Hamilton, Ontario – July 21, 2008 - The Cameron Motorsports/CRG National team returned from the Snap-on Stars of Karting Eastern Division finale a week ago with its first-ever Championship. Michael Vincec was the man to achieve it as the third-year ICC driver captured the tally with back-to-back runs to second on Sunday. The performance led a six-man Cameron/CRG effort in Wisconsin, one that produced six top-ten finishes at USA International Raceway. As is his standard process, Vincec managed his nose after qualifying third and came through three heat races with finishes of 3-2-2 to solidify off-pole position for twin Sunday mains. Entering with a slim ten-point lead on fellow Canadian Jordy Vorrath for the Eastern Title, it was as much a head-to-head battle for the Cameron/CRG driver as it was a run for a win. In the first main, Vincec went green-to-checker in second to take his fourth Eastern podium finish and set the quickest lap of the race in the process. Vorrath crossed third to keep a mathematical shot at the Eastern Championship alive, but it was a long one at best. Not only did JV need Vincec to drop outside of the top five in race two, he needed to overhaul a trio of CRG’s on his way to scoring a win - neither of which transpired. For a second time on the afternoon Vincec went flag-to-flag P2 and this time he was much more hungry for an outright win. An intense battle with Gary Carlton was waged before the pair of Euro-pilots repeated the order from race one. After Vincec took fast lap in feature one by just one-hundredth of a second, Carlton took quick lap in the second feature by just one-thousandth! Vincec’s finishes were two among five in the top ten of the ICC class for Cameron CRG as David Carmendy had a pair and Curtis Fox nearly did as well. After qualifying ninth in the field and battling around the top ten in each of three heats, Carmendy was sixth in the first run after coming forward from eleventh after the first flying lap. “I was happy with the result but it definitely would have been exciting to produce a top five,” the third-year shifter pilot said following the event. “My speed earlier in the weekend showed that it was possible. I just do the best I can with very little seat time,” continued the Ohio State University sophomore, “Stars is the only time I’m in the kart. Its hard, so right now I’m just trying to end each weekend with a smile on my face!” Carmendy followed with a tenth in the late start, one of three Cameron/CRG drivers in the top ten as back on the ICC grid at USAIR following a late decision to race was veteran Curtis Fox. With no testing prior and having just a handful of Rotax DD2 starts in Ontario Regional action, Fox put down an impressive weekend as he qualified sixth sitting in a shifter for the first time in over eight months. After contact led to a retirement in the first heat, Fox then produced runs to sixth in the second heat and an impressive third in the final heat as CRG swept the top three positions. He was finding time as he returned to the swing of things as well, posting a 58.5 quick lap in the first heat, a 58.3 in the second and a 58.2 in the third. Feature one proved a disaster when he failed to complete a lap, but in the second start Fox went wire-to-wire in seventh and posted a best lap of 58-flat. JICA pilot Miles Maroney headed to Wisconsin with a shot at the Eastern Championship but had plans seriously derailed after a heavy Friday practice incident. Getting up to speed on a new mount with aches and pains thrown in took Friday afternoon and Saturday morning, and when Maroney was back on pace, he then had to deal with a wild JICA field. After qualifying in twelfth and dicing to P13 in heat one, Maroney matched the speed of the leaders at 1:01.5 in heat two but was mired in traffic. After finishing eleventh, the story got worse in heat three when the young Californian was knocked to the back of the pack on lap one and could only recover to twentieth. It made for a lot of work Sunday afternoon, but in the first main Maroney worked his way as high as tenth before crossing thirteenth. In race two Maroney came forward once again, never taking a backward step in running to tenth and staying there. Canadian Jeffrey May was also in the JICA field and after qualifying P20 he consistently came forward to cross 19-18-16 in the heat races. The trend continued in the first main as May quickly worked to eighteenth in the opening stages before working to fourteenth in the closing laps. Looking for more speed in race two May actually lost time and fought his way to hold twentieth. Scott Saunders rounded the Cameron/CRG lineup in Wisconsin but just never came to grips with USAIR. After qualifying sixteenth, Saunders ran to 20-14-15 in the heats and 14-13 in Sunday mains. Saunders was much more active in the second as he worked to tenth early before dropping spots headed to the flag. The Cameron Motorsports National Team returns to action this coming weekend as the Ontario Regional Karting Championship races its fourth event at Mosport International Raceway. For more information visit www.cameronmotorsports.com |
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