SSC East: Shawano Review

press release 

SSC East had another great event this past weekend at the Snap-on Stars of Karting presented by IndyCar Series Eastern division finale held at USA International Raceway in Shawano, Wisconsin. Finding victory lane was Californian Gary Carlton who was back in winning form after a disappointing Race of the Americas.

Turning only one flying lap in qualifying, Gary Carlton (above) claimed the Intercontinental C (ICC) pole position. The talented driver went on to score all three heat race victories as well as the checkers in both finals. Showing the engine problems from New Castle were behind him, Carlton drove flawlessly on his way to victory. Gary will now shift his focus to the Snap-on Stars of Karting West division for the remainder of the 2008 season and the pursuit of his third consecutive ICC National Championship.  Gary will rejoin the SSC East team for the PRI Race in December as well as the 2009 season.

Massachusetts pilot Arie Ouimet qualified his CRG in the fifth position and rounded out the heat races with a fifth and two seventh place results. Due to his consistency, Ouimet found himself outside row three for the start of both main events and would look to capitalize on a top five finish. Ouimet’s first final did not go as planned as early race contact sent him off the racing circuit where he eventually rejoined in last. Showing his never give up attitude, Ouimet battled back to a solid 11th place result. The second of two finals went a lot better for the SSC pilot as Ouimet managed to score a strong fourth place finish.

Anthony Llopiz looked to keep SSC drivers in the top ten and he did so with a good tenth place qualifying run. After a slight width error in the first heat, Llopiz bounced back for a 12th and eighth place finishes in the remaining heat races. Anthony was able to crack the top ten in final one with a seventh place result before finishing the second final in P12 with a bent chassis.

Alex Manglass continues to show tremendous improvement. Two years into kart racing, the New Jersey area driver had his best qualifying run to date with a 14th place result setting him up for a row seven starting position for all three heats.  Manglass ran hard in the first two heat races resulting in a 13th and 16th place runs before mechanical difficulties in heat race three classified him in the 22nd position. Alex finished the weekend with a 15th and 17th in the feature races

This topped off a great weekend for CRG in the ICC division. Both finals had seven CRG drivers in the top ten culminating with a CRG 1,2,3,4 in the second feature.

Junior Intercontinental A (JICA) pilot Jarvis Gennari had a week end of highs and lows.  After qualifying 15th, the Florida driver had heat race finishes of eighth, 13th and 11th. In the feature races Jarvis had an uncharacteristic 16th finish in the first feature but managed to bounce back in normal Gennari fashion with a solid fifth place finish in the weekend’s second feature.

Joining the SSC East in Cadet was Columbian driver Juan Garcia.  This was the young drivers first time driving at USA International Raceway but he managed to qualify strong and would use the heat races as a learning experience. After learning the characteristics of the track, Juan entered the first feature race on a roll and scored an incredible top ten result. Unfortunately, Juan’s good fortune was a short lived, with a 17th finish in the second feature.  Juan will be joining SSC East in Las Vegas for the Stars Finale aboard the new CRG Cadet chassis due out shortly.

SSC East is eagerly awaiting the Stars Finale in Las Vegas where they will be joining forces with PCH Motorsports in the quest for more podium finishes.

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