'Stars of Tomorrow' get shown the way.

The opening round of the 2002 CART Stars of Tomorrow karting season at Rosamond California was adjudged a major success with the premier ICC 125 class event falling to local boy Phil Carlson who outran a field of drivers with far bigger r?sum?'s than him.

Despite racing in a field featuring drivers from the upper levels of the CART Driver Development Ladder System, regular karter Phil Carlson dominated the ICC 125 class during the Stars of Tomorrow season opening event at Willow Springs Kart Track in Rosamond, California.

Carlson - who is a resident of Rosamond - outraced polesitter Matt Jaskol to gain the point heading into Turn 1 and would never really be challenged for the remainder of the race.

While Jaskol settled into a comfortable second place run, Barber Dodge Pro Series rookie AJ Allmendinger, fresh off of his maiden professional victory at Sebring, battled with Michael Abbate for third after losing the position on the start. Allmendinger would eventually regain third place on Lap 3 and hold it to the finish. Abbate, of Las Vegas, Nevada took home fourth place while Jason Bowles of Ontario, California rounded out the Top Five. Formula Dodge National Championship rookie Colin Fleming, the 2001 CART Stars of Tomorrow Rotax Max Champion, came home sixth, recovering nicely from a slow start.

"The opening race of the CART Stars of Tomorrow was a class act event," commented the JAF Racing team member. "The competition was intense, close and clean. I am looking forward to the next event. I hope this is a good omen for 2002 and I look forward to continuing this successful run, parlaying it into advancement up through the CART Ladder System."

Jaskol, Abbate and Bowles were invitees to the Barber CART Karting Scholarship Runoff in January, while Fleming was one of the four Runoff winners to earn a Scholarship in the National Championship ($45,000 value).

Close to 100 entries showed up to contest several classes, including the ICC 125, Rotax Max, Junior Superbox and the 80cc Junior. Another Barber CART Karting Scholarship Runoff invitee, Chris Carmody won the Rotax Max race.

CART Stars of Tomorrow ICC 125 Results
(Willow Springs)

1. Phil Carlson
2. Matt Jaskol
3. AJ Allmendinger
4. Michael Abbate
5. Jason Bowles
6. Colin Fleming
7. Lorenzo Mandarino
8. Kevin Christensen
9. Tim Maddux
10. Kevin Glover