Chase Hand won 100cc Senior in his 2024 debut (Photo: EKN)

As forecast during the days leading up to the final weekend of the Challenge of the Americas, Saturday’s action was run on rainy conditions at the Sonoma Racing Karting Center. Overnight rains continued through the early morning, meaning the warm-up and qualifying were both run in full wet conditions. A break in the precipitation led to a switch to dry tires for the Shifter Masters Prefinal, but the rain returned for second final event and made for exciting racing. GFC Racing’s Kyle Wick demolished the Shifter Series field after getting away early, while his GFC teammate Chase Hand come out as the victor in a thrilling three-driver fight for the win in 100cc Senior.

A field of 42 drivers the Forward Direction Motorsports 100cc Senior division set history at the Challenge as the largest ever. Jack Doyle (SpeedSense / EOS) was the quickest in the wet qualifying session, edging out Chase Hand (GFC Karting) by three thousandths of a second. It was Hand that jumped out to the lead in the Prefinal, driving away to a near one-second advantage for the win. He had company in the main event as Oliver Calvo (SpeedSense / OTK) took over the lead early before Hand reclaimed top spot. When he did, championship leader Kane Martin (Nash / EOS) and Josh Fine (SpeedSense / Kosmic) went through and continued to pressure Hand. While no official lead change happened, Martin briefly passed Hand a few times during the race. In return, Fine kept the pressure on Martin as well, taking over the second spot multiple times during the second half of the race. In the end, Hand was able to lead 15 of the 20 laps to become the fourth different winner on the season. Fine won the battle for second over Martin as Calvo finished fourth ahead of two-time winner Keagan Kaminski (FW / GFC) – who started the main event in ninth.

Kyle Wick ran away to victory for his second on the year in Senior Shifter (Photo: EKN)

At the start of the wet Swedetech Senior Shifter final, Wick rocketed off the line from the outside of the front row to lead the first run into Tic-Tac-Toe. With his competition battling behind him, Wick took off and hid and would eventually enjoy a 9.588-second advantage at the line. The fastest driver on the track all race was Jacob Gulick (GFC Racing / GFC) who started from the pole after winning the Prefinal. Gulick was immediately embroiled in an epic scrap with Michael Avansino (Ron White Racing / CRG) and Hunter Pickett (GFC Karting / GFC) which led to a 360-degree spin caused by Gulick making contact with the curb in the high-speed Turn 12 kink. After the spin, he stormed back through the field to finish an impressive third. Gulick turned fast lap after fast lap, but came up just short of passing Keawn Tandon (GFC) for second on the final lap. Tandon’s crucial second-place finish had serious title implications, vaulting him into the middle of the title fight with Michael Avansino (Ron White Racing / CRG) and David Williams (Ron White Racing / CRG) as the series heads in Championship Sunday. Both RWR drivers capped the top-five, ensuring that Sunday’s racing will decide this year’s champion.

Patrick O’Neill held on to claim victory in Masters Shifter (Photo: EKN)

The Ron White Racing Shifter Masters class featured a 18-lap battle between Patrick O’Neill (RWR / CRG) and Bud Grossenbacher (TB Kart). The primary storyline of the day came during the PreMain when O’Neill elected to go with Vega slicks for the shortened 12-lap race, leveraging a drying track that would eventually provide him with a dominant vicitory as the only driver on dry tires. In the Main, O’Neill got the early lead but Grossenbacher ran him down and hunted him for the lead for many laps. Grossenbacher was able to take over the top spot for only a short time before O’Neill took the position back for good. They were essentially nose-to-tail coming across the line for the checker. Grossenbacher’s second-place finish unofficially clinched the class championship for the Marana, Arizona driver. Canadian Ron Kozakowski (RWR / CRG) came from the back of the seven-kart grid to third back lap three, and while he ran alone for most of the race, he picked up his pace over the final laps and turned the fastest outright lap of the race on lap 13, almost three tenths quicker than the winner. Marcin Kloda (RWR / CRG) and Samuel Gluss (The Karting Collective / Sodikart) capped the top-five.

Alex Rantala was named winner in the 100cc Junior main event (Photo: EKN)

Penalties were the story in the Nash Motorsportz 100cc Junior class. Turner Brown (GFC Karting), making his first Challenge start of 2024, was top qualifier until having his fast lap taken away for losing his onboard camera during the session. This put Payton Westcott into the top spot and earning the five bonus points. Brown was fight for a top-three spot in the Prefinal until he lost the rear bumper, forcing him to pull off early and start the main event from 24th. Two-time winner Nico Sarphati (FW / GFC) jumped out to the lead in the Prefinal and drove to the provisional win until he was handed a two-second penalty for lane violation at the start. This promoted Westcott to the pole position for the Final. As the field took the green flag, a mist and heavy sprinkles of rain began to hit the facility, making the track damp as the entire field was on dry Vega tires. The mist continued throughout the race, making the surface the entire 20-lap distance. Sarphati went off track in the opening corner of the race, as Westcott led early. Hudson Sharp (GFC Karting) however came up from 13th on the grid to lead the way on lap two in a wild couple of laps. Sharp was able to navigate the tricky conditions the best, establishing a solid lead in the early portion of the race. Behind him was the battle for second that including several drivers, eventually having Alex Rantala (GFC Karting) take the spot bringing Nixx Eggleston (Ruthless / Gillard) with him. The two closed on Sharp and passed him to lead the way in the final laps. Eggleston made his move on Rantala after getting the two to go signal into turn one. Eggleston was able to lead the way to the checkered flag to the provisional victory. Multiple penalties for contact however took the win away from the defending champion, placing him seventh in the final results and moving Rantala to the top of the podium for his first Challenge victory. Brown put in a stellar performance, finishing second with Christian Cameron (TKC / Sodi Kart) classified third. Sharp ended up fourth with Jaxon Young (GFC Karting) – who was third at the line and recorded the fast lap of the race, was placed fifth after penalty for contact after starting 21st.

A second victory on the year for Greg Welch in 100cc Masters (Photo: EKN)

The Ruthless Karting 100cc Masters class was on wet tires the entire day. Daniel Jones (RWR / CRG) set fast time in qualifying but was beat out in the Prefinal by Round Three winner Greg Welch (FDM / Pantano). The two were at the front of the field the entire 18-lap distance of the Final. Jones kept the pressure on Welch every lap, unable to make a pass for the lead. Welch held on in a drag race to the line, winning by 42 thousandths over Jones. Matthew Ostiguy (DMG / Kosmic) drove to third ahead of championship leader KC Cook (KartNick / Tony Kart) with Fred Clark (RWR / CRG) rounding out the top-five.

Nathan Ramirez claimed his first victory at the Challenge in 60cc Cadet (Photo: EKN)

Multiple drivers were in contention in The Karting Collective 60cc Cadet class however it was double T2 winner Daniel Ramirez (KartNick / Nitro Kart) that was the top qualifier and Prefinal winner. A botched start cost Ramirez the front row on a second attempt, putting him back to the second row and allowing Cason Hodge (TKC / Sodi Kart) the pole position. He and Nathan Ramierz (KartNick / Parolin) were at the front, exchanging the top spot while Daniel and Drew Jensen (Sanner / EOS) trailed. Coming to complete lap 11 of the 16-lap Final, Hodge made contact with a lapped kart, and nearly wrecked into the front straight wall. It dropped him down to fourth and put Nathan into the lead. Daniel closed up in the final laps, making it a drag race to the line. At the checkered, Nathan earned his first Challenge victory by 54 thousandths at the line over Daniel. Jensen finished third with Hodge fourth and Paxton Romero (FDM / CompKart) winning the fight for fifth.

The final round of this year’s Challenge of the Americas is expecting a dry day on Sunday, and the titles will remain up for grabs for five of the six categories. Listen to the trackside commentary live on www.ekartingnews.com/live and followed EKN’s Facebook and Twitter feeds for the immediate top-10s.

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