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| June 28, 2012 |
| Series News: LAKC Returns to a Resurfaced CalSpeed Kart Track |
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Over the years, Formula 1 has encountered race tracks with questionable conditions, requiring significant efforts from track officials in order to satisfy the demands of F1 drivers and teams. The same can be said about the Southern California based racing series, Los Angeles Karting Championship (“LAKC”); whereas, in order to allow LAKC to produce the premier racing ‘show’ that many expects, Rob Niles of CalSpeed Karting Center has had to work around the clock and pour significant funds into the resurfacing of the CalSpeed Kart Track. Consequently, track conditions satisfactorily improved and the LAKC drivers were able to showcase their superb racing skills during this past Sunday, June 10th, for the Round 5 of the 2012 championship season.
Distinctive of a LAKC event, the atmosphere was upbeat and electrifying – from the moment the gates opened in the early morning of Sunday, until the very end of the event that ended as planned and on schedule at approximately 5PM. Immediately noticeable as drivers and guests arrived at the track, the presence of major kart shops and teams – 2Wild Karting, Phill Giebler Racing, Buddy Rice Karting, Pitts Performance, Kimball Williams Racing, Empire Karts, PSL So Cal, Mack Motorsports, Hyper Racing Engines, MMK and many more – each extremely well presentable, even providing hospitality areas, as seen in major national karting events.
As previously reported, LAKC is pioneering an instant cash prize program to its members that pays down all the way to fifth place finishing position of three randomly selected classes. The classes selected for this past Sunday’s event were PRD Junior 2, Rotax Senior and Shifter DeluXXe – together – they received a total of $1,860 in cash prize money. However, before the prizes were awarded, intense racing action occurred, as captured by Kart Racer TV and as highlighted here: http://www.kartracertv.com/KART_RACER_TV/LAKC_2012_Video_Action.html
A total of 17 drivers competed in the combined Open Shifter and DeluXXe Shifter classes, and the race proved to be one of the most intense of the day. Traditionally powered by ICC, Rob Whitley was absent from the event, making last month’s winner Troy Starheim the absolute favorite for the win. However, Steve Berg in his new 2012 TonyKart chassis supplied by 2Wild Karting surprised the LAKC paddock with an inspirational drive that allowed him to lead most of the race, despite the fact that Starheim’s built Honda engine provided a power edge over Berg’s Stock Honda. Starheim eventually muscled his way through to claim his second victory of the year with Berg in second and Alex King a solid third. Making a comeback to karting last month, King shared his thoughts after the event:
“Satisfied that I was able to finish my race without any incident (contrary to last month) and feeling pretty positive, physically. But obviously not pleased that I was not able to fight for the win. I think that Steve did a fantastic job, fantastic! But I think that Troy had the edge (both in power and skills) over all of us today so he deserved the win. In any event, I am quickly adapting to karting and you can certainly expect a different performance out of me next month. I am confident that I am faster than these guys and now that I have my first finish under my best, I am just going for the win, nothing but the win!”
Starheim, Berg and King lead the field racing closely together – sometimes, too close – trading positions between each other. However, not too far, Rick McAllister followed the lead pack to claim his victory in DeluXXe, a significant step towards defending his DeluXXe championship title. The flying Filipino Sal Menudiado finished in second and Kevin Gilroy took the third spot in Shifter DeluXXe.
LAKC’s Shifter Program continues to grow and attract nation’s top drivers, such as Billy Musgrave, winner of SKUSA’s Spring Nationals earlier this year. LAKC’s President, Chris LaTorre, shared his view on the success and future growth of shifters at LAKC:
“I am extremely proud of our program and the success we have had. I take very little credit to be honest. The success we have had is due to a collective effort. We have a great program director – Greg Jackson – we have drivers that are extremely passionate about the class, so they independently and voluntarily promote the class and bring new drivers to race with us. And we have a great relationship with SKUSA. We have seen some of the regular SKUSA drivers racing with us from time to time, and I hope that we can see some of our regular LAKC drivers racing with them from time to time. I think that a new person getting into karting or shifter karts might feel a bit intimated jumping into a traveling series like SKUSA’S pro-kart race right away, so I hope that LAKC can serve as that steppingstone to these new guys and that we can both (SKUSA and LAKC) continue to prosper.”
The largest group of the event – Rotax Senior & Pilot / TAG – consisted of 18 drivers. The main event promised to be one of the most exciting race of the group’s season thus far with Jeffrey Dyer on pole, Alejandro Fernandez on second and Team ARG’s factory pilot Larry Hayashigawa on third.
Immediately following the green flag, Hayashigawa – one of the most senior drivers in the group – jumped to second position and appeared to be set to challenge Dyer for the win. However, the Baldozier Racing driver had other ideas as he remained cool leading the race until Hayashigawa made an error heading into turn 6, resulting in an immediate spin in front of incoming traffic. The Japanese driver made an incredible comeback from last to sixth; however, the real hero of the race was Alejandro Fernandez, whom despite losing the second spot at the start of the race, remained focused and consistent until he was eventually able to pass Dyer for the lead and race win.
Competition level is expected to intensify in the Rotax Senior & Pilot / TAG group drivers committed themselves in returning to race in July. Meanwhile, the competition is already intense among the Team Series – which now has a new championship leader – HYPER Racing Engines.
With the American shifter star, Billy Musgrave, absent from racing due to injuries, 2Wild Karting lost the lead despite having a great performance from its drivers – Willy Musgrave, Troy Butts and Steve Berg. Joe Stalker, Vice President of LAKC, commented:
“It’s very intense and these teams are there to win. And to win the title this year, they all have to perform at the highest level and on a consistent base; otherwise, it’s over. 2Wild did a fantastic job but they were at a disadvantage with Billy out so HYPER did what they had to do – took full advantage and had its drivers deliver, so they are now leading the championship standing. I don’t know what will happen next month. If Billy is out again, 2Wild could get in trouble because Pits Performance is on third and not far behind!”
LAKC heads to its Round 6 of the 2012 championship season on July 15th. Track configuration is scheduled to change to ‘Grande’ and the expectations are already very high for the teams, drivers and racing enthusiasts that are closely following superb racing delivered by LAKC drivers. For information regarding the racing series, including the benefits of pre-registration, championship standings and much more, visit http://www.lakc.org |
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