Returning to race at historic 3S Go-Karts in Sutton was a special experience for racers in the KartStars Canada series. This is a track that so many top racers competed at ‘back in the day’. Being across from Sibbald Point Provincial Park made the whole race weekend feel more like an end of summer vacation. With the NSM team and friends like the Ferraris around, the Labour Day long weekend was fantastic.
With two days of practice, Daniel felt confident he’d learned the ‘Senna’ configuration of the Sutton track. In qualifying, Demaras won the Jiffy-Lube Fast Qualifier Award for setting the quickest lap time. This was his third consecutive pole position, including KartStars Nationals at Shannonville and TRAK Race 10 at Goodwood.
While Daniel is quick, he doesn’t yet have the same level of experience as drivers like Ryan Brutzki, who’s raced at 3S many, many times in the past. Daniel won Heat Race 1 after Brutzki was slapped with a jump-start penalty.
Fighting hard against his rival, Daniel finished P2 in Heat Race 2 and the Pre-Final. Demaras faced a tough challenge, and would need to find extra speed if he hoped to beat Brutzki in the Final.
Max Preston is the co-owner of New Speed Motorsports, and only makes appearances at important National and Provincial level races. He’s always taken Daniel under his wing, sharing his love for racing.
Having Preston on the grid before the final gave Demaras extra confidence.
But when the green flag dropped, it all fell apart. Daniel worked hard all day to stay at the sharp end of the grid, but although he qualified on the front row, he was on the outside, and was collected by a rival at Turn 1. The race was almost over before it really got started.
The No. 412 kart was down in 6th place within the first half lap, and Daniel had to put on a recovery drive. With time ticking away, Daniel needed to make quick work of his competition…but that’s not so easy! He climbed his way back up to P2, received a black /white warning flag for aggressive driving, and finished the race exactly where he began …although several seconds back of Brutzki, the race winner.
In scales and tech after the race, there was a strange look of satisfaction on Daniel’s face. Trevor Reeve (of Reeve Webster Racing) put together a race winning kart, and while Demaras faced a huge obstacle during the early laps, he kept cool and brought home another podium finish for New Speed Motorsports.
Saturday was also the KartStars Cadet race, and NSM’s Rocco Simone also brought home second place finish against tough competition. Both racers would compete again on Sunday…but for the time being, everyone involved in the accomplishments just enjoyed the moment.
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