September 5th, 2010

Californian Wesley Boswell tunes Sharkey to solid finishes in Senior debut at The Rock!

Shawn Sharkey made his senior debut this past weekend at the Rock Island Grand Prix in the Quad Cities. Competing in two of the most challenging classes on the difficult street circuit, Sharkey would look to bring home some solid finishes and gain momentum for the last half of the season. In the Tag Senior class, Sharkey would have to retire early in Saturday's qualifying session due to a broken chain on the first timed lap which would force him to start the event from the tail of the field. Coming from the 28th position, Shawn put on a veteran like drive making his way up to the sixth spot and setting the second fastest lap of the event.

In the Championship Karting International (CKI) sponsored Leopard class, Sharkey would have better luck in Saturday's qualifying session, posting a time good enough for the fifth position. When the green flag flew for the main event, the Merlin driver struggled to get up to speed and was shuffled to the outside and fell back to eighth by the exit of the first corner. From there, Shawn started working his way back to the front. Making some great moves in the twenty lap final, Sharkey moved up to third place and scored the last step on the podium and his first podium result at the Rock Island Grand Prix.

“This was a great weekend for me. I hope this shows that I have what it
takes to run up front as a senior,” stated Shawn. "I need to thank my tuner Wesley Boswell, Merlin Racing Chassis, Franklin Motorsports, SCS Racing, P1 Engines and Grand Products for their continued support."

Shawn Sharkey’s next race will be the World Karting Association
Manufacturers Cup event September 18th - 19th at the New Jersey Motorsports Park in Millville, New Jersey.

Austin Elliott brings home the win!

Another one of Wesley’s drivers, Austin Elliott, was able to have a successful weekend as well. Austin made his way down to the Stockton Motorplex Park in Stockton, CA for the third round of the Gold Rush series. Returning from a tough outing in the second round, Austin showed very strong in qualifying by putting his P1 powered Top Kart off pole, only five hundredths back from first position. Starting the heat race from the front row Austin wasted no time by getting the jump on the start, taking the lead into turn one and continued on for the win. On the start of the final the front line had a few problems keeping a slow pace and ended up getting put back one row. Starting from the third position now, Austin would get a great run, falling into the second position after the green was thrown. Putting on a show for the crowd Austin and a fellow competitor battled back and forth for the top position until lap twelve when Austin made a pass for the lead for the final time and pulled away to a solid one second victory.

“This was a very challenging race and a big victory for me” stated Austin “I enjoy races like this one when the competition is tough and fierce. We regained the points lead and hope to keep it though the next two races”

Austin’s next race will be the forth round of the Gold Rush series September 25^th-26^th held at the Blue Max Kart Club in Davis, CA.