Hazardous Pro-AM Support Kart Racer Sean
Conyers gets it to 4th Place in IKF.
March 8 - 9, 2008. Buffalo Bills Casino, Primm,
Nevada.
We always look forward to racing in the parking lot
at Buffalo Bills Casino in Primm, Nevada. It's called "The Equalizer",
and it's the most fair way to put on a kart race in Region 7. The track
gets setup on Thursday and no one can drive on it until Friday morning
practice, so, it's not a local favorite; it's everyone's favorite!!
Friday was a very busy day getting 3 karts dialed in to run 3 classes
for the weekend. At the end of the day and many laps and many changes
to the karts, Sean was running fast laps with the fastest 5 karts on the
track.
A few more practice laps on Saturday morning and we
were ready for qualify. In the Junior 1 Comer class, Sean ran a
strategy that we thought would work best and that was to run alone, away
from the crowd. Sean did just that, he let everyone pass him, then when
he had lots of track in front of him, he ran by himself and turned the
4th fastest lap times to qualify 4th. We made a quick axle change on
the next kart class, the Rookie Sportsman (yamaha) class. And that made
Sean late for qualify. The officials allowed Sean to run at the end of
the qualify session for 2 laps; a green, white, and checkered. Sean ran
2 very smooth laps and qualified in 4th, again.
The green flag came out for the first lap of the heat
race in the Junior 1 Comer class. Sean was starting in 4th place and
jumped on the throttle behind the off-pole position, kart #53. The 53
kart wasn't accelerating as well, so Sean looked for an opening to his
right behind the pole position. He made his move to the right and got
clipped in the back and spun around. Everyone went past Sean. Sean
kept the motor running, got away from the hay bails, and back into the
race in 25th place. In the next 11 laps, Sean worked his way through
traffic to finish the Heat race in 11th place. Starting 11th in the
Main Event, Sean battled hard for 18 more laps to get himself back into
4th place at the finish.
The Rookie Sportsman class didnt' go as well. Sean
started 4th and on the 3rd lap he got stuffed into the hay when he tried
to make a pass on the #53 kart. This time he couldn't keep the kart
running and had to settle for a 17th place finish. Thankfully, there
were only 18 karts in this class. On the 9th lap of the Main Event,
Sean had made his way to 7th place, but the long day started working on
his arms and he was finding it too difficult to stay up with the other
karts. He gradually dropped back in the field and finished 11th.
The HPV1 Cadet class was raced on Sunday and Sean ran
more fast qualify laps to get started in 7th place. Sean lost a couple
of positions in the Heat race to finish 9th, but on the 3rd lap of the
Main Event, Sean was able to escape a big mess on turn 1 and found
himself in 3rd place. From lap 4 to lap 9, Sean chased the front 2
karts and couldn't gain any time on them. They continued to run
together and stayed about 6 kart lengths out of Seans grasp. Other
karts trailing Sean worked together to gain on Sean and passed him. On
the last lap Sean found himself in 6th and gave it one last try for
another position just to fall short of 5th place by only 0.015 seconds.
"I think I need more exercising." the 10-year-old
Phoenix native commented. "I had a great time, I had great karts, my dad
did a fantastic job giving me some fast karts, but my arms got so
tired. With some more exercises, I'm going to be much more
competitive. It's early in the season, we've had a great start and we
will have a better finish."
Seans next IKF Region 7 event will be in Perris,
California at Apex Karting Center on April 5 - 6.
Sean
always thanks his race team: Mom and Dad, his Engine Builders: Ron
Hall (KAOS), Doug Fleming, Position One Motorsports, and his great
sponsors: Hazardous
Sports,
Amsoil Lubricants, Proclean
1000,
Tekbolt, and
our newest sponsor,
RB Components.
And always Curtis Ruth at Innovative
Karting, for supplying him with the
fast Intrepid karts and racing supplies.
Hazardous Pro-AM Support Kart Racer
Sean Conyers becomes the 2007 PKRA Cadet Champion.
Dec. 8, 2007.
Formula K Kart Track at Phoenix, Arizona.
This morning, at an unusually wet and soggy kart track in
Phoenix, Arizona, Cadet kart racer Sean Conyers, is getting ready for some
test runs at his home track. Last weekend some heavy rains kept the Phoenix
Kart Racing Association from completing it's 2007 season, so Sean would have
to wait one more week to defend his lead in the point standings. It's been
raining for a couple of days now, and we're not sure if the track will be
drivable when we arrive. The weather forecasts more rain for Sunday, so
even a little rain could ruin another attempt to finish the season.
And what a season Sean has had in 2007. In the second
race of IKF Region 7 at Primm, Nevada, Sean reaches his first goal, to get a
top ten finish, by finishing 8th in Junior 1 class and 9th in HPV1 cadet
class. Then after 3 more races, Sean finds himself in 7th and 9th in the
IKF points chase. In the PKRA club races here in Phoenix, Sean is taking
charge and finishing in the top 3 almost every race. But his confidence
falters when he gets to the Stars of Karting races and finds himself
struggling to finish a race with the top 15. "But wait a minute, Sean." his
dad tells him, "These guys are the best in the Nation. This isn't a club
race here. These are the best 25 or 30 drivers in the nation and your
finishing 15th, that's darn good in my book."
The last race of the IKF season was held in Calspeed in
October and Sean was barely holding onto 8th position in the points for HPV
cadet class. A good finish, and he could make ground in the points race. A
bad race, and he could lose positions. Sean qualified 7th, which made for a
great start, but in the Main event, when Sean tried to make a last lap pass
for another position, he found himself upside-down in turn 5 and given a
25th place finish. This dropped Sean in the point standings from 8th to
11th.
Sean worked through other emotional moments this year.
Seans mother was diagnosed with cancer and had surgery this summer and a
long recovery. Then, in September, Seans grandmother, Jean Setterlund, took
a turn for the worse while fighting diabetes for years. Jeans health began
to fail drastically and she passed away late September.
Seans determination and love of racing kept him focused.
In October, Sean was tied in the Rookie Sportsman (Yamaha) class points race
with Beau Briske here in Phoenix. One race later, in November, Sean was
able to finish 2nd and beat Beau with a 3rd place finish. This gave Sean
the lead with only 20 points. Our last event in December was going to come
down to the wire. Whoever wins the race, wins the Championship.
So, here we are, at a cold and wet Phoenix kart track in
December. The track manager is on the track assessing the condition of the
track and we wait. After a couple of phone calls on his cell phone, he
tells us the news. The track is closed, the final race is cancelled, and
the 2007 season is over.
This has given Sean two Championships in the Phoenix Kart
Racing Association! Sean won the HPV1 Cadet Class Championship by a
dominating 241 points and he squeezes out a close one in the Rookie
Sportsman (Yamaha) class by a mere 20 points. Both Championships have been
dedicated to his deceased grandmother, Jean Setterlund.
"It's been quite a year to remember, a lot has happened."
recalls Sean. "I wish my grandma could be here to see this, but I know she's
cheering for me. We plan to have a great year next season. It will be my
turn."
We hope to see more dramatic competition and victories in
the upcoming 2008 season where Sean will be racing the best in the
International Karting Federation (IKF) and the first annual Arizona State
Championship Series along with the annual California State Championship.
Sean and his Pit Crew always
race with these 3 simple rules:
Rule 1 - Don't hit other karts.
Rule 2 - Don't spin out.
Rule 3 - Have fun.
<<NEW
