“Team performs exceptionally well at IKF Sprint Grand Nationals”

June 28, 2010 – Position One Motorsports had an outstanding week at the International Karting Federation (IKF) 2-Cycle Sprint Grand Nationals by taking four pole positions, four main event victories and eight podiums. With the event taking place at the Willow Springs International Raceway in Rosamond, California, Position One Motorsports and their team of seven pilots dominated the racing action and brought both the Avanti and Maddox chassis to the forefront of North American karting. 

“The Grand Nationals were very successful for us,” stated Position One Motorsports Owner Luis Martinez. “I have to congratulate the entire team for some solid results and even though some drivers did not manage to take home a Duffy, they supported the team and presented themselves in the most professional way possible.”

With the main events taking place under the lights, the first official racing action would take place on the evening of Wednesday, June 23rd.  Leading the way for the team would be a pair of Senior pilots in the PRD division as Dylan Nobile and Nick Johnston would drive their Maddox chassis to the front of the field. After both drivers qualified second and third respectively, lightning would strike the pair in the heat race, as both drivers would retire from the race and be forced to start from the tail of the field. With only a twenty lap final, the duo would work together and drive towards the front of the field. Turning some of the quickest laps of the weekend, Nobile would manage to slip into the second position before the checkered flag flew while Johnston would come home third. Fellow PRD pilot Bobby Kelley could only manage to score an 11th place finishing position after prefinal contact took him out of the running early.

Junior Yamaha pilot Juan Garcia started his IKF Grand Nationals off with a top ten result aboard his P1 Engines powered Maddox chassis. After qualifying 11th and failing to take the green flag in the prefinal, Garcia drove to a solid ninth place position in the main event. Fellow junior driver Skylar Estrada would also be in action and would compete aboard a P1 Engines powered Avanti chassis in the KPV 1 Heavy class. After qualifying with the eighth quickest time, Estrada would fall back two positions in the prefinal as he would finish tenth. After an inspiring drive in the main event where the talented up and comer battled for seventh all race long, Estrada would have to settle for a tenth place result in the main event.

Both Nobile and Johnston would be back in action on Thursday evening as the pair of drivers would find themselves in familiar territory, at the front of the field. Dylan Nobile would be back on track in the Leopard only IAME Challenge division where he dominated from the opening laps in qualifying. After taking the Screaming Eagle pole position award for the fastest time, Nobile would sweep the day’s action by taking the heat race win and main event victory, and score his first career Duffy and the first of 2010 for Position One Motorsports. Fellow IAME Challenge driver Kyle Longmore would look to flex his muscles in the spec engine division but after qualifying near the front of the field, the talented senior would come home in the sixth position.

The excitement of Thursday evening was not done there as Position One Motorsports would garner another Duffy award courtesy of Nick Johnston. After scoring the second quickest time in qualifying for the KPV 3 class, Johnston would be the bridesmaid in the heat race as he would fail to advance forward to that elusive first place position, but made up for it in the final as he was the first driver to take the checkered flag. This would be Nick Johnston’s fifth career Duffy.

Juan Garcia would also be back in action on Thursday evening as he would compete in the KPV 2 category. After qualifying in the eighth position, a spin in the prefinal would force the youngster to start from the tail of the field. Driving like a season veteran in the main event, Garcia drove forward into the top ten and scored a solid seventh place result.

Comer 80 pilot Skylar Estrada battled a tough field of Cadet pilots and would qualify in the middle of the pack. After some heat race difficulties, Estrada would be forced to start from the final row of the grid and would drive forward to finish 19th.

Nick Johnston would provide the action for the Position One Motorsports squad on Friday evening as another Screaming Eagle pole position award and Duffy were awarded to him in the Senior PRD Heavy class. After taking the pole, Johnston would claim the heat race victory but would fall short in the main event to finish in second. Johnston was awarded the victory in post race technical inspection as the on-track winner was removed from the final classification giving Position One Motorsports their third Duffy of the week and Johnston’s sixth overall.

Fresh ofF his seventh place run in his King Taco/Sunrise Ford K&N West Car, Luis Martinez would battle some of karting’s regulars at the front of the field. After qualifying in the seventh position, Martinez would score a result just inside the top ten for the heat race but would show his speed in the main event as he drove forward for a solid third place podium result. Nobile would also compete in the Senior PRD Heavy class but after finishing third in the main event, was removed from the final results due to a non performance enhancing broken exhaust header.

Juan Garcia would pull double duty on Friday evening as he would do battle in both the Junior 2 PRD class as well as Junior Yamaha. Looking to score a pair of solid results, Garcia would come home in eighth and tenth respectively only to fall victim in post race technical inspection. A minor mistake on the reeds for the intake manifold would cost Garcia his best result of the weekend, but he would be back the following day to look for redemption.

Californian Skylar Estrada would have another difficult day as he ran inside the top fifteen throughout all on-track action. A tough race in the main event in the KPV 1 class would see the young gun fall back to the 17th position where he would finish.

The final day of action for the 2010 IKF Sprint Grand Nationals would see another strong performance by Position One Motorsports’ drivers. Leading the way on this occasion would be IKF TaG Senior driver Bobby Kelley as he dominated the day’s action. After taking the pole position, Kelly went on to claim the heat race win and main event victory to take home a Duffy and provide the team with their fourth of the week. Both Dylan Nobile and Kyle Longmore would also compete in the TaG class with Longmore scoring the better result in fifth while Nobile would come home in seventh.

Johnston would provide the team with another Screaming Eagle pole position award as he turned the fastest lap in qualifying for the KPV 4 class. Though Johnston was one of the fastest drivers on the track and won the prefinal, he was unable to hold a pair of his competitors at bay as a last lap last corner pass cost him the victory. Johnston would finish in the third position.

Juan Garcia would get the redemption he was looking for this evening as he would compete in the KPPV Junior 2 class. After qualifying in the thirteenth position, Garcia moved forward in the main event to finish in the eighth position and taking home another top ten result.

Also improving in the Comer class this day was the young Estrada as he competed in Comer 80 Heavy. From a 21st place position in qualifying to a top fifteen result in the main event, Estrada looks poised to take next year’s Grand Nationals by storm in the Sportsman divisions as he looks to go after the elusive Screaming Eagles and Duffies.

Position One Motorsports would like to thank their 2010 supporters: King Taco, Eibach Springs, Molecule, Jan’s Towing and P1 Engines.

For more information on Position One Motorsports, race team opportunities, Maddox and/or Avanti product lines as well as information on how to get into karting, please visit Position One Motorsports online at www.position-one.com or contact them at 626.814.2008.