CONCORD, N.C. – MGM racer Zach Linsell kept the momentum going from his Daytona Road Race win in December by qualifying fastest in the 55-kart Senior Medium division Saturday morning at the Cup Karts North America Spring Nationals at Charlotte Motor Speedway.
The Philadelphia, Pa., driver laid down a 47.036 to top the qualifying session. He’ll start pole for heat one later today.
Naples, Fla., racer Colin Warren was second fastest on his TS Racing VLR chassis. Warren’s quick time was just 0.092 seconds off Linsell’s. Hayden Jones was third on his Nitro, Corey Towles fourth on an Eagle and Jacob Donald fifth on a Kart Republic. Sixth through 10th were Mick Gabriel, Pauly Massimino, Keegan Clark, Brandon Adkins and Dylan Amundsen.
While Donald settled for fifth in Senior Medium qualifying, he was the only driver to win two pole awards this morning. The North Carolina veteran scored the pole in both Senior Light and Senior Heavy. We believe he’s the only driver competing in all three Senior division this weekend.
Donald ran a 46.873 in Light and a 47.739 in Heavy.
Similar to Medium, Warren again settled for P2 in Light., only 0.016 second off Donald. Clark, Cam Ebben and Amundsen were third through fifth. Gabriel, Towles, Chris Carroll, Hunter Fox and Ian Quinn timed sixth through 10th.
In Senior Heavy, Donald and his Kart Republic paced the field ahead of Florida driver Jacob Duvall on an Eagle. Duvall was 0.028 seconds off Donald’s fastest lap. MGM drivers filled third through fifth with Eric Fagan, Connor Yonchuck and Ryan Bennett rounding out the top five.
Tim Shutt continued his fast weekend with a pole in Masters. GoPro Motorplex regular Tim Skinner made it a pair of “Tims” in the top-two positions. Shutt went a 48.297 and Skinner a 48.314. Todd Baron, another GoPro regular, was third; Paul Rice and IONIC Edge driver Chris Cline were fourth and fifth.
Nitro Karts are going to be tough to beat in Junior. James Overbeck timed fastest on his Nitro with a 47.648. Parker Delong was second quick with a 47.758. Ben Maier was third, Owen Lloyd fourth on a Coyote and Carter Pryor rounded out the top five. Spencer Conrad, Eli Warren, George Wheeler, Christopher McKeithan and Katie Yonchuck filled out the top 10.
Cooper Mull was the fastest Kid Kart this morning. The youngster did a 59.972 to take the pole for today’s first heat. Camdon Clay, Jaxon Stone, Titus Roberts and Elam Stoner timed second through fifth.
Florida’s Tim Clark paced the field in the 50-and-older Legends division. Clark posted a 48.243 on his MGM. In fact, MGM drivers swept the top three with Tennessee’s Jody Covington P2 and North Carolina’s Duke Zink P3. Todd Baron was fourth on his Deadly and Masters quick timer Shutt rounded out the top five.
The 51-kart Sportsman (Cadet) division saw Caleb Tarter score the pole on his No. 05. Tarter stopped the clock at a 47.518. In what was the largest gap between first and second in qualifying, Tarter timed over two-tenths quicker than P2 Keelan Harvick. Isaac Malcuit was third, Cade Jaeger fourth and AJ Stoner rounded out the top five. Wes Gundler, Jase Petty, Jared Clarke, Christopher Wakefield and Aryton Grim timed sixth through 10th.
Two rounds of heat race are on the docket for this afternoon at the Charlotte kart track.