Multiple Drivers Lead Wire-to-Wire At Calspeed
| press release | 2 May 2015 |
| Tweet | |
Program avoids rainy day to welcome large turnout for second event of season
Another great turnout for the second event of the 2015 Los Angeles Karting Championship visited the CalSpeed Karting Center in Fontana, California. Just over 160 entries contested under sunny skies on April 26 after rain swept the area during Saturday test sessions. Racers took on the Grande layout in the counter-clockwise direction, providing a great challenge throughout the day that include qualifying, Prefinal and Final for all 17 categories.
Aaron Aguire was able to secure his second straight victory in the 20-driver Adams Motorsports Park TaG Senior class after a hard-fought day. Aguire was sixth in the qualifying session, which was led by Jordan Robertson and his 49.245-second lap. The 10-lap Prefinal saw eight lead changes alone at the line, not counting those at other sections of the course. In total, about seven drivers were involved with Christian Brooks emerging on the final lap for the win. The battle continued at the front in the main event with Matt Johnson and Bobby Kelley putting the pressure on Brooks. Johnson and Kelley appeared to have the top two spots locked until their fight on the final lap allowed Aguire and Brooks to slide through for a 1-2 finish. Kelley finished third with David Vasquez ahead of Johnson at the checkered flag.
Above: Aaron Aguire scored his second victory of the season in TaG Senior
pic - lakc.org
The MMK PRD Senior Pilot category increased to 18 drivers for Round Two, with Alyssa Yauney one of the 10 drivers to sweep on the weekend. Edging out the field by two tenths in qualifying, before leading all 10 laps of the Prefinal and 16 laps of the Final. Round One winner Ivan Urueta kept it close, with Riley Dugan trailing in third. Michael Mork and Cristina Castro completing the top-five.
Above: Alyssa Yauney swept the day in the PRD Senior Pilot
pic - lakc.org
A second winner was welcomed in the Fleming Racing Engines Jr. 1 Comer category, with Colin Queen sweeping the day. Queen set the fast lap in qualifying by over three tenths of a second, but was challenge by Dominic Gorden for the Prefinal win. After he secured the win on the final lap, the battle resumed in the main event. Gorden led the second half of the race, except for the most important circuit. Queen was able to complete a last lap pass for the victory, reaching the checkered flag first by 81 thousandths over Gorden. Carson Morgan was third with Chance Gibson fourth and Round One winner Joseph Daniele fifth. The Empire Karts Jr. 1 Comer Pilot division was a sweep as well for Chance Gibson. Matching his victory from Round One, Gibson led from qualifying to the final checkered flag, recording a 26-second victory over AJ Matheson with Aidan Yoder in third.
Above: Colin Queen became the second different winner in Junior 1 Comer
pic - lakc.org
For the Kart Racer TV Main of the Month, the15-driver field of DR Kart TaG Cadet class was selected. Round One winner Ryan Schartau began the day as the driver to beat after he posted a 54.255-second lap, quicker by over two tenths from the rest of the field, however he would not complete a single lap in the Prefinal. That opened the door for Joseph Daniele to slide through for the race win. Schartau fought his way back in the Final, reaching the second spot after just six laps. He was the only driver to lead aside from Daniele, taking the point on lap 11. Daniele came back to retake the spot, and drove away to the victory. Schartau settled for second with Shea Weston third. Oliver Calvo and Dominic Gorden completed the top-five.
Above: Joseph Daniele won in TaG Cadet
pic - lakc.org
Mack Motorsports PRD 2 division was among the largest groups of the day with 17-drivers, and among the most competitive. Jake Drew set the pace in qualifying ahead of Hannah Grisham and Greg Osborne. The top two went back and forth during the Prefinal until Grisham secured the top position and Jonathan Shone slipped ahead of Drew for second. The two battled once again in the Final, until Grisham retired on lap nine, giving Drew a clear run to the checkered flag. However, Drew was penalized back to the fourth position for an on-track incident, giving the victory to Jordan Turner. Osborne and Jonathan Shone capped off the top-three with Victor Barbosa in fifth.
Above: Jordan Turner was declared the winner in PRD 2
pic - lakc.org
Six of the shifter categories were sweeps by the winning drivers. Billy Musgrave doubled up on the day, winning the TM Racing Open Shifter and 2Wild Karting S1 Pro Stock Moto classes once again. Uncontested in the Stock class, it was a 17-second margin of victory over Slava Prikhodko and Willy Axton in Open. The new Acceleration Kart Racing S4 Super Masters Stock Moto saw Kalvin Chen repeat as victor. Chen held off Sean Bond and Ron Rossetti for his second straight in the class.
KC Cook was at the front of the Smokin Fast Racing S3 Novice Stock Moto all day. Cook out-qualified the field by over four tenths. From there, Cook was untouchable as he led the entire Prefinal and Final, scoring his first victory by just over four seconds. Aaron Schmitt was runner-up with Dekota Fripp third, just ahead of Round One winner Royal McKee. Cruz Fiore was victorious in the Nash Motorsportz S5 Junior Stock Moto class after finishing runner-up last month. Fiore bested Josh Early and Prescott Campbell. The PKS S2 Semi-Pro Stock Moto class was swept by Chandler Campbell. Winning last month, Campbell extended her point lead with her second straight victory over Tyler Coffman and Joshua Young.
Darren Elliott had a possible sweep taken away in the MRC S4 Master Stock Moto class. Elliott qualified first and won the Prefinal, but was removed from the results for a missing neck brace. Starting from the back of the six-kart field, Darren scored the victory. Prefinal winner Erik Jackson was two seconds back, just ahead of Vivek Tandon.
The two Masters divisions in Touch and Go competition were sweeps, all in the same race group. It was a second victory for Erik Jackson in the CRG of Southern California TaG Master category, after he won the Final by four seconds over Tim Meyers and Tony Rossetti. At the same time, Bryan Bender doubled up in the win column for 2015 in the Phil Giebler Racing PRD Masters division. Bender went unchallenged to the checkered flag with Mike Johnson classified second and Steve Hansen third.
Connor Funk was at the front of the iKart West Senior PRD field when the checkered flag waved at the end of the day. Logan Calvin set the pace in qualifying, with the seven drivers separated by just half a second. Funk was sixth in the timed session, and worked his way up to fourth in the 10-lap Prefinal as Calvin led Jacob Pope and Tim Meyer to the finish line. Pope led the majority of the final with Funk on his bumper. A last lap pass secured the second straight victory for Funk. Sheldon Andrews doubled up in the win column for 2015, scoring another in the HMS Honda Kid Kart division. Dane Idelson was more than three tenths quicker than Andrews in qualifying, but the Round One winner came back to lead wire-to-wire in both the Prefinal and Final. Idelson ran 12 seconds back in the main event, however, recording the fast lap of the race, with Zackary Martinez in third.
In just a few weeks, the next event for the LAKC program will take place, scheduled for May 17 at the same CalSpeed facility. For more about the 2015 Los Angeles Karting Championship program, please visit LAKC.org and ‘Like’ them on Facebook.
