Michael Avansino swept the weekend in Shifter Senior (Photo: EKN)

‘Back-to-Back-Jacks’ was the theme of the day as the Challenge of the Americas wrapped up its opening weekend on Sunday at the Musselman Honda Circuit in Tucson, Arizona. Four drivers completed the double, backing up their Saturday victories with another win on Sunday. Oliver Hodgson (CompKart) pulled away once again in the 100cc Senior class, as did Scott Falcone (Precision Works / Pantano) in 100cc Masters. The shifter classes were dominated by their winners as well. Reigning Shifter Senior champ Michael Avansino (Ron White Racing / CRG) scored both wins, while East Coast top gun Joe Ruch (SHIFTRZ / Maranello) was untouchable in Shifter Masters. Overall, it was a spectacular day run with zero red flags in sunny, mid-70s conditions.

The Forward Direction Motorsports 100cc Senior race was all-Hodgson all-day, as he topped Qualifying and the Pre-Main enroute to a 2.155-second win over Johnie Stamps (Formula Works / GFC) in the 20-lap final. Hodgson will now take a sizeable point lead to the next round of the series at the K1 Circuit in California on March 7-9. To his credit, Stamps was one of the fastest drivers all weekend long. After coming so close to pipping fellow Senior rookie Nixx Eggleston for third on Saturday, Stamps leveraged his outside front row starting spot on Sunday to stretch away as the only true challenger for Hodgson. Stamps was closing by around a tenth a lap over the first half of the race but eventually fell off slightly, leaving Hodgson to pull away unchallenged. The real battle was for third on back, with a group of four karts scrapping for the position, including Stephen Eisert (SpeedSense / Exprit), Archer Eversman (FDM / Pantano), Dylan Archer (FDM / Pantano), and Keegan Kaminski (Formula Works / GFC), who advanced from 10th to be in the hunt. As they positioned themselves to fight for the final step on the podium, the spotlight quickly turned to Macy Williams (CB / Tony Kart), who had come from dead last (37th) in the Pre-Main after changing her engine. Williams raced up to 14th in the Pre-Main and then was on the move as they fought in front of her for position. Macy attacked as soon as she arrived on the scene, moving past Archer, Eisert, and Kaminski to sit fourth on the final lap. She was just no close enough to right Eversman for third, but the performance was stellar to say the least. Williams posted the fastest lap of the race in the process. Kaminski deserves similar props, as he started 36th in the Pre-Main to begin his drive to an eventually fifth in the Final.

Oliver Hodgson dominated the action again in 100cc Senior (Photo: EKN)

The shifter categories were dominated again by their respective Saturday winners. Michael Avansino completed his sweep of the weekend with a 2.992-second win over Nic LeDuc (The Karting Collective / Sodikart) in the Swedetech Racing Engines Shifter Senior. LeDuc was pressured hard all race long by Massimo Valiante (Italian Motors / Italkart) and held him off on the last lap to take the position. Anthony Freese (West Coast Motorsports / Birelart) was forced to start ninth after a Pre-Main DNF, but he was on the move quickly and eventually got past Tazio Ottis (The Karting Collective / Sodikart), Andrew Byrne (Nash Motorsports / Italkart), and Saturday podium finish Nolan Gagnon (Nash Motorsports / Italkart) to finish a solid fourth. Gagnon rounded out the top-five.

Joe Ruch swept the action in Shifter Masters (Photo: EKN)

In the Neliton Race Concepts Shifter Masters class, Indiana’s Joe Ruch (SHIFTRZ / Maranello) was again the winner, this time mixing it up at the tail of the Senior Shifter class as the series elected to run both groups together on Sunday to expedite the day. Ruch ended up with a 8.600-second win over his team owner Michael Guasch (SHIFTRZ / Maranello), who told EKN at the podium that Ruch would be back for the K1 round in March. Look for a solid Masters battle there. Michael Faker (GFC Karting) fell to fifth at the start of the race after having trouble getting off the line but he worked his way back to third ahead of Marcin Kloda (SHIFTRZ / Maranello) and Chris Muecke (Italcorse).

Jackson Gibson was promoted to the top of the podium in 100cc Junior (Photo: EKN)

It was a two-driver fight all day in the Nash Motorsportz 100cc Junior division. Saturday winner Erik Doan (SpeedSense / Exprit) and Jackson Gibson (Neliton Race Concepts / Gillard) were the contenders, led by Gibson in both qualifying and the Pre-Main. The two were able to break away from the field despite swapping the lead during the first half of the race. Gibson led for much of the second half until Doan took over the spot with two to go. Doan was able to fend off Gibson to cross the line first for the provisional victory, however, a tram-line penalty demoted Doan off the top step, dropping him down to second place. That promoted Gibson to the victory, recording his career first in the category. Xander Malatesta (Ruthless / Tony Kart) won the battle for third over Sergei Karamseili (Speed Factory / Gillard) as Derek Wargo (CompKart) made a late charge to slide into fifth, coming from eighth on the final lap.

Double win weekend for Scott Falcone in 100cc Masters (Photo: EKN)

In the Ruthless Karting 100cc Masters class, Scott Falcone (Precision Works / Pantano) walked away with another sweep of the day. Falcone topped qualifying over Erik Jackson (Vemme) and then finished second to Jackson in the Pre-Main, only to get advanced back to P1 when Jackson’s engine failed post-race tech. At the start of the main, Falcone was quickly out to the lead while Jackson was unfortunately done before he could turn a lap with an engine issue. Luke Tracy (Vemme Kart) slotted quickly into second behind Falcone, but a battle quickly developed for second between he and Damon Duckworth (Speed Factory / Gillard). The duo would swap the spot on more than one occasion, with Duckworth holding the position at the checker. After a rough day on Saturday, Chad Wallace (Neliton Race Concepts / Redspeed) was able to complete all 20 laps to finish fourth, while Bruce Norman (GFC Karting) came out on top of a spirited battle with Derek Kosnoski (Tony Kart) and Steve Weiner (Kart Republic) after Kosnoski was removed from fifth after scales.

First series victory for Luis Martinez in 60cc Cadet (Photo: EKN)

The Karting Collective 60cc Cadet main event was another race that saw two drivers hook up and pull away. Lucas Tarango (Ruthless / Nitro Kart) teamed up with Luis Martinez (Croc Promotion) to jet away from the rest of the crowd, which was led by Nathan Ramirez (Parolin) and Conner Lypka (CompKart), who had both been penalized in the Pre-Main for passing under yellow, dropping them outside to the top-10 for the start of the final. As Tarango and Martinez pulled away, they worked back to third and fourth, where they would finished. The lead duo simply pulled away more and more each lap, eventually enjoying a 8.831-second cushion at the checkered flag. It was Martinez who emerged victorious in the race as Tarango could just not make a move on the final lap for the win. Joshua Wheeler (Ruthless / Nitro Kart) came out of a tight three-kart battle to take the final spot in the top-five.

The weekend was a strong launch to the 2025 schedule for the Challenge of the Americas. The new Shinko tire received positive reception from most, as those who EKN spoke with admitted that the tire needed a different approach to chassis set-up and tire pressure. The 37-kart field in 100cc Senior was an obvious spotlight for the weekend, as was the growth of the 60cc Cadet class, which boasted 21 drivers. More racers are expected in all the classes when the series heads to the nee K1 Circuit in Winchester, California on the March 7-9 weekend. EKN will be there to provide all the coverage as well as live streaming audio commentary.

Share on Facebook

Tweet