By NICK SCHWIEN

nschwien@dailynews.net

WaKEENEY -- Dominating.

It's a strong word, but it just might be the best way to describe the FMR Motorsports team, especially after its performance at the 2008 KART National Championships at WaKeeney Mini Speedway on Thursday, Friday and Saturday.

But perhaps team leader Jody Krug put it best.

"It's almost like we have the cards stacked with the drivers we have," the Omaha, Neb., racer said.

Krug's Avenger chassis team put on what could be called a clinic in the Stock division, thanks to the help of teammates Eddie Brose and Mike Halliburton.

The trio combined to sweep all three races in the division. Krug won the Stock Light feature Thursday night. Brose was second, and Halliburton was third.

On Friday, Halliburton took top honors in the Stock Medium class, with Brose finishing second and Krug third.

Then on Saturday, Brose won the Stock Heavy class, ahead of Kyle Heitz and Halliburton.

"You take the people I've got ... and us three guys have won about every race you can at one track or another," Krug said. "And none of us are greedy. When you get good people with good knowledge and a passion for the sport, that's all you can ask."

Halliburton recently rejoined Krug's team, and his first races back were this weekend. He basically helped Krug start his operation before leaving to run for another team.

"That hurt me some," Krug said about Halliburton leaving the team. "But once you're a friend of mine, you're always a friend."

But the team was all back together for nationals. And they were having fun off the track as well.

Halliburton, of Columbia, Mo., was offering advice to Krug's two sons, Jacob and Jordan, who both also won national titles during the weekend. Then he was kicking around a soccer ball with Jacob before Saturday's finals began.

"Mikey and Eddie, well, they're like sons to me," Krug said.

"It's all about the team," Halliburton said after winning Friday's Stock Medium feature. "We have three of the best drivers in the country. All of us do things a little different, but with that, there's a happy medium. That translates down into the junior classes as well."

And that translation into the junior classes, well, it comes through loud and clear.

Jordan Krug won two titles, one in Junior 2 Light and the other in Junior 2 Super Briggs.

And Jacob Krug won Saturday's feature in the Junior 1 Heavy class after finishing second in the Junior 1 Light and the Junior 1 Medium races.

"Success kind of breeds success," said Brose, also of Omaha. "We have fun in the pits and when (a teammate) is out there racing. When someone wins, it's like we all win."

Brose said experience and sharing knowledge are the keys to the team. Oh yeah, and that inner drive.

"We put forth 110 percent all week long for this," he said. "Between the three of us, we probably have more than 50 years of experience racing go-karts."

Jody Krug credits a laid-back approach and a family atmosphere for keeping the team close.

"I think that's why it's like that," he said. "We watch Will Ferrell movies all the time together, and we quote them all the time: 'If you're not first, you're last.' We know down here we're running with the best people in the country. We know that's not going to happen at every track. That's not going to happen all the time. Next week, we could get out butts kicked."

But that didn't happen at this year's KART Nationals. Instead, the FMR team won six titles out of 15 feature races -- something no other team came close to accomplishing. And they came within an eyelash of adding two more with Jacob's pair of close second-place finishes.

That was enough to leave the mild-mannered Krug hesitating a few seconds to figure out the main reason for such domination.

But after a few seconds, he said matter-of-factly: "It's in our hearts."

Indeed, it is.