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November
27, 2007-********************************************************************************************** MRP
Motorsport & Chicago Indoor Racing To Host Data Acquisition
Seminars This Weekend December
1st & 2nd (DOUBLE SEMINAR!) - Data Acquisition with AIM Sports/Victory
Lane Data's Roger Caddell January
5th - Chassis Theory and Dynamics February
2nd - All about Clutches March
8th - Carburetor Maintenance ·
Location for each seminar is located at MRP Motorsport's Three Oaks,
MI location (visit www.mrpmotorsport.com for directions). December
2 Data Acquisition seminar to be held at www.chicagoindoorracing.com.
April
10, 2006-********************************************************************************************** April
6 , 2006-**********************************************************************************************
THREE OAKS, MI – Kart racing kicks off in Michiana this weekend with the official first race events of 2006 for Rolling Green Raceway and Michiana Raceway Park. Both facilities are located along the Michigan and Indiana borders and offer safe and exciting kart racing for families from the Midwest.
Saturday, April 8 will see the first race for Rolling Green Raceway, located in the rolling hills of Buchanan, MI. Sunday will mark the opening race event for the Michiana Raceway Park Championship Series, located just outside of South Bend, IN.
“We have a lot of people that have been waiting all winter to get back out and start racing karts again this season,” said MRP Motorsport’s Garry Lobaugh, owner of the two facilities. “We have families from as far as Chicago and Detroit that come out for our single day programs at one of the tracks. Our staff looks forward to helping all the new racer’s and their families as well. We look forward to another great year.”
Both properties offer a strong youth program and a great “arrive-and-drive” race programs that attracts an avid group of racers on a regular basis. Rolling Green Raceway also has their regular “Kid Kart Day” to promote safe racing for children as young as five-years-old.
Michiana Raceway Park underwent nearly a year of upgrades over the 2005 season and promises to have their best year ever with a regular local racing series, regional series events and will also be host track of the World Karting Association’s Grand National event this year.
“Both of these properties offer a chance to get out and race or driver competitive on a regular basis,” said Lobaugh. “We have tried to create a simplified class structure and professional track management so that newcomers can learn about racing and get started right away.”
Several local sponsors have stepped up in support of the tracks including KLEIN TOOLS, CAVCOMM, Pace American Trailers and Bridgestone Tires.
For information, visit www.mrpmotorsport.com or contact Brent Ebert at 574-288-4922. A complete schedule for both tracks may be found on the “Our Facilities” section. February
21 , 2006-********************************************************************************************** THREE OAKS, MI (February 21, 2006) - MRP Motorsport, the largest importer for Birel & Freeline karts and accessories in North America, will continue their Winter Seminar Series with a special seminar entitled, "Carburetor Maintenance". This session will provide the opportunity to completely tear down, clean, inspect, and rebuild your Walbro and Rotax Dellorto carburetor. This seminar will only offer Walbro “1 Carb” (HPV & Yamaha Jr. Sportsman) and Walbro “3 Carb” rebuild kits. The session will also review the tuning needs for each racing application. "Many kart racers are still leery about routine engine and carburetor maintenance," said Garry Lobaugh, MRP Motorsport President. "Carb maintenance is easy if you are properly trained and we aim to save a lot of people some heartache by having them learn to do it right." The event will be held at MRP Motorsport's headquarters in Three Oaks, MI and begin promptly at 9:00am EST. The seminar is expected to last for three hours. Interested parties should contact MRP Motorsport at 269-756-9133 as space is limited. January
31, 2006-********************************************************************************************** THREE OAKS, MI (January 31, 2006) - MRP Motorsport, the largest importer for Birel & Freeline karts and accessories in North America, will continue their Winter Seminar Series with a special seminar entitled, "All About Clutches". This seminar will provide participants an opportunity to better understand the mechanics of the most popular clutches used in the numerous classes. This class is a must-attend for anyone new to 100cc clutch or Rotax karts and will address such topics as preventative maintenance, tuning and rebuilding. "Next to tires, the clutch and related components are the most abused elements on your kart," said Garry Lobaugh, MRP Motorsport President. "Save yourself money by knowing how to work on your own clutch." The
event will be held at MRP Motorsport's headquarters in Three Oaks,
MI and begin promptly at 9:00am EST. The seminar is expected to
last for three hours. Interested parties should contact MRP Motorsport
at 269-756-9133 as space is limited.
January
4, 2006-********************************************************************************************** THREE OAKS, MI (January 4, 2006) - MRP Motorsport, the largest importer for Birel & Freeline karts and accessories in North America, will continue their Winter Seminar Series with special guests, Mike McKnight from AIM Sports and official AIM trainer, Roger Caddell. The informative seminar will introduce the ins and outs of not only the operation of Mychron data acquisition systems, but also how to analyze and optimize the data provided for peak performance. Gaining a better understanding of what your data tells you can shave those extra tenths of a second off of lap times. The event will be held at MRP Motorsport's headquarters in Three Oaks, MI and begin promptly at 9:00am EST. The seminar is expected to last for three hours. Interested parties should contact MRP Motorsport at 269-756-9133 as space is limited. "The data acquisition seminars are always popular because for most it is an untapped resource," said Garry Lobaugh, MRP Motorsport President. "We are thankful for both Mike McKnight & Roger Caddell being available to conduct this meeting. All of the AIM Sports representatives have been fantastic at customer support for the karting industry and both bring amazing knowledge." Roger
Caddell has more than 27 years experience in motorsports. He is
a certified trainer, specializing in data collection and analysis
in various fields since 1993. January
4, 2006-********************************************************************************************** THREE OAKS, MI (January 4, 2006) – MRP Motorsport announced today that they will campaign a National race & customer support program for the 2006 season. The team, named MRP-Birel AMERICA, will enter both STARS of Karting East & West Championships, WKA Manufacturer’s Cup Championship as well as select Florida Winter Tour and Southwest Regional Cup events this year.
MRP Motorsport has a long history of success, claiming 2003 SKI Magazine Team of the Year honors as well as over a dozen awards and nominations in nearly every category. For 2006, the reorganized team will see a renewed focus on Birel customer support on a National scale.
“This season is already underway and promises to be one of our best years as a team,” said Chris Lobaugh, Lead Engineer for MRP-Birel AMERICA. “We have hired additional staff and will work with our dealers and customers to create a central customer & racer support program so that everyone’s needs are not only met, but exceeded. Make no mistake, we want to have a dominant year for our customers and Birel.”
MRP-Birel AMERICA currently has opportunities available for drivers looking for unparalleled trackside support for their National campaign. Options include coaching, private testing, professional kart prep and tuning support.
Success has already come for the new season, with Wesley Boswell of the MRP-Birel AMERICA team claiming double victory at the WKA Manufacturer’s Cup event at Daytona this past week. With him came two 1-2-3 sweeps for Birel in the ICC category with Boswell & Jonathan Vitolo of MRP-Birel AMERICA taking 1-2 in Final #1. In addition, several MRP Racing School graduates had a great week of racing in Daytona.
The team is already preparing for the opening round of the STARS series in Oklahoma and testing of the new 2006 chassis has already been underway. MRP-Birel America next heads to the opening round of the Florida Winter Tour in Homestead, FL before moving on to testing and SW Regional Cup events in Texas and Oklahoma. Contact us now to start your program right!
For more information MRP Motorsport or MRP-Birel AMERICA race program, call (269-756-9133) or contact online at www.mrpmotorsport.com. Information regarding the 2006 championships may be found at: www.starsofkarting.com, www.swregionacup.com, www.floridawintertour.com & www.worldkarting.com. January
3, 2006-********************************************************************************************** THREE OAKS, MI (January 4, 2006) – MRP-Birel America, the MRP Motorsport National race program, announced today that Easykart and ICA frontrunner, Dominic Scheer, has joined the team in an effort to achieve an ICA championship contender for the North American Birel team. Scheer, who has competed in both WKA and STARS as well as in international competition, will campaign the STARS Eastern Championship and the CIK North American Championships.
“We are looking forward to working with Dominic for 2006,” said Chris Lobaugh, Lead Engineer for MRP-Birel America. “He is young and hungry to compete at the top level and we feel we can provide the right environment and support to be able to achieve his goals.”
In addition to the North American Championships and the STARS of Karting series, the young Birel driver may possibly campaign the Italian Open Masters and European Championship in ICA with a main goal of building on the experience gained from last year and turning it into race wins and hopefully a Championship winning season. ”My
goal for next season is definitely to win the ICA Stars of Karting
national
The team is already preparing for the opening round of the STARS series in Oklahoma and looks to begin testing immediately.
In 2005, Dominic ran four races in the Italian Open with a best finish of 14th, making the final twice. He also competed in the EasyKart world finals in Parma, Italy. He won 3 easykart races between Stars and WKA and was on the podium in ICA once as well in WKA competition.
MRP-Birel America will compete on the entire STARS of Karting EAST and WEST Tours as well as select WKA Manufacturers Cup and Florida Winter Tour schedules in 2006. December,
2005-********************************************************************************************** 2005-2006
MRP Winter Training Seminar Series & Open House Schedule
December
3rd – Chassis Theory and Dynamics
January
7th – Data Acquisition with Mychron’s Mike McKnight
February
4th – All about Clutches March
11th – Carburetor Maintenance
For
more information and directions to MRP, visit www.mrpmotorsport.com.
MRP Motorsport is the largest importer of Birel chassis and Freeline
accessories in North America with over 40 dealers throughout the
United States. With a retail location in Three Oaks, MI and a warehouse
facility that stocks nearly $2-million in inventory, MRP ensures
prompt and accurate customer support. For more information contact
MRP Motorsport by phone (269-756-9133) or email us at EMAIL. November
6, 2005-********************************************************************************************** The third season of the popular and growing MRP Winter Seminar Series will kick off on Saturday December 3rd at our Three Oaks, MI retail and warehousing facility. The first topic featured will be the most popular and well attended session we've had over the past two years, Chassis Theory and Dynamics. This course aims to provide attendees an understanding of the geometry and design of kart chassis and specifically what are the dynamics that occur as changes are made. This session will be facilitated by both MRP staff and current MRP Track Champions. Additional sessions for this season will include the extremely valuable My Chron data acquisition seminar facilitated by a My Chron (Aimsports) employee, carb / clutch cleaning, maintenance, and rebuilding. All
sessions begin promptly at 9:00 a.m. and will run until approximately
noon. Cost is $35 per person, junior drivers are free. Contact us
at 269.756.9133 for more information. October
21, 2005-********************************************************************************************** MRP
/ Birel Finish Strong; Alex Speed Clinches STARS Championship "This has been a great season," said Speed. "Of course it would have been nice to come away with a win in the final, we ran consistent all weekend and still ended up on the podium and the championship. The Birel chassis have been amazing this year. We have worked with a lot of karts and so far the Birel has been the easiest to make work." Speed, who started the final from the third position, battled hard to finish 1.3 seconds behind the eventually winner, David Jurca. MRP Birel driver, Wesley Boswell was strong all weekend and finished 4th behind Speed to end up 3rd overall in the final points tally and second in the STARS Eastern championship. In the ICA class, both Birel drivers, Tony Loniewski and Joey King ran in the top 10 all weekend until an accident on the first lap of the final put both drivers out of the competition, wrecking the duo's chances for top-5 finishes. The
hotly contested Cadet class had three young Birel racers finish
in the top eleven with Kyle Shriver, Brendan Phinny and Taylor Miinch
placing well in 5th, 9th and 11th in the 28-kart field. MRP
Competition is currently seeking interested drivers for the 2006
racing season. Email us at chris@mrpmotorsport.com
for information regarding our testing programs for this winter.
MRP
Revives Old Name & New Logo For SBRP Facility "I have to thank Curt Paluzzi, editor of National Kart News, for the name we have used for nearly 20 years," said MRP Motorsport President, Garry Lobaugh. "He suggested we let people know where we were and what we did, hence the Michiana Raceway Park name. As years went on, the MRP name has been utilized as our brand name in nearly every aspect of our company." The eventual move to refurbish and rebuild the 30-acre North Liberty property formerly called South Bend Raceway Park was the initial step in the project started in March of 2004. It was a transition year for the facility and company. Through this period the focus was on improvements to the property and professional full-time staffing for racers as well as entertainment programs. The start of 2005 found similar experiences in entertainment exercises out of MRP of Austin, one of MRP Motorsport's other property partnerships and pro-shop locations, which coincided with the needed work to ramp up exposure of the North Liberty property. Marketing, networking, chamber activities and a local advertising campaign were implemented to initiate a broader market awareness of the final product. The Michiana region is a large part of the company's customer base because the facility caters to racers from all over the Michigan, Indiana & the Illinois borders. Once the Buchanan, MI racetrack was renamed Rolling Green Raceway (RGR), the MRP name was available to continue the rebuilding of karting's popularity in the Michiana area. "All through this effort the goal of MRP was to build a sense of pride in belonging to the MRP Championship Race series, said Lobaugh. "The national events with WKA and RotaxMax allowed us to showcase the management talents and skills of the entire MRP staff and give local racers a place to shine." Michiana
Raceway Park recently hosted two large karting events, with the
WKA Manufacturer's Cup & the 2005 U.S. RotaxMax Grand Nationals
both being successful. Looking forward, Lobaugh looks to introduce
karting to thousands of new people rather than the hundreds that
might attend a kart track. In the years ahead the focus will be
to maintain a high profile in customer entertainment programs, corporate
training efforts and to continue to build relationships with new
kart racers through a variety of strategies. September
12, 2005-********************************************************************************************** The Saturday victory has been said to be one of the closest finishes of a STARS final, just edging out Ron White by .095 seconds, with the top four drivers spread out by less than .7 of a second. Sunday's final was a different story and Speed pushed to a three and a half second advantage by the end of the 21-lap event. "We were off a little on tire pressures for the Saturday final and we struggled," said Speed. "We found the balance on Sunday and I never felt pressured in the heat race. Carlton hung on for a while in the final but after he broke we were in cruise mode. We have a great set-up and I am stoked with this kart. It has been amazing for us." Team Speed / MRP Birel teammate, Ryan Phinny, started off strong, qualifying alongside Speed in the morning session before battling to a fourth place in Saturday's final. A broken clutch in Sunday's prefinal relegated the quick driver to the back for the final before putting on a fantastic display of driving to work his way up through the 28-kart field to finish in 10th position. "Our team prepared well for this race," said Mike Speed, Alex's mechanic and team manager. "We worked on a testing program for this track and came prepared to win. We were able to find a great balance with the Birel and this thing reacts so well to small adjustments that we were fast from the start. It was great to see both Alex and Ryan on the front row after qualifying." Brendan
Phinny continued his string of strong finishes with victories in
the Cadet prefinal and final on Saturday. Taylor Miinch was in the
hunt for a podium all weekend as well, placing 5th on Saturday and
4th in Sunday's final in the 24-kart field aboard his Birel chassis.
On Saturday, Birel karts ran strong in the headliner ICC category with more karts in the top 10 than any other brand, including Boswell's victory and a sixth place result from Texan, Collin Lynn who was on hand working with MRP Tuner, Tim Lobaugh. "Collin did an amazing job," said Tim Lobaugh. "He was competitive all day long on Saturday and unfortunately on Sunday he killed the motor and had to start dead last. We think he would have been able to work himself into the top 10 fairly easily at the pace he was running, but he lost a nose cone in traffic, which was an automatic DQ. I look forward to working with him again." Boswell was again in the hunt for the top spot on the podium on Sunday, but lapped-traffic kept him from retaking the lead and he ended up on the final step of the podium in third. "Traffic was tough and many local yellows kept me in line," said Boswell. "I got into the back of Velez and he got into the loose stuff and I probably could have taken advantage of that - but I pulled back in behind him. You never know what will be deemed as rough driving and I don't want to win that way, so I played it safe." MRP/Birel Team Manager, Chris Lobaugh, was happy with the performance of the team after a tough last few races. "We have been fast everywhere we go but not always have the racing luck to follow through," said Lobaugh. "We finally got some of our winning form back and we are looking forward to the final race of the season. The Birels work well everywhere, but we have a great handle on the temporary circuits especially due to pre-season testing and we think we will have a strong presence." Other Birel racers that showed well include Jonathan Vitolo, who took a career best 11th place finish in Sunday's ICC final. Birel drivers dominated the leaderboard in Sunday's ICC final with six Birels in the top 15. In the Cadet class, young Oscar Tunjo spent the entire weekend running in the top 5 to claim 5th on Saturday and 4th on Sunday aboard his Birel. For
more information regarding North America's largest importer of Birel
chassis and Freeline accessories, contact MRP Motorsport by phone
(269-756-9133) or via the web at www.mrpmotorsport.com. For event
news and results, log onto www.ekartingnews.com.
August
10, 2005-**************************************************************************************************** For Saturday, 2004 SKUSA King of the streets winner, Kyle Wiegand (GP/KLS Racing) took to the track in the MRP Motorsports/Formula IC class, with the fastest time of the weekend of 30:643 qualifying. Followed by Florida's Jonathan Vitolo (Birel/MRP). Racing only Saturday, Wiegand got the holeshot and won the prefinal by 1.375 sec over Vitola. As the afternoon heated up, Wiegand was first to turn one for the final and led flag to flag over Vitolo. On Sunday, Vitolo, who is spending the summer as a student with MRP's Summer Camp training program, won the pole assisted by ace tuner, Chris Lobaugh. In the final Vitolo dropped back to fourth at the start of the race as Cole Matheson took the lead and was driving away with the race in his CRG machine. Relentless effort to make the come back paid off as with three laps to go, Vitolo made an inside move on the second downhill mid range passing zone of MRP of South Bend to make a smooth move, slowly pulling away from Matheson to take the win. There were four double-winners over the weekend as Zach Spencer (Comer Jr. 1), Addison Root (TaG Cadet), Chris Shultz (Formula G-1) & Brad Greenup (TaG Junior) each brought home victories for their Saturday & Sunday events. All winners both days received a special dual tool combo pack with a Klein Tools T-Shirt or Dan Wheldon miniature Indy Car as a special contingency for their victory. On Saturday evening, the competitors enjoyed a dinner provided by MRP Motorsport President, Garry Lobaugh, to honor Terry and Shirley Riggins for their effort and contributions to the sport and Great Lakes Superkarts! USA. Klein Tools The final race of the 2005 Klein Tools / Great Lakes Superkarts! USA event will be at Trane Motor Speedway, Sheridan, IL, Saturday practice, Sep 10th, single day race Sept 11th. Both Saturday and Sundays results top five are as follows. Sat
Finals Sun
Finals Sat
Finals Sun
Finals Sat
Finals Sun
Finals Sat
Finals Sat
Finals Sun
Finals Sat
Finals Bush
Trophy Case/TaG Cadet Sun
Finals Bush
Trophy Case/TaG Cadet Sat
Finals Sun
Finals John's
Kart Shop Formula S-2 Sun
Finals Contitech-Continental
Tires TaG Junior Sun
Finals For
more information, visit www.glskusa.com
or www.superkartsusa.com.
AUGUST
2, 2005- "These machines are incredible to watch," says Garry Lobaugh, Owner of MRP of South Bend. "We have been looking forward to the Great Lakes Superkarts! USA Pro Tour coming to our track all year. They always put on a great show and showcase what these shifterkarts are truly capable of." With 6-speeds and approximately 40+ horsepower on tap, shifterkarts have been known to out perform several stats put up by the world's best "supercars" including 0-60 times and lateral cornering G's. Putting over thirty of these machines on one single track guarantees a good time and exciting racing. "Superkarts!
USA has had a long relationship with MRP and the racetrack here
in South Bend," said Joe Janowski, Executive Director of Superkarts!
USA. "We have been coming to this facility since 1995 and we
are excited to see the updates. The Great Lakes Pro Tour has been
our flagship region since 1993 so this should be a big event for
the racers involved. Each driver is competing for points to qualify
for our Nation's Cup event in Colorado later this year. This gives
them a chance to compete against the top drivers from each Superkarts!
USA region around the country and the chance to be crowned a National
Champion." MRP of South Bend is anxious to begin the festivities of the event with practice scheduled for Friday. Saturday and Sunday will be chock-full of racing action and promises to showcase the talents of some of the best shifterkart pilots in the Midwest. Spectator
passes will be available at the gate. Pit passes will also be available.
JULY
27, 2005-**************************************************************************************************** The event started at noon and was a 3-hour endurance format event with drivers hand-picked from LaPorte businesses. Area businesses donated by lap, contributed product that was raffled off or via straight donation, depending on their preference. "Right now, we aren't even sure how much we raised as not all the money is collected," Sudlow said. "But we should definitely be over $5,000 and it could easily be more, which is just fantastic!" The Deserving Kids Childrens Fund has been around now for a few years, with WCOE 96.7 DJ, Dennis Siddall, doing a "roof sit" to raise money for the cause. "This was an unbelievable event," said Siddall, who also competed in this year's charity kart race. "Dave (Sudlow) came to me with this karting idea and it went off spectacularly. In two years we have raised over $54,000 for this charity, but this year looks like we will get a considerable jump." Siddall will continue his roof-sit event again this year, from September 16th to the 18th. MRP of South Bend owner, Garry Lobaugh, was equally excited about the outcome. "We
were all so happy with the turn-out for this event," said Lobaugh.
"We are no strangers to putting on charity karting events and
it is definitely a fun and exciting alternative to your typical
fundraiser. We tried to make the event as fun and rewarding as possible
for the competitors. I think everyone had a great time."
JULY
21, 2005-**************************************************************************************************** "I wanted to get LaPorte area businesses involved in a great charity and have a lot of fun doing it," said Dave Sudlow, owner of Sudlow Excavating and organizer of the event. "The bottom line is that this is all about giving back to our community and the kids here in LaPorte County. At the end of the day, we will all be winners." The event starts at noon and will be a 3-hour endurance format event with 36 drivers hand-picked from LaPorte businesses. "Many of the drivers that will compete have had support pledges based on laps. The more laps you complete, the more money we can raise," Sudlow said. Sudlow approached MRP Motorsport owner, Garry Lobaugh, to host the event after helping with the refurbishment of the 15-year-old facility when the idea to put this charity event together. "We are very excited to help out this charity in any way we can," said Lobaugh. "We are no strangers to putting on charity karting events and it is definitely a fun and exciting alternative to your typical fundraiser." Participants
will arrive from 11:00am to noon for registration prior to the 3-hour
event. The race will be followed by a short presentation. Media
is welcome to attend. JULY
10, 2005-**************************************************************************************************** Too most, kart racing is a fantastic family sport and a seasonal hobby, but to many racers in the WKA championship, it is a serious sport and a stepping-stone to professional motorsports. MRP Motorsport, owner of three racetrack facilities located around the country, has been training these up-and-comers for nearly twenty years. "We have operated karting schools and training programs for karting since we got started," said Garry Lobaugh, President of MRP. "We have trained several drivers when they started out that have now moved on to professional auto racing. But we also train parents and mechanics and make sure everyone that goes through our schools has a good time. Karting is a fun sport and it is important that we keep it that way." One such graduate, Danica Patrick, is setting the Indy Racing League on fire right now becoming the first woman to ever lead the Indianapolis 500. Patrick and her family raced regularly at the MRP of South Bend track and she was a successful graduate of the MRP Speed School. "Age doesn't matter," said Lobaugh. "Kids the age of 5 to adults approaching 70-years-old have all successfully gone through our program. Entire families have experienced a school together before deciding what direction or class they want to start in." If
you, or a family member, are interested in getting involved in karting,
this weekend is a great time to learn. Spectator passes may be purchased
for $8 per day or if you would like to venture into the pit area,
the cost is $10 per day.
JUNE
21, 2005-**************************************************************************************************** Three Oaks, MI - MRP Motorsport is happy to announce the launch of their new website, www.mrpmotorsport.com. The new site is a current work in progress and will continue to grow with content over the next three weeks. "We are happy to finally update our website's look to match what our print advertising campaign has been over the past few years," said Garry Lobaugh, MRP Motorsport President. "The new site will be easier to navigate and should offer a much easier way for people to learn who we are and what we do." The site will feature links to all the different segments that MRP Motorsport has to offer the general public. As the largest importer for Birel chassis in North America, information regarding Birel and Freeline karts and accessories will be available. MRP also offers one of the best karting schools in the country with three locations nationwide. There is also an effort to showcase MRP's successful corporate training and entertainment programs that have been in place for over 15 years. "You will see continuous changes for the next few weeks as we add more content," said Lobaugh. "We wanted to let customers know that we were dedicated to finally updating our image online and we hope everyone continues to check back on a regular basis."
The team had both SuperKart Illustrated Magazine #1 ranked ICC driver, Alex Speed and his Team Speed / MRP Birel teammate, Ryan Phinny, entered in the weekend's top category, ICC. Phinny got the team off with a great start in the first qualifying session by posting the 2nd fastest time to qualify second, followed closely by Speed in third. Speed went on to show why he is ranked #1 in the sport right now, moving up from his 2nd starting spot to take over a two-second victory for Saturday's final. Phinny, running in 3rd with a one lap remaining, was putting in an impressive drive for the 2nd spot but had a last lap bobble and finished 6th, turning the fastest lap of the race in the process. "This was a pretty solid run for us," said Speed. "Both Ryan and I qualified well and stayed up front all day, so we are really satisfied. Reine at SwedeTech Racing Engines once again gave us a great TM engine package and the Birel chassis has proven that it works on any type of track, permanent or temporary. We can take this kart anywhere and be competitive." Sunday was more of the same for Speed, posting 4th fastest in qualifying before working his way up in each race to take another big Final win on Sunday. Speed wasn't the lone Birel on the podium today though, as Phinny continues to impress the paddock with his abilities, posting the 3rd fastest in qualifying and finishing 3rd in both the pre-final and the final to stand on the podium with his Team Speed / MRP Birel teammate. The Cadet class saw one young driver dominate all day on Saturday, taking the pole, pre-final and final in a heated battle with four other drivers. Under the tutelage of Joey Hand, Brendan Phinny was a rocket on his Birel/Fleming Racing Engines Comer machine and took top honors in the 25-kart Cadet field. On Sunday, Phinny once again came out on top in the final after qualifying and finishing 2nd in the pre-final. Taylor Miinch also put in an impressive performance taking 5th on Saturday and 4th on Sunday on his Birel chassis. Team Speed would like to thank MRP/Birel, SwedeTech/TM, SHIFT, Anderson PitKarts, Speed Concepts, Arai, RLV, Pi Research, Fader Higher, Joey Hand Racing & Fleming Racing Engines for their support throughout the season. For more information regarding North America's largest importer of Birel chassis and Freeline accessories, contact MRP Motorsport by phone (269-756-9133) or via the web at www.mrpmotorsport.com.
The racers competed against other area competitors throughout the month of April to post fast times at MRP of South Bend's race facility in equally prepared karts. The top 20 times qualified before having a three-race runoff to determine the final three to progress. Logan Gomez won each heat in three separate karts to place first followed by both Sam Lee and Jordan Dick each with three top 3 positions. "After seeing the previous winners climb the racing ladder we knew the Red Bull Driver Search was the real deal," said Gomez. "I believe that everyone, including myself, left that evening knowing they had run a fair race. MRP did a wonderful job of making things simple, clear, and satisfying, even going as far as having water for the drivers in-between heats." "I thought the Red Bull Driver Search event was a fun experience," said Lee, finishing second overall in the event. "It was my first year competing and to be able to race against guys like Logan and Jordan in an equal performing kart was a great opportunity. I think that I will do well against the other drivers. I'm very excited to have this chance to be able to compete at a higher level." "I
really enjoyed how MRP of South Bend structured the Red Bull event,"
said Dick. "It wasn't just based on someone getting a quick
lap in qualifying. You really had to earn it. I think I have a good
chance of succeeding at the regional competition."
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