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Pro Karting - Daughters Wins TaG Senior, Williams Takes TaG Junior


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BUTTONWILLOW, Jul. 5, 2012: Phil Giebler Racing’s Mason Daughters drove to his first career victory in TaG Senior and Carter Williams won in TaG Junior and S5 in the fourth round of the Superkarts! USA California ProKart Challenge on Saturday (June 23) at Buttonwillow Raceway Park’s .69-mile kart track.

Daughters, a 15-year-old from Polo, Mo., finished 1.7 seconds in front of Austin Dement in the 20-lap feature.

“It felt really good to get my first win in SKUSA and to win in my first year in TaG Senior,” Daughters said. “It’s really difficult when you’re racing against Austin Dement, Matt Johnson, Jake Craig and the other top drivers in SKUSA. I had a smile on my face the rest of the day.”

The Level 5 Motorsports development driver started fifth in the 17-kart field, took the lead on the third lap and pulled away.

“When I got to the first corner, I was third behind Matt Johnson and Jake Craig and when they went wide in a corner, I passed them both. I focused on building a gap the rest of the way.”

It was the second feature victory of the season for Williams in SKUSA’s TaG Junior. The 13-year-old from Clovis, Calif., was eighth at the end of the first lap and seventh on the fourth before charging into the lead on the 11th. Williams wasn’t threatened to the checkered flag in the 20-lap race.

Paul Grey of Mission Viejo, Calif., finished second in TaG Master. He started from fourth position, moved up to second by the second lap and held it to the finish.

Nicky Freytag of Paradise Valley, Ariz., rallied from a difficult start to the event to finish third in S1 Pro Stock Moto. He had a broken coil wire that caused him to miss qualifying and more mechanical problems forced him out of the first heat after one lap. Freytag climbed from the back of the field to sixth in the second heat and started fifth in the feature.

“It was a very strong run after gremlins and bad luck to start the day,” Giebler said.

Noah Grey of Dana Point, Calif., took the pole in TaG Junior, won the first heat and was third in the second heat. But Grey drove with a broken exhaust in the feature, robbing him of power, and finished fifth.

“Noah was very strong the entire day until the exhaust problems dropped him back in the feature,” Giebler said. “He wants to win so bad and he’s so determined, his day will come soon.”

Vatche Tatikian of North Hollywood, Calif., had a solid run going in TaG Master until his exhaust had problems and eventually broke off completely, forcing him to retire on the next-to-last lap. He’d run fourth and was holding onto sixth before dropping out.

Jonathan May of San Marcos, Calif., finished 11th in his debut in TaG Senior. Teammate Shawn Cricca of Simi Valley, Calif., completed only five laps in the feature and finished 16th.

Dallas Hollins of Fontana, Calif., finished 12th in the TaG Junior feature.

“We had a great event with Mason’s breakthrough victory in TaG Senior, Carter’s two wins in TaG Junior and S5, Paul Grey’s second in TaG Master and Nicky Freytag’s third in S1,” Giebler said. “Our entire team performed well and we could have had more top-three and top-five results if not for some mechanical problems.”

Owned by the 2007 Indy 500 Rookie of the Year, Phil Giebler Racing is based in Orange, Calif., and competes nationally at the highest level of karting in the United States. Giebler is a resident of Huntington Beach, Calif. The team uses Fernando Alonso and Tony Karts.

For more information, go to www.philgieblerracing.com.

Phil Giebler Racing feature results at Buttonwillow Raceway Park:

Saturday, June 23: TaG Senior—1. Mason Daughters, Polo, Mo., 11. Jonathan May, San Marcos, Calif., 16. (DNF) Shawn Cricca, Simi Valley, Calif.; TaG Junior—1. Carter Williams, Clovis, Calif., 5. Noah Grey, Dana Point, Calif., 12. Dallas Hollins, Fontana, Calif.; S5—1. Williams; TaG Master—2. Paul Grey, Mission Viejo, Calif., 8. (DNF) Vatche Tatikian, North Hollywood, Calif., S1—3. Nicky Freytag, Paradise Valley, Ariz.