The Briggs & Stratton Speedway Dirt Series completed its 2009 campaign on a hot weekend in Alma, Georgia, at the tight 0.200-mile Hurricane Raceway. The Shadow Racing Chassis Nationals marked the first WKA national ever held at Hurricane and the second Dirt national in the state of Georgia this season.

Blake Cannon continued his winning ways on the Dirt Series with four feature victories at Hurricane. The young Georgia talent dominated the season in the Briggs Sportsman 1 and Sportsman 1 Champ divisions, winning at least three of the four mains every weekend except the opener at Margarettsville, which he did not enter.

Zachary Wells and Spencer Davis split the Sportsman 2 features; Wells won Lite while Davis drove to the win in Heavy. Spencer also triumphed in Sportsman 2 Champ Final 2, while Jacob Owens won Sportsman 2 Champ Final 1.

Codie Rohrbaugh got the win in Briggs Jr Lite. Rohrbaugh also added two more victories to his total when he swept Briggs Jr Champ Lite and Heavy. Anthony Cataldi had a nice showing for himself in his first appearance at a WKA national this season. The Florida racer qualified fastest in Jr Lite and won Briggs Jr Heavy.

Charlie Sox returned to the national wars at Hurricane. He promptly put his Shadow mount in victory lane, taking a popular victory in Briggs Masters over Johnny Myers.

The senior Animal divisions saw four different winners. Kati Leonard continued her strong ’09 season by winning Briggs Lite. Chase Johnson, who finished second to Leonard in Lite, came back to win Briggs Medium. Jason Kimball beat out one of the best dirt racers on the circuit, Dee Paschal, to win Briggs Heavy. Jamie Capehart won the Briggs Super Heavy feature event.

Paschal did find victory lane once at Hurricane, meaning the Hawkinsville, Ga., racer won at least one main event in four of the five Speedway Dirt nationals in 2009. His victory at Hurricane came in the Raptor Lite feature. Bradley Hauser won Raptor Heavy.

Kimball’s strong performance in his Saturday afternoon Briggs Heavy win foreshadowed an evening that would make the 30-year-old Brooksville, Fla., racer over $2,000 richer. Kimball won the 20-lap Briggs & Stratton / Ultramax Racing Chassis / Firestone-sponsored Briggs Animal Heavy Money Race Saturday night, earning the $1,700 winner’s prize and an additional $500 from Firestone for winning the race on their rubber. Jason won over two Georgia racers, second-place Wilson Keene and third-place Levon Bennett, who earned $400 and $300 for their top-three results. Charlie Sox continued his strong weekend with a fine fourth-place finish, which was good enough for $100. Chase Peacock finished just outside of the money in fifth.

In a season that saw the return of “money racing” to the WKA, the Speedway Dirt Series’ special Saturday night Money Races couldn’t have been any more diversified in regards to spreading the wealth. Kimball’s win at Hurricane meant that five different racers took home first-place laurels in the five Money Races this season. Kimball’s win followed Brett Miller at Hanging Rock, Tod Miller at Liberty, Chris Thompson at Dexter and Dan Sox at the Margarettsville opener.

The “Sunday 6” winners, who netted a cool $250 for their victories, were Cannon in Sportsman 1 Heavy, Davis in Sportsman 2 Heavy, Cataldi in Jr Heavy, Johnson in Briggs Medium, Capehart in Super Heavy and Thomas Rohrbaugh in Briggs Champ Heavy.

The following drivers won $50 gift certificates to TS Racing for winning a class while running Vega tires: Cannon, Wells, Davis, Owens, C. Rohrbaugh, and Cataldi.

Speedway Dirt Series point standings should be updated on worldkarting.com by the end of the week. Final points including divisional races will be updated pending the arrival of points from the WKA divisional series. A Pit Board announcement will be sent out when the official final standings are updated on the World Karting site.

Now, with 2009 complete, dirt racers throughout the country can begin to look forward to a highly anticipated holiday return to the Daytona Beach, Fla. But for the first time ever, the return won’t be to the Daytona Municipal Stadium, but to the World Center of Racing and a brand new dirt track at Daytona International Speedway.

Stay tuned for more information over the coming weeks and months via Pit Board and worldkarting.com announcements.

To view the official results, go to http://www.worldkarting.com/pg/seri...-hurricane.html .


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