Oliver Hodgson went wire-to-wire for the victory in 100cc Senior (Photo: EKN)

The opening round of the 2025 Challenge of the Americas was run on Saturday under beautiful blue skies and sun, with a steadily elevating temperature at the Musselman Honda Circuit in Tucson, Arizona. While it was quite chilly in the morning at 40 degrees, the mercury eventually rose to 72 for the mains. CompKart’s Oliver Hodgson was on top of the changing conditions as he scored an impressive victory on the strong 37-kart 100cc Senior category while reigning Shifter Senior champion Michael Avansino started his title defense with another triumph, telling EKN that the key was coming up to speed quickly with the new Shinko Racing Kart Tires.

Defending champion Michael Avansino dominated the day in Shifter Senior (Photo: EKN)

SpeedSense Motorsports Stephen Eisert (Exprit) was strong out of the gate in Forward Direction Motorsports 100cc Senior, qualifying on the pole ahead of Hodgson by over a tenth. Hodgson emerged as the powerhouse in the Prefinal despite falling back a few positions at the start, eventually pulling out a nice margin to lock down the pole for the main, In the 20-lap Final, Hodgson leveraged his consistent pace to steadily widen a gap on Eisert that would end up being 0.832 seconds at the checkered flag.  Eisert was joined by Nixx Eggleston (Ruthless / Exprit) up front and they finished second and third in both the Prefinal and the Main Event. Eggleston almost lost out on third at the line as Johnie Stamps (Formula Works / GFC) was on a charge over the last couple of laps, pulling alongside him at the stripe. Keagan Kaminski (Formula Works / GFC) completed the top-five.

Joe Ruch drove away to victory in his first series start in Shifter Masters (Photo: EKN)

Michael Avansino (Ron White Racing / CRG) was the top dog in the Swedetech Shifter Senior category, scoring the pole position and the Prefinal before steadily inching away to a dominant 4.534-second main event victory over Massimo Valiante (Italkart). Valiante was primed for a late-race battle for second with Nic LeDuc (The Karting Collective / Sodikart), that is, until LeDuc retired with shifting issues. His departure elevated the fight between Nolan Gagnon (Nash / Italkart) and Jack Freese (West Coast Motorsports / Birelart) to a dice for the final step on the podium. Freese held the position over the middle laps of the race, but Gagnon eventually found his way past for good to make it two Italkarts on the podium. Andrew Byrne (Nash / Italkart) wrapped the top-five.

In Neliton Race Concepts Shifter Master, Greenfield, Indiana’s Joe Ruch (Maranello) dominated the day, winning the pole and the Prefinal before walking away in the Main Event victory. Michael Guasch (Maranello) got the holeshot in the Final and led the first two laps before a mechanical failure put him on the sidelines after three laps. This left Michael Faker (GFC) to chase Ruch all race, coming home second ahead of Marcin Kloda (Maranello).

Former series champion Scott Falcone won in his return back in 100cc Masters (Photo: EKN)

Former Challenge champion Scott Falcone (Precision Works / Pantano) swept the day in Ruthless Karting 100cc Masters, winning the pole and then taking the Prefinal after Erik Jackson (Vemme Kart) was DQ in post-race tech. Jackson and Falcone had a spirited battle in the Prefinal, but the DQ put Jackson at the back of the grid and made his day tougher. Jackson was quickly up to second in the Final, but he just didn’t have the pace nor the consistency of Falcone, who walked away to a 6.081-second victory. Jackson cruised home to a strong second but was DQ’d in tech once again, as was Damon Duckworth (Gillard) who finished third on-track, coming out on top of a fantastic battle with Luke Tracy (Vemme) for the final step on the podium. This pair of DQs elevated Tracy to second and Derek Kosnoski (CB Motorsports / Tony Kart) to third, after he emerged from race-long battle with Bruce Norman (Scuderia Littel / GFC) and Steve Weiner (FDM / Kart Republic).

A first series victory for Erik Doan in 100cc Junior (Photo: EKN)

Eric Doan (SpeedSense Motorsports / Exprit) swept all three sessions in Nash Motorsports 100cc Junior, scoring his first national event win. In both the Prefinal and Final, Doan was paired with Drew Jensen (Nash / EOS) and they pulled away in each race. In the Final, they stayed locked together for 18 laps until it was time to take off the gloves. Jensen made his bid for the lead and went to the front, but Doan came back strong and dove to the inside of Turn 5 on the final lap to take the lead back for good.  Doan defended the inside down the long Tucson backstraight, and held off Jensen to score a 0.178-second victory. To his credit, Jensen turned in a spectacular performance and his patience over the first 18 laps was the key to success as the chase group featured some fast drivers who just couldn’t make a dent in the lead. Both Jackson Gibson (Neliton Race Concepts / Exprit) and Luca Popescu (Formula Works / GFC) turned purple laps during the race, with Popescu earned the fastest overall lap, but they eventually ran out of time when the leaders started fighting. Gibson closed over the final laps but was just over three tenths back at the checker in third. Popescu finished fourth ahead of Xander Malatesta (Ruthless / Exprit).

Nathan Ramirez claimed the victory after a great battle in 60cc Cadet (Photo: EKN)

The Karting Collective 60cc Cadet class enjoyed a surge in participation from 2024 to start the season with 21 drivers in the field. From their position as the lead class in the rotation, the Cadets set the tone with great racing. In the main event, after close running up front with Lucas Tarango (Ruthless / Nitro Kart), Nathan Ramirez (Team KartNick / Parolin), and Conner Lypka (CompKart), the final lap was an exciting one for certain, with Lypka working his way past both Ramirez and then Tarango in the Turn 2-3 chicane to take the lead. In a move he’d likely wish to take back, Lypka did not run a defensive line into Turn 5 and Ramirez walked through the open door, bringing Tarango with him. As the battle down the backstraight on the run to the checker, Lypka pulled the over-under from third to make it three-wide at the line, with all three drivers being separated by only 0.072 seconds. Ramirez held on for the win ahead of Tarango and Lypka. Luis Martinez finished fourth ahead of Koa Saito (GFC Karting).

The opening day of race was super clean and safe with no red flags. The temperatures – both the low and the high – are projected to increase for Sunday, and with drivers and mechanics now having a better feel for the new Shinko tires, we expect Sunday’s Round 2 action to be even closer.

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