SPENCERPORT, N.Y. — Coyote Motorsports racers closed the summer with outstanding showings in both the Cup Karts North America (CKNA) North and South divisions when each series closed their four-race 2021 tours in August at East Lansing Kart Track in Michigan and Bushnell Motorsports Park in Florida.

Cup Karts South at Bushnell

Starting in the South, Owen Lloyd was crowned the Junior class champion after Bushnell on August 21. In fact, Lloyd had such success in the first three rounds of the series, he had already clinched the class championship and opted to rest his 2021 Zenith chassis as he looks forward to challenging the top junior racers in the country this October at the CKNA Grand Nationals 5 in New Castle, Ind. 

Lloyd, who scored a huge win on his new Zenith at the CKNA Spring Nationals at Charlotte in March, won the Cup Karts South opener at Bushnell in February, finished second at Jacksonville in May, and won again at Monticello in June. His two wins and P2 finish were enough to clinch him the class title after three rounds, an achievement he’s very proud of in his first year on a Coyote.

“The Coyote Zenith worked great at all the tracks; we really didn’t change the setup much from track to track,” Lloyd commented while reflecting on his 2021 season. “The kart handled really good and I’m very confident anywhere I go. My dad does the setups and my older brothers Aren and Tyler help me with driving pointers. Thanks to my parents, brothers, Jim Lipari and Brad Farmer for all the help.”

Lloyd took a minute to look ahead to the upcoming Sept. 30-Oct. 3 Grand Nationals 5, the biggest LO206 race of the year.

“We’re registered and set for the Grand Nationals, and it will be my first time at New Castle,” Lloyd said. “With the kart we have, I’m sure it will handle great as it has all season. After winning the Charlotte Spring Nationals, it’d be nice to close out the year with another big win at the Grand Nationals.”

In addition to Lloyd, several other Coyote drivers raced to great success in Cup Karts South in 2021. 

Sean Meier, who like Lloyd scored a huge win on his Coyote Zenith at the Charlotte Spring Nationals, returned to the top step of the podium in August with a dominating win in Senior Heavy at Bushnell. The Jacksonville native also finished a strong P3 in the Senior Medium final.

Chris Carroll continued his impressive 2021 season. Fresh off a big Senior Heavy Karting Challenge win at GoPro Motorplex in July, Carroll wheeled his No. 12 Zenith to a P2 finish in Senior Light and a P5 result in Senior Medium at Bushnell. The pair of top-five finishes capped a solid year in Cup Karts South for Carroll, which resulted in final points finishes of second in Medium and fifth in Light.

Curtis Gingerich joined the Coyote family at Monticello, where he finished an impressive third in Masters. He continued to look great at Bushnell, racing to a fine P2 result in the 18-kart Masters feature. Gingerich has adapted to his Precision Performance Karting-prepared Coyote Zenith quickly and his results are showing it.

Joining Gingerich in Masters were Roy Avery and James Inscoe. Avery had a nice run in his first Cup Karts South appearance, finishing just outside the top five with a P6 result. Inscoe had an off day in Masters and finished P9 but he did drive to a solid third-place run in the 12-kart Legends main event. Inscoe finished third in the Masters final points and also drove to a number of podiums in the 2021 Maxxis Sprint Series over the summer.

Brandon Jarsocrak was back behind the wheel of a PPK / Coyote at Bushnell. Jarsocrak, one of the top 2-cycle kart racers in the country, ran into some tough luck at Bushnell. He threw a chain while leading the Senior Light main, resulting in a DNF, and the team admitted they missed the setup in Senior Medium, in which he finished P4 in the 15-kart race. Jarsocrak, who’s done a good amount of testing with Coyote this summer, will return to the PPK / Coyote camp at the CKNA Grand Nationals 5. 

Ronnie Klys joined the Coyote family midsummer and he ran sixth in the Junior final at Bushnell. Klys continues to improve and gain seat time and we’re looking forward to watching him progress this fall and into 2022.

“The Coyote family did a great job in Cup Karts South this year,” Coyote owner Jim Lipari stated. “In its first season, the series was extremely competitive with many of the best LO206 drivers in the country attending the events. Owen winning the Junior championship in his first year on a Coyote was outstanding, and all the Coyote racers, whether they followed the entire series or just ran select events, showed speed and netted either wins or top finishes. We’re looking forward to more success as this series continues to grow in 2022 and beyond.”

Cup Karts North at East Lansing

About 1,200 miles north of Bushnell CKNA’s North Division closed their 2021 tour August 13-15 in a return to the popular East Lansing Kart Track, a tight bullring-style course in central Michigan. 

Coyotes have always run well at East Lansing and this year’s event was no exception. Chris Cirillo, Joey Cline, Jordan Cline, Trentin Frederick, Scott Kleman, Alex Masci, Josh Stiefel, Tim Stiefel and Jason Zobkiw all entered their Coyote machines in competition, and all accomplished varying forms of success.

Cirillo led the charge on his No. 6 Zenith. After a DNF Saturday, the Long Islander scored his first Cup Karts win of the season in Sunday’s Masters final, crossing the stripe 0.177 seconds ahead of P2. Cirillo wasn’t the only Coyote on the podium in Masters as Zobkiw, making his return to the national karting scene after a several-year absence, drove to an impressive P3 result, less than a half-second back of Cirillo at the finish. 

Cirillo and Zobkiw also netted several other top-five results on the weekend. Zobkiw finished fifth in twice on Saturday, once in Masters and once in Senior Heavy, while Cirillo ran a close fourth in both Senior Heavy finals.  

Fourth was also the spot for Tim Stiefel. The Rochester, N.Y., veteran wheeled his Zenith the P4 spot both days in the Legends finals. The weekend capped a good season for Tim, who ended up fifth in the Legends final points.

Kleman, another Coyote veteran, was one of the fastest all weekend in the competitive Senior Light field. Racing in his home state, Kleman wheeled his familiar No. 92 red Coyote to a super P2 result in Saturday’s 17-kart Light final. He closed the weekend rounding out the top five in Sunday’s Light main after a hard-fought battle at the front of the pack throughout the 15-lapper. 

Josh Stiefel joined Kleman in Senior Light and the New Yorker battled hard all event. Stiefel would record finished of P13 Saturday and improve for a P10 finish Sunday. Stiefel continues to work to find more speed in his Coyote, and we have no doubt he will as he’s accomplished a great deal wins and podium finishes over the years.

One driver who continues to greatly improve on his Coyote is Trentin Frederick, another New York native who’s been with the Coyote family for a number of years now. Frederick has put in the time competing against many of the best senior LO206 racers in the country in Cup Karts North the last couple of seasons and he’s seeing dividends. 

While Frederick slipped to a P10 result in Saturday’s Medium main, he set the race’s fastest lap at a 40.575, quicker than the winner and all other drivers in the 18-kart field. On Sunday, Trentin qualified sixth and raced to a fine P3 result in heat one. He ran into troubles in the second heat and main, getting wrecked which resulted in a DNF. While Frederick’s time is yet to come for a Cup Karts North win, we’re enjoying watching his speed and competitiveness leading up to it. He showed he’s capable of winning after receiving his brand new 2021 Zenith just before the East Lansing race. 

Three juniors — Joey and Jordan Cline and Hudson Brown — made the call with their Coyotes in the 25-kart Junior class at East Lansing. The Clines had one of their best weekends on the national stage to date with Jordan finishing P9 both days and Joey running 10th Saturday and improving for an eighth-place run in Sunday’s main. 

Brown, who’s been fast nearly everywhere this summer, had a tough weekend in his first visit to East Lansing. Mired midpack for most of the event, the Maryland racer managed a P13 Saturday and DNF’d Sunday after a wreck. 

More recently, Brown tried his hand at GoPro Motorplex for the first time for Karting Challenge rounds 8 and 9. Brown had some good success in GoPro’s 18-kart Junior class. He raced to an impressive P2 finish in the heat race and finished just outside the top five in P6 in the round 8 final. Brown continues to hone his skills and has had some great runs this summer to show for it.

In Sportsman, Alex Masci returned to CKNA North for the first time since the opener in April at Concept Haulers. The trip to East Lansing resulted in one of his best runs of the season as the Genesee Valley Kart Club regular finished a career-best P9 in Sunday’s Sportsman final, which started 20 karts.

Coyote Motorsports and many of our racers across the country now have their sights set on the biggest 4-cycle kart race of the year, the CKNA Grand Nationals 5 at the famed New Castle Motorsports Park in Indiana. 

Maxxis Sprint at Sandy Hook, Kershaw

A number of Coyote racers ran with the Maxxis 4-Cycle Sprint Series this summer, including events at Sandy Hook Speedway in Maryland and Carolina Motorsports Park in Kershaw, S.C. 

Florida’s Mason Donahue made the long journey to Sandy Hook in July. In his first time at the Hook, Mason finished P2 in the Junior Black final and P4 in Junior Yellow. Right ahead of Donahue in Junior Yellow was Hudson Brown on his No. 21 Zenith. Brown finished P3 in both the Junior Yellow and Black finals.

Hudson’s older brother Carson Brown entered the Senior Medium division and came away with a P4 finish. JR Petrella, who’s been fast on the Manning Motorsports No. 41 this season, crossed the stripe right behind Brown in P5.

The Masters class was filled with Coyotes at Sandy Hook. Local runner John Price scored the win on his Zenith, just ahead of Chris Cirillo. Brandon Hollenbaugh was fourth in his first race on his new Coyote Zenith with Roy Avery rounding out the top five.

About a month after Sandy Hook, Maxxis and CMP held the first-ever night race at the 0.7-mile Carolina Kart Park on Saturday, August 14. With a new state-of-the-art MUSCO lighting system in place, Donahue, James Inscoe and Brandon Hollenbaugh entered their Coyotes in competition. 

Donahue would come away with a solid P2 result in Junior Yellow and a P6 result in the Junior Black feature. Mason ended up finishing a close second in both Junior class final 2021 point standings.

In Masters, Inscoe ran well again and finished third in the 14-kart final. Hollenbaugh made the trip down to Kershaw from his Maryland home and would finish sixth in the Masters final. Hollenbaugh would finish a close second in the final Masters points.

Two big Grand Nationals events remain on the 2021 schedules for Cup Karts and Maxxis. CKNA will hold their fifth annual Grand Nationals Sept. 30-Oct. 3 at New Castle Motorsports Park and Maxxis will be back in action Nov. 19-21 for their annual Grand Nationals at the 103rd Street Sports Complex in Jacksonville, Fla.

To learn more about Coyote Motorsports, visit our official website at CoyoteKarts.com, shop for parts and components at our online store at CoyoteKarts.com/shop, or contact the shop at 585-352-0806 10am to 5pm, Monday thru Friday.