Pro Karting - Phil Giebler Racing's Daughters 9th, 18th In Junior features At Rotax Pan American

NORTH LIBERTY, May 26, 2011: Phil Giebler Racing’s Mason Daughters finished ninth Sunday and 18th Saturday in the Rotax Junior feature races at the Rotax Pan American Challenge at Michiana Raceway Park.

“We had some good runs and showed a lot of potential,” Giebler said. “The weather came into play a couple times that did not help us out, but it was a solid weekend considering the competition, difficulty of the track and conditions.”

The event is a qualifying round for the Rotax Challenge Grand Finals in the United Arab Emirates from Nov. 23-26 and attracted an international field of karters from throughout the Americas.

Daughters, of Polo, Mo., was running fifth and just behind the leaders halfway into Saturday’s feature when it started raining and the race was red flagged.

“When the red flag came out to give the drivers a chance to switch to rain tires, we gambled and stayed on rain tires,” Giebler said. “We thought it was going to rain more. The rain did not come and we weren't lucky as most drivers stayed on dry tires.

“Sunday, we had a very good chance to get into the top five, but Mason was pushed wide on the first lap and fell back. He recovered well to make it back to ninth.”

Daughters, a Level 5 Motorsports development team driver who is sponsored by Boardwalk Ferrari and VIP Custom Cars, qualified his PGR-prepared FA Kart in 12th position Saturday and 13th Sunday. He was sixth in the pre-final race Saturday and 11th Sunday. Daughters used Rotax power and Mojo Tires

“We are working on qualifying pace, but looking very good in the race conditions,” Giebler said. “He is learning a lot and I am very happy with the progress he’s made with less than year experience.”

Phil Giebler Racing, owned by the 2007 Indy 500 Rookie of the Year, is based in Orange, Calif., and competes in karting events coast-to-coast in the USA. In addition to preparing the karts, Giebler, a resident of Huntington Beach, Calif., provides driver coaching.