8/2/03

The final race of the Divisional circuit at Cherry Valley held no real significance to any one of the competitors, as no one was close enough to their nearest competitors to move up or down in the standings.  And, with Round 3 of the WKA Horstman/Gold Cup Series being held at BeaveRun the following weekend, many of his national counterparts were down there testing, including Jim Lipari.  The field, therefore, was smaller than usual.

With rain falling during the morning on Friday practice day, Jeff didn't get to do anything but watch as the weather spoiled more designated track time.  Around 2pm, the rain finally stopped, and Jeff was able to complete 3 practice rounds, which more or less helped him get reacquainted with the small, 6-turn road course. 

Qualifying notes: With Jim absent, there were only three racers in the Briggs Light class, and a total of four in the Briggs Medium class.  Once again, the field drew numbers for starting position in the heat race.  Jeff drew second for Briggs Light and pole for Briggs Medium classes, his two best starting spots of the season.

"Light" Heat: With Tim Nawrocki on pole for the Light heat, Jeff was looking forward to getting a good start and jumping into the lead.  Jeff did just that, getting a good start and some help from Anthony Albanese, who was starting third.  Jeff took the lead, with Anthony taking second and Tim falling to third.  Jeff led the first two laps of the 8-lap heat race, his first laps led of the Divisional season.  Anthony, however, was able to get around fairly quickly, but did not open up a huge gap.  Only about a tenth of a second quicker per lap, Anthony led Jeff to the finish, winning by 10 kart lengths.

"Medium" Heat: Sitting on pole for the first time at a Divisional race since OVRP in 2001, Jeff led off the start line, passed Ross DeVoe.  Ryan McDermott quickly moved up to second, with Anthony third.  After only one lap, Ryan was able to get by Jeff and into the lead.  Anthony soon followed, and then took the lead from Ryan about half way through the race.  Though Jeff had fallen to third, he was right behind Anthony and Ryan at the race's conclusion.

"Light" Feature: Anthony was on pole, with Jeff second and Tim third for the Briggs Light feature.  For some reason, Anthony struggled to get up to speed, allowing Jeff to take the lead going into turn one.  Tim fell fairly far behind, so the race was between Jeff and Anthony once again.  Though Anthony was definitely a bit quicker, he stayed right behind Jeff through the first eight laps of the 10-lap feature.  Jeff was a bit faster through certain sections, but on the whole, Anthony had the superior kart.  Anthony made his first move in course's only right-hander, but Jeff was able to hold him off until two turns later, when Anthony moved passed and into the lead.  Jeff stayed with him for the remaining laps, finishing up 8 kart lengths behind the Divisional champ.

"Medium" Feature: After a third place finish in the heat race, Jeff started behind Anthony and Ryan for the Medium class feature.  Anthony once again struggled at the start, forfeiting the lead to Ryan for the first eight laps.  Ryan was quick, leading Anthony, who followed very closely, and Jeff around.  Then, with a lap to go, Anthony passed Ryan going into the right-hander for the lead.  Ryan tried to make a move on the inside of Anthony going down the hill toward the second to last turn, but ended up spinning when he ran out of room.  Jeff, only about 10 lengths behind the leaders, took second as a result of the spin.

Light Final Standings

1. Anthony Albanese

2. Jeff Castellano

3. Tim Nawrocki

Medium Final Standings

1. Anthony Albanese

2. Jeff Castellano

3. Ryan McDermott

4. Ross DeVoe

Race Notes: Cherry Valley is one of Jeff's least favorite tracks.  With only 6 turns and a very simple and old-style layout - a very narrow track - it makes for tedious racing without much passing.  Despite this, Cherry Valley was the first place Jeff led a Divisional race since mid-2001.  Anthony was once again the quickest, sporting a somewhat better motor (again) and a chassis set-up that featured some lead - moving one corner of the rear axle in to help the kart turn better in the left hand turns.  With only one true right-hander, running lead is a much greater advantage than it is a disadvantage, as it helped Anthony tremendously through the crucial left-handers.  This is achieved using the adjustable rear cassette installed horizontally instead of vertically, to adjust cross weight.  Still, it was a decent series for Jeff, as he came out third in both classes and had decent showings at each race, particular during the season's second half.

Quoteable: "It definitely felt good to lead a few laps today," Jeff said.  "It wasn't a great day, but I can't complain I guess.  We had nothing to gain, so it feels good to end up second in both classes and only be a few ticks off Anthony.  Anthony earned this series championship, kudos to him."