Coming down off the high of Saturday’s podium, Demaras arrived at the track to find a new challenge. Heavy overnight rain had soaked the circuit. The forecast showed the weather would clear by mid-morning, but by the time qualifying arrived, the track conditions were questionable.
Daniel had his rain tires on plus an air-filter cover, while other competitors had shiny new slicks on. It was a real mixed bag, and the wet runners took the early fast laps while the dry runners spun into the swamp. As the laps continued, the track dried, and the advantage was handed to racers like Zach Boam who were on dry-weather rubber.
The moments before the Final are always interesting. Experienced racers like Kevin May seemed calm and jovial, teasing brother and sister Tommy and Jelena for colliding with each other in the Pre-Final. Zach Boam was all business, starting on pole, and Daniel Demaras was a little nervous with Steve Macvoy starting third (they’ve had run-ins during recent races).
The race start was clean, and the racers swept into the first corner. Demaras and Macvoy were close to impact (again) but after seeing flashbacks from the previous day, Steve conceded the corner. May intelligently pushed Daniel away from the pack, using the draft to his advantage, but a mistake at Grid Corner cost Kevin several positions.
Demaras is a natural ‘Briggs Master’ with no lead on the kart. But with lightweight competitors in KartStars Senior, Demaras had to make the No. 412 the widest kart on track. Protecting the inside line, driving smart and smooth, Demaras defended his P2 against assaults from May, Latkovic and Macvoy.
NSM boss Anthony Simone even commented on the power of the NBS engine, saying “Don’t ever sell that motor. Daniel is pulling away in a straight line!” despite Demaras running above the 360 lb minimum weight.
At the checkered flag it was Boam, followed by Demaras in P2, chased closely by Macvoy and Jelena Latkovic, who sadly lost her podium position with only 2 corners to go, after attempting an overtake on Demaras.
The Sunday podiums say NSM’s Cayden Goodridge win in VLR Masters, and Rocco Simone finally defeat 15-time race winner Christian Papp in Briggs Cadet. Daniel wasn’t expecting to be on the podium in KartStars Senior, and was all smiles climbing up on the podium for the second time at KartStars Round 4.
Trevor Reeve, Daniel Demaras, little Leo Simone and big Chris Demaras enjoyed the warm sunshine that capped off a double-podium weekend at Sutton.
