myers, #20

4^th Place – Branson Sheffer, #6

5^th Place – Aaron McArthur, #88a

6^th Place – Paul Sechrest, #57

7^th Place – Charles Smith, #53

8^th Place - Bryce Jackson, #33

9^th Place – Carter Sing, #6c

10^th Place – Morgan McCloud, #38

3.5 HP ADVANCED

1^st Place – Trevor McIntire, #3

1^st Place (Tie) – John Boland, #36

2^nd Place – Elizabeth Richardson, #13

3^rd Place – Ashley Cox, #2

4^th Place – Anton Hernandez, #24

5^th Place – Sydney Sisk, #29

6^th Place – Adam Hogan, #01

7^th Place – Tyler Bragg, #24b

8^th Place – Trevor Goad, #4t

PURE STOCK

1^st Place – Andy Hogan, #3d

2^nd Place – Jeff Davis, #166

3^rd Place – Trevor McIntire, #9t

4^th Place – Sarah Sisk, #8

5^th Place – Dalton Stevens, #99

6^th Place – Garrett Grayson, #8g

7^th Place – Ben Saye, #77

8^th Place – Brayden Pond, #4

9^th Place – Jazen Krysl, #76

10^th Place – Adam Hogan , #01

11^th Place – Zack Dodds, #81

12^th Place – Kevin Rutherford, #95

13^th Place – Chris Clark, #7

14^th Place – Allyson Lathrop, #4L

15^th Place – Carl Elizondo, #3t

16^th Place – Justin Nabors, #2

17^th Place – Tyler Card, #15

18^th Place – Dylan Hamilton

HOT STOCK

1^st Place – Hayli Renfro, #26

2^nd Place – Ryan Smith, #12

3^rd Place – Daq Querry, #53

4^th Place – Katelyn Johnson, #2

5^th Place – Brandon Hays, #8

6^th Place – Dusty Dollins, #9

7^th Place – Jarrett Roberts, #6

SUPER STOCK

1^st Place – Shane Johnson, Jr, #66

2^nd Place – Nicki Evans, #9

3^rd Place – Kaley Engstrom, #6k

4^th Place – Trevor Hamilton, #3

5^th Place – Brandon Ward, #54

6^th Place – Tanner Krysl, #56k

7^th Place – Michelle Melton, #21

8^th Place – Brandon Walker, #98

9^th Place – Evan Brown, #22

10^th Place – Eric Bragg, #24

11^th Place – Tyler Webb, #157

12^th Place – Aaron Alley, #17

13^th Place – Collin Chapman, #18

14^th Place – Katie Lee, #83

15^th Place – Tony Dowd, #11

16^th Place – Jarrett Roberts, #6

17^th Place – Coy Jorden, #15

18^th Place – Billy Pilkinton, #17b

19^th Place – Berkley Hoff, #38

MODIFIED CHAMP

1^st Place – Aislynn Honeycutt, #37

2^nd Place – David Honeycutt, #49

3^rd Place – Shane Johnson, Jr., #76

4^th Place – Steven Lee, #3

5^th Place – Hunter Jones, #198

6^th Place – Brandon Ward, #54

7^th Place – Coy Jorden, #15

8^th Place – Brandon Walker, #98

9^th Place – Buster Laningham, #48

10^th Place – Sterling Hoff, #38

11^th Place – Ricky Strickland, #17

12^th Place – Austin Smith, #55

13^th Place – Kyndell Dollins, #91

14^th Place – Kaley Engstrom, #6k

15^th Place – Dalton Boven, #02

16^th Place – Regan Reed, #7

17^th Place – Randall Lewis, #75

18^th Place – Tony Dowd, #11

KT100

1^st Place – John Goin, #65

2^nd Place – Allen Kuhn, #86

3^rd Place – Mike Jones, #48

4^th Place – John Sliney, #74

5^th Place – David Reed, #77

6^th Place – James Carson, #57

7^th Place – Gregg Rogers, #33

8^th Place – Jeff Gitchel, #66

9^th Place – David Sweeney, #6

WORLD FORMULA

1^st Place – Stanley Gill, #56

2^nd Place – Daq Querry, #53

3^rd Place – George Minchillo, #71

4^th Place – Taylor Brown, #16

5^th Place – Dorian Morgan, #74

6^th Place – Ed Dotson, #3

7^th Place – Jeffery Burch, #17

8^th Place – Justin Melton, #88

9^th Place – Jason Lee, #33

10^th Place – Thomas Moody, #4

11^th Place – Steven Renfro, #26

12^th Place – Brooks Wilson, #201

13^th Place – Deana Minchillo, #17

14^th Place – Harley Parkerson, #00

 All pictures are by Action Photos by K3. 

 Kid Kart Class winners: (from L to R: Heidi Sliney, Madilyn Hogan & Emery Potts

  Track owners: Mike and Kelley Engstrom

Super Stock Class winners known as the FOUR Musketeers, (from l to r) Trevor Hamilton, Nicki Evans, Shane Johnson, Jr. and Kaley Engstrom

 Kaley Engstrom with Brandon Ward glued to her bumper in the Super Stock class.

  Flagman Shane Johnson, Sr and Super Stock driver Kaley Engstrom.

  Myers and Sheffer fighting for position in the 3.5 HP Beginner class

Branson Sheffer leading the pack in the 3.5 HP Beginner Class this summer.  

Nose to tail action was the norm in the KT100 class. Jeff Burch #17, John Goin #65, and former Rmax challenger George Minchillo #71.