The third annual CKN Dash for Cash at the Canadian Mini Indy hit the track on Sunday under heavy clouds and a persistent drizzle.
With $6000.00 in cash up for grabs, spread between the winners of the nine categories, the intensity level was kicked up a notch. In addition, $4500.00 in prizes were raffled off to drivers just for entering the event.
As we expected, the home track drivers from Prime Powerteam were in control in most of the categories, but that didn’t stop those who travelled in from out of town from showing their worth and going after the cash. In total, 5 Prime/BirelART drivers scored wins, two from PRO-Mosport/CL Kart were successful, while one driver from Racing Edge Motorsports/Kosmic stood atop the podium, along with a privateer on an Energy Kart.
The rain was a pain, but also a great equalizer and helped produce some unpredictability. The CMI track surface is very tricky on a dry day and for drivers having to navigate every inch of the surface to grip in the rain was exciting to watch and see how creative some had to get to make their karts work.
For those true racers who stuck around from Saturday to Sunday, we thank you. This is an event that CKN and CMI take pride in, and your support, regardless of the conditions, is greatly appreciated and we’re hoping to grow the event again next year with cash, prizes and racers.
And ‘Thank You’ to the event sponsors for the day: Techno Metal Post Hamilton Durham, Reynolds / Regier Homes, The Decal Zone, Mosport Kart Centre / Pro, Prime Powerteam and REV Performance Materials.
There were two Finals we were really looking forward to after the morning Qualifying and PreFinal sessions as Briggs Senior and Rok Senior tee’d themselves for a pair of showdowns, and they didn’t disappoint. So we wrote them their own race reports.
In the Briggs Junior Final, Callum Baxter (Kosmic) chased down early race leader Jordan West and overtook him just before halfway to get the lead, before pulling away to a 3.3-second victory. Nolan Hofricter (BirelART) joined the two on the podium after holding off Logan Pacza (BirelART) and Mitchell Morrow (BirelART) on the final lap.
Pacza got his revenge in the Rok Junior Final as he powered away to an impressive 4-second win. Saturday winner Frankie Esposito (BirelART) just couldn’t find the same grip that Pacza did, and finished second ahead of Baxter.
In Mini Rok, Major Makovskis (CL Kart) doubled up his win count on the weekend. He pulled off a great over-under on the final lap to emerge from the second-last corner with the lead and celebrated the win. Pearce Wade (BirelART) was the driver overtaken and finished second while Mayer Deonarine (Exprit Kart) stood on the podium in third after Savio Paniccia (CL Kart) withdrew from third place with four laps to go with a mechanical issue.
With the track drying up, Jackson Morley (BirelART) adapted very well to the conditions and chased down race leader Matthew Roach (BirelART) on the final lap. While Roach was able to hold on to win at the finish line, officials deemed his final lap blocking worthy of a penalty and that elevated Morley to the win and a $500.00 winners cheque. Rocco Simone (BirelART) showed up Sunday morning and did a great job for his first time at CMI to finish on the podium in third.
Logan Ferguson (BirelART) recovered from a tough start to regain the lead of the Briggs Masters Final on lap nine and never looked back. Except he pushed back his nosecone coming back through the field and gave up the win after the checkers as he couldn’t outrun the 5-second penalty. Rich Folino (BirelART) was the beneficiary after finishing second at the line and took home a nice $1000.00 payday.
A late-race spin for leader Anthony Martella (CL Kart) allowed Logan McMurray to slip by and into the lead in the Briggs Junior Lite Final. Martella tried to claw back but just could catch the leader as McMurray took home the race winner’s cash. Muskaan Sattaur (Intrepid Kart) finished third.
Finally, Joshua Conquer (Energy Kart) passed Jared Ramnarayan (CL Kart) on lap five and then checked out in the Rok Shifter Final. With a drying track, Conquer lapped nearly a second quicker per lap, to win by 13-seconds over Ramnarayan and Ryan Monteiro (CRG Kart).
We will be back at the Canadian Mini Indy this coming weekend as the opening round of the Motomaster Ron Fellows Karting Championship hits the track. We’re expecting a great turnout with commitments from many teams across Ontario and even a handful of entries from Quebec coming too. Haven’t registered yet? Click here to do so now!
