The prairie was on fire in August at Heartland Motorsports Park of Topeka, Kan.! More than 80 drivers took to the track for Fire on the Prairie over two days with some great driving. The competition fields were deep, with 26 entries in Storm and 16 in Time Trial. This turnout set the foundation for some great battles going down.
Saturday Cody Burt pulled the win in American Iron. Team Chameleon Racing had a hard-fought win in ST4. Team Cohn won ST5, and Mark Kirby won SU, as did Quinten Jordan in Spec Miata. William Pemberton won ST2 and Doug Kinde came out in top in ST6.
Sunday morning started off with a very wet track, but the race must go on! The track dried off later in the afternoon, setting perfect conditions for an intense battle between Steve Johnson and Bob Schader in ST4. Johnson came out on top.
Brett Westcott fought hard for a win in ST5, and Jade Buford won SU. Cody Burt placed first on Sunday in American Iron, along with Quinten Jordan in Spec Miata. William Pemberton in ST2 and Doug Kinde in ST6.
Great driving led to four track records set this weekend. Team Chameleon Racing, in their Mazda Miata laid down a blistering 1:48.572, shattering the ST4 record. They then repeated this feat in TT4 with a time of 1:49.706. Doug Kinde was also on fire this weekend and raised the bar for the ST6 record in his Mazda Miata with a time of 2:03.408. Garrett Taylor set fire to the track in TTU with his Radical SR3 with a new course record at 1:44.573.
The HPDE groups saw nine students hitting the track for the first time. Overall, there were 40 HPDE students hitting the track and making improvements.
Jeff Whealen and Damon Robison promoted from HPDE 1 to 2. Brett Partica, Ken Shern and Ben Chen moved from HPDE 2 to 3. Eric Lehnen went from HPDE 3 to 4, and Joe Kientz tested into Time Trials.
RennSport KC sponsored the awards ceremony and happy hour for the drivers, friends and their families.
