A tricked-out Bondurant Mustang Cobra in orange and blue livery is leading they way on the parade lap. It looks quite funny, a very large pace car leading these tiny go-carts behind it that could almost get sucked up in its wake.
The Champcar drivers have been put in the back, in P8-12.
Green flag drops, Karts are four-wide, Flanery�s in first, local yellow is out for somebody who spun, wheelbanging going on, at the end of the first lap it�s Guerrero, Palmer, Gordon, Flanery, Ribero, with Hearn in 8th.
Guerrero has pulled out a big lead, driving away from a huge pack of competitors- Robbie�s doing some banging with Alex Barron.
Flanery the young Indiana Jones is quite a competitive driver here, there�s no question about that. Guerrero leads, Flanery second, Robby in third, Barron in fourth.
Barron comes around inside to pass Gordon: It�s now Guerrero, Flanery, Gordon, Palmer and Hearn.
Guerrero leads, hasn�t been in a Kart for 22 years. Richie Hearn coming into third place
Gordon is gesturing wildly to Sean Palmer on his inside, "get away from me!"
It�s Guerrero, with a narrowing lead over the pack of Flanery, Hearn. Ribero, Gordon and Barron.
Guerrero gets caught up by the actor Flanery, who�s right on his tail, with a gap to Barron and Hearn, who are battling for third.
Robby Gordon has dropped back quite a bit, he seems to have made an off-track excursion.
The leaders are banging wheels, as Flanery takes the lead coming around the final turn. Guerrero taps his back bumper and comes around to the outside. Barron in third, takes Guerrero, Guerrero has a problem and is fading fast.
Approaching the halfway mark of the race, we�ve got Flanery, Barron, Hearn, Guerrero at lap seven.
Alfonso Ribero is standing in the infield next to his car, his day is done. Will Smith�s straight man is dissed once again.
On the front straightaway the leader Flanery cuts off the challenger Barron, which knocks Barron�s red plastic bumper upwards. Alex reaches down, grabs bumper, pushes it right back down into place. Flanery shakes his fist at Barron, who passes the actor for the lead just seconds after self-repairing his car. It�s incredible, Barron has taken the lead and very effectively re-installed his front bumper all at the same time! You don�t see that in Champcar racing!
Hearn now in second- Flanery is hammering him from behind, both are madly gesturing.
On Lap 10, two-thirds into the race, it�s Barron, Hearn, Flanery, Guerrero and the skateboarder Palmer. Oh no, Hearn goes into the haybales in Turn One battling with Flanery for second-so much for the victory speech. Hearn�s Kart is wrecked and he�s out of the race.
Lap 12: Barron has comfortable lead over Flanery, Palmer, Tommy Kendall (alias Elvis Presley,) and Robby Gordon.
Barron takes the white flag with a six second lead over Flanery: Sean Palmer the skateboarder will win third. Neither of the two drivers with a current Champcar ride are going to make the podium. Hearn will earn a DNF, and Gordon will come in sixth, behind Guerrero in fourth and Elvis in fifth.
A dominating performance by Alex Barron, he was expected to be the most experienced Karter in the field and he showed it today- he�s almost lapped somebody at the end there. Barron does a 360 in front of the crowd, in an all white driving suit.
Momo Grand Prix Part Four: The Post-Race Interviews
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Alex Barron, first place:
You didn�t think you were going to make it here?
Actually, I got to get on an airplane right now, but it was worth it, I had a good time.
Who was your toughest competition?
Definitely Richie Hearn. He and I have been racing since we were nine, so I knew it was going to be quite
competitive, it was just a matter of who was going to get the lucky break.
How about when you fixed your own car by replacing the front bumper at one point? Is that an old Karting
trick?
[Laughs] I wish. I think it was just luck that it came down in the right spot.
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Sean Patrick Flanery, second place: (rapid-fire delivery, adrenaline still pumping) It�s funny because me and Richie and Alex did a celebrity race up at Willow Springs and it was the three of us again battling for the lead, and the same thing this time. It�s a big dice, it�s a shambles, it�s bedlam, and the best guy comes out ahead. Me and Richie came together, and Alex clocked out once that happened. I limped the Kart home for second but it was good fun. What happened when you and Richie got together? Richie thought he could outbrake me, so I braked at the last possible minute. I guess he thought he could carry it longer, he didn�t, he went directly into the haybale right in front of me. I smashed into him, but I kept my foot in it, I think I rolled right over the top of his front end and kept on going. Did you have fun? Oh yeah, if I could do it again right now I would. There was a lot of gesturing going on out there? Alex was right behind me, and it was like [Shouting] Come on, what are you doing?!? Have you been a race fan for a long time? Eons. I�ve been following Indycar and F1 since I was eight years old. My first real race was a celebrity race in a Dodge Neon in �95. I went to the Skip Barber two liter school, I strapped myself into those cars, and I never looked back man. How many times a year are you going Karting? As many as my schedule will allow. Have you had any victories yet? Yeah, I won the Florida Grand Prix, that was a big national race. As a matter of fact I was on the cover of Shifter Kart Illustrated last issue holding up the checker for that victory. It was good, I was really proud of that. |
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Roberto Guerrero fifth place: It was a lot of fun, it brought back a lot of good memories. The brakes started going away mid-race, so I had to back off a bit and try to keep them cool. Then unfortunately when [Hearn and Flanery] got together there was no place to go and I was forced into the bales. That cost me a lot of spots. |
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Richie Hearn, DNF: What happened to you there Richie, you were going to give me a victory speech? Yeah Yeah, I was working on it. But I just got a little loose there in turn one racing with Sean there, I wasn�t going to lift, that�s for sure, I never lifted for the corner. Maybe I should have, but, there�s a little pride involved. It was all or nothing for me. I didn�t care if I crashed I just didn�t want to get beat. You got a little hay all over you? Yeah, I wrecked the car, bent the axle, tore the front nose off and everything, hell, it�s for fun. It gave the people a show down there. Did you have a good time? Oh Yeah. How can you not. I didn�t get hurt, so... There was a lot of gesturing going on out there? I was trying to get Sean to push me to catch up to Alex. It was actually helping me, he was bumping me, pushing me down the straightaway. Were you impressed with Sean? I�ve raced with him before yeah. He races all the time, he�s pretty good. |
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