East Coast Karting Closes Out Season with CKRA Endurance Race for ALS

By: Brittany Caseley

This past weekend East Coast Karting hosted CKRA’s annual endurance race which raised money for the ALS Foundation. Each year we like to take the time to remember those in our racing community who have lost or are battling illnesses. Recently one of the East Coast family members lost his battle with ALS. Charlie Kennedy was a long time race fan, family member and flagger, he will always be remembered in our hearts. We are grateful to be able to say that over the course of this summer, CKRA raised over $1000.00, which was donated to the ALS Foundation in his name.

The Endurance Race is one all drivers look forward to. It is very competitive on the track with lots of great memories and laughs off the track. Sunday started off with teams being picked by the 5 Briggs and Stratton Novice drivers as captains, with a mix of drivers as well as parents and crew members. The first race of the day was the rental kart race presented by East Coast Karting. The parents and crew members battled hard and adapted well to the ever changing weather conditions; from dry to rain and back to dry. With all their team members cheering them on, it was a race to remember. Following the rental races were 60 lap races for each Briggs and Stratton class.

Novice Briggs and Stratton brought a lot of excitement as the team members cheered on their captains. The weather was a continuous battle throughout the day, but you’d never know it with the intense battling of the five drivers. Isaac Teede, who was held up a bit this year with a broken arm but came out for this endurance race as strong as ever. Devin Wadden, who won the AMKA Novice championship decide to make the trip down and support the annual endurance race. Wadden had some unfortunate luck in breaking his axel (that’s right broke right off, we don’t understand it either) however that didn’t stop him from walking away with a smile on his face as always. Evan Rose and Ryan Musson, our new driver, showed the crowd how tough the competition was by battling throughout the 60 lap race. At the end of it all Ben Isreal came out on top, bringing top points for his team and putting them off to a great start.

Photos by Brittany Caseley

Junior Briggs and Stratton brought fierce competition, including sisters battling for the top spot for separate teams. McKenna Hann and Stephen Oliver battled hard exchanging positions countless times, Ben Mundle wasn’t going down with out a fight and joined in as well. Fraser Murray had a blast enjoying the weather conditions and without a doubt walked away with the biggest smile on his face. Kelsey Hann knew what she had to do to get those top points for her team, to keep them sitting pretty to be the team to come out on top.

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Senior Briggs and Stratton welcomed back a couple of unexpected guests, Nathan Kelly and Gerald Caseley, who made it well known they were prepared for the rain to start and even preformed a rain dance. Jarred Meade and Aaron Kennedy were well prepared to take on the rain dancers and accepted the challenge of dry tires. Justin Beers, Junior Briggs and Stratton Champion, decided to jump up to senior and take on the challenge as well. Rounding out the field was Brett Millar & Robert Conrad who stepped up to the plate battling for the top spot.

Finishing off the day Team Ben came out on top, Team Ben included the husband and wife duo Gord and Gail Fraser, Kelsey Hann, the father son duo Ben and David Isreal, Ian Oliver, who enjoyed letting son Stephen know that he should’ve chosen him, and last but not least Robert Conrad. Gerald Caseley Senior, owner of PSL Moncton and operator of East Coast Karting took a moment to reflect on this past summer and would like to thank everyone for an awesome summer.

“I am so proud of the growth I’ve seen from my drivers on and off the track. It is great to see these drivers come out every year and give back to their communities. We like to teach not only lessons for on track driving but also life lessons, and I hope they continue striving to do better.” – Gerald Caseley Sr.