February, March & April...

We had a scheduling conflict with Victory Lane in February. We tried to reschedule but the time didn't work out for enough guys. Race cancelled.

March we were back in full swing. Driver of the night award goes to Scott Carter, winning as a 'B' driver both races. And this after a long hiatus from the track. Congrats to Scott. 'A' drivers Johan Schwartz and Sammy Lopez won the first and second races. Probably the biggest news of the night was the absence of Jade Gurss, missing his first race if 473 starts. (And he's still sixth in the points.)

But Gurss didn't stay down long. The Gurss/Jack Cathey combo won the first race of the April session in convincing fashion. First-timer 'B' driver John Connaughton paired up with track regular and league leader Dan Burke to win the second race. Cathey spun out of control into a fifth place finish. Spinning, wrecking, slamming hard into a fifth place finish. An frustrating, painful, hard-earned fifth place finish.

Michael Waltrip, ehherr, Marty Snider, didn't compete in his third consecutive race. But you should see his tan.

May will be FAMILY NIGHT. Everyone bring the wife, kids, girlfriends, parents, dogs, cats, anyone you consider close to you. Depending on the response, we will have our third annual Powder Puff Race featuring the wives and girlfriends. Good times will be had by all. See you May 1st.

Your January 2007 winners are...

Jade Gurss and Todd Innskeep in Race 1. Jade Gurss and Sean Magee in Race 2. Jade is picking up where he spent most of the 2006 season. Should we move this guy up to an A1? Feel free to share any thoughts on that if you have them...

We'll keep the post brief so as not to take away from the 2006 champ posting and charity results below. See you in February.

2006 GBKL Champion - Final charity results

First things first, congratulations to our 2006 GBKL Champion, Dan Burke. The trophy is being engraved and the official presentation will be made at the February race. Dan had a heck of a season and won as a full time A1 driver, which is tough to do given the new, more even team structuring. But furthermore, Dan is always eager and willing to help anyone with tips on how to get around the track. Congrats, Dan on a great season and well deserved title.

We had been collecting money since the middle part of the season for our annual Christmas charity. Early on, Jeff Bryant challenged the group to a goal of $3000, or more than double any previous goal. At the December race, we were able to donate $3500 to a single mother in Huntersville with three young boys, one of which has cancer. The money paid off her vehicle and paid for one of the treatments for her son. She was extremely grateful and is looking forward to coming to league night and meeting everyone.

Thank you everyone for a great 2006 season and we look forward to '07!

Your November 2006 winners are . . .

by a landslide - John Freeman and Brad Little. They started on the pole for Race 2 and that was about all she wrote. A convincing win to say the least. The race for second thru fifth was close. "Newcomer" Mark Davis and Tim Russell won Race 1 (Mark races for the Joe Gibbs Racing late model team.) Wednesday was 'Youth Invasion Night.' We had several new guys that were fast, lots of racing experience and not old enought to buy beer.

The points standings for the most part remained the same. Tim Russell took over the fifth spot from Dr. Rev. Pastor Cathey, but everyone else held their places. Dan Burke is poised to take the championship (unless he shows up to the next race without arms and drives blindfolded.) Second thru seventh are a toss up. Could be some movement in there.

Next race is December 6. This will be the last oppportunity to collect for the Christmas charity gift. See you in December!

August, September, October and charity update

August Race 1: Jade Gurss (A) and Mike Carper (B)
August Race 2: Jade Gurss (A) and Marty Snider (B)

September Race 1: Andy Barbee (A) and Eddie D'Hondt, Jr. (B)
September Race 2: Andy Barbee (A) and Marty Snider (B)

October Race 1: John Freeman (A) and Sean Gray (B)
October Race 2: Ryan Werner (A) and Brad Little (B)

The racing the past few months has been outstanding. Some of the best since the league started. The end of the season will be exciting. We have a new points leader due to the adjusted point system. Everyone who has missed two or more sessions did not have their points adjusted. Anyone who has missed one or less had their bottom one or two monthly point totals dropped.

That said, Dan Burke has taken over the top spot by 4 points over season long powerhouse, Jade Gurss with Jeff Bryan close behind in third.

On to more important things - You see above that we have collected $875 thus far for the Christmas charity gift that we have done the past couple of years. Our goal is $3000 by the end of the year. We will be collecting whatever you feel led to give over the next two sessions. This money will be going directly to families in need here in the greater Charlotte area. More to come on that in the coming two months.

See you on November 8th!

Your July 2006 winners are . . .

James Edwards and Tim Russell. Tim has now finished first or second in over half the big races this season and has come on strong in the points. The competition was tight on the 'A' ranks with the entire field .5 seconds apart top to bottom. Dan Burke and Andy Barbee were runners up followed by Jeff Bryant and Chris Nowak. James Edwards and Mike Hemphill took the first race.

We have a new leader as well. It is Jeff Bryant by a point. Third place finishes in both races move him past Jade Gurss to the front of the pack. The two of them appear to be pulling away a bit.

We start adjusting points after the next race. Please keep an eye out for next months email. We'll see you on Tuesday the 8th.

Your June 2006 winners are . . .

Todd Smartt and Robert Simsic. The two were paired up for both races. Guess they just need a warm up before tearing up the field in the shortened Race 2. The regularly scheduled 60 minute race was shortened to 40 minutes due to the Family Night festivities and some delays on Victory Lane's part. Chris Sherwood and Jason Pace finished second. Chris Maloney and Jack Cathey third. Jade Gurss and Kyle Dillard took the win in Race 1. This was the third month in a row Gurss started on the pole in Race 1 and proceeded to drive away from everyone for the win or for second.

Which brings us to our new points leader: Mr. Jade Gurss. The only regret is that we don't have a photo of you in that Borat getup holding the coveted trophy.

Family Night was good fun had by all. We had seven participants in the 2nd Annual GBKL Skirt Race. First timer Jason Dodd's wife nearly ran former Victory Lane employee Chris Sherwood off the track. He was pacing the field and before you knew it, fighting her off his bumper.

We race again July 11. Stay tuned for further details.

Your May 2006 winners are . . .

Well first, we should probably recognize the April winners that we never got around to. April could be summarized in one word: Gurss. First and second race. There were other drivers there that night, however only one mattered: Gurss. Jade. Mr. Gurss, sir.

On to May . . . congrats to Tim Russell and Robert Simsic. This is Tim's first win as an 'A' driver. Robert came in after a long hiatus for the win. They finished on their own lap. They certainly deserved it. Good work. Dan Burke and Pat O'Hagerty took the win in the first race. Burke and Kevin Wright were second. Marty Snider and Scott Carter were third.

Next month is our third annual GBKL Family Night. Bring your spouses, girlfriends, kids, dogs, gardeners, whoever. We'll have plenty of food and fun for all. We will also have our second annual Ladies Race. When you respond to the invite email, please indicate whether your spouse/girlfriend is interested in racing.

Your March 2006 winners are . . .

Chris Maloney and Kyle Dillard in impressive fashion. The pair came from 16 seconds down to take the lead and the win. Kyle (or 'The Rev' as we'll start calling him) appears to have some heavenly inspiration keeping him atop the points. As a 'B' driver at that. Jeff Bryant and Rusty Wilson finished in second. Dan Burke and Jason Pace finished third.

Which brings us to Race 1 where Burke and Pace took the win. The win is Jason Pace's first ever at the GBKL. He reminded everyone that more than a year and a half of perserverence that finally paid off. Snider commented that the post racecelebration was reminiscent of a high school cheerleader. Good for both of them. They raced hard. The Jeff Bryant/Rusty Wilson and James Edwards/Kyle Dillard teams finished second and third respectively.

Todd Smartt and James Edwards made strong moves up the points standings, along with Burke and Pace. It's already a close race in the top 5. We race again April 4th. Stay tuned for the pre-race email.

Your February 2006 winners are . . .

Two young bucks. 'A' driver John Freeman scores his first win. First-timer Woody Howard scores wins in both races as a 'B' driver - and we couldn't even buy these guys a beer! Congrats to both of them. They drove the wheels off the karts. We had some bumpin' in both races among the A's and B's, some of it just for fun, some of it not so much for fun, but in the end it was all good. And kudos to Victory Lane for adding the projection on the wall entering turn 1 that displays the track positions and the time left in the race.

And at the top of the points for the first time ever, the Reverend Pastor Kyle Dillard. Good work, Kyle. There was lots of movement in the points, which is fairly typical this early in the season.

The remaining schedule is posted to the right as well as the updated top 10. Keep an eye out for the March registration email. There will be a couple of minor format changes next month in an effort to continually improve competition and everyone's chance at a win. See you next month!

Your January 2006 winners are . . .

Brad Little and Chris Maloney in Race #1. Brad Little and Jeff Bryant in Race #2. "B" driver Brad takes the early points lead. Of course, he sealed his seat as an "A" driver next month, but he can enjoy the lead while he has it. The racing was intense all night. The "A" drivers tried to tear the fenders off all the karts in segment one of the first race. We had a couple of turned karts in Race #2. The racing was so intense we had a guy puking in the bushes outside (but we won't embarass Algie by mentioning his name. Glad to have you back! :-)

We were able to add $100 to the charity pot this month. We also presented the 2005 winner Brandon Sperling with the sparkling Golden Benny Trophy. He has cleared off a spot on the mantle at home for it. He also added a special lighting system that will shine on it as well as surround sound that continually plays Queen's "We are the Champions," but who's keeping track . . .

Dates for next month and the remainder of the year are posted to the right. Please be looking for the February sign up email. See you next month.

2006 season - Here we go!

Welcome everyone to the 2006 GBKL season and our new league site! This season, you will be able to keep up with all pertinent league information, including the schedule, points, race results and our charitable giving. Once race results are added each month, you will also be able to post comments, such as congrats to the winner, or observations from the race, curses at the guy that put you in the wall, or a combination of them.

It's going to be another fun year of racing - See you on January 10th!