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| June 05, 2009 |
| Team News: Fernando Alonso Kart USA |
 | Florida stars Chaponick and West are teaming up at Alonso Kart USA
(Photo: Cody Schindel - Autosports Media)
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After some isolated early outings, Fernando Alonso Kart USA will debut in force this weekend when the Rotax Max Challenge South Florida resumes action at Homestead Karting. Five of six team drivers will suit up for FA Kart, and the impressive array of kids will see action across four classes. Each is well known in Florida karting, and will look to make FA Kart equally well known contesting races three and four at the Homestead Karting Summer Series.
Leading the way into battle as multiple FA Kart entries in Rotax Junior are Jack West and Dore Chaponick Jr. The pair have been tearing up Florida kart tracks for years and are perhaps best known for their epic 2008 Florida Winter Tour Championship battle in Rotax Mini-Max. Chaponick won the title that year, creating the crowing moment in his young career. The twelve-year-old from Miami, Florida, registered three wins and a pair of second-place results as his best five that winter, and was seventh in the recent 2009 FWT International Rotax Max Challenge as he looked to defend the crown. Having made the jump to Rotax Junior for the RMC South Florida, Chaponick sits tied for sixth through two races and will be looking to improve aboard his new FA Kart.
West returns to Homestead having also moved to Junior, and he does so as a reigning FWT International Rotax Max Challenge Champion. After a narrow miss to Chaponick a year ago, the young star from Sarasota, Florida, delivered the goods at the 2009 Mini-Max finale and emerged with the championship from the most competitive field of age group karters in the Americas. After a strong opening weekend at Homestead in January, West swept race three of the Winter Tour and nearly did the same in race four when he doubled-up on main event wins. He rode the wave of momentum through the Ocala finale, and after fighting at the front throughout the weekend none stood higher on the final points podium. Adapting to Rotax Junior after sampling some CIK classes at the end of the Tour, West currently sits third in the summer series behind some junior veterans and will be looking to close the gap beginning today.
Taking FA Kart into Mini-Max action will be Derek Sobel from Naples, Florida. The ten-year-old has been racing anywhere and everywhere in early 2009, and will surely test his new FA Kart with a variety of power units. While he was third in putting on a Mini-Max exhibition at the recent World Karting Association race at Michiana Raceway Park, Sobel also raced Yamaha Sportsman Lite where he is tenth in points; HPV Junior Sportsman where he is third in points; and Cadet where he climbed the podium on Sunday and sits sixth overall through four races. He also raced the Stars of Karting National event at Ocala, qualifying fourth and finishing sixth; and raced a pair of classes through the 2009 Florida Winter Tour. He was eighth in Mini-Max final points, and fourth in Cadet.
The final pair of FA Kart drivers taking to the track at Homestead are brothers Devlin and Lachlan DeFrancesco. As the elder of the pair, Devlin has been racing his way across North America this season and standing on podiums in a variety of classes. Originally from Toronto, Ontario, Devlin has already made a pair of trips North from his new home in Florida and raced four-stroke Honda, but is much better known as one of the top Micro-Max drivers in the Americas. The nine-year-old has been on 2009 podiums at the Florida Winter Tour, Southwest Regional Cup, Brian Stewart Racing Karting Championship, North Florida Rotax Max Challenge, and the Rotax Max Challenge South Florida where he returns this weekend. Younger brother Lachlan hits Homestead ready for some true kid-kart action.
Cole Glasson is the sixth member of the newly-formed team, and the eight-year-old from Corinth, Texas, represents FA Kart in the World Karting Association, Southwest Regional Cup, and with Championship Karting International. Racing in the initial CKI event last weekend at New Castle Motorsports Park, Glasson flirted with the top ten through heat racing action before taking eighth in the nation Sunday afternoon. He was second in the World Karting Association Mini-Max exhibition at MRP, and also races Cadet Junior Sportsman. Racing in the Southwest Regional Cup Glasson is on his home turf more often and with a strong outing at Oklahoma recently he moved to second in overall points and sits just eight points shy of the championship lead.
Alonso Kart USA is based in Indianapolis, Indiana, owned and operated by DeFrancesco Racing. It has an impressive supporting cast in the pit including Bobby Wilson, Doug Sharp, Ben Cruttenden and David Tennyson. The team is consistently expanding, and inquiries are always welcome. Come and visit trackside!
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