Dylan Jackson poses with his 4 championships trophy
Story by Bruce C. Walls
Photos by Bruce C. Walls
and Susan Taylor-Walls
MIDLOTHIAN,
VA-Virginia Dirt Karting Association (VDKA) racers were recognized for their
accomplishments in the 2009 racing season Saturday evening January 9th
at the Midlothian, VA Holiday Inn Express Hotel and Suites Ballroom. Richmond,
VA racer Dylan Jackson earned most of the Eagle trophies awarded junior
champions that night.
Last March 10-year-old Jackson and his team set out on a mission
to win all four Junior 1 offerings.
That Saturday night the Tod Miller Racing Engines powered Phantom kart
pilot stood proudly on the stage before a packed house to receive a trophy
taller then him, honoring him for that accomplishment.
“This was my goal at the start of the season,” Jackson
stated. “It takes a lot to win a championship at this level. It took a lot of hard work, dedication,
late nights at the shop and good equipment, really good equipment and good
sponsors. I just tired my hardest
and never gave up.”
When Junior Lite racer’s points were tallied Jackson came
out on top by 28 points over Millsboro, DE native Zach Bullis. Evan Dennis was third in the tally
followed by Brady Penny and Delawarean Carson Wright in fourth and fifth.
In Junior 1 Heavy Jackson out scored Dennis 904 to 862 for a
42-point difference. Penny and
Bullis were third and fourth with Hayden Connor completing the top five. In
addition to his two flat kart championship Jackson also wheeled his way to two
Champ kart championships as well.
One hundred and five points separated Jackson and Gavin
Jenkins Sportsman 1 Champ Lite counting.
Richmond racer Sara Mitchell was third, Daniel Folds fourth and Brayton
Haws fifth. In R&R Kart Shop
Sportsman 1 Champ Heavy Mitchell trailed Jackson by 188 points 1040 to
852. Jenkins, Folds finished the
top five.
According to Jackson winning four titles in the VDKA takes a
lot of, “hard work, good equipment, really good equipment and really good
sponsors.”
Backing Jackson are Snap-On Tools, Murphy Tire Works and LD
Designs.
Five racers were crowned double champions that night. Sixteen-year-old Woodbridge, VA
racer Brandon Brown bagged both Briggs Restricted classes, Lite and Heavy. Lewes, DE native Alex White was second
both times. In Lite Brown beat
White by 184 points; 1032 to 848.
In Heavy the difference was 117 points - 1011 to 894.
Looking back on last season Brown recalled, “I think the
last race at Amelia is the one I’ll remember most. There were a couple things happen in our class the first
race. So it was a bittersweet victory in that one. The second race there was the best one, I think, because we
clinched the championship there early and so it was a great fun race.”
Claiming Lite’s remaining top five points positions were
Virginians Nicholas Ogles, J.B. Loomis and Chase Williams. In Heavy Ogles was third again this
time followed by Bradley Sacra and Williams for the top five.
Series President veteran Scotty Bajer was also a double 2009
champion. Bajer, and Avis
Electric, Bajer Kart Shop backed Mechanicsville, VA based double champion,
topped points chases in Animal Medium and Heavy. Fellow Virginian Stephen
Adams, of Fore Oaks, trailed him in both tallies. In Animal Medium they were separated by 182 points and by
111 points in Heavy. Medium’s
other top five finishers were Lewes, DE native Brandon White, Austin Banker and
Jonathan Cash.
When asked to recall his most memorable race of the 2009
season Bajer responded, “Capital City.
I won all three classes there.
At this level of competition in one day that’s quite an
accomplishment. I just want to
thank my sponsors for supporting me this year, Avis Electric, Tod Miller, Jimbo
Ackerman, I’ve said it all year I couldn’t have done it without him, the Speeds
in the shop, the Browns and my wife for allowing me do this.”
Stony Creek, VA based Adam ‘Precious’ Beville was third,
White was fourth followed by Cash who clinched fifth again.
“We had a great season in this class as well, Animal Heavy.”
Bajer described. “I can’t say much
more then I probably don’t have a lot of these wins left in me, but we’re going
to enjoy the ones we get. I’ll be
watching next year (2010). I’ll
run some next year, but it won’t be in the Virginia State Series. I’m going to help other people and
watch.”
Adams won the Animal Lite title out scoring Jonathan Cash by
just 68 points. “It takes a lot of
work to win one of these championships,” Adams explained. “ It takes racing week in and week out.
Learning, keeping up the data on all the stuff, keeping up on your tire game,
having people and connections to talk to and just going out and competing and
not giving up.”
Austin Banker, Kyle Ezzell and Robert Clark rounded out the
top five.
After spending three years trying to capture a VDKA title
Rixeyville, VA racer Justin Kirby won not one, but two last season. The 12-year-old racer ruled point’s
chasses in two close contests for the Championship, The Kart Shop Junior 2
Heavy and Junior Sportsman Champ Heavy. In Junior 2 Heavy Troy Doggett trailed Kirby by just
45 points. Trevor Brightwell was
third in the tally followed by Blain Sharp and Devin Dodson.
“I’ll probably remember the first race at Capital City,”
Kirby recalled. “I was behind
Trevor Brightwell on the last lap and a lapped kart got in his way and slowed
him down. I tried to go around him
on the outside, but I couldn’t make it work so going into three I ducked down.
Doggett passed me and then he got into Trevor Brightwell and I got under both
of them and beat Doggett by a couple of inches.”
Veteran kart racer Chris Beasley captured both Senior Champ
classes. In Lite Beasley beat Brad
Davis by 195 points. In Heavy
Beasley beat Bumpass, VA based Kyle Ezzel by just a single point for his third
straight Senior Champ Heavy championship. Kyle Ezzell was third in the tally,
Brad Davis fourth and Josh Tapscott fifth.
Ezzell’s brother Conner championed both 2-cycle
classes. He topped TAG’s point’s
pile compiling a 235 points advantage over Justin Clark. Craig Schill was third followed by
George Clark and Nick Hall in fourth and fifth. “It takes a lot,” Ezzell said. “It takes everything that you’ve got and then
some. You have to put 100% effort
every single time. You can’t wait
until the last minute to start
getting your stuff together. You’ve got to start planning weeks and weeks
ahead. It all adds up. They were all fun races. We had a great time on the track., even the times I didn’t
win. They were all memorable.”
On his second trip to the podium Ezzell picked up Yamaha’s
Championship trophy. Justin
Groome, John Decker, Hall and Billy Tapman made up the rest of the podium.
Back to the Briggs classes Michael Brightwell bagged Briggs
Senior’s title turning in a total tally of 208points to second place Matt
Smith’s 178-point record. Richard
Taylor took third for the field.
David Meade mastered Briggs Medium (Raptor). JD Eversole earned the second largest
tally trailing Meade by 50 points.
“We won three different times so all in all it was a good season. I want to thank Scotty (Bajer) and
Jimbo (Ackerman) for all of their help, Harrill Wiggins and Phantom Racing
Chassis and Tod Miller Racing Engines.
It’s been pretty good all year,” credited the Richmond, VA based champion
who added, and “I’ll always remember the last race of the year. That’s the one that sealed it (the
championship). Me and Dougie
(Young) were going at it down the backstretch on the last lap, I moved him a
little bit, but hey sometimes you’ve got to do what you’ve got to do.”
Dougie Young was third in the count with Bryan Fallen and
Dagan Bowdoin rounding out the top five. Young and Meade also fought it out for
Stock Heavy’s championship. This
time Young was the victor earning a 155 points advantage over second place
Richard Parks. Meade was third
followed by JD Eversole and Ray Taylor for the top five.
Stock Super Heavy was a nail bitter to the finish with
Discount Karting backed Powhatan, VA based Jason Manes beating Kevin Elliott by
just 65 points. “Everything was on the line at the last race,” Manes described,
“Basically if Kevin Elliott won he would be the champion, even if I finished
second he would beat me by five points.
I made a mistake on the first lap and fell back to ninth. I had to run him down with five to
go. Further back in the
points chase’s top five were Billy Tweeden, Ryan Bengies and Daniel Terry.
“It takes lots of hour and lots of support to earn a
championship at this level and unfortunately a lot of money,” Manes
explained. “But, at the same time
the support we’ve gotten for the past 20-years has been absolutely
phenomenal. I want to thank the
people I race against. They really
made a big difference because when you race against class people who respect
you and that makes a big deal.”
Trevor Brightwell topped Junior 2 Lite. Brightwell amassed 975 points to
Kirby’s 885 points for a 90-point spread.
Doggett was third in the tally followed in the top five by Blaine Sharp
and Christian Williams.
In one of the season’s hottest contests Tyler Warriner
captured Junior Champ Animal’s championship. Warriner out scored Dylan Brockwell by just five
points. Close behind in a tight
top five were Gilson Fearnow, Temie Bottoms and Kyle Myer.
Looking back over his past season Warriner reflected for a
moment and said, “I’ll always remember my first State Race it was at Capital
City. I’ll always remember that
race because I’ve been working really hard to win a State race and I finally
got one and that was probably my proudest moment.”
Twelve-year-old Ryan Fisher, of Powhatan, VA, gathered the
most points in Junior Sportsman 2 Champ Lite presented by EDL Motorsports, Kart
Parts and More and Titan Karts by MRC.
Fisher took the title with a narrow 16 points advantage over Kirby. Camden Testerman was third in the
points chase with Mason Bailey and Logan Willis’s counts earning them the final
two top five positions. “I want to
thank Rage Karts and Jeff Hoisington for the Nitro Junior chassis and Donnie
Lewis for the motors,” Fisher credited.
Richmond racer Mike Mitchell was crowned Senior Champ Over
35’s champion. In the final tally Mitchell took the championship with a 187
points margin over Jeff Davis. “They were all great races last year,” Mitchell
recalled. “I guess I’ll remember
the last one at Margarettsville most from last season. Everybody was so
tight. I was on the outside pole
and kind of went back a little bit and had to fight back up and do a lot of
drafting. So I’ll remember that
one cause it was the last one.”
Wes Simmons, David Henderson and Randy Emory made up the
remaining top five spots.
“I think it takes consistency,” Mitchell said of winning the
championship. “You want to win every race, but sometimes you just need to back
off and fall back into second or third or whatever and have a good race.”
With the 2009 record book now closed VDKA racers are getting
ready for their 2010 season, which kicks off March 27 at Margarettsville
Speedway in Margarettsville, N.C.
Capital City Speedway will host the second race April 24th. Then the series travels to Amelia Motor
Raceway in Amelia, VA May 22. On June 26th they return to
Margarettsville Speedway. July 31st
they will be back at Capital City.
September 18th they end their season at Amelia.
For more information visit the series website at www.vakarting.esva.net
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