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It’s the moment of truth for our championship hopefuls – the 2024 NHKA Season Finale, October 16 at Canaan Motor Club. Before we talk points, we need to thank the man who makes the points happen race-after-race year-after-year: Jim Slade. Looking at Jim’s handiwork (which includes everyone’s provisional drop race), there’s a common theme across all classes: consistency. By and large, the podium hosted the same three drivers in most events. As a result, the top three championship drivers in every class are more or less locked in. In fact, most of the championships are clinched by all sensible measures. That’s not to say there aren’t a couple still up for grabs, plus pretty much every class has a heated battle for second-place honors. Let’s take a look at the races to watch.
 Briggs 206 Cadet
With three wins and a 35-point lead going into the Season Finale, Samson Plourde has earned a virtual lock on the Briggs 206 Cadet Championship. The same can’t be said for Ryan Rollins’ hold on second place. Last year’s Cadet champion, Jackson Blanchard, is only 7.5 points back. Can he pull off another last-race upset?
 Briggs 206 Junior
Trevor King won every race this season but the first, where he finished 2nd. It is an impressive performance given his 6th-place finish last season. Clearly he has figured some things out, but so has his competition. 206 Junior rookie Jake Malone scored seven podiums, including a win. However, despite that impressive consistency, Wyatt Burns sits a mere 12.5 points back thanks to his six podiums. It’s gonna be fun to watch these three have at it at the Season Finale and for years to come.
 Briggs 206 Senior
There was such an explosion of competition in 206 Senior this year that we had to create another class to relieve some of the pressure. This reduced the on-track headcount but not the intensity of the competition. In his first year as in Seniors after winning last year’s Junior championship, William Tyler and his one win go into the Finale with a scant 2.5-point lead. Benjamin Safar, who has two wins and made huge performance gains over last year, sits comfortably ahead of perennial front-runner Caleb Jarvis-Comi. Just when you thought this bubbling stew has hit its boiling point, Cooper Rittich could spice things up. While he’s missed too many races to be a factor at the top of the points, he has attended four races and won three of them. Whether he appears on the grid or not, Briggs 206 Junior is absolutely a race to watch!
 Briggs 206 Medium
Tom Rosenfeld, who has a virtual lock on the championship with four wins in six races, never seems to get any older. Meanwhile, his competition is most certainly getting younger. Brian Wilkinson, last season’s 206 Junior runner-up, scored a win and was only off the podium once. He has a scant 2.5-point lead over Christian Flagg, who also earned a win plus four 2nd-place finishes.
 Briggs 206 Masters
With five wins and a 2nd, Tom Rosenfeld has dominated his way to his second consecutive Briggs 206 Masters championship. Meanwhile, Doug Hutchinson (five podiums, including two wins) and Jonathan Gomes (4 podiums) are having a nice little scrape for the second step with only 17.5 points between them.
 TaG Senior
It’s only his first year racing at the senior level, and Brian Wilkinson is making his presence known at the front. In 206 Medium, he’s been nipping at Tom Rosenfeld’s heels all season. In TaG Senior he has earned three wins and two 2nds for a fairly solid 27.5-point lead. Long-time racer Bryce Czuba’s win and four podiums have given him a 12.5-point edge on last year’s champ, Alex “Axel” Gomes, who has a win and hasn’t finished off the podium, but missed out on Kartmania qualifying points. These three have put on a great show all season, so you should expect nothing less at the Season Finale.
 TaG Masters
When last season’s champ, Tom Prioli, stepped away from TaG Masters to serve as the club’s Assistant Race Director, the rest of the Masters class took one big step forward. Robert Bain’s two wins and string of three 2nds have given the TaG veteran 47.5-point lock on the 2024 championship. Alan Pope is in position to upgrade last season’s third-place trophy, but he’ll need to hold off a hard-charging Rich Blanchard who is looking to end the year with his third win in a row. This will be fun to watch.
 World Formula Light
For us lovers of racing, World Formula Light is a gift that keeps on giving. Fast and steady Kyle Callahan was on the podium every race this year, including three visits to the top step. As you’d expect with winning nearly half the races, he is the leader coming into the Finale. What you wouldn’t expect is that lead to be a tiny 7.5 points! William Dziuba also has three wins, but all his have come in the last three races – a real hot streak! But this being World Formula Light, all that on-track performance and consistency have only given him a 10-point edge for 2nd-place. Ryan Archambault has one win and only finished off the podium once. He may be in third place, but only 18 points away from his third championship in a row. THIS will be a race to watch!
 World Formula Heavy
“Fast” Freddie Fawcett is back on top… or at least he will be if he gets through the last race cleanly. That seems highly likely seeing as Vinny’s dad has won three of the last four races. That said, stuff can happen to make a 32.5-point lead seem pretty narrow. This is especially true when the guy behind you, Jim Slade, hasn’t been off the podium since Race 3 and really doesn’t want to finish another championship campaign in 2nd place for the second year in a row. Jeff Gutterson, lurking 21.5 points behind, would be more than happy to relieve Slade of 2nd place.
 Huge Thanks to Photographer/Racer Ken Repke
For another season Ken has found creative ways to capture the essence of each event while making us all look cool and quick. The value he brings to the club as a whole and each racer’s experience cannot be overstated, and should never be taken for granted. Please show Ken your appreciation for his hard work by visiting www.kenrepke.zenfolio.com and purchasing hi-res downloads or high-quality prints. Thanks!
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