Winning three of four heat races keeps Jake Drew on pole position for ROK SV Pro main event (Photo: EKN)

ROK Vegas 2025 wrapped up the final day of heat races on Saturday outside the Rio Hotel & Casino Las Vegas. Another picture-perfect day of weather greeted the over 300 entries in the 11 categories competing. The focus was on the final two rounds of heats, with VLR Senior and Junior looking to get locked into the main event while others had to fight their way in through the Last Chance Qualifiers at the end of the day.

The new ROK SV Pro division featured two more aggressive heat races on the day, this time seeing two different winners. Top qualifier Jake Drew (FW / GFC) led for the first 11 laps before British driver Caden McQueen took the top spot. McQueen scored the win over Drew with Frankie Mossman (SCR / CS55) a close third until receiving a pushback bumper penalty to drop him to fourth, promoting Senior rookie Turner Brown (RPG / Kosmic) to third. McQueen and Drew continued their fight into the fourth and final heat race to close out the action for the day. They swapped the top spot with a group of drivers within the lead pack. On lap 10, McQueen attempted a pass at turn four, only to spin at the apex. He rejoined in 19th, ending up 20th with a pushback bumper penalty. Drew went on to win a third time in the heat races, securing the pole position. Mossman was second with Canadian Gianmatteo Rousseau (REM / Kosmic) in third. Starting on the front row with Drew will be Mossman. Rousseau and Brown start from row two with Gianluca Savaglio (REM / Kosmic) and McQueen in row three.

Jeremy Fletcher scored the Prefinal win in ROK VLR Senior (Photo: EKN)

The ROK VLR Senior class contested the third round of heats followed by a Prefinal and LCQ. The top 30 drivers after the heat races were transferred into the Prefinal while the rest of the 61-driver field went into the LCQ for 10 transfer positions. Top qualifier Jonathan Portz (NRC / Gillard) was able to all 13 laps of the AvsD heat race over Jeremy Fletcher (MMK / CS55) and Theo Kekati (MMK / CS55). Chase Hand (GFC Karting) duplicated that feat in the BvsC heat, leading all 14 laps. Alessandro de Tullio (RRC / LN Racing Kart) finished third with Jesus Vasquez Jr. (GFC Karting) in third. Combining the results from Friday, Hand and Fletcher secured the front row for the Prefinal ahead of Portz and Sebastian Garzon. Hand led the first three laps before Portz moved into the lead. The front packed was full, with roughly eight drivers. That was until Fletcher moved into the lead on lap 10, and the group battled for the second spot. This gave Fletcher breathing room, driving away to a 3.3-second advantage to secure the win and pole position for the Final. Garzon ended up winning the battle for second over Hand, Jake Drew (FW / GFC) and Dean Pedersen (Soren / Kart Republic).

Jacob Gulick goes from P1 for the ROK Shifter Pro main event (Photo: EKN)

Jacob Gulick (GFC Karting) and Adrien Renaudin (Velocity / Sodi Kart) split the heat races once again in ROK Shifter Pro. The Frenchman Renaudin struck first, getting the holeshot win in Heat #3. Gulick was a close second with Cooper Becklin (NRC / LN Racing Kart) trailing in third. The final heat was led by Gulick, bolting away as the lights went out to start the 14-lap race. Renaudin kept it close in second while Canadian Massimo Valiante (IM / Italkart) ran third. Gulick earns the pole position for the Final thanks to his fast time in qualifying as Renaudin goes from the outside of the front row. Becklin and Valiante fill up row two with Matteo Papis (PSL / Birelart) and Scott Hargrove (IM / Italkart) in row three.

A perfect score remains intact for Leonardo Serravalle (REM / Kosmic) in the ROK GP Junior class. The top qualifier won both heats on Friday, and followed it up with two more on Saturday. Heat Three was a wire-to-wire performance over Isaac Malcuit (MDR / LN Racing Kart) and Theo Salomao (Orsolon / Tony Kart). The fourth heat was a battle early on with Salomao and Marco Sammut (BJR / LN Racing Kart) leading before Serravalle reclaiming the top spot, winning over Salomao and Tristan Murphy (RPM / Tony Kart). Serravalle will be joined on the front row for the Final with Salomao. Sarah Bradley (RPM / Tony Kart) put in consistent results to land third on the grid with Sammut in fourth. Malcuit and Murphy will go from row three.

Leonardo Serravalle will lead the ROK GP Junior field to the green flag on Sunday (Photo: EKN)

Issac Malcuit (MDR / LN Racing Kart) and Cole Medeiros (REM / Kosmic) continued their winning ways in ROK VLR Junior. Medeiros won in the AvsD heat race, beating out Ryker Magro (JMF / OTK) with top qualifier Leonardo Serravalle (REM / Kosmic) back to third. Malcuit led every lap of the BvsC heat race. Tristan Murphy (RPM / Tony Kart) was a close third with Erik Doan (PSL / Birelart) up two spots to third. Malcuit earned the pole position for the Prefinal with Medieros on the outside of the front row. Isaac led all 14 laps of the Prefinal to secure the P1 starting spot for the Final. Medeiros was second with Serravalle holding onto third. Murphy was up one spot to fourth and Luca Popescu (RPG / Kosmic) improving five spots to fifth.

It was another dramatic day in the ROK VLR Masters category. Laurentiu Mardan (Tecno Kart USA) emerged as a top contender, moving up to the lead in the Heat Three race by lap two. He went on to take the checkered flag first, but suffered a two-second penalty for pushback bumper, dropping him to fifth and moving Kyle Hayner (HRT / Kosmic) to P1 over Renato Jader David (Orsolon / Tony Kart) and Charlie Fonseca (RPG / Komic) with Ben Cooper (RPG / Kosmic) in fourth. The start to Heat Four saw contact in the opening corner that sent Hayner and Cooper into the wall. They continued on, however, Ryan Casner (Bestkart) slipped through for the lead. RJD would eventually grab the lead and score the win with Casner fighting off Eric Molinatti (SSM / Exprit). Matthew Meech (Orsolon / Tony Kart) was fourth with Cooper working back up to fifth.

Isaac Malcuit took the top spot in the Prefinal for ROK VLR Junior (Photo: EKN)

Mario Barrios (RPG / Kosmic) led the way on the day in the ROK VLR Super Master category. Barrios won Heat Three ahead of Eric Jackson (VemmeKart) and Daryle Redlin (VemmeKart) while taking the top spot in Heat Four over Joshua Daley (Nash / EOS) and Jackson. With the mixed race group, the grid looks like this; RJD and Cooper in row one, Barrios and Mardan row two, Molinati and Hayner in row four with Fonseca and Jackson row five.

Hunter Hagenbuch (GFC Karting) and Kevin Woods (RWR / CRG) led the way in the combined ROK Shifter Masters and ROK Shifter Super Masters combined race group. Contact between Super Masters drivers Woods and Patrick O’Neill (RWR / CRG) at the start dropped Woods down the order while O’Neill retired before turn one. Hagenbach went on to win overall with Woods working back up to second over Super Masters driver Morne Van Taak (VTM / RS Kart). Luis Quinones (LFB / OTK) and Super Masters driver Kori Matthews (VTM / RS Kart) made up the top five. Woods led all 14 laps of the fourth heat with Hagenbach trailing. Van Taak was third overall with O’Neill improving eight spots to fourth over Matthews. Woods and Van Taak make up the front row for the Final with Hagenbuch and O’Neill going from row two.

Four heat race wins puts Maxwell Macha on the pole position in ROK Mini (Photo: EKN)

Maxwell Macha (Parolin Motorsport USA) completed the sweep of the four ROK Mini heat races with two wins on Saturday. The Heat Three race was a wire-to-wire performance over Santiago Orioli (Velocity / Sodi Kart) with Asher Pavan (Parolin Motorsport USA) up two spots to third. Both Orioli and Pavan challenged and led during the fourth heat race. Macha was able to regain the top spot prior to the white flag, securing a fourth win. Pavan was second with Orioli in third. Macha will lead the field to the green flag for the Final on Sunday with Orioli on the front row. Pavan and Cameron Johnson (Nash / Merlin) make up row two with Lawrence Peremen (BJR / LN Racing Kart) and Luis Martinez (Position-One / Croc Promotion) going from row three.

Two drivers were able to win heat races in ROK Micro on the day. Lenox Lockhart (Velocity / Sodi Kart) added a second win overall with his triumph in Heat Three. Lockhart worked past Chase Riddering (Position-One / Croc Promotion) on the final circuit to claim the win. Heat One winner Liam Francisco (RPM / Nitro Kart) was third over top qualifier Alvaro Medeiros (Orsolon / Tony Kart) and Aidan Go (Parolin Motorsport USA). The final heat was another battle with Lockhart and Riddering. This time, Lockhart led the first nine laps before Riddering was able to make a last lap pass stick, scoring the heat win. Dutch Westbrook (Team Benik) was third across the line but suffered a five-second penalty for advancing past delineation line. Medeiros was promoted to third with Samuel Chaverri (PSL / Birelart) up two spots overall to fourth ahead of Jack Kotowski (PSL / Birelart).

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