WKA Gold Cup Series visited Jacksonville
Three drivers left Jacksonville with three pieces of P1 hardware at this past weekend’s WKA Vega Tire Gold Cup Series presented by Summit Racing Equipment Grand Nationals at 103rd Street Sports Complex’s clockwise course with the chicane.
Georgia’s Lanie Thigpen controlled most of the event in 206 Cadet Green and Yellow. Thigpen won three of the four finals on her No. 12 Razor Chassis with Florida’s Carter Barkis the only driver to put a dent in her domination. Barkis won Sunday’s Cadet Green final by 0.070 seconds over Thigpen to become the only other cadet winner.
North Florida’s Brently Miller was a three-race winner on his No. 00 Eagle in 206 Junior competition. He opened Saturday with a Junior Black triumph over Louisiana’s Derek Wargo and then inherited the Junior Yellow win when Wargo was DQ’ed in tech for an infraction with the slide. Fresh off a P2 finish at the CKNA Grands at New Castle, Wargo was running in junior for the first time ever and was impressive all weekend despite the DQ.
Miller would return Sunday to go one for two. He’d win the Junior Yellow main in a close race over Mason Donahue late Sunday afternoon just before rain hit. Donahue put his No. 18 Coyote in the win column earlier in the day with a dominating drive in the Junior Black final, crossing the stripe 4.2 seconds ahead of Peyton Bridges. Miller and Ronnie Klys raced close to Donahue early in the final before contact took them out of contention around halfway.
Florida TS Racing / VLR Chassis driver Colin Warren closed out his outstanding 2022 Gold Cup season with three wins in senior 206 racing. Warren won the Senior 360# and 380# finals on Saturday and returned Sunday to go one for two with a win in the rain in the 380# final. Warren ended up nine for 12 in 2022 WKA Gold Cup finals between Charlotte, Barnesville and Jacksonville.
Georgia’s Owen Lloyd was the only driver to beat Warren with his win in Sunday’s Senior 360# main. Lloyd, riding his No. 119 Coyote Zenith, bested teammate Jake Duvall to win the hotly contested race that saw Lloyd, Duvall and Warren all lead at different stages. Warren would settle for P3. The WKA event marked Lloyd’s first race in senior with a touring series. He won an NFKC club race a couple of weeks prior in his first-ever senior start.
Savannah, Georgia’s Jorge Ruiz of JaM Racing wheeled his No. 1 MGM Espionage to a sweep in Masters. Ruiz would win over Coyote drivers James Inscoe Saturday and Kevin Medearis Sunday.
Tim Clark posted another pair of wins on his No. 96 MGM in the Super Masters class. Inscoe would finish P2 both days with Todd Horton P3 Saturday and Robbie Davis P3 Sunday. Clark did the same thing at Barnesville to go four for four in Super Masters between the two events.
Keegan Chance, Blaise Hindrey and Barrett Turley were all Kid Kart winners. Chance won Saturday’s Kid Kart Comer local option while Hindrey won Saturday’s 206 Kid Kart and Turley Sunday’s 206 KK final. Kenny Buff, Robbie Davis, Tyler Swann and Tyson Swann each took a turn winning a Vintage Stock main event.
More than 80 drivers participated in the 2022 WKA Jacksonville Gold Cup to make up over 200 race entries for the biggest Gold Cup show of the year. Saturday’s Senior 360# division was the largest of the weekend with 18 entries.