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| May 09, 2012 |
| Series News: Red Line Oil Karting Championships - Round Two Report |
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There is no better way to get a large turnout than to have great spring weather, and race #2 of the Red Line Oil Karting Championships dawned to a great sunny warm spring day. With 91 entries, the event was one of the largest single day turnouts in about 4 years. The Sprint track configuration of the Simraceway Kart Track at Infineon Raceway made the drivers work harder and you could see the results of that extra effort in the tired and sweat soaked drivers at the scales of each Main event. As a bonus for this race, $1000 was awarded to one of the winning drivers from any class with at least 8 entries. Six classes had 8 or more entries and thus six drivers all patiently waited until the end of the trophy presentations. The lucky winner was Rotax Masters class winner Andrea Delfanti.
GoPro Feature Race: Junior Rotax
With fifteen drivers, the Junior Rotax field was the largest ever Junior Rotax race at Simraceway. Zach Dante took the pole ahead of Toni Breidinger and her sister Annie. Last month's winner, Alex Keyes threw a chain on his out lap in the session and had to start last. Zack took the early lead in Heat #1 followed by Toni, Annie and Justin Yanez. Justin worked his way up to 2nd with Mikey Michoff getting by Annie to take over 4th. In the end it was Zach, Justin, Toni and Mikey, but Justin was docked 2 positions for a starting violation moving Toni to 2nd and Mikey to 3rd. In the second heat, again Zack took the early lead while Toni and Annie stayed very close to take the 2nd and 3rd place spots and Will Preston moved up to take 4th. In the Main, Zack again took the early lead, Toni right behind, with the best battle for the 3rd spot between Annie, Will, Justin and Corrie Hiatt. The long 15 lap Main was good for Alex Keyes, allowing him to continue to work his way toward the front, but it was also bad for others such as Mikey Michoff who had to pull off after only 5 laps. Just after mid race, Toni spun going into tic-tac-toe and lost 5 positions thus moving Annie up to 2nd, Will to 3rd and Alex Keyes to the 4th spot. Zach did not put a wheel wrong for the remainder of the race and went on to the win with Annie and Will a second back for 2nd and 3rd, Keyes in 4th, Yanez in 5th and Corrie Hiatt in 6th. For the win Zack took home the GoPro Hero camera.
Molecule Tools Karting Championship:
80 Masters
 | | Andrea Delfanti scored a big check for his win in Rotax Masters class |
With eight drivers, the class knew that the winner was in line to be in the draw for the $1000 at the end of the day, thus there was very good motivation for these veteran drivers to drive hard all day long. Charles Hastings took the pole ahead of Bob Lesnett and 2011 class champ Roger Cornwall. In the first heat, Hastings controlled the pace and took the win but was very closely followed by Lesnett with Cornwall 3rd and Tom Nelson 4th. In the second heat, Lesnett took the lead early on, with Hastings chasing, followed by Cornwall and Nelson. With a couple of laps to go, Hastings tried to get under the leading kart but spun instead and lost 4 spots once he got started again. Thus Lesnett took the win followed by Cornwall and Nelson with Hastings coming home in 6th. In the Main, Lesnett took the lead from the pole with Cornwall, Nelson and Hastings all battling for 2nd. Hastings' kart seemed to lose its edge which allowed Cornwall and Nelson to get away. Then Cornwall had to pull-in with his motor going sour. Nelson held a strong 2nd but had nothing to challenge for the lead. Hastings continued to slow and lost 3rd spot to new driver Charles Horrell late in the race. In the end, Bob Lesnett took a 3 second victory and with it put his name in the $1000 prize drawing.
IAME TaG and Junior TaG
Eight spec gear IAME karts and three Junior Tags made up the field with veteran Infineon racer Larry Fraser returning to take the pole followed by the Junior of Maxx Marian, Bryson Guzman (IAME) and Josh Buttafoco (IAME). In the first heat, Fraser was not challenged and drove onto the win but was followed closely by the Junior Tag Alex Keyes who worked his way up to 2nd with Darren Geahry (IAME) 3rd and Marian in 4th. In the second heat, Fraser again controlled the race from the front with Guzman holding down the second place spot ahead of Buttafoco and Keyes in 4th. In the Main, Keyes took the lead from the off pole position for about 3 laps at which time Fraser slid under the fast junior to take over the lead, never to give it up. Marian, who made improvements to his kart after the heats, was on the move and by race-end got by Keyes for the class lead then by Buttafoco to take 2nd overall at the checkered. Buttafoco came home 3rd, Keyes 4th and Guzman 5th.
Pro Stock Honda and Stock Honda Masters
With seventeen karts overall, the stock 125 shifter race was the largest of the day. In the race for the pole position, Brett Buckwalter took the top spot ahead of Daniel Langon, Troy Diede and Neil Joseph, all Pro Stock drivers. The top Masters driver was Jim Kidd in 7th spot with David Arnstein in 9th and Nick Galante in 12th. In the first heat, Buckwalter and Langon pulled away from the field to have their own battle while Jason Toft had to work up from 6th to come home in the 3rd spot followed by Joseph. In the Masters duel, Kidd took 6th, Galante 8th and Arnstein 11th. In the second heat, Langon got the jump at the start and held off Buckwalter to take the win with Toft again working his way up to 3rd with Troy Diede in 4th. In Masters, Kidd was 6th, Arnstein 8th and Galante 11th. In the Main, Buckwalter took the lead from the pole and took control of the pace with Langon close behind but not fast enough to challenge for the lead. Toft did not have one of his best days and was just a bit short on speed to challenge for the top spot and had to settle for 3rd with Troy Diede close behind and Cody Diede a couple of seconds back. Jim Kidd again maintained a solid pace in his Masters kart making Arnstein and Galente have to pass a couple of Pro Stock karts just to get in position to challenge for the class lead. But on lap 13, the $1000 dream for Buckwalter went up in smoke as his kart broke and he had to pull off leaving Langon in a comfortable spot to take the overall win with Toft, Troy Diede and Cody Diede taking the next three spots. In the Masters class, Kidd came home 6th overall to take the class win, Arnstein was 9th Just ahead of Galente with Andre Eriksen taking 4th in the Masters class.
 | | Junior Rotax podium |
Sanzaru Games Norcal Rotax Challenge:
Rotax Masters
With fifteen karts, the Masters class may have been the largest Masters class in series history. Greg Huff took the pole ahead of Andrea Delfanti and Scott Ripslinger. In the first Heat, Delfanti lead the field into the first turn and was never headed with Huff and Ripslinger battling for the next two spots and Jerry Pretti taking 4th. In the second heat, Delfanti took the lead at the green flag and went on to a 1 second win. Huff, Ripslinger and Pretti battled for the next three spots and finished in the same order as heat #1. In the Main, Delfanti again took the early lead and cruised to a 2 second win. Ripslinger got by Huff early on and held 2nd right to the end, thus Huff 3rd, Pretti 4th, Geoff Wise 5th and John Breidinger 6th. Delfanti had placed himself in the run for the $1000!
Micro Max
The Micro Max class has three new drivers in it this year with a couple of other drivers planning to join the class mid-summer. It is fun to watch two of the drivers dads, George Tavares and Ron White, both veteran 125 shifter drivers, now working with their kids as they start their karting careers. Ethan Tavares took the pole ahead of Abby Keyes and Dakoda White. For all three races, Ethan was the quickest with Abby and Dakoda finishing in the 2nd and 3rd spots. With no Mini-Max karts at this event, the Sanzaru Mini-Max cash prizes were awarded to the Micro Max drivers instead. Thus Ethan took home the $50 top prize, $30 went to Abby and $20 to Dakota.
DD2 and DD2 Masters
Seven karts was one of the strongest turn-outs in a while for this 2-speed Rotax kart. Michael Ostrowski took the pole ahead of Cody Hodgson and Glen Poy-Wing. Top Masters was David Palic in 4th spot. This race marked the return to the Infineon track for January Grove who had a bad accident at an early 2011 race and suffered several broken ribs. January took off the remainder of 2011 to heal. It was good to see January back in the drivers seat. In the first heat, mechanical problems side lined three karts including the top two qualifiers. In the end, Glen Poy-Wing took the win ahead of January Grove and David Palic. In the second heat, Ostrowski took the win ahead of Glen, Palic and Grove with Hodgson dropping out again with mechanical problems. In the Main, all the mechanical problems seemed to be behind all the drivers. Poy-Wing took the lead from the pole with Ostrowski starting 4th and Hodgson 6th. It did not take long for the former national champions drivers to work their way to the front as Hodgson worked his way past Ostrowski to take the lead and go on to a 4 second win. Andrew Colombini had a problem free race and came home in 3rd ahead of Poy-Wing. David Palic took 6th overall and with it the Masters win ahead of Bob Olson.
 | | Stock Honda drivers get the green flag |
Senior Rotax and Rotax Masters Light
With twelve Senior Karts and three Lights karts, this was one of four race groups with fifteen or more karts. In Qualify, Nic LeDuc took the pole ahead of David Harwin, Jarrett Lile and Brody Zink. In Masters Lights, Mary Beth Wilson took the top spot ahead of David Carlisle and John Sutherland. In Heat #1, LeDuc and Harwin battled the entire 8 lap distance with LeDuc taking a slim win, Harwin 2nd, Sean McDonald moving up from 7th to take 3rd and Lile in 4th. In Lights, Wilson took the class win ahead of Sutherland. In the second heat, LeDuc and Harwin battled again for the lead with Nic taking the win but with even less of a winning margin than the first heat. Harwin was 2nd, Lile 3rd, and Brody Zink 4th. Carlisle took the Lights win ahead of Wilson. In the Main, LeDuc took the early lead and had things in good control until his neck collar came lose. He struggled to get it reattached and let some karts by, but in the end the collar came off and he had to pull off. Harwin then took the lead with Zink close behind. Lile was now in a battle of his life holding off the challenges of Raymund Bustamante Jr and Carlos Calderon. First Calderon got by Bustamante, and then made the pass on Lile to slip into the 3rd spot, which he held until the end. In the end, Harwin took a one second win over his fellow Reno competitor, Zink, who took 2nd, Calderon 3rd followed by Bustamante and Lile. In the Lights race Carlisle was in the lead most of the race but he spun off in Tic-Tac-Toe when he was inadvertently tapped from behind with 2 laps left in the race. This allowed Wilson to take the class win ahead of John Sutherland.
The next race in the RLOKC will be on May 27 when the track configuration will be the Reverse National layout. The GoPro featured class will be IAME TaG.
For more information about the Red Line Oil Karting Championship's Northern California Rotax Challenge, go to http://www.redlineoilkarting.com or http://www.CameronKarting.com .You may also email race promoter Steve Cameron Steve@CameronKarting.com |
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