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ORLANDO, FL – The weather was “chamber of commerce perfect” as PRI Trade Show attendees, Orlando residents and some of the top names in North American racing gathered outside the Orange County Convention Center to take in the kart events at the second Snap-on Stars of Karting presented by the IRL. An impressive grid of pro drivers duked it out in the All Stars Masters Division finale with Grand-Am Driver Michael Valiante taking the overall win, followed by ICC National Champ Gary Carlton, who impressed the fans with his win in the Karter division, while rounding out the podium was last year’s winner, Indy 500 Champion Buddy Rice.
The drivers ran on a specially configured road course set up immediately outside the Orange County Convention Center in Orlando, where the PRI Trade Show is held Dec. 6-8, 2007.
“That was a lot of fun and some hard driving,” Valiante stated, following his triumph. “Everyone was going for it and it took a lot of skill to just stay in control. No one gave an inch and clearly, every driver was extremely focused. No one has lost anything since the end of their respective racing season!”
Valiante, of the Italian Motors team, also saluted SSC East's Carlton who had a strong evening, taking first in the Karter Division, and as one of the top six finishers from that race entered the Masters feature. He held his own and took second amid a stellar cast of racing’s elite.
Among the pro drivers who fought valiantly to change Valiante in the Masters Division were:
NASCAR's Jamie McMurray (SSC East) and A.J. Allmendinger (SSC East), IndyCar's Marco Andretti (Team Top Kart USA), ALMS driver Bryan Herta (Team Top Kart USA), Grand-Am racer Joey Hand (Team Top Kart USA), Rice (Tony Kart USA), MotoGP's Eddie Lawson (Tony Kart USA), F1 and stock car driver Scott Speed (MRP-Birel America), ChampCar's Jan Heylen (MRP-Birel America) and Nelson Philippe (SSC East), NHRA's Steve Johnson (FirstKart.com) and Ron Capps (Motorama Kart Part-Birel), former WKA Champion Lake Speed (Motorama Kart Part-Birel), ALMS driver Christian Fittipaldi (Champion Racing-Intrepid) and Supercross' Heath Voss (Franklin Motorsports).
Practice began at 4:00 p.m. for both the Masters and Karter Division as the drivers quickly familiarized themselves with the track for this special one-day event. |
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