Cole Mann – Stars – Round 3 East Division – USAIR, Shawano, WI, July 11 – 13, 2008

Written By: Cole Mann Racing

7/29/08 – (Hewitt, NJ) – Round 3 of the Snap on Stars of Karting Series was held at USAIR in Shawano, WI. Cole again would be competing in the STARS TaG class aboard his Maranello Chassis powered by his Fleming Leopard. Going into this race the young driver was sitting 3rd in the points standings, with Cabrera (Kosmic) and Wimsett (Intrepid) sitting in first and second in front of him.

Friday practice day started off raining and the first two practice sessions of the day started off on rain tires. This left only 4 sessions in dry conditions to figure everything out for qualifying. The day did not go as the team had hoped. Cole’s practice times were finding him a little worse then mid pack. Only 1 session went well with a practice time putting him 3rd. Many adjustments were made over the course of the day and the Team was hoping all of the bugs were worked out for qualifying. Some motor issues came into play over the course of the day also.

For Saturday Cole qualified in 16th position. For all 3 heat races to follow you start from your qualifying position. Heat race #1 Cole would be able to move up and finish in 12th spot. Heat race #2 he finished where he started in 16th position.

On Sunday, heat race #3 he was all the way up to 11th position when he was pushed off the track and ended up finishing in the 19th spot and was lucky to finish there with the damage that was done to his kart.

With those finishes tallied Cole would find himself starting from 15th in the 2 finals. The team made every effort to get Cole’s kart up to par and he was focused and motivated to do his best. Cole did just that. In final #1 he managed to finish in 13th position. He would get so far and then the Kart just had nothing left. He was driving as hard and as well as he could. In Final #2 there was a crash going down into the first turn. Cole could not avoid the incident, was hit from behind and sent off the track. He got back on the track but was now in last. He made some very amazing passes to just keep going forward. He was determined to get as far up front as he could. Once again he managed to get up to 12th position and the kart had nothing left. He was not able to get any further forward. The team is very proud of Cole’s never give up attitude that he had the entire weekend, even though things were not going as well as he wanted them to.

With all scores now calculated for the East Stars Division, Cole lost his top 5 position by 10 points. He has finished off the season in 6th. We are all very proud of his accomplishment this season. This was his first year as a Senior and his first year to ever compete in the Stars Series. He competed against the best drivers in the country and proved that he can hold his own with many seasoned veterans!

Cole would like to give Special Thanks to his Dad and Chief Mechanic Keith Mann because without him and his support Cole would not be at the level he is today. Cole would also like to thank his partners for their continued support of his racing career. Thanks to Shupp’s Kart Shop, Doug Fleming, Savage Desings, World Wide Bearings and Walters Web Design.