Chase Hand added another COTA win at Sonoma on Saturday in 100cc Senior (Photo: EKN)

After a practice day mixed with cool temperatures and afternoon rain, the drivers of the 2025 Challenge of the Americas returned to the track at Sonoma Raceway on Saturday for Round Five of the eight-round / four-event West Coast series under cloudy skies. The weather held through practice, qualifying, and the Pre-Mains, but heavy clouds arrived on the scene during the lunch break and the rain hit two laps into the Cadet main. In Forward Direction Motorsports 100cc Senior, Chase Hand (GFC Karting) took the victory while Michael Avansino (Ron White Racing / CRG) dominated the Swedetech Shifter Senior category. Canadian Nathan Dupuis (Nash Motorsportz / Exprit) was incredible impressive in Nash Motorsportz 100cc Junior, walking away from his competition.

A fifth straight victory for Michael Avansino in Senior Shifter (Photo: EKN)

The initial action in 100cc Senior featured early control by Zachary Claman DeMelo (MMK / CS55), who bolted out to the lead and paced the field to the halfway point, working his way into the back to the field to lap slower drivers in the challenging conditions. On lap 11, ZCD ended up on the sidelines thanks to a broken chain, which passed the lead over the GFC Karting’s Chase Hand, who was hounding DeMelo over the opening laps. Once into the lead, Hand dominated the second half of the race, turning the fast lap en route to a 9.992-second win. Privateer Colby Romero (Birelart) drove to his best Challenge finish in second, almost four seconds up on point leader Keagan Kaminski (Formula Works / GFC) who strengthened his position in the standings. Santiago Hermida (Precision Works / CRG) finished fourth, ahead of Jesus Vasquez Jr. (GFC Karting). Vasquez turned in one of the best performances of the day, driving from 36th on the grid to 10th over the first three laps to leverage the tough wet conditions after a flat tire in the Prefinal. From there, he soldiered his way forward to an impressive top five finish. Stephen Eisert (SpeedSense / Exprit) was among the contenders after the Prefinal and early leader in the main event. He crossed the line in third but came across the scales underweight.

Patrick O’Neill showed the way in Masters Shifter competition (Photo: EKN)

Due to lower kart counts, the Senior and Master Shifter classes were combined for the wheel-to-wheel sessions, but the result in Shifter Senior was the same as it has been through the first four races of the year. Ron White Racing’s Michael Avansino (CRG) dominated the action in the wet main event, winning by 24.7 seconds over Anthony Freese (West Coast Motorsports / Birelart). Evan Conception (Scuderia Little / GFC) scored his second consecutive podium, having finished third in Round Four at K1 Circuit in March. In Neliton Race Concepts Shifter Master, local hotshoe Patrick O’Neill (Ron White Racing / CRG) ran unchallenged for the win after point leader and 4x race winner Joe Ruch (Shifterz / Maranello) went out early with a flat right-front tire. Marcin Kloda (Shifterz / Maranello) got past Michael Faker (GFC Karting) for second midway through the race. Faker held third after the overtake to score his fifth straight podium of the season.

Nathan Dupuis made an impressive debut at COTA with victory in 100cc Junior (Photo: EKN)

In 100cc Junior, Canadian Nathan Dupuis (Nash Motorsportz / EOS) delivered a wet weather masterclass performance in his Challenge of the Americas debut, laying a beat down on the 20-kart field to win by over 20 seconds. Dupuis’ Nash Motorsportz teammate Eric Doan (Kosmic) was forced to recover from a lap one / turn two spin to power back through the field, eventually clawing his way back up to second, turning the fast lap of the race in the process. The runner-up performance was crucial to his championship aspirations as he finished five positions ahead of point leader Jackson Gibson (Neliton Race Concepts / Gillard). Matthew Cagle (Formula Works / GFC) emerged from a heated multi-kart battle to finish third, ahead of Sergei Karamselli (Gillard) and fast qualifier Mateo Calderon (Axis Kartsport / Redspeed).

Matthew Meech claimed his first COTA victory in 100cc Masters (Photo: EKN)

Local driver and 2024 Challenge Sonoma winner Dan Jones (RWR / CRG) looked to be in charge of the Ruthless Karting 100cc Masters main event after starting on the pole alongside point leader Scott Falcone (Precision Works / Pantano), as Falcone dropped to the back immediately after a first corner spin. Jones jetted out quickly to a solid cushion, but he ended up on the side just before the halfway point with a mechanical. Matthew Meech (Precision Works / Tony Kart) – a double podium finisher at K1 – assumed the lead and would not be challenged, driving away to a 5.030-second victory over a two-driver scrap for the final spots on the podium. Over the final laps, Christopher Mann (Ruthless Karting / Kosmic) was able to use lapped traffic to dive past second-place runner Chad Wallace (Neliton Race Concepts / LN Racing Kart) to steal the position. Wallace held on for third, well ahead of Luke Tracy (VemmeKart) in fourth. Jeffrey Bays (Neliton Race Concepts / Kosmic) rounded out the top-five. Falcone recovered from his opening lap spin to get back to fifth, but two subsequent turn six spins were followed shortly by a broken axle that ultimately sidelined him with an eighth-place result.

Gamble to rain tires gave Lincoln High his first COTA victory in 60cc Cadet (Photo: EKN)

The Karting Collective 60cc Novice main event kicked off the finals under very dark, looming skies, with all but one driver on the grid ready to roll off still equipped with slick Shinko tires. Neliton Race Concepts’ driver Lincoln High (Gillard) was set to start 15th and his father’s decision to roll the dice with rain tires paid off in a big way. The rain arrived on lap three and the grip advantage swung quickly in Lincoln’s direction as he started navigating his way through the field. High took the lead on lap six and eventually pulled away to a 5.059-second victory. The track began to dry slightly over the final laps and with the increased grip, Hudson Hidalgo (Parolin) was able to slip past Lucas Tarango (Nitro Kart) for second. Tarango held off Nathan Ramirez (Parolin) for the final spot on the podium while Koa Saito (GFC) rounded out the top five.

The drivers and teams will be back at the track first thing on Sunday morning to tackle Round Six of the Challenge, ideally arriving to a dry track. EKN will be trackside to provide immediate to-10 coverage from qualifying, Pre-Mains, and Mains on social media and will be streaming Rob Howden’s live audio commentary throughout the day at www.ekartingnews.com/live.

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