Burkett Bolts to Road Atlanta Victory
Braselton, GA – Daniel Burkett, driving for K-Hill Motorsports, started from pole and led throughout the entire race at Road Atlanta to open up a gap en route to the first win of the 2014 Atlantic Championship Series. Jimmy Simpson, in the Atlantic Creations entry, was second with Keith Grant rounding off the podium in his No. 40, with all three drivers in Swift 016s.
"The car was perfect today and I can't thank K-Hill Motorsports enough. It was really, really good. The consistency in this car is something I’ve never felt before" explained Burkett, in the No. 4, before taking his position on the top step of the podium.
Simpson, who had started second, also kept pace during the race behind Burkett and finished as he started, in second, for race one of the 10-race/five-weekend 2014 Atlantic season.
"Unfortunately we just quite didn't have enough for the No. 4 car but Atlantic Creations gave me a phenomenal car today” said Simpson. The Atlantic Creations driver is looking forward to another chance in Sunday’s race to fight for first place.
Both Burkett and Simpson are career-minded, aspiring racers, with Burkett in a one race deal for K-Hill, and Simpson hoping to run the full season for Atlantic Creations.
Grant, in the Polestar-prepped entry, was third after inheriting the position from Ethan Ringel.
"We were able to get around Ethan (Ringel) when something happened to his car but otherwise I'm happy with the podium, it’s a good way to start the season,” said Grant.
Ringel, who had been running in the top five, pulled off track toward the end of the race, due to expected mechanical issues.
Father and son K-Hill Motorsports’ drivers, Gaston and Conner Kearby, from Corpus Christi, Texas, ran together in the beginning of the race, swapping positions every few laps. About midway through the race, Matt Miller was able to wedge in between the Kearby duo and hold his position until for a few laps before Conner passed him and tucked back in behind his father. In the end, Conner finished ahead of his father, Gaston, making the K-Hill pair fourth and fifth for race one, and three of the top five finishers K-Hill motorsports cars.
Rounding out the top ten of the field were Matt Miller, Michael Mallinen, Richard Zober, Bruce Hamilton and Tyler Hunter.
It was a clean race, running all 20 scheduled laps flag-to-flag, but a few cars were unable to finish
J.R. Smart, driving for Pabst Racing Services, was able to complete three laps of the race and retired into the paddock; Bob Corliss, of Comprent Motorsports, pulled into the pits on lap 13.
Full race results are available on AtlanticChampionshipSeries.com
Qualifying for race two begins at 9:10am Sunday morning, followed by race two at 4:00pm local time.