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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
HMS Completes State Championship SeriesOctober
27 & 28, 2007 By
Mark Gorton, MRG Racing Hybiak Motorsports packed up the trailer
and traveled to the The team showed up at Speedworld on Friday
night for a practice session. It was the first
time on the track for HMS and they made every lap count.
Adjusting on both karts and getting them ready for Saturday’s race. Friday was a late night. It was after Saturday had Jeff driving on the ¼ mile track and Cody on the 1/5 mile. The day started out hot and didn’t get any cooler as it went on. The first set of heat races had Jeff finishing in 2nd place behind the #15 Pro Racing Icon of Thomas Parker (the current points leader, and also a national level driver). The #30 kart was fast but got held up in traffic on the start and ran out of laps before he could make up the difference. The team took the kart back and made some adjustments for the second heat race. Jeff got out to a good start and managed to get out ahead of the #15 and hold on for the win by 8-10 kart lengths. That was good enough for an outside pole starting spot. After a few adjustments it was time for the Animal main. With Jeff starting outside pole he would need to finish ahead of the #15 to keep his championship hopes alive. Thomas is great driver and assistant crew chief Mark Gorton said “We have to get him on the start, if he gets out front it is going to be tough to beat him. I think if we can get out front though we can hold him off. We have a kart capable of winning today.” Despite the track being wide it was not an easy track to pass on. Jeff did however get a good start and jumped out to an early lead. It was the #30 out front with the #15 in tow. The Liveprayer.com kart extended the lead after a few laps and the #15 was busy holding off the #22 kart who was charging hard in 3rd. The battle for 2nd and 3rd was all Jeff needed as he was able to hold on for his first win of the state championship series drawing him within 10 points of the lead. After the race Jeff said “We had to
do everything perfectly today and we did. The
kart was not good yesterday in practice, or in the first heat. The adjustments that Cody and Mark made once again
gave me exactly what I needed to win.” Like his dad, Cody had to start his heat race in last place. He patiently worked his way through traffic, but was behind the #5 kart of Tye Mihocko and the #77 of C.J. Hulsey. Both karts had spent the past few summers traveling around the mid-west racing in national events. Both brought home many top 5 finishes against some of the best racers in the country. Cody decided to hang back and let those two battle it out. On the white flag lap, the 5 kart got inside of the 77, causing him to miss his entry point and get loose, eventually going around. The race director saw it another way and put the 5 in the back of the pack for the green/checkered restart, moving Cody to second. Cody missed the jump on the restart and came home in second place. The best part of starting last in the first heat race is that you get to start on the pole for the second heat race. Cody led the field from the start, but it wasn’t easy to bring it home. The bumpy track at Speedworld, caused the nose and floorpan of his kart to begin dragging through the corners, throwing off the handling of his kart. He was able to hang onto the lead, but was quite frustrated at the damage to his kart. Cody was running his yellow body he calls
“Rocket”. He has used that body on
and off since his rookie year in 2005. He
calls it Rocket because it has two Ryan Newman stickers on the side panels. It has been his “special paint scheme” in
2007. This was going to be the final weekend
he used Rocket and he was calling it “Rocket’s last call.” Despite how badly it looked, Rocket was able to
make it back on the track through the magic of duct tape and safety wire. Rocket would survive the weekend and will now enjoy
a peaceful retirement with Cowboy (rookie body), Bullet (dad’s rookie body), and After a few changes Cody was ready for the main. He started outside pole with the #77 on the inside and the #5 on the inside of row two. The #5, 77, and 99 all freight-trained Cody on the start and he fell back to fourth. After a few laps he picked his way up to 3rd place and was behind the #77 and the #5 kart. The three karts ran nose to tail for most of the race. Cody looked for an opening but there just was never anywhere to go. He finished in third behind two of the best racers in the region and he was right on their bumper. After the race Cody said “that was the most fun I have had in a state race so far” With a very successful day behind them it
was time to pack up for the last race of the season. Saturday
was also a very long day. Getting to the track
at Sunday was the final race of the series and the team was happy to be back on familiar ground. Both drivers have had their share of success during the 2007 AKA season. Cody’s heats were in two flights due to the large turnout of his class and Jeff had to deal with a few AKA regulars that were not in the Saturday night race. The team had its work cut out for them if they were going to pull off the Hail Mary and win today. After the long day on Saturday it was not going to be easy at all. Assistant Crew Chief Mark Gorton was overheard early in the day saying “everything hurts”. The Speedworld track was very big and the pits were far from the starting gate as well as having to push the karts up a dirt hill. Everyone was worn out from the prior day from crew to drivers. The team got down to business and had the karts set up just minutes before the drivers meeting. They then took the track for two hot lap sessions where they made their adjustments for the first heat race. Assistant Crew Chief Gorton spent most of the heat races changing gears and changing and washing tires in the shade of the pits as the track configuration and surface changed throughout the day. Jeff was first out for his heat. He again started last after Cody drew him the highest pill for the third race in a row. He picked his way through traffic and like the day before found himself up to second place at the halfway point, but nearly a straight away behind the #15 kart that was again leading. That is where they would finish. After learning that conservative changes can sometimes work, the usually aggressive Cody made some small changes to the LivePrayer.com kart. Jeff started on the pole, but soon had Parker on his tail for one of the most exciting races of the day. Parker could get under the #30, but couldn’t pull off the pass. The two would finish 1-2 just like the day before. It was time for the mains. With the 15 being the points’ leader and finishing on the bumper of the 30 kart the last heat race, Crew Chief Cody decided to go back to the aggressive changes that have been his trademark all year. Jeff qualified second for his main and needed a win to take the title. He got a good start and jumped out to the lead ahead of the #15 of Parker. Jeff led the first 6-7 laps of the race and then the aggressive changes bit the Liveprayer.com team and the tires started going away and the #15 was pulling him in. Thomas made the pass for the lead and over the next few laps extended to a few kart length lead. With 4 to go the #17 kart flipped in turn 4 and brought out the caution. They red flagged the race and the drivers had a chance to catch their breath. The long weekend was taking its toll on the entire field as Jeff leaned against the outside wall breathing heavily. The race was restarted with 4 to go. On the restart Thomas was able to hold off Jeff for the lead. That is how they finished with Jeff crossing the line in second and earning a hard fought second place in the State Championship Series. After the race Jeff said, “When I started racing 3 years ago, Thomas was the dominant kart. I spent the entire year getting lapped and beaten by him. I would have never imagined that the state championship series would come down to the final 4 laps. We were just a couple of pounds of air pressure adjustment away from beating him, so that is an accomplishment.” Cody’s heat races were fairly uneventful, with Cody taking the win in the first one, but fighting an extremely tight kart, but still finishing 2nd. Before Cody’s main the team was going over what changes to make on the kart and Cody said “It can’t get any worse lets go for a homerun”. So that’s what the team did making several adjustments. Cody’s main started with him again on the outside pole. Like the day before, he was freight-trained on the start, but this time fell back to the 6th position. Cody had made his way up to 4th and was attempting to pass the 3rd place kart when the two made contact. They decided it was Cody’s fault and sent him to the back for causing the caution. Now back in traffic with only a few laps to go Cody set sail for the front again. He got a huge run on a few sleeping karts on the restart and quickly picked up two spots. He managed to gain a few more spots in the last few laps and finished the race in 6th place securing him 3rd place in the State Championship series. After the race Cody was upset with the finish but was happy with how the kart handled, the team seemed to have it dialed in. “The most disappointing thing is that I never got to run the kart full throttle,” the eleven year old driver said. “The kart in front of me nearly spent me spinning on the start and then when I got back to him spent the entire time blocking the middle of the track. I was having to let off the throttle on the straights, which I never do. Finally I saw C.J. getting away from me and I knew I had to beat him for 2nd in the series, so I took a risk that the 95 would see me and let me by. Rocket is wearing a lot of red paint thanks to him. I should have known better.” “You look at who beat us during this series and you can’t help but be proud,” said the owner and crew chief. “They have decades more experience in their pits, they’ve run in the top 5 at numerous national races, and they have a tire budget bigger than our annual budget. Not too bad.” The team is off until the 18th of November for the final race of the AKA Points Series.
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