---

Scott 'Skitchy' Barnes owns a piece of the Rock, but he didn't buy a house in Bermuda.

Barnes, won the 125cc Moto Class of the Rock island Grand Prix of Karting, the largest street karting race in the U.S.

Prior to him winning the event he had the label of being "the most successful foreign driver never to win the Grand Prix."

The event draws over 400 entries from around the globe with a minimum purse of $25,000 spread amongst the various classes.

The win for Barnes was sweet after running three other races and not doing so well.

"It means a lot to me because I come from a little island and I can compete with these guys that are running every weekend," Barnes said.

"This is by far the best win since I've been racing karts in the last 12 years. I've had over a dozen wins in the States; I've won championships; but this is by far the best win."

Barnes has been coming to Rock Island for the past five years. He's won the pole on a couple of occasions and not been able to collect the chequered flag so it felt good from him to come from the second row and overtake the leader with two laps to go to collect the victory.

"It's the biggest street race in the United States, so to win here you have to be on your A game."

Barnes said he felt more focused.

"I did three crappy races so I was so focused on that last race."

Patrick Malacarne of Illinois was on the pole.

Barnes said: "I had a good start. The guy that was on the pole got off to a good start and drew a big gap on me. It took me three or four laps to reel him in."

"I was so focused and determined to catch him that I was hitting my marks.

"I followed him for 18 laps, waiting for an opportunity - waiting for that one mistake, that when he made it, I took it."

Barnes became to the second foreigner to win this class behind Nelson Phillippe of France.

He also becomes the second Bermudian to win at Rock Island following in the tyre tracks of Jason 'Skuzzie' North who won in a different class.

Barnes hasn't raced since June and the drivers don't get a lot of track time prior to the races, but he said his prior experience at Rock Island paid off.

"On Saturday you get two five-minute practice sessions and then you go straight into qualifying. If you don't know the track, you only get 10 minutes of seat time, then you obviously won't do well."[[In-content Ad]]

---