Ringel Wins Race, Burkett Wins Championship Title

The race began with intensity while Atlantic cars went three wide into turn one. The cars bunched up in the entrance of the turn and got a little too close for comfort. Due to the tightness of the turn a few cars were forced off track. One of those cars was Championship winner Burkett, who ended up facing the wrong direction on the track. He was able to get his car started and turned around, but had dropped from first to second to last.

The incident in turn one gave Ringel the chance and the opening he needed to grab the lead from his third place qualifying position. Ringel was able to hold his first place position and gap the rest the of the field to comfortably take his first race win of the Atlantic Championship Season.

“It feels good, I’m relieved to finally win one of these. The car was good today, and it shows the effort of the team working through issues earlier this year. They did a great job and I hope we can do it again tomorrow”, said the enthusiastic race winner Ringel.

Conner Kearby was able to hold off opponents, Keith Grant of Polestar, and his father/teammate Gaston Kearby, for a second place finish. Taking the second step on the podium, Kearby said, “I had a lucky start and thanks to the K-Hill team, I had the car I needed to maintain my qualifying position. It was a great finish, and I’m hoping for a similar outcome tomorrow”.

Daniel Burkett rounded out the Atlantic Championship Podium in the third place position, coming back through the entire Atlantic field after the incident on the first lap. Burkett had passed half the field before the halfway mark in the race. His podium finish solidified his Championship win. This is the first Championship win for the up and coming career driven driver. If getting a step on the podium and the Championship title were not enough, Burkett also reset the Thompson Speedway overall track record from his morning time.

Burkett, who has been running a red and white K-Hill Motorsports car, with sponsors, Champion Spark Plugs and Roam Mobility, said “I’m not quite sure what happened in turn one, but I’m happy to have the title and reset the track record.” The Canadian intends to race for a win during the season closer race on Sunday at Thompson Speedway.

K-Hill Motorsport team owner, Kris Kaiser, was equally excited as Burkett about the winning the Atlantic Championship Title. He said, “It’s great to clinch the title, this is for the guys at the shop and the guys on the road, they know what needs to be done and they do it impeccably and efficiently. It takes a lot to support a five or six car program week in and week out, and it’s a team effort.”

Grant, finished fourth in Saturday’s race, putting in a strong effort to defend his championship position. The Polestar driver has the possibility of taking the second place champsionship position if tomorrow’s race goes very well for him. Bruce Hamilton finished in fifth place.

The last race of the Atlantic Championship Series 2014 Season starts at on 5:00pm on Sunday, after qualifying at 12:50pm local time.