Sterns wins final race, River Hill championship

Ben Punsalan of River Hill before the start of the A-Main. Punsalan and teammate Zack Spicer would combine to win the first MD Varsity Karting League championship for River Hill.

Starting on the outside of the front row, Jemicy School's Brendan Stern was able to out brake polesitter Jackie Ding in the first turn. From there, Stern would hold off Ding to win his third race of the 2015 Maryland Varsity Karting League last Tuesday evening on the Monaco Circuit at Autobahn Speedway.

However, the strong performance from Stern and Ding would not be enough. With Zack Spicer and Ben Punsalan finishing third and fourth, the River Hill Hawks captured the championship. Sandy Spring was second, with Jemicy third.

Crucial to the River Hill win was Punsalan's victory over Ding in Week 3. On a week, in which his teammate Spicer was out, Punsalan managed to keep Sandy Spring and Jemicy from scoring maximum points.

The Baltimore Lab School led by the Williams brothers Leonidas and Laurent finished fourth, with Wye River fifth.

League Director Jordan Wallace was happy with the first year of the league. In particular, Wallace noted that numerous school administrators were supportive of the endeavor and have already asked how they can help grow the league in 2016 and integrate it with their existing athletic programs.

Wallace hopes to have more schools participating in 2016. The league featured 13 Maryland high schools this year, and Wallace believes they can have between 16 and 18 next year. There are also plans to start a similar league in Virginia, although that may have to wait until 2017.

AutoRacing1 commends the participants, organizers and hosts at Autobahn Speedway on a successful inaugural season for the Maryland Varsity Karting League. And we will continue to keep our readers informed about the growth and expansion of the program going forward.

AR1 Staff Report