7/5/2021
KC Sparks
Minnesota Missile Monday: Celebrating America at English Creek
Minnesota Missile Monday: Celebrating America at English Creek
English Creek Speedway
July 5, 2021
A healthy Box Stock class of 26 karts signed in for competition to kick off the Fourth of July weekend at English Creek Speedway on Friday night. The evening’s racing action started with hot laps/time trials where nearly half the field clocked in times in the 12 second bracket with Nikki Ballard claiming the quick time for the field.
The top four in time trials were awarded the pole positions for their respective heat races and heat wins went to the pole setters of Ballard, Taver West, KC Sparks, and Tommy Tanner.
After a pair of B Features to fill in the final four positions in the A Feature, taking two transfers from each event, the scheduled 20 lap feature was set to hit the track with Ballard and West pacing the field.
Fireworks exploded off turn two as the field headed down the backstretch to the start line. Ballard took the early lead but West wasted no time challenging her to the inside down the backstretch on the opening lap. West led into turn three, but Ballard turned under the Whiting Iowa driver to reclaim the top spot and lead the first circuit.
A quick caution flew, lining up the field with one lap completed in single file. Ballard, West, and Sparks were the top three with Tanner in fourth until fifth place Lucas Pence and Tanner made contact and both spun and had to go to the tail of the field. That moved Kinzley Sly and Montana Mitchell into the top five for the restart.
A longer green flag run saw Ballard put 4 kart lengths on West with Sparks unchallenged in third. The top five were strung out but the back of the field was fighting hard which brought out another caution.
This restart bunched up the field again with Kinser Groves moving into the top five after transferring from his B Main.
Another lap in and another caution with the top five remaining the same. This restart saw Mitchell drive in deep into turn one on the tail tank of Sparks, making light contact but sending her kart back up the track. She was untouched but karts checking up behind her resulted in retiring another driver from the event.
The next restart saw the closest action up front as the field was given the green/white/checkered finish for meeting the time limit. Gloves were off for West as he challenged Ballard through both sets of turns with Sparks within striking distance waiting to pounce if the lead duo took each other out.
In the final sprint to the finish line, Ballard held off the challenges to complete the sweep of the event and take her second feature win in a row at English Creek. Rookie, West settled for runner up with Sparks, Groves, and Tanner rounding out the top five.
MEDIA REPORT:
A Feature 1 (15 Laps): 1. 7-Nikki Ballard[1]; 2. 39-Taver West[2]; 3. 1-KC Sparks[3]; 4. 11K-Kinser Groves[13]; 5. 48-Tommy Tanner[4]; 6. 09-Paxton Benge[7]; 7. 9P-Lauren Pfoltner[8]; 8. 01-Lucas Pence[5]; 9. 72M-Montana Mitchell[10]; 10. 93P-Peyton Langlois[14]; 11. (DNF) 57-Nolan Freeman[12]; 12. (DNF) 9L-Landon Elliott[11]; 13. (DNF) 48K-Kinzley Sly[9]; 14. (DNF) 52-Knox Peterson[6]
B Feature 1 (10 Laps): 1. 9L-Landon Elliott[2]; 2. 11K-Kinser Groves[3]; 3. 6-Jaden Alexander[7]; 4. 50-Tobin Weaver[4]; 5. 21A-Alexandra Sutton[8]; 6. (DNF) 99B-Bentley Long[5]; 7. (DNF) 6R-Ryder Mooi[1]; 8. (DNS) 57R-Rylea Kriegel
B Feature 2 (10 Laps): 1. 57-Nolan Freeman[1]; 2. 93P-Peyton Langlois[2]; 3. 60F-Caden Frandson[4]; 4. 51T-Trayton Brown[6]; 5. 24B-Brooklynn Mitchell[3]; 6. 78S-Sawyer Nott[5]; 7. 21JR-Jared Sutton[7]; 8. 9-Brayton Ross[8]
Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 7-Nikki Ballard[1]; 2. 01-Lucas Pence[2]; 3. 48K-Kinzley Sly[4]; 4. 9L-Landon Elliott[3]; 5. 50-Tobin Weaver[5]; 6. 57R-Rylea Kriegel[7]; 7. 21A-Alexandra Sutton[6]
Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 39-Taver West[1]; 2. 52-Knox Peterson[2]; 3. 72M-Montana Mitchell[6]; 4. 93P-Peyton Langlois[4]; 5. 60F-Caden Frandson[5]; 6. 51T-Trayton Brown[3]; 7. (DNF) 9-Brayton Ross[7]
Heat 3 (8 Laps): 1. 1-KC Sparks[1]; 2. 09-Paxton Benge[4]; 3. 6R-Ryder Mooi[6]; 4. (DNF) 11K-Kinser Groves[2]; 5. (DNF) 99B-Bentley Long[5]; 6. (DNF) 6-Jaden Alexander[3]
Heat 4 (8 Laps): 1. 48-Tommy Tanner[1]; 2. 9P-Lauren Pfoltner[2]; 3. 57-Nolan Freeman[3]; 4. 24B-Brooklynn Mitchell[5]; 5. 78S-Sawyer Nott[4]; 6. 21JR-Jared Sutton[6]
Qualifying 1 (100 Laps): 1. 7-Nikki Ballard, 00:12.306[10]; 2. 39-Taver West, 00:12.398[6]; 3. 1-KC Sparks, 00:12.570[23]; 4. 48-Tommy Tanner, 00:12.678[8]; 5. 01-Lucas Pence, 00:12.690[17]; 6. 52-Knox Peterson, 00:12.731[7]; 7. 11K-Kinser Groves, 00:12.775[16]; 8. 9P-Lauren Pfoltner, 00:12.793[15]; 9. 9L-Landon Elliott, 00:12.799[18]; 10. 51T-Trayton Brown, 00:12.820[1]; 11. 6-Jaden Alexander, 00:12.837[4]; 12. 57-Nolan Freeman, 00:12.846[20]; 13. 48K-Kinzley Sly, 00:13.034[26]; 14. 93P-Peyton Langlois, 00:13.055[24]; 15. 09-Paxton Benge, 00:13.082[25]; 16. 78S-Sawyer Nott, 00:13.137[12]; 17. 50-Tobin Weaver, 00:13.236[14]; 18. 60F-Caden Frandson, 00:13.347[9]; 19. 99B-Bentley Long, 00:13.356[19]; 20. 24B-Brooklynn Mitchell, 00:13.555[2]; 21. 21A-Alexandra Sutton, 00:13.609[5]; 22. 72M-Montana Mitchell, 00:13.938[3]; 23. 6R-Ryder Mooi, 00:14.031[11]; 24. 21JR-Jared Sutton, 00:14.452[13]; 25. (DNF) 57R-Rylea Kriegel, 00:14.452[22]; 26. (DNS) 9-Brayton Ross, 00:14.452
1KC Motorsports Upcoming Schedule:
7/10: Golden Spike Speedway
7/11: Sizzlin Summer Series Cedar Lake Speedway Indoor Arena
7/16: English Creek Speedway
7/17: Newton Kart Klub
2021 Partner/Sponsor Appreciation
Autoland; Sioux Falls, SD
Furby’s Auto Repair; Sioux Falls, SD
GRP Motorsports; Stillwater, MN
Last Deck LLC; Jackson, MN
Heser Auto and Detailing; Jackson, MN
DRE Horsepower; Boyden, IA
Jared Bailey Photography; Carlisle, IA
MyRacePass; #TeamMRP #GetTheApp
TL Racing; Jackson, MN
Red Camel Racing
YTD Stats:
Features: 30
Wins: 7
Top 3: 14
Top 10: 28
Heat Wins: 8 out of 32
Quick Times: 0 out of 10
Article Credit: Stephanie Sparks