(Press Release from Wild Thing Karts)
STAFFORD — Brian Sullivan’s last-lap lightning was one of the highlights in the second installment of the Northern Connecticut Kart Series, a joint effort between Stafford’s Wild Thing Karts and the Tri-State Kart Club at Pomfret Speedway.
Brian Sullivan of South Windsor said he doesn’t know where the sudden burst of energy came from. Ryan Borges of Rutland, Mass., however, felt its effect. Borges was leading Monday’s Senior Champs race in Stafford’s Motor Speedway’s Wild Thing Kart competition until Sullivan’s high voltage move on the 18th and final lap took Borges by storm.
Sullivan swooshed his way into the lead and held on to capture the victory in his first appearance of the season. His brother Tim Sullivan also roared past Borges on the final lap to take second and Borges was forced to settle for third.
“The Sullivan’s experience got me,” Borges said. “I thought I had it. I was consistent every lap. I don’t think I slipped once. I looked over at the white flag lap on the front stretch and I saw Brian’s orange No. 92 kart on the inside of me and I said, ‘Oh no.’ There it is.”
Sullivan thought he was going to have to settle for second place until his last-lap finishing kick.
“It was a good battle,” Sullivan said. “Ryan was going really good tonight. I was beating him in turns 3 and 4, but I was trying to cut turns one and two short and I kept hitting the dirt. There were a couple of mistakes on my part. Maybe I was rusty.
“But I knew if I could get to his bumper, I could throw it in and make it stick. If I didn’t send it in down with front-stretch, I never would have gotten him down the back-stretch.”
Sullivan decided to make his debut because of the high level of competition.
“All the heavy hitters were here,” Sullivan said. It was definitely the race I wanted to come to.”
Greg Estell of Stafford had taken the lead on the first lap of the Senior Outlaw race and appeared headed to the winner’s circle. He got stuck behind a lapped car, however, and Wyatt Chambers fireballed into the lead with five laps to go. That meant it was desperation time for Estell.
“We were a little faster than Wyatt and we just ran him down,” Estell said. “We made it exciting.”
Estell was on the verge of taking over the lead on the final turn of the 18th and final lap when Chambers spun. Not only did Estell get by him, but so did Josh Gayman, who finished second, and Dan Gayman, who finished third.
“I didn’t want to hit Wyatt and I didn’t hit him,” Estell said. “He’s a good driver and it’s a lot more fun if you race people clean. It was a racing incident I guess. We’ll take the win.”
Estell said even though he lost the lead with five laps to go, he had the faster kart. “My dad and I tinker with the kart all week and tonight we made the adjustment that we needed to make,” Estell said. We were faster than everybody. Even faster than Wyatt.
Jason Chapman of Ellington remained scalding hot in the Junior Outlaw division. He launched himself into the lead on the first turn of lap 7 to win his seventh 15-lap feature. Ryan Birkenshaw finished second and Jacob Avery just nipped Jake Hines at the finish line to finish third.
Jesse Martello passed Kevin Davis on lap 6 on his way to a win in the 15-lap Tiger A feature. Davis held on for second while Ryan Magliano finished third.
In the 12-lap Tiger B feature, Jaden Lage’s three-race win streak appeared to be over when he was involved in an altercation on lap 1. By lap 8, however, Lage was back in the lead. He expanded his lead the rest of the way to grab the win, followed by Tommy Foster, who was second, and Adam Bigalow, who was third.
Dylan Dinsmoor took the lead on lap 5 and pulled away from the field to win the 15-lap Junior Champ race over Dustin Gagne and Evan Charette.
Dylan Houghton rolled to an impressive win in the Junior Sportsman while Darren Kranz Jr. topped Tommy Foster in the Rookie Champs.
Jonathan Vargo overcame Ernie Veader to win the Pro II Modifieds.
In Cubs action, Jacob LeMay thundered past Brady Bigalow and Raleigh Maskell to win the first feature and Summer Berndt overcame Dylan Lacas and Hunter Duquette to win the second feature.
Competition in the Northern Connecticut Kart Series shifts to Pomfret Speedway Saturday at noon. The Wild Thing Kart series resumes Monday at 6:30 p.m. at Stafford Motor Speedway. For more info on the Northern CT Kart Series visit www.facebook.com/NorthenCTKartSeries and for more info on Wild Thing Karts visit www.WildThingKarts.com.
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Thanks for the coverage! Good win Brian, looking forward to race three Saturday at Pomfret.