Round 5 of the Black River Kart Club delivered one of the most compelling days of racing the Lorain Ohio KartPlex has seen this season. Ian Quinn set the tone early with 2-Stroke laps that no one else in any class could touch, but the drama was far from limited to the fastest machinery on track. A pole-sitter who looked untouchable never made it to the final grid. A Mini/Cadet finish came down to a margin that had haunted the class all day. And a driver who qualified fourth in her class delivered one of the most complete performances of the year.
Here’s how the full day unfolded.
2-Stroke — Quinn’s Untouchable Speed
If there was one driver who belonged in a category entirely his own on this day, it was Ian Quinn. He didn’t just dominate the 2-Stroke class—he put up the fastest laps of the entire event by a significant margin.
It started in qualifying, where Quinn posted a 1:01.397—nearly half a second quicker than Colin Schreiber (1:01.863) and Giovanni Blackerby (1:01.894), who were separated by just 0.031 seconds themselves. Kaden Harter did not set a qualifying time.
The heats were a formality. In Heat 1, Quinn won by 15.019 seconds over Blackerby, dipping to a 1:00.843 best on lap 10. But Heat 2 was where he really turned the screws. Quinn posted a 1:00.446 on lap 3—the fastest lap of the entire day across all classes—and cruised to an 11.487-second victory. To put that in context, Quinn was lapping over nine seconds faster per lap than the Senior/Masters field in completely different machinery. It was a masterclass from start to finish.
| Pos | Driver | Class | Heat 1 | Heat 2 | Best Lap |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ian Quinn | KA Senior | 1st (+15.019) | 1st (+11.487) | 1:00.446 |
| 2 | Giovanni Blackerby | Rotax Jr Max | 2nd | 2nd | 1:01.752 |
| 3 | Colin Schreiber | Rotax Jr Max | 3rd | 3rd | 1:01.489 |
| 4 | Chris Stephens | KA-385 | 4th | 4th | 1:04.480 |
| 5 | Kaden Harter | KA Senior | — | — | — |
206 Mini/Cadet Finals — Ciofani’s 0.114-Second Survival Act
If you wanted proof that qualifying doesn’t always decide finals, the Mini/Cadet class delivered it in stunning fashion.
Qualifying was absurdly close. Joseph Panico set the benchmark with a 1:10.499, but Aiden Harbaugh was just 0.038 seconds behind in second. Logan Pollack sat 0.111 off the pace in third. And Anthony Ciofani? Dead last among the front four—fourth with a 1:10.613, exactly 0.114 seconds off Panico’s pole time. Remember that number.
The heats told a story of two drivers rising. Panico won Heat 1 from pole, leading Ciofani (who had gained two spots from his Q4 starting position) and Harbaugh. But Heat 2 belonged to Ciofani. He took the victory by just 0.139 seconds over Panico, with Pollack third. The gap at the front was razor-thin all day.
Then came the final, and the biggest “what if” of the entire round. Joseph Panico—the driver who qualified on pole, won Heat 1, and finished second in Heat 2—did not start. No explanation from the timing sheet, just three letters: DNS. The driver with the most dominant qualifying performance of the day wasn’t on the grid.
With Panico absent, Ciofani inherited the effective lead and controlled the opening six laps with metronomic precision. But Pollack, who had started fourth on the grid, was carving his way forward. On lap 7, he struck—taking the lead from Ciofani in what looked like it might be the decisive move of the race.
It wasn’t. Ciofani responded instantly. On the very next lap, he reclaimed the lead and held firm for the final three laps, crossing the line just 0.114 seconds ahead—the exact same margin that had separated the top four in qualifying. Whether cosmic coincidence or poetic symmetry, the number that defined this class all day long was 0.114.
Harbaugh, who ran a quiet but rapid third, posted the fastest lap of the entire class—a 1:09.870 on lap 6—yet never found himself in a position to challenge the top two. His pace was there, but track position wasn’t.
| Pos | Driver | Laps | Gap | Best Lap |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Anthony Ciofani | 10 | — | 1:10.185 |
| 2 | Logan Pollack | 10 | +0.114 | 1:10.191 |
| 3 | Aiden Harbaugh | 10 | +0.896 | 1:09.870 |
| 4 | Lucas Schreiber | 10 | +5.746 | 1:10.777 |
| 5 | Ashlyn Taylor | 10 | +13.679 | 1:11.644 |
| 6 | Dominic Borelli | 9 | 1 Lap | — |
| DNS | Joseph Panico | — | — | — |
206 Senior/Masters Final — Dovgan’s Iron Grip, Smith’s Late Charge
Galvin Dovgan didn’t just win the Senior/Masters class—he never gave anyone a reason to believe they could beat him. From the moment he topped qualifying with a 1:09.576 (over a second clear of Scott Smith in second), the outcome felt inevitable. But the journey to get there told the real story.
In Heat 1, Dovgan led flag to flag, winning by 4.530 seconds over Eric Baun. In Heat 2, he did the same—another flag-to-flag victory, this time by 3.958 seconds over Kyle Davis. By the time the final came around, Dovgan had led every racing lap of the day. Every single one.
The final was no different. Dovgan controlled the pace from the opening lap, posting his best of 1:09.894 on lap 5 and maintaining a gap that never dipped below seven seconds. He crossed the line 7.736 seconds ahead, completing a perfect day: pole position, three race wins, and 32 consecutive laps led across both heats and the final without interruption.
Behind him, the battle for second delivered the drama. Scott Smith had qualified a strong P2 but struggled through the heats, failing to crack the top three in either session and dropping to P5 on the final grid. When it mattered most, though, Smith delivered. He worked his way through the field methodically, picking off positions lap after lap. On lap 8, he made the decisive move past Eric Baun to claim second—a net gain of three positions in a single race. His best lap of 1:10.201 on lap 11 showed the pace had always been there; the heats simply hadn’t gone his way.
Baun held on for third, just 0.154 seconds behind Smith after 12 laps—a gap that could have gone either way on a different day. Cameron Dovgan’s day ended early with zero laps completed in the final.
| Pos | Driver | Class | Laps | Gap | Best Lap |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Galvin Dovgan | 206 Senior | 12 | — | 1:09.894 |
| 2 | Scott Smith | 206 Senior | 12 | +7.736 | 1:10.201 |
| 3 | Eric Baun | 206-390 | 12 | +7.890 | 1:10.299 |
| 4 | Kyle Davis | 206-390 | 12 | +22.615 | 1:10.465 |
| 5 | Chad Karnik | 206-390 | 12 | +1:03.615 | 1:14.162 |
| 6 | CJ Karnik | 206-390 | 11 | 1 Lap | 1:17.443 |
| DNF | Cameron Dovgan | 206-390 | 0 | — | — |
206/T4 Junior Finals — The All-Day Rise of Anna McCrone
The story within the Junior class is best told from the beginning of the day.
In qualifying, Anna McCrone posted a 1:08.403—good enough for only fourth in the six-driver Junior field. Brother Lucas McCrone topped the session with a 1:07.431, Ashlyn Taylor slotted into second (1:07.625), and Kristopher McCrone took third (1:07.897). Anna was nearly a full second off the pace. At that point in the day, nothing suggested what was coming.
Heat 1 saw Lucas McCrone take the win from Ashlyn Taylor by 0.977 seconds, with Anna absent from the running order. But something changed between heats. When Heat 2 rolled around, Anna McCrone was a different driver entirely. She didn’t just win—she obliterated the field by 9.003 seconds, posting a best of 1:06.938 that was faster than anything anyone in the class had managed all day. Lucas, the qualifying pace-setter, finished over nine seconds behind. It was the kind of performance gap that makes paddock observers do a double take.
That momentum carried straight into the final. Starting from P3 on the grid, Anna wasted no time. By lap 3, she had the lead, and she never looked back. Over the remaining nine laps, she pulled away steadily, managing her gap with the kind of composure typically associated with drivers twice her age. Her fastest lap came on lap 11—a 1:06.722—proof that she was still finding speed when everyone else was managing their tires.
The numbers tell the story: Anna improved her best lap by 1.681 seconds from qualifying (1:08.403) to the final (1:06.722). Her consistency in the final was exceptional—from lap 3 onward, her ten flying laps ranged from 1:06.722 to 1:07.361, a spread of just 0.639 seconds.
Lucas McCrone, who led from pole, finished a strong second at 4.206 seconds back. He posted the second-fastest lap of the race (1:06.907) and held the lead for the opening two laps before Anna came through. Ashlyn Taylor, pulling double duty after her Mini/Cadet race, took a solid third with a best of 1:07.250. Meanwhile, Kristopher McCrone’s day ended in heartbreak—after qualifying third and competing in Heat 2, he recorded zero laps in the final.
| Pos | Driver | Class | Laps | Gap | Best Lap |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Anna McCrone | T4 Junior | 12 | — | 1:06.722 |
| 2 | Lucas McCrone | T4 Junior | 12 | +4.206 | 1:06.907 |
| 3 | Ashlyn Taylor | T4 Junior | 12 | +12.623 | 1:07.250 |
| 4 | Jenson Janda | 206 Junior | 12 | +25.321 | 1:08.472 |
| 5 | Gavin Patterson | 206 Junior | 12 | +31.602 | 1:09.160 |
| DNF | Kristopher McCrone | T4 Junior | 0 | — | — |
Ashlyn Taylor’s Iron Day
Worth noting: Ashlyn Taylor entered two classes at Round 5, logging twelve on-track sessions between 9:18 AM and 4:46 PM. She took fifth in Mini/Cadet and earned a Junior podium in third. We broke down her full day in a separate feature article.
Kid Kart
Gunner Surace ran solo in the Kid Kart class, completing both heats and posting a best of 1:46.969 in Heat 1. While it may not have been a wheel-to-wheel battle, the young driver clocked consistent laps throughout the day, building seat time for the rounds ahead.
Round 5 by the Numbers
| Fastest Lap of the Day | 1:00.446 — Ian Quinn (2-Stroke Heat 2) |
| Closest Finish | 0.114 sec — Anthony Ciofani over Logan Pollack (Mini/Cadet Final) |
| Rise of the Day | Anna McCrone — Qualified 4th, won the Final by 4.206 sec (1.681-sec speed improvement) |
| The 0.114 Coincidence | 0.114 sec covered the top 4 in Mini/Cadet Qualifying AND was the exact final winning margin |
| Heartbreak of the Day | Joseph Panico — Qualified P1, won Heat 1, DNS’d the Final |
| Iron Man | Galvin Dovgan — 32 consecutive laps led (Heat 1 + Heat 2 + Final) without losing the lead once |
| Double-Duty Award | Ashlyn Taylor — 12 sessions across two classes, P5 in Mini/Cadet, P3 in Junior, fastest laps in the final sessions |
| Heat Dominance | Ian Quinn — Won 2-Stroke heats by 15.019 and 11.487 seconds |
| Comeback Drive | Scott Smith — P2 in qualifying → outside top 3 in both heats → P2 in the Final |
Full results and lap-by-lap timing data are available on Alpha Timing.