Chris Martin earned his first Challenge victory in 100cc Senior (Photo: EKN)

The second round of the Challenge of the Americas enjoyed warmer temperatures on Sunday at the Musselman Honda Circuit in Tucson, Arizona, but the truth is that it was the main event races that brought the heat. After being outrun by the Italian Motors / Italkart duo of Europeans Daniel Vasile and Bas Lammers on Saturday, GFC Karting’s Kyle Wick stormed back to dominate the day in Shifter Senior, fending off the late race challenges of Vasile to score a big win. The racing in 100cc Senior was thrilling, and a drag race to the line ended with a photo finish victory for The Karting Collective’s Chris Martin over Nash Motorsportz’ Ryan Persing by just 0.001 seconds.

It was a near sweep in the Forward Direction Motorsports 100cc Senior division as Ryan Persing (Nash / EOS) was the driver to beat when Sunday began. A 51.929 in qualifying landed him on the pole position before taking on a five-driver fight in the Prefinal that saw Persing come away with the win. Starting from the pole position, Persing was able to keep himself up front and eventually was joined by Chris Martin (TKC / Sodi Kart) – who qualified 10th and started the main event in seventh. Once Martin got to Persing’s bumper, the two worked together to get away from the shuffling for position going on behind them. They remained that way until the final circuit. Persing ran a defensive line with Martin waiting for his opportunity. With the narrow line into the final corner, Persing pushed wide on the exit with Martin able to pull off the over-under, reaching the inside of the track at the kink first. They began their drag race to the checkered flag with Martin reaching the line first by one thousandth of a second in a photo finish – claiming his first Challenge victory. Persing settled for second with Dylan Archer (FDM / CompKart) winning the battle for third over Kane Martin (Nash / EOS) and Josh Campbell (RPM / LN Racing Kart).

Kyle Wick swept the action on Sunday in Senior Shifter (Photo: EKN)

It was a perfect day for EKN Shifter Driver Rankings #1 driver of 2023 Kyle Wick (GFC Karting) in the SwedeTech Racing Engines Senior Shifter division. After placing third on Saturday, the multi-time Challenge race winner did his homework overnight and came back with the answers to put himself at the front of the field. He laid down a 47.993 in qualifying to set fast time ahead of fellow podium finishers Bas Lammers (IM / Italkart) and Saturday winner Daniel Vasile (IM / Italkart). The holeshot helped him to lead the start of the Prefinal and all 14 laps with Vasile jumping ahead of Lammers. Another holeshot put Wick into the lead and was challenged early by both Lammers and Vasile. Keawn Tandon (FW / GFC) put himself into the mix and fighting for position gave Wick some space out front. Vasile finally secured the second spot and slowly eliminated the advantage Wick had built up with just two laps remaining. Vasile made a bold deep move into the last turn coming to the white flag, however, Wick felt the pressure and was able to fend off the move and gather about five kart lengths advantage when taking the white flag. That was the final attempt with Wick crossing the line first to claim the victory with Vasile in second. Lammers completed his Challenge debut with the last step on the podium. Tandon was able to hold off defending Challenge champion Jacob Gulick (GFC Karting) for the fourth spot.

David Ybarra won his first Challenge main event in 100cc Junior in a photo finish (Photo: EKN)

It was a wild day in the 100cc Junior class presented by Nash Motorsportz. Top qualifier Alexander Gonzalez (Nash / EOS) edged out defending champion Nixx Eggleston (Nash / Exprit) and Archer Eversman (FDM / Pantano) by 99 thousandths. The field was bunched up early in the Prefinal and just before halfway, an incident involving Gonzalez and Matthew Cagle (FW / GFC) brought out a red flag. Gonzalez was transported for rib injury while Cagle transported due to a leg laceration. The race was restarted with Eggleston and Eversman coming across 1-2 ahead of Saturday winner Nico Sarphati (FW / GFC) and Payton Westcott (EOS). The busy action continued into the main event with Eggleston at the front of the field before movement for the lead began. Sarphati and Westcott both took a turn with leading up to two laps to go. Westcott got shuffled from the lead and fell down the order with Eggleston back to the point as the white flag waved. David Ybarra (PWR / CRG) had worked his way into second as they made their way around the last circuit. With an over-under run coming out of the last corner, Ybarra was able to win the race to the checkered flag by 45 thousandths ahead of Eggleston with Zoquan Holbrook (SpeedSense / Exprit) right there in third. Holbrook suffered a three-position penalty for contact, moving Sarphati up to third, Eversman to fourth and Westcott to fifth.

Travis Irving was named winner in 100cc Masters following tech (Photo: EKN)

The storyline in Ruthless Karting 100cc Masters had many plot twists throughout the day. Saturday on-track winner Greg Welch (FDM / Pantano) topped qualifying and went on to win the Prefinal, but the main event was much more exciting. Veteran Paul Bonilla (MMK / LN Racing Kart) did not start the Prefinal due to a mechanical, and with fresher tires, he stormed quickly into the fight up front, eventually reeling in the fight for the lead, which included Welch and Travis Irving (FW / GFC). Irving had made an engine change from Saturday after dealing with issues, and he led at the start. Bonilla was on his game and worked to the lead, pressured for the final laps by Irving. At the checker, Bonilla scored the victory, but a post-race technical DQ eliminated him from the results, elevating Irving to the win. Welch was third on-track and was promoted to second, while Matthew Ostiguy also found himself on the podium after starting back in 10th. Saturday winner KC Cook (MMK / Tony Kart) and Ronnie Swaim (Sanner / Exprit) completed the top-five.

Bud Grossenbacher dominated the action on Sunday in Masters Shifter (Photo: EKN)

In Ron White Racing Shifter Masters, Bud Grossenbacher (TB Kart) did one better than his runner-up finish on Saturday, dominating the day with a sweep of all three sessions. After finishing a close second in Round 1 to Cody Hodgson (Aluminos), Grossenbacher elected to bolt on a TM KZ and picked up where he left off. The Marana, AZ driver was not challenged in either the Prefinal or the 20-lap main event. The fight for second in the final was close as Kevin Canning (Overdrive / Ventesemo) slipped past Hodgson on the opening lap of the final to steal the runner-up position. Hodgson kept his head down all race long but just couldn’t get close enough to strike, and he in fact had to worry more about Joey Guyon (Overdrive / Ventesemo) closing in behind him. The Canadian stepped up his pace over the second half of the race and looked poised to set up for a pass to get back onto the podium, but he felt just short at the line. The final spot in the top-five belonged to Michael Faker (Nevada Kartsport / Birel ART) as he was able to hold off a race-long assault from Rob Kozakowski (IM / Italkart). Hodgson was the lone Vortex in the top six with the rest powered by KZ powerplants.

Two for two to start 2024 for Braydon Wagner in 60cc Cadet (Photo: EKN)

The title defense in The Karting Collective 60cc Cadet class for Braydon Wagner (FW / GFC) has opened with a total of two victories in the first weekend of 2024. Wagner backed up his victory on Saturday with another solid run on Sunday, but not without a fight. Drew Jensen (Sanner / Parolin) fought Wagner for the top spot in the Prefinal, with the defending champ edging out for the win at the line. The two were able to lock up and get away from the rest of the field. Wagner led the first half of the race until Jensen took control, and was leading coming to the white flag when he drifted too wide on the exit of the last corner. This slowed his pace and allowed Wagner to slip past on the inside. That was the winning move as Wagner took the checkered flag by 1.4 seconds at the line. Aidan Go (SpeedSense / Exprit) ran alone in third with top qualifier Nathan Ramirez (Parolin) coming from the back from 13th after a DQ in the Prefinal for a clutch issue, finishing fourth ahead of Lucas Durango (Ruthless / Nitro Kart).

The Challenge of the Americas will be back in action on the March 1-3 weekend with a return to Tucson for ‘T2’, with the race being run in the conventional counter-clockwise direction. EKN will be back with our Trackside Live coverage, beginning with our OutLap preview podcast that will be available over the days leading up to Friday practice.

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