CATAWBA, N.C. — The buzz around Championship Weekend didn’t disappoint as all of the seasonal outlaw kart champions were crowned Sunday evening at Mountain Creek Speedway. Fans packed the hillside grandstands with a lot of focus on the junior classes with tight championship implications and it didn’t take long for the drama to unfold.
Seventeen cadets signed into compete with the class being split into A and B mains. In the Cadet B-main, it was Caden Outz holding off Jaxon Walawender. Walawender would lead for a lap until getting sideways giving the top spot and victory back to Outz.
The Cadet A-main went green to checkered with Tucker Nash taking down the win with a hard-charging Easton Thomas in second. Thomas started the race fourth and chipped away at the leaders interval but ran out of time. T.J. Pursley completed the podium.
Will Spencer locked up the 2021 Cadet division championship.
Just two points separated Chase DeMarco from Brexton Busch, son of NASCAR Cup Series champion, Kyle Busch. The deficit completely disappeared with DeMarco earning two points for a heat win, tying Busch for the point lead going into the A-main. The best finisher of the two would win the title.
Demarco would bring the field to green but it was Reed Cregger getting the advantage on the outside taking an early race lead with Liam Kane filing into second, Konner Leicht, Beckham Malone and DeMarco falling to fifth with Jackson Darnell and Busch in tow.
Busch passed Darnell for sixth as DeMarco also picked up a spot, moving to fourth. The top six would run like that for the majority of the race until Liam Kane passed Cregger for the lead with two to go with a caution immediately following.
A green-white-checkered set up the final scenario for the title as Kane held on for the win with Reed Cregger second and Beckham Malone third. By virtue of his fourth-place finish, Chase DeMarco won the closest Beginner Box Stock championship in Mountain Creek Speedway history by just 10 points over Brexton Busch.
Wyatt Miller and Karter Beattie both had a mathematical shot at point leader, Cole Thomas for the Box Stock championship. The three title contenders would bring the field to green with Beattie on the pole, Miller outside and Thomas starting third.
Beattie would lead through two restarts but left the top lane open for Zoey Smith, who came from sixth to take the lead with an outside pass into turn one. Smith would lease the remaining laps for the win with Beattie second, Wyatt Miller third, Calan Parks fourth and Rhylen Watkins fifth.
Cole Thomas ran a respectable seventh, securing the points championship by 21points over Karter Beattie.
A division many will look at next year with great anticipation is the Yamaha Stock 450 division which has doubled in size in as many weeks.
Lou Mattesen led the field to green with fast qualifier and speedway owner, Adam Stewart in hot pursuit in second. Stewart would take himself out of the feature as he would spin far enough into the infield, keeping the race green. Mattesen would have to hold off the advances of newcomer Stanley Travis for the win with Sam Miller third and the brothers Mattesen, Wade and Andrew completing the top five.