Dominic Gorden (Photo: Tony Leone - DromoPhotos.com)

Once again great weather welcomed 92 racers to the Simraceway International Karting Center track at Sonoma Raceway. This was the third race in a row in which the series had 90+ entries. The GoPro feature class had 14 entries, the largest field in series history. The tough Reverse Sprint track layout challenged all the racers with six Drivers taking their first wins of the 2015 season. At the end of the day, there were two special prizes. Adam Freire took the “Molecule Dirty Driver” award and with it received some Molecule suit cleaning products. The “Indy $500” Grand prize for $500 cash had six drivers in the end of day draw. These were the winners of the classes with six or more entries in them. And the winner was… Dominic Gorden! It paid for Dominic to come north to the Sanzaru Games Series.

GoPro Feature Race – Molecule Micro Max

With the largest entry in Series history, 14 Racers, the Molecule Micro Max class continues to grow and produce strong racing. Southern Californian Dominic Gorden came north to check out the track in preparation for the upcoming SKUSA race. Dominic took the Pole ahead of Gino Sandoval and Owen McAllister. In the first heat race, Dominic took the early lead but was not able to shake a fast and determined Gino. In the end, Dominic took the win, but just one half a second clear of Gino with Garrette Randolph Jr 3rd and Owen 4th. In the second heat, again Dominic took the early lead and controlled the race from the front. Gino came home with his second strong race in a row to take 2nd, Garrette 3rd, Owen 4th and Sebastiaan Mulder 5th.

In the Main, Dominic took the early lead and again controlled the race from the lead position. Sebastiaan spun exiting turn one and had to start the long chase from last. Gino again put on the good chase and came home a strong 2nd, Garrette 3rd, Owen 4th, Skyler Geczi 5th and Sebastiaan recovering from his spin by passing 8 karts to take 6th. For his win, Dominic took home the GoPro Hero4 camera. Dominic also earned $100 of Sanzaru Bucks, $50 to Gino and $25 to Garrette.

Molecule Senior Rotax

Jared Higham (Photo: Tony Leone – DromoPhotos.com)

Senior Rotax also had a 14 kart field, the largest turn-out in the class this year. Phillippe Denes took the Pole ahead of Jarad Higham and Austin Elliott. Coming out of turn one after the drop of the green flag, it was Denes and Elliott with Jarad getting pushed around a bit and dropping a few spots. The Drivers pretty much stayed clean in a single file line and came home with few passes made. Denes took the win, Elliott 2nd, Jaden Conwright 3rd, Enzo Prevost 4th and Higham 5th. In the second heat. Denes and Elliott took the initial 1-2 with Higham dropping back a couple of spots. Elliott made his way by Denes to take the lead and held it to the end to take the win, Denes 2nd, Conwright 3rd, Higham 4th and Prevost 5th. With 200 points on the line, the Drivers got a lot tougher in the Main Event. Right from the start, Conwright’s engine was not right and he dropped out on lap 1. Denes and Elliott dueled at the front with Higham close behind. Michael Avansino used the longer 15 lap race to work his way through the field from his 6th starting spot. Elliott dropped out on lap 9 with Denes falling back a couple of spots on lap 11. Higham took the lead with Avansino taking over 2nd spot. In the end, Higham took the win, his first feature win of his career, Avansino 2nd, Prevost 3rd, Denes, 4th and Jarrett Lile 5th. Jarad was awarded $100 of Sanzaru Bucks, $50 to Avansino and $25 to Prevost.

Stock Honda Masters and CRF™ 250

Rene Martinelli (Photo: Tony Leone – DromoPhotos.com)

With a large field in the Stock Honda Masters class, it continues to be a strong class in 2015. The new 4 stroke CRF™ 250 class had 3 entries, the largest turnout for this first year class. Reni Martinelli took the Pole ahead of Matt Alcorn and Patrick O’Neill with the fastest CRF™ 250 of Richard Stock in the 11th position. In the first heat, Reni and Matt broke away from the field to have their own private battle up front. Brad Shaffer got by Patrick early on and the two of them battled for the entire 8 laps race. In the end, Reni took the win, Matt 2nd, Brad 3rd, Patrick 4th and David Arnstein 5th. In the CRF™ 250 class, Stock and Ore Della Penna worked their way through the back half of the Stock Masters field to tale 7th and 9th overall. In the second heat, Reni and Matt again battled up front, Patrick in 3rd without a battle and Justin Bennett and Brad Shaffer battling for 4th. Matt got by Reni to take the win, Reni 2nd, Patrick 3rd, Justin 4th and Brad 5th. In the CRF™ 250 class, again Stock took 7th overall with Ore coming home 10th overall.

In the Main, Reni and Matt again had their own private battle up front with Patrick holding a small lead over the rest of the field. Going into the white flag lap, Matt was plotting where to make his move. He waited until, the last 90 degree corner before the checkered flag. Matt made the run down the inside and dumped the rear tire of Reni. Matt got by to take the win, but the Race Steward docked Matt one position for the bump giving the win to Reni, Matt 2nd, Patrick 3rd, David 4th and Brad 5th. In the CRF™ 250 class, Ori came home the class winner in 7th with Stock taking second in class with a 10th overall. For the win, Reni was awarded $300 in Honda/HPD Bucks, $200 to Matt and $100 to Patrick. In the CRF™ 250 class, Ori is awarded $500 in Honda/HPD Bucks with Stock getting $300 in Honda/HPD Bucks.

Molecule Mini Max

Dustin Salaverria (Photo: Tony Leone – DromoPhotos.com)

Grant Langon took the Pole ahead of Oliver Reed and Ryan Tate. In the first heat, Grant took the early lead with the top three qualifiers battling the entire way. Oliver made a move for the lead which moved Grant back to 3rd. In the end, Oliver took the win, Dustin 2nd, Grant 3rd, and Matteo Sandoval 4th. In the second heat, there was a strong battle for the top three spots from the top three qualifiers. In the end, Oliver took the win again, Dustin 2nd, Grant 3rd, Bianca Bustamante 4th and Matteo 5th. In the Main, Dustin took the lead out of the turn one and the battle of the top 3 qualifiers began. Oliver dropped out on lap 7 leaving the front battle between Dustin and Grant. In the end, Dustin took his third win of the year, Grant 2nd less than a second back, Matteo a strong 3rd, Bryson Lew 4th and Ryan Tate 5th. Dustin was awarded $100 of Sanzaru Bucks, $50 to Grant and $25 to Matteo.

80 Masters

The 80 Masters Class saw Tom Nelson take Pole ahead of Rob Mullaney and John Collins. In the first heat, Nelson took the initial lead and was never challenged to the checked flag. Mullaney came home 2nd, Allen Miller 3rd and Collins 4th. The second heat, Nelson pulled out a second win, Mullaney 2nd, Collins 3rd and Miller 4th. In the Main, Tom took the early lead and went on to a 16 second win, Mulaney 2nd, Collins held off Miller to take 3rd and Jim VanSticle 5th. Nelson gets $100 of Sanzaru Bucks, $50 to Mullaney and $25 to Collins.

Molecule Rotax Masters

Kelly Heil (Photo: Tony Leone – DromoPhotos.com)

The Molecule Rotax Masters has returned to large fields in 2015. Kelly Heil took the Pole ahead of Roman Alekseenkov and Bob Olson. In the first heat, Heil took the early lead and controlled the front position for the entire 8 laps. Roman came home 2nd , one second back, closely followed by John Breidinger in 3rd and Billy Scott 4th. Bob Olson dropped out on lap 4. In the second heat, Heil led the early part of the race with Roman very close behind. Breidinger, Scott and Olson were in their own battle right behind. In the end, Heil held on to take the win by just 3 tenths of a second, Roman 2nd, Olson 3rd, Scott 4th and Breidinger 5th.

In the Main, Heil led the field through turn one closely followed by some fierce competitors. Scott worked his way into second and started putting the pressure on the leader. Olson, Roman and Breidinger were all battling behind the leading duo. In the end, Scott could not find the way around for a safe pass in spite he posting the fastest lap of the race. Heil takes the win, Scott 2nd, Breidinger working his way to 3rd, Olson 4th and Roman 5th. For their efforts, Heil gets $100 of Sanzaru Bucks, $50 to Scott and $25 to Breidinger.

Pro Stock Honda

Nic Leduc (Photo: Tony Leone – DromoPhotos.com)

Nic LeDuc took the Pro Stock Honda Pole ahead of Joe Morgan and Jason Toft. In the first heat, LeDuc took the early lead with Toft and Pablo Carballedo getting by Morton at the start and that is how they finished the race. In the second heat, Morton and Hunter Pickett had problems on the first lap and both dropped out early. LeDuc took the early lead and was never challenged, Toft 2nd and Pablo 3rd. In the Main, LeDuc and Toft drove off to have their own battle with Pablo, Morton and Pickett battling behind. In the end, Leduc takes the win, Toft 2nd, Pickett worked his way into 3rd and was less than 3 tenths of a second behind Toft with Morton 4th. For the win, LeDuc gets $300 worth of Honda/HPD Bucks credit, $200 to Toft and $100 to Pickett.

EVO Electrics

The High Tech karts took the green flag for this race with Matt Cresci taking his third Pole of the year ahead of Charles Stimmer and Marcos Ramirez. In the first heat, Cresci and Hilleman battled on the last lap to take 1-2 with Ramirez 3rd and Stimmer 4th. In the second heat, Cresci continued his dominance of the front of the field in this class this year by taking the win followed by Ramirez, Hilleman and Stimmer. In the Main, the top 4 drivers ran nose to tail for the first few laps but near the end of the race, Ramirez took over the lead and held on to take his first win of the year, Cresci had to settle for 2nd, Hilleman 3rd and Stimmer 4thand Christopher Hilleman 5th. For their efforts, $100 of Sanzaru Bucks goes to Ramirez, $50 to Cresci and $25 to Hilleman.

Molecule Junior Rotax

Matt Keyes (Photo: Tony Leone – DromoPhotos.com)

A tough group took to the track with Carter Herrera taking Pole followed by Michael Michoff and David Tooker. In the first heat, Herrera and Michoff led the field through turn one, Tooker got slowed up and lost a few spots and had to try and make up ground with Matt Keyes and Mason Cohen taking up the 3 and 4 positions. In the end, Herrera took the win, Michoff 2nd, Keyes 3rd and Cohen 4th. In the second heat, Michoff got a good jump at the drop of the green and lead the field through turn one, followed by Herrera, Keyes and Tooker. Colin Mullan worked his way around Tooker by the end of the race. Michoff held on to take a slim win, Herrera 2nd, Keyes 3rd, Mullan 4th and Tooker 5th.

The Main looked like a shoot-out between Herrera and Michoff. Michoff took the lead out of turn one and the two front row racers immediately started to open up a gap on the rest of the field. But the good race all came to an end on lap two when Herrera threw his chain in Tic-Tac-Toe. Mullan, who also had a great start, came to a stop in the same corner on lap 2, two top 4 drivers out of the race. Michoff now had the lead with some gap to the field. Keyes, Tooker and Cohen were the three drivers battling behind Michoff. On lap 14, disaster hit Michoff who threw his chain and rolled into the pits, Keyes now taking the lead with a comfortable gap over Cohen.

In the end, Keyes took the win, his first feature win of his career, Cohen 2nd, Tooker 3rd and his first podium finish in his series career, Clayton Williams came home 4th with Dakota White 5th, both drivers taking their best finishes this year. For the win, Keyes gets $100 of Sanzaru Bucks, $50 to Cohen and $25 to Tooker. Sanzaru Bucks can be used to pay for future race entry fees or Saturday practice fees.

Next race will be June 14 where the track configuration will be the Reverse National Track with the GoPro Feature class will be the Stock Honda Masters.

Results and points can be viewed on the Sanzaru Karting web site at sanzarukarting.com/racing.html.

Follow SGKC on Twitter @NorCalRotax or Facebook.com/NorCalRotax for all the latest news and announcements.

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