07/20/2026
Another blessed day at Liberty Raceway and another hot and sweltering day of racing. Myself, after getting most everyone in the gate and parked, I advanced to the Flagstad where the marvelous thing called an air conditioning is blowing the most fabulous thing called cool air. Feeling rather guilty but also rather cool 🥶after a while, I got myself together for my next duty of scoring. I had not scored but once since my surgery back in November and having it done with no errors reassured me that I was doing better than I realized. I had rather be out there with you guys but if there were a day picked for me to score, Saturday was the best one to pick. Kirsti will be back next race.
What a surprise Saturday turned out to be. I got calls Thursday and Friday from some of the most talented in the karting nation. Of course we had our local talent of Jamie Knopf, Levi Ballsieper, Ryan Summers, Travis Jones, Troy Lunsford, Jeremy Martin, Dylan Feltman (who has turn up the wick on that Speed Clinic machine these last few races),we had our SC guys Brayson Riddle and Brice Moore and also had well knowns… Tommy Bauter, Jason’s and Lane Scruggs, Chop with Bubba Williams and Spanky Williamson, Justin McDonald wanting parking for Saturday and I was more than happy to oblige. I’m sure I have missed somebody in the list I just typed but hopefully see your name in the rest of the race cap. Read on. Now .....
LET’S TALK RACING!
The first race in the lineup was Clone Lite in which qualifying was in 3 qualifying groups. Stephen Adams, Jamie Knopf, and Chase Austin were anxiously waiting to come out to claim their spot in the main event lineup. By no luck of the draw, it was Stevo who came out on top of the entire Clone Lite line of contenders turning 12.204. Second was Jamie Knopf who’s lap time was 12.258 and Summers 3rd rounding out the top 3 at 12.329. The main event, Adams took the lead with his CHARGER ROUGE POWERED BY TERRY’S HI-PERFORMANCE POWERPLANTS BY ET AND NEVER HAD TO LOOK BACK. WITH THIS EVENT GOING CAUTION FREE, THERE WAS NO NEED TO. ADAMS HAD A 0.549 advantage over 2nd place finisher, Jamie Knopf and then 3rd was Levi Ballsieper. What a way to start off the racing evening!
Next in line was our Jr 1 class. Although our Jr classes are small, they were mighty! Pole was Charlie Wingard accrediting himself with a time of 13.315. Second was Maddox Newlin with a 13.560. Wingard brought out a caution flag on lap 7 giving up his lead position to Newlin. Newlin led the next few laps only to give up his lead on the white flag lap to Wingard. These boys fought hard!
Clone Super Heavy 425 Pounts is next on the list. The Chop trailer entered at the gate this morning and I knew he was going to have something good instore for us. Bubba Williams charged the bright yellow P & P powered Charger Racing Chassis to the all so wanted pole position in the Clone Super Heavy Points class with an outstanding lap of 12.647. A LRP regular, Mr. David Watts who is driving for Brian Kendrick , qualified a lap time of 12.716 behind Williams and Jeremy Martin who has his Terry’s Hi-Performance Powerplants on board qualifying 3rd with a time of 12.725. The main event in this Clone Super Heavy Point class was Williams all the way! From Green to checkered, it was the bright yellow 41 gaining a lead over second place finisher of Dylan Feltman who had qualified 4th on his Blade kart and Speed Clinic engine. Third in line of finish was Jeremy Martin. Jeremy was fast but after Feltman passed him on lap 3, Martin couldn’t get the place back and had to settle for 3rd.
Jr 3 Is next up. Like I said before, our jr. classes may be short but the talent in driving is great! Jr 3 had 3 entries and the pole was awarded to Kayland Woodell. In qualifying Wooddell gained the pole position by turning 12.763 on his qualifying round with Jett Harrison following in grabbing the 2nd performance time of 12.861 and 3rd in line was Jordynn Glib with a 16.205 qualifying round. The main event, Woodell led the first 5 laps with Harrison passing for the lead on lap 6 and continuing on to capture the black and white checkers. You will hear from these boys again later.
Ducar 390 Points is a class that is to be determined for 2027. Seven entries made Ducar 390 points again small but talented. Pole was 13.028 earned by Jacob Freeze on his Blade Kart by Speed Clinic and powered by Speed Clinic as well. After all Jacob is Gary’s son. What would you expect? Second place qualifier was Dustin Parker who I know was parked with Chop and so, I’m sure Chop was giving advice to Parker and qualified 13.051 on his trip around the track to set his qualifying time. Third was Chris Duffy who has raced at LRP for many years but not here lately. His qualifying time was 13.291. Now for the main event. The winner of the Ducar 390 Point class was Jacob Freeze with a 0.126 lead ahead of Parker and third was Chris Duffy.
Slick Open Tire Sr Champ Clone 425 was called to the track next. This is one of my favorite classes. With 3 groups to qualify, it was Tommy Bauter in the first group out who grasped ahold of the pole position and held on tight for he was in the first group to qualify. I don’t really know Bauter but I sure have heard his name a lot. He ranks right up there with Knopf, Adams, and Johnson. Anyway, Bauter turned a fast time of 12.652 with Austin Banker running close behind with a 12.705 and 3rd was returning champion from last week, Cole Johnson with a lap of 12.764. The track was quite a bit faster this week.
Jr 1 $ is next on our lineup this week. Charlie Wingard is again back on pole with a slight .432 over 2nd place qualifier Maddox Newlin. Wingard also got all the checkers at the end of the main event as well
Clone Medium is our next full field race with 19 entries. Lane Scruggs was on the pole for a while as he was the quickest in the first qualifying group of 12.171. Tommy Bauter being in the 2nd qualifying group turned the quickest lap in that group of 12.058 taking the pole from Scruggs. Again the 3rd group had another qualifier that yearned for that pole position, Brayson Riddle took pole from Bauter. Last group and this is purely by when their entry was received, Stephen Adams again took that pole position from the entire 19 kart field with a lightening lap of 11.990. The main event was a Tommy Bauter show leading flag to flag and winning again in Clone Medium.
After another break we had Pro Clone Super Heavy 425. With only 9 entries in this class, the excitement had me on the edge of my seat. It was Bubba Williams, Dylan Feltman, and Jeremy Martin laying out the path in which was the fastest to take. Their laps 0.144 between pole and third place starters and 2nd stuck in there in the middle. It was Bubba Williams in the main that struck out as he did earlier in the points race taking the lead but Dylan Feltman had other plans and took over the lead on lap 3. Feltman had the yellow 41 pass him for 1 lap around at lap 12 but Feltman was there to take command back. Second place had a little action. First it was Feltman and when Feltman took the lead, Williams fell to 2nd, but Jeremy Martin took second for a brief lap and Williams got it back for 8 laps and Williams interrupted Feltman’s lead for a lap giving it back and Williams fell back to 3rd. That’s when David Watts who started 5th caught that 2ndposition and was all over the leader in the last couple laps but just not enough to pass. The ending was Feltman Watts, Williams for your top 3 finishing positions.
Jr 3 $$ was next up. Jett Harrison took pole position with 12.435 and Kaylan Woodell setting his kart in 2nd position to start the main event. The main event was not “LEADER TAKE ALL”, as Harrison led the first 4 laps and Woodell let the next 5 leaving the last 3 to be claimed by Harrison again. Congratulation guys. You really showed us how it’s done.
Clone HEAVY was the 2nd race with a $1000 to win reward. With 16 drivers, we had 4 qualifying groups. Again, out of those 16 drivers, it was Stephen Adams leading the way to the main event in that never forgotten position of pole by turning 11.977. 2nd went to Ryan Summers by running a 12.096 lap and the lap time of 12.129 for 3rd was earned by Lane Scruggs in his Ultramax Kart. The main event was again flag to flag a OH! STEVO RACE! Tommy Bauter who started in 9th position came to 2nd position in 9 laps to finish 2nd. The 3rd place finisher started 7th and Jamie, I knew you were not going to stay back there. Good job to all you guys. We only had 2 cautions and that was when you first started and there are so many that try to win on the first lap.
The 2nd Ducar 390 class is up now. It was Jacob Freeze, Dustin Parker, and Chris Duffy again as it was in the Points race. The last lap in the main event ended with Freeze, Duffy, and Parker which is just a little different finish than the points class. I will say Chris Duffy earned the fastest lap of the main event with a 12.977.
PRO Slicks Only Open Tire Sr Champ Clone 425 FOR $1000 TO THE WIN is up now, Austin Banker, Tommy Bauter, Cole Johnson qualified 1, 2, 3 with a slight gap of 0.200 between 1st and 3rd. qualifying times were 12.516, 12.543, and 12.716respectively. The main event was not quite so uniform as other classes. Everyone had a chance to lead a lap so let me just write it out for you. Lap 1 – 6 was led by Austin Banker, laps 7-10 was led by Cole Johnson, laps 11 & 12 had local Travis Jones in control, lap 13 was Brent Townsend leading, lap 14 & 15 had Tommy Bauter in first, 16 – 21 had Brice Moore on point until his motor started slowing down due to no air filter, that’s when the number 33 of Cole Johnson took control again on lap 22 or the 25 lap main event. The top 3 finishers were Cole Johnson, Austin Banker, and Travis Jones. Yall made it exciting for one thing. We never knew until the last few laps who was going to win. Just like a horror movie! Lol
Clone 450 only had 1 entry but he wanted and paid for laps to make and we let him do just that. Justin Sands I hope one day we can find some more to race with you.
Then the rains came. So disappointed were 17 other drivers as it was Jamie Knopf on his P and P powered Premier kart was strolling to claim the pole position when qualifying. Saving his best to last. So many times, I’ve seen him do that very thing. He leaves the night with a prime performance. Second and Third qualifying was Stephen Adams and Cole Johnson in order. Knopf was rocking to a 12.008 and Adams was12.025 and Johnson a 12.035. There’s not much open space between the 2nd and 3rd.
Now lastly is our Treaded classes. We are running 25 lap mains in these 2 classes The Clone 400 flat kart was Ryan Summers, Johnboy McLaurin, and Billy Furr. These positions were chosen in qualifying as the rain came before the main event.
Treaded Sr Champ 425 was the very last lap of the night. Qualifying went in this order, Austin Banker 13.470, Jerrett Freeze 13.743, Justin Sands 13.887. Again this main event got rained out and was paid by qualifying order.
Our next race is August 1, 2026. We will
Have the flyer out soon. We’re hoping everyone who came this weekend will return August 1st as well. Until then, stay safe and well and God bless!
Registration is open: https://daytonaofdirt.com/registration
