Hebner fourth in Race of the Americas

the Race of the Americas held March 13 at the Oklahoma Motorsports Complex in Norman.

The Fallbrook driver also finished fourth in his heat race March 12. “We didn’t qualify well, but we pulled it together and ran an excellent race,” Hebner said.

Hebner made his debut in the Stars of Karting series last year (at the time it was called the Stars of Tomorrow series). The 2004 season was scheduled to end with the Race of the Americas, which is designed to bring the top drivers from the series’ Eastern and Western divisions together to crown a “national champion,” in Orlando. Four prominent hurricanes in Florida last year led to the cancellation of that race.

Since the 2004 race was cancelled, the Stars series chose to kick off the 2005 season with the Western and Eastern drivers meeting in the combined Race of the Americas in Oklahoma. Prior to the race the event was also added to the Commission Internationale de Karting (CIK) world calendar international schedule, which resulted in European and other international drivers participating.

“Oklahoma was huge. That’s the biggest performance to date for him,” said Hebner’s father, Bryant. “That was not just a Stars race.”

Bryant Hebner is on his son’s crew; Hebner was also accompanied by Travis Irving.

Hebner uses a CRG chassis, and CRG sent factory mechanics from Brescia, Italy. “They helped us out a lot after the heat,” Hebner said of Mattia Madami and Jacopo Mwelli.

The CRG mechanics took an interest in Hebner’s kart following the heat race and worked with Irving. “They were interested in what we were doing, and Travis was interested in what they had to say, and we ended up doing really well,” Bryant Hebner said.

“I kind of expected their real strength to be technical,” Bryant Hebner said. “Their real strength was the way they related to the driver.”

The Oklahoma Motorsports Complex is a 7/10-mile road course with 13 turns and a 750-foot front straightaway. “It was a very nice track,” Grant Hebner said.

An eight-kart hauler left Lake Elsinore for Oklahoma with Hebner’s kart March 8. The Hebners and Irving flew to Oklahoma and arrived in Norman the night of March 10.

March 11 was a controlled practice day, and additional practice preceded the qualifying session March 12. Hebner qualified 23rd among the 38 drivers. “There were a lot of good drivers,” Hebner said.

Hebner’s goal entering the weekend was to earn an automatic spot in the main event rather than running a consolation main after which the top six finishers would start at the back of the main event. “We didn’t really know how we stacked up against a lot of the international drivers,” Hebner said.

Although enough drivers fell out of the Intercontinental Class A (ICA) race to send all drivers to the main event and cancel the B-main, Hebner’s heat race performance March 12 would have allowed him to achieve his goal. Although he started 14th among the 19 drivers in his heat race, he was in fourth place at the end of the 18-lap race.

“We just had some great opportunities on the racetrack for great passes, and I got a really good start and everything in that race just went my way,” Hebner said.

Not only did Hebner gain ten positions in the heat race, but his fast lap of 45.435 seconds came in the 15th lap, indicating that the setup was enabling the kart to maintain its speed throughout the race.

The CRG mechanics’ suggestions included moving the seat, and Hebner opined that the change helped him considerably in the main event.

Marc Zartarian of the Carlsbad firm High-Rev Engineering built Hebner’s engine. Zartarian suggested that Hebner should not run the actual race motor in the Sunday warm-up session to ensure the engine’s safety, so the crew spent the evening of March 12 changing from the race motor to the practice motor.

Zartarian’s foresight would be to Hebner’s advantage. A cold front moved through central Oklahoma during the night and temperatures dropped approximately 20 degrees. Hebner turned a pair of laps during the ten-minute warmup session before his engine seized and he watched the rest of the session from the infield. The crew had no meaningful setup data from the morning practice, so Irving was forced to guess when he mounted the race engine back on the kart prior to the main event.

Hebner started the main event in the seventh position. After the original green flag was thrown, Hebner was pushed inside on the start and had to exit the first turn rather wide. He was forced into the dirt and came back onto the track in the middle of the pack. “I didn’t get a very good start,” he said.

One of the drivers behind him flipped over on the first lap, and a red flag was thrown. Under the rules the race was restarted after a 30-minute break for drivers and mechanics to make repairs. Hebner and Irving aligned the front end and also checked for damage, although none was found.

The drivers were in their original order for the restart. “I got a great start, so that helped me out a lot,” Hebner said.

Hebner passed four drivers during the main, while the only driver to pass Hebner was Mike Giessen, last year’s Eastern Division Stars champion.

Hebner finished higher than any other CRG driver and was one of five drivers of any chassis to post a lap of under 45 seconds. His fast lap, which took 44.960 seconds, came in the 20th lap of the 24-lap main event.

“Travis and the CRG mechanics really set my go-kart up, and it was fast all the way through the race,” Hebner said of his fast lap.

Davide Foré, a three-time world champion and factory professional driver from Italy, won the race. Helmut Sanden, a German who moved to Canada to race and is the North American champion, finished second. Giessen was third. Hebner was fourth, 8.121 seconds behind Foré.

“That was a big accomplishment for me,” Hebner said.

Hebner finished 1.412 seconds ahead of fifth-place Chris Wehrheim. “He was there, but he wasn’t really pressuring me,” Hebner said of Wehrheim.

Hebner’s concerns weren’t over. The post-race weight inspection requires that the car, fuel, and driver weigh at least 330 pounds. The restart, including the additional warmup laps, had consumed more fuel than Hebner and his crew had planned. “It made me a lot more nervous,” Hebner said.

Hebner narrowly avoided disqualification when the scales registered at 330.2 pounds.

“The fact that Grant came in, a 16-year-old kid, and ran with these professionals, it was unbelievable,” Bryant Hebner said. “He’s gotten a lot of attention from that.”

The race was a double points race for the Stars of Karting series. Sanden was the only Western Division driver to finish higher than Hebner, putting the Fallbrook driver in second place in the standings.