4/26/2021
KC Sparks
Minnesota Missile Monday: Outdoor Season Starts With a Pair of Fifth Place Finishes
Minnesota Missile Monday: Outdoor Season Starts With a Pair of Fifth Place Finishes
English Creek Speedway; Knoxville, IA
Newton Kart Klub; Newton, IA
April 26, 2021
The long awaited outdoor season opened for two tracks in central Iowa with English Creek Speedway and Newton Kart Klub hosting their first point shows of 2021. Strong fields of Box Stock drivers signed in at both facilities.
English Creek Speedway (Friday Night) 21 karts
WIth Mom still teaching, KC Sparks and Dad headed south to get to the race track. KC drew the 98 sending him out in the last group for qualifying. KC Sparks pedaled his race kart around the track in a time of 13.721 before having to lift in the final lap to avoid running over another driver. That time was good enough for second quick on the night behind rookie Kinzley Sly who set quick time in her first Box Stock event.
Heat race wins went to Sly, Landon Elliott, and Nikki Ballard.
Sparks was unable to start his heat race and was forced to start at the tail of the B feature in eleventh position. Sparks wasted no time moving up through the field, moving up four positions at the end of the first lap. Montana Mitchell pulled away from the front of the field with Brantley Tjaden holding off Ayden Erickson in second and third. Sparks kept in the throttle and continued his charge to the front picking up a position every couple of laps. When the white flag flew, Sparks was challenging Tjaden for second and was able to take the position at the checkers. Mitchell won the B feature with Sparks, Tjaden, and Wisconsin driver Erickson making the transfer to the A main.
The fifteen lap A Main was paced to the green by Sly and Elliott. With several karts scrambling to the start and a couple ending up in the infield, a complete restart went green with Sly jumping to the lead. Sparks was again the kart on the move as the field split like the Red Sea in the first set of turns and KC drove through into fifth place from his 12th place starting position.
Up front, Sly was challenged by Nolan Freeman who returned to English Creek after a year off to play ball. Coming out of turn two, Freeman made the charge to the lead while Elliott cruised in third with Sparks hounding Cameron Bowling for fourth.
After three circuits around with Sparks driving to the inside of Bowling to make a pass, the two tried for the same piece to track getting into turn three and hooked together, bringing out the caution and both being sent to the tail.
On the restart, Sly made a challenge to the outside of Freeman for the point while back in the field, Erickson, Bentley Long, and Carson Berglund went three wide for position. Mitchell was finding her groove as she quickly moved up three positions on the restart.
Sparks found himself in a four kart battle for sixth with Jaden Alexander, Berglund, and Mitchell. The four drivers diced for position behind Tommy Tanner in fifth. Sparks worked through that pack and passed Tanner down the backstretch for fifth.
Freeman took home the opening night victory with Sly, Ballard, Elliott, and Sparks in the top five. Tanner, Berglund, Bowling, Alexander, and Mitchell were the top ten.
Newton Kart Klub (Saturday Night) 18 karts
Several drivers from Friday night also competed Saturday at Newton Kart Klub. Using a two heat format with passing points, the feature line up was set with all 18 drivers making the A Main.
Carson Berglund and Taver West lined up on the front row after accumulating the most points through the heat races. West got the jump from his outside starting position and took the lead. Berglund settled into second with a hard charging Nixon Heiderscheidt in third. Sparks started fifth and had a strong drive into the first turn but drove too low, hitting an infield disc and sending his kart up into the side of Nikki Ballard who had started fourth.
West continued to pace the field but Berglund never lost touch with the rookie as the gap was never more than a half second. The top two started to pull away from Heiderscheidt as Aidan Leingang was putting pressure on the podium runner.
As the leaders caught lapped traffic, West and Berglund maneuvered their way through while Heiderscheidt and Leingang got hung up allowing Sparks to close in. On lap ten, Heiderscheidt and Leingang went high out of turn two with Sparks driving hard to the inside and moving past both drivers as they reached turn three, but the yellow flew before they were able to cross the line.
On the restart, West held his advantage at the front and the top five remained unchanged. West looked to be on his way to his first Box Stock feature win in his first start as he had the edge over Berglund. Coming out of turn four to the checkers, West missed the bottom, leaving room for Berglund. At the line, 0.060 seconds separated the winner from second as Berglund led the only lap that counted and took home the opening night feature win.
West proudly claimed second with Heiderscheidt, Leingang and Sparks in the top five. Cruz Dickerson, Ballard, Mitchell, Garrett Warren and Lauren Pfoltner were the top ten.
1KC Motorsports Upcoming Schedule:
4/30 English Creek Speedway; Knoxville, IA
5/7: English Creek Speedway; Knoxville, IA
5/8: Newton Kart Klub; Newton, IA
5/14: English Creek Speedway; Knoxville, IA
5/15: Mississippi Thunder: Fountain City, WI
5/16: Cedar Lake Sizzlin Summer Series; New Richmond, WI
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
YTD Stats:
Features: 15
Wins: 7
Top 3: 12
Top 10:15
Heat Wins:4 out of 10
Quick Times: 0 out of 6
Article Credit: Stephanie Sparks