KERSHAW, S.C. — The Maxxis Sprint Series is ready to crown their 2021 class champions this Friday and Saturday at Carolina Motorsports Park in Kershaw, S.C., where racing will take place under the lights Saturday night at CMP’s tough 0.7-mile Carolina Kart Park.
This weekend’s sixth round of the Maxxis series marks the first competitive race at CMP’s kart track in 2021, a venue that’s played host to a number of major national 2-cycle and 4-cycle events over the years. CMP’s counter-clockwise national course always provides racers a challenging layout with several high-speed corners, multiple chicanes, sweeping corners, double rights and a double left, and a pair of high-speed, not-so-straight straightaways.
A fresh addition to the Carolina Kart Park is a new Musco LED track lighting system installed earlier this summer. The lighting system gives Maxxis the opportunity to run at night race for the first time. Friday’s practice will take place from 4 to 9pm and Saturday’s on-track action is slated to start at 3:30pm with qualifying beginning at 5 and heats and features to follow.
The track will be open for parking and practice Thursday, as well. Teams can park from Noon to 7pm and practice will be offered from 1 to 7.
Looking at the point standings, many drivers have attended all five 2021 series rounds to date (Jacksonville, Barnesvile, Charlotte, Charlotte, Sandy Hook) and those who run Saturday at CMP will be able to drop their worst race from their final year-end points total. A number of racers have missed one or two rounds, meaning they’ll need to have a flawless day Saturday for a chance at a 2021 Maxxis Sprint class championship.
Maxxis always provides its competitors with outstanding awards packages, and we expect Saturday’s racing will be fierce as dozens of teams have legitimate shots at class championships. Year-end awards will be presented at this year’s Maxxis Grand Nationals at 103rd Street in Jacksonville November 19-21.
Here’s a look at each class’s standings heading into Saturday.
LO206 Kid Kart has a good battle at the top of the standings. Parker Stewart enters Saturday with a 9-point lead over Canon Love. Ryan Hall is only 24 points back in third with Lanie Thigpen and Camden Clay rounding out the top five.
Justin Sherbert holds a 15-point lead over Adam Wein in 206 Cadet Green. Will Franklin is only 19 markers out of the lead in third with Hudson Williams not far back in fourth and Will Haire fifth. In Cadet Yellow, Thomas Nichols is up 28 points on Franklin with Wein 46 points back in third. Wein has won the most races this year in the Cadet categories but will have some work to do to capture championships after not attending last month’s Sandy Hook round.
Maryland’s Brady Atwood has been solid all year in Junior and he leads both Junior Yellow and Junior Black heading to Kershaw. In Junior Yellow, Atwood is 24 points to the good over Georgia racer K Mike Chidester. Mason Donahue, Alyssa Vascocu and Peyton Bridges are currently third through fifth.
Atwood has an even bigger advantage in Junior Black, which shows him 27 points up on Chidester. Donahue and Vascocu are again third and fourth with Brently Miller fifth.
Cale Martin is the only driver to attend every round in 206 Senior Medium, and he has a huge advantage going into Saturday with a 60-point lead on Jacksonville and Charlotte Sunday winner Moe Edmonson. Moe is entered for this weekend’s race but we’re not sure if he has a mathematical shot at catching Martin in the points.
Martin will enter Senior Heavy trailing Neil Moore by 22 points. Edmonson, Brody Kellner and Noah Rivers are third through fifth. Moore also leads the competitive 206 Masters division. He’ll go into Saturday with a 19-point lead over Roy Avery and 20 points ahead of Brandon Hollenbaugh. Chris Ball and 2020 Maxxis champion James Inscoe are fourth and fifth.
Both Vintage Stock categories are tight. Vintage Stock Medium shows Tyler Swann just 2 points ahead of Billy Johnson with Tyson Swann 25 points back in third. Tyson is 19 points up on Johnson in Vintage Stock Heavy with Steve Loftin third.
Kenny Buff should be good in Vintage Super Stock. Buff enters the weekend 29 points up on Cameron Plyler.
We’re looking forward to heading back to Kershaw this Friday and Saturday to cover some exciting 4-cycle sprint action with 11 feature wins and class championships on the line. Pre-entries are looking good and we expect some awesome action under the lights at one of the most challenging sprint tracks on the East Coast.
Pre-registration is open until 5pm Wednesday.
Click here for the Maxxis Sprint Series’ official website.
Click here for the direct link to online registration.