Team Top Kart USA once again came away with a successful weekend at the Stars of Karting West opener at Miller Motorsports Park. Though the team did not score any wins, the team saw its JICA drivers return to their true form of running at the front and challenging for wins.

Brendan Phinny led the team in JICA qualifying in third position followed by Taylor Miinch in sixth. The two Californians had a slow start to the season in Ocala, but have rebounded to continue the pace they had shown all last season. Fellow Top Kart drivers Pierce Baldus, Tyler Thomas, and Artie Carpenter qualified fourteenth, fifteenth, and twenty-fourth respectively. After strong heat races Brendan Phinny and Taylor Miinch shared second row starting positions for both finals. Final One saw Brendan Phinny challenge early for the lead, but he would have to settle for third place. Miinch finished eleventh followed by Tyler Thomas in sixteenth, Artie Carpenter in twentieth, and Pierce Baldus in twenty-fourth. Final two faired much better for the team. Brendan Phinny once again finished in a strong third position while Miinch rebounded nicely to finish fifth. Thomas moved up throughout the race to finish twelfth with Pierce Baldus in fifteenth, and Artie Carpenter in eighteenth.

Showing strong throughout practice Team Top Kart USA TaG drivers carried that momentum into qualifying with three of the five qualifying positions. Chris Scribner led the team in third with Neil Alberico in fourth, Chris Wehrheim in fifth, and Neil McCoy in eleventh. Scribner went on to win the first two heats giving him pole position for both finals. If not for fuel separation on heat 3 for Wehrheim, he and Scribner would have most likely made it an all Top Kart front row for the finals. Final One started out very well for the team with Scribner, Wehrheim, and McCoy running in the top six. While pulling in the lead group on lap five Wehrheim had a brake failure forcing him to retire from the event. Scribner went on to finish fourth while being involved in a heated battle for podium all race long. McCoy finished tenth with Alberico’s throttle cable broke forcing him to also retire. Once again the team had a great start for Final Two. Wehrheim and McCoy had strong runs to finish fourth and fifth. Scribner battled a sore engine finishing seventh while Alberico moved up to ninth.

Carter Williams took pole position by three tenths of a second in Cadet. Mason Chelootz continued to run up front in fourth followed by Luis Tyrrell in seventh, and Davey Manthei in sixteenth. Three strong heat races gave Chelootz the inside front row for the two finals. Tyrrell would start sixth with Carter Williams in twelfth, and Davey Manthei in fourteenth. Unfortunately Final One did not go Team Top Kart’s way. Tyrrell led the team in eighth with Chelootz in tenth, Manthei moving up to eleventh, and Williams in sixteenth. Recovering from Final One, Chelootz returned to form to finish in third. Tyrrell came away with another top ten in seventh followed by Williams in tenth, and Manthei in eleventh.

Next up for the team is the East vs. West Race of Americas event at the famed New Castle Motorsports Park in Indiana. For more information on the team please visit http://www.grandproducts.com.