Nic LeDuc made it four different winners in Senior Shifter over four rounds (Photo: EKN)

The 2024 Challenge of the Americas moved into the second half of its schedule on Sunday at the Musselman Honda Circuit in Tucson, Arizona, and with ideal weather, the racing matched that much of what we enjoyed on Saturday. With yet another day of blue skies and temperatures in the low 70s, the on-track action came down to last lap heroics and red flag free action. The Karting Collective’s Nic LeDuc came away with the win in the Shifter Senior main event after being challenged for the second half of the race by David Williams, while Formula Works’ Keegan Kaminski found himself as the first to the checkered flag in 100cc Senior when final corner contact took the first and second place running drivers out of contention.

Point leader Michael Avansino (Ron White Racing / CRG) picked up where he left off in Round 4 qualifying, topping teammate David Williams (RWR / CRG). LeDuc (Sodi Kart) emerged as the winner in the Pre-Main and he used his pole position to holeshot away from the field to lead from green to checker. Avansino applied the early pressure but it was Williams who put up the biggest challenge, passing Avansino for second in lap 7. He then laid down purple laps to reel in LeDuc, but once he caught the veteran driver, he just couldn’t mount enough of a challenge to find a way by. LeDuc won by just over a tenth of a second with Williams and Avansino completing the podium. GFC drivers Keawn Tandon and Alan Sciuto wrapped the top-five.

Keagan Kaminski led only the final few feet to claim a second win on the season in 100cc Senior (Photo: EKN)

In Forward Direction Motorsports 100cc Senior, the race settled in at the midway point with a three-driver train up front that included Saturday winner Dylan Archer (Forward Direction Motorsports / Pantano), Josh Campbell (Ryan Perry Motorsports / Tony Kart), and Keagan Kaminski (Formula Works / GFC). Archer and Campbell would eventually pull away to make it a two-kart race, and it would all come down to the final corner. On the last run down the backstraight to turn 11, Campbell went even lower than Archer’s defense to take the inside line to the apex, running a little wide on exit as Archer tried to hold the outside. Archer then made a lunge up the inside of the right-hand turn 12, and the subsequent contact took them both off the track. Campbell was up in the air and lucky to stay rubber-side down, and all this action allowed Kaminski to scoot through unscathed to take the win over a rapidly closing Kane Martin (Nash Motorsportz / EOS). Campbell somehow continued on to narrowly beat Liam Letzsch (Precision Works / GFC) and Gavin Wardle (Nash / EOS) to the line for third. A penalty for contact dropped Wardle out of the top-five, moving Collin Ruess (SpeedSense / Exprit) into fifth.

Nico Sarphati added another win in 100cc Junior (Photo: EKN)

Pole sitter and Saturday winner Nixx Eggleston (Ruthless Karting / Gillard) teamed up with Nico Sarphati (Formula Works / GFC) to pull away early in the Nash Motorsports 100cc Junior main event, building what looked to be an insurmountable cushion. Sarphati was patient and disciplined for 18 laps, waiting for the time to go, but that would obviously change. Everyone knew we were just waiting for the last laps. With the lead duo running nose-to-tail and focused on their individual battle, the real driver to watch was David Ybarra (Precision Works / CRG), who was forced out of the Prefinal after contact. This put him at the tail of the grid for the main and he marched his way forward, eventually getting up to third. It appeared that Ybarra’s advancement had stalled at that point, but Sarphati finally made his move on lap 19 at the end of the backstraight, and this set things in motion. Eggleston’s attempt to retake the position in turn 1 was thwarted but he was successful in getting underneath Sarphati in turn 4, and this brought Ybarra back into the fight. On the final run down the backstraight, Sarphati found enough room to the left side of the track to pull alongside Eggleston in the braking zone to take over the lead but, at the same time, Ybarra executed an ideal over-under to pass Eggleston and pull alongside Sarphati coming up the rise to the final corner. Ybarra hung it out on the outside of the corner but caught the curbing on the outside of the track, and that unsettled his kart enough for Sarphati to beat him to the line. Sadly for Ybarra, he ended up with a pushback bumper penalty that dropped him to seventh and advanced Dean Pedersen (Nash / EOS) to the podium in third. Johnie Stamps (Formula Works / GFC) and Eric Doan (SpeedSense Motorsports / Exprit) capped the top-five.

KC Cook earned a second victory in 100cc Masters (Photo: EKN)

After a great battle between Greg Welch (FDM / Pantano) and KC Cook (KartNick / Tony Kart) in Saturday’s Ruthless Karting 100cc Master main event, we were quick to see what the fight would look like on Sunday as four drivers lined up nose-to-tail in the Prefinal. After winning Round Three, Welch elected to move to the 100cc Senior classes for Sunday’s competition, and in his absence, Cook won the Prefinal to start on the pole in the final. The 20-lap race started off with a tight four-kart formation that saw Cook followed closely by Matthew Ostiguy (Kosmic), Tim Meyer (Kosmic), and Travis Irving (Formula Works / GFC). Contact between Meyer and Irving left them both well behind Cook and Ostiguy, with Meyer retiring and Irving cruising home to third. Cook held Ostiguy at bay and then he eventually pulled away to a 1.650-second win. Alfredo Anguiano (Tony Kart) and Steve Wiener (Kart Republic) completed the top-five.

Two for two on the weekend in 60cc Cadet for Daniel Ramirez (Photo: EKN)

The Karting Collective 60cc Cadet main event was very similar to Saturday’s action with a two-driver breakaway, although this time it was polesitter and point leader Braydon Wagner (Formula Works / GFC) who paced Lucas Tarango (Ruthless Karting / Nitro Kart) to pull away early. Over the final laps, Round Three winner Daniel Ramirez (KartNick / Nitro Kart) fought his way to third with the help of Cam Becker (FDM / Compkart), and he’d eventually be in the fight for the lead. The duo up front ran clean for a majority of the race, until Tarango made his move on Wagner with two to go as they headed into the Turn 2-3 chicane. Wagner didn’t give up the spot and tried to hold the outside, and he was not able to navigate the corner and needed through the gravel. Ramirez used this incident to slip through for second and then closed on Tarango over the remainder of the lap, passing him for the lead and the win on the backstraight on the last lap when Tarango did not defend adequately. Ramirez backed up his Saturday victory and was joined on the podium by Tarango and Drew Jensen (Team Sanner / EOS). Braydon Wagner (Formula Works / GFC) was fourth, while Becker on his bumper at the line.

Bud Grossenbacher swept the action in Round Four for Masters Shifter (Photo: EKN)

After DNFing in the Saturday main event with a broken shift lever, Bud Grossenbacher (TB Kart) swept all three sessions in Ron White Racing Shifter Masters. Michael Faker (Nevada Kartsport / Birel ART) was second all day ahead of Saturday winner Rob Kozakowski (RWR / GRC) with Colin Livingston (RWR / CRG) in fourth.

With the second weekend of the Challenge of the Americas now complete and the championship battles much more clear after Sunday’s races, teams and drivers will now put theirs targets on the series finale weekend in Sonoma on April 12-14.

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