A lil over three years ago, a couple of kart rac

A lil over three years ago, a couple of kart racers were looking for another opportunity to raise money for a church building ministry called King of Kings
Missions. Capitalizing on the "slow season" of karting,
the King of Kings Shoot-Out Indoor Kart Challenge
was born. For the third year, on February 7-8, Dan
Reeves and Jeff Baker welcomed kart racers from
eleven different states to the campus of the University
of Tennessee - Martin. For the third consecutive year,
the event saw growth, drawing over 450 entries.
Many indoor events in the south are mere
"dry" events. Not this one. This facility offers more than
adequate pit space in an adjacent building, a covered
breezeway to the track building, and both have good
heat!! Lol.
This was my first trip to UT Martin, and hopefully it won't be the last. The guys may have experienced a few hiccups, and a lil "growing pains" this
year, but the event was still great!
On the track, while many features were on the
edge of your seat exciting, the most entertaining of the
weekend had to be what they called Amateur Open.
That's right, amateur and open in the same breath!!
That right there tells ya to hang on, it's gonna be a fun
ride! Lol Benji Bogard survived to claim the feature on Saturday over Kyle Schmidt and Tyler McCartney. Sunday's
feature saw Tyler Kelly beat Schmidt to the checkers with
Hutchinson KS's Kobey Borecky coming home in third.
The event drew a decent crowd of UAS competitors. Unfortunately, most of them checked their driving skills
Granite City IL's Matt Morton were the big men on campus,
literally, at UT Martin, at least for a weekend. Both scored
three feature wins.
England's first win came on Saturday in the Pro
Medium main. England swiped the lead away from Borecky
on lap nine of the fifteen lap battle, and crossed the finish
line with nearly two seconds advantage over Tony Hobson.
In the Saturday night capper, Pro Clone, England
started on the pole, but it was the Ultramax of Billy Vadergriff grabbing the early lead with Scott Cunningham in tow.
England worked his way to the head of the field on lap four-
at the door, or squeezed them out when they pulled their
helmets on. Whatever the reason, both days saw this class
turn into an uncharacteristic crashfest. On Saturday Dustin
Bennett survived the carnage to claim the win over John
Jordan and Cody Hays, while Kyle Schmidt picked up the
win on Sunday.
Paducah KY's Ty Blake England and
teen of the twenty lap tilt, and held off Vandergriff for the W.
Things were a lil tougher on Sunday for England.
Starting fourth in the Pro Heavy feature behind fast timer
Scott Rimmer, Vadergriff, and Jeremy Lile, it would take
England thirteen laps to find his way into the lead. At the
stripe, it was England over Matt Norton, Joe Warren, and
Borecky.
Morton
doubled up on Saturday,
taking the Animal Super Heavy and Animal Heavy wins. It was Tim Elts and Jeff Scott chasing Norton to the line in Supers, with Warren and Rimmer
trailing in Heavy.
On Sunday, Morton set fast time, and led wire to
wire to claim the Pro Super Heavy feature win, crossing the
finish line 0.856 seconds ahead of Jeff Walston and Raymond Stull.
Kobey Borecky and Billy Vandergriff doubled up in
the win column. Borecky claimed the Animal Medium win
on Saturday, and Stock Appearing on Sunday, while Van-
Saturday
fighting
off Landon Britt and
Joe Warren. Warren
emerged with the second spot after the dust
settled, with Rimmer,
Dale Nelson Jr, and Tyler Kelly capping the top
five.
Borecky started
on the pole for Sunday's
Stock Appearing feature, but the early lead
went to Jody Mitchell,
as Borecky fell as deep
as sixth place before
getting his mount pointed in the right direction.
By lap nine, Borecky
was in second, with his
sights set on Mitchell and the lead. With two to go, Borecky
slipped by on the way to the checkers. Mitchell fell to third
at the finish line, with Tyler McCartny taking second.
It's said that good things happen to good people,
right? Well, a few months back at Dumplin Valley Raceway
in Kodak TN, a benefit for the daughter of Wayne Overton,
dergriff picked up the W in Sunday's Pro Clone Lite, and
Pro Medium.
Borecky cruised flag to flag for the Medium win on
a local racer, included a raffle for an Ultramax Xceed. The
raffle was won by a kart shop, who in turn put the chassis up for auction. Already having more than a few dollars
invested in the raffle tickets, Oakdale KY's Billy Vandergriff
paid a premium price to take that Xceed home, stating, "I
had my mind made up when I left home, that kart was going
back with me", adding "besides, it's for a good cause." With
a Jimmy Rivers Performance Works power plant bolted on,
the ShowTyme Cuts pilot had a fast piece on Saturday, and
finally found his way to winner's circle on Sunday, twice!
Starting from the point, Vandergriff led flag to flag
to take the Pro Lite main over Collin Stephenson, Mike Halliburton, Tony Hobson, and Joe Warren.
The Pro Medium feature was much the same with
Vandergriff leading the way for the entire twenty lap tilt.
Tony Hobson motored into the second spot on lap five, but
didn't have enough to steal the top spot. At the finish line, it
was Vandergriff, Hobson, Warren, Rimmer, and Borecky.
The only junior division racer to double up in the win
column was Cole Ward. Ward claimed the Jr Blue feature
on Saturday, beating Cole Falloway and Peyton Walker to the stripe. On Sunday, it was Hogan
Fox chasing Ward to the finish
line, with Dale Ward
coming
home in third.
Other
Saturday
winners included Joe Warren (Animal
Lite), Charlie Mefford (Rookie Red), Tnoy Hobson
(Clone Lite), Grant Huffstetler (Jr Unrest), Kaya McCubbin
(Rookie Champ), Tim Elts (Pro Clone Super Heavy), and
Josh Ray (Sr Champ).
Collin Stephenson (Sr Champ), Blake Cunningham
(Jr 3), Dalton Davis (Jr Champ), Tucker Boulton (Jr Aqua
Champ), and Troy Bailey (Over 35) scored feature wins on
Sunday.
If you are a diehard that looks to race every weekend of the year, that means indoor racing in the colder
months, this is one event that should be on your calendar.
Keep in touch with the King of Kings via Facebook throughout 2015, and make your plans to head to Martin TN next
February.