From KJ Motorsports
This weekend the KJ Motorsports Team continues their asphalt season by competing in a Checkered Flag Sprint Series sanctioned race at Charlotte County Motorsports Park in Punta Gorda, FL.
The day at Charlotte County was a breezy spring day. The sun was out and the day time temperature was 70 degrees and cooled off to the mid 60’s as the sunset that night.
A total of 16 cars showed up for the Checkered Flag Sprint Series event. The 16 cars were broken up into 2 heat races. Keith and Amanda were in the first heat and started 5th and 4th respectively. Keith was able to get a great start and was leading the heat race by lap 2. Amanda was fighting a loose car that they had worked on in practice. The car was getting better, but was not completely to Amanda’s liking. Amanda fell back to 5th after Keith had passed her but she was able to get her original spot back by the time the checkered flag flew. Keith won the heat race and Amanda finished 4th.
Mickey was in the second heat and started 5th. Mickey’s car was a little tight during the heat. He was able to make his way up to the 4th position and that is where he finished in the 8 lap heat.
Between the heat and the feature, the KJ Motorsports crew worked on all three cars to get them ready for the feature. Keith’s car was running great and only needed a stagger change before the feature. Amanda’s car needed more cross weight to work on the loose condition. Mickey’s car was a little tight and needed a stagger change, right rear spring change and both panhard bars adjusted. The changes were made and cars were rolled out to start the feature.
All 16 cars made it out for the 30 lap feature race. As the cars were scheduled to take the green flag, Bryan Riddle and Frankie Hurst made up the front row. Keith lined up in the 8th starting position, Amanda started in the 6th and Mickey started in the 7th starting position. On the start, the inside lane was moving forward while the outside was being held up. Amanda and Keith in the outside lane were looking for any opportunity to get into the lower lane. At the same time, Mickey was able to move forward and moved into the 3rd position in the early running. Amanda had dropped back to 11th before she could get to the inside line. At that point she was able to start making her move forward. She soon was in 9th. Keith after getting to the lower lane was also making his way forward. On lap 14, Amanda got very loose and spun into the infield. There was no damage so Amanda got re-fired and rejoined the field. After this restart Keith had made his way to the 2nd position before a rack of cautions came out. After a long stretch of green the field could not seem to settle down as Laps 18, 19 and 21 each had their own cautions.
On the lap 21restart, Keith was looking to pass the leader Jimmy Alvis Jr. Keith made the attempt in turns 1 and 2 but could not make the pass. Coming through 3 and 4, Keith diamond the corner and made the attempt on the inside. At that moment, Jimmy’s car appeared to stumble and Keith ended up running up on his left rear tire and they both spun. While the cars were slowing to a stop, Gary Gimmler hit Keith’s car and the outside wall and also went up into the air. The impact was so severe that it ended both Keith and Gary’s nights. Jimmy’s night ended 2 laps later as he ran out of fuel.
At this point, Amanda had moved up to 5th place and Mickey was in 3rd. The race restarted but the yellows had not concluded yet. With 4 laps to go, Mickey was spun by another driver and had to restart at the rear of the field. In the final 4 laps, Amanda was passed by David Slawiak and Mickey was able to work his way through the remaining field and finish 6th.
In the final standings, Jimmy Alvis Sr won the event followed by Scotty Adema, Mark Gimmler, David Slawiak and Amanda Ferguson in 5th, Mickey was 6th. In the final standings Keith finished 11th.
Keith’s car (Ms. Liberty) suffered some serious damage. The rear axle is broken, wheel destroyed, all the rear radius rods are damaged and other parts of the rear suspension were destroyed. Keith was disappointed as the car was as fast as it had ever been. With a few weeks to fix the car, the team is confident that Ms. Liberty will be back out and competing for wins very soon.
The next event for the KJ Motorsports team is back the Charlotte County Motorsports Park on April 10th, for another Checkered Flag Sprint Series race.