Ayden Ingratta swept the inaugural round in Senior MAX (Photo: EKN)

The inaugural round of the 2026 RMC America’s Trophy was put into the record books on Saturday at the Musselman Honda Circuit. Extreme Heat Warning was in place for the Tucson, Arizona facility as it was during Friday practice, with temperatures surpassing the 100 degree mark by main event time. The over 110 entries handled the heat on track well, putting on great shows across the board with the five Rotax divisions hosting Round One with the two FZ Shifter divisions completing the first half of their weekend with qualifying and two rounds of heat races. The day ended with Canadian Ayden Ingratta of Racing Edge Motorsports sweeping the round in Senior MAX with a perfect day.

Ingratta (REM / Kosmic) led the way in the short four-minute qualifying session as the only driver to break the 50-second mark, with a 49.966 to clear the field by nearly two tenths with former Team USA driver Macy Williams (CB / Gillard) in second. Ingratta was able to hold off an early attack in the 10-lap Prefinal as they battle for second for much of the race. Williams was pushed wide early in the race and made contact with the outside turn one wall, ending her race. At the line Ingratta had a three second advantage with British driver Sean Butcher (RPG / Kosmic) up five spots to second with Canadian William Bouthillier (REM / Kosmic) in third. Ingratta was able to get away with the lead to begin the 20-lap Final as Pauly Massimino (BJR / LN Kart) was able to move from fifth to second over the opening lap. Butcher continued downward in the order, eventually pulling off with a flat tire. This left Bouthiller in third and 2013 Rotax Grand Finals winner Oliver Hodgson (Factory Karts) in fourth. They ran that way for the first 13 laps until Hodgson moved up into the third spot. The top two had already gained a slight advantage by then but Massimino was unable to make a move on Ingratta. At the line, Ingratta was able to complete the wire-to-wire performance on the day winning by over three tenths ahead of Massimino. Hodgson crossed the line in third with Bouthillier in fourth and Williams climbing up from 19th to finish a close fifth. Hodgson, however, was removed from the results for non-compliant fairing height. This promoted Bouthillier to the podium in third, Williams to fourth and Gianluca Savaglio (REM / Kosmic) into fifth for three Canadians in the top five.

Ashton Woon held on through the last lap to secure victory in Junior MAX (Photo: EKN)

It was a battle to the very end in the Junior MAX category featuring 32 drivers. Tristan Murphy (RPM / Tony Kart) came away from the four-minute session with fast time of 50.601 to clear teammate Yutaka Sonoda (RPM / Tony Kart). The Prefinal was a RPM / SCR battle with Murphy and Colton Schniegenberg (RPM / Tony Kart) run down by Nathan Golseth (SCR / CS55) and Ashton Woon (SCR / CS55). The top two battled over the final few laps allowing third and fourth to close in. Woon was able to go from fourth to first over the final two laps, including a big move in the double right handers to take the win ahead of Schniegenberg. The top two were able to hook up and push away from the rest of the field. Schniegenberg took the lead on lap three and stayed there until Woon grabbed back the spot on lap 17. As the laps clicked off, Travis Pettit (RPG / Kosmic) – who went off at turn one in the opening lap of the Prefinal, fought his way from 15th on the grid and up to third with two laps remaining. As Woon went defensive on the final lap, this allowed Pettit to close in tight down the to the penultimate corner. As they went down the back straight, Woon went defensive and Schniegenberg was setting up for the over / under. Pettit went in deep on the brakes and basically went in between the two. He pushed wide and Schneigenberg had to over under him and came up short on run to the line to beat out Woon. It was Woon taking the victory by seven hundredths of a second over Schneigenberg and Pettit. Murphy was fourth with Darren Kidd (MDR / LN Kart) placing fifth.

Hudson Howard fought off the pack to win in Mini MAX (Photo: EKN)

Great racing by the 23 drivers in the Mini MAX division led to another close finish. Aidan Go (Parolin USA) led the way in qualifying with a 53.419 lap, however, at the start of the Prefinal he was off pace as the fuel line came loose. This allowed Hudson Howard (JHDD / Kart Republic) and Yousef Adi (JHDD / Kart Republic) to go on and finish 1-2 in the Prefinal. They were joined at the front in the 18-lap Final by Mason Brody (RPM / Nitro Kart) as the trio battled for position after breaking away from the field. By lap 13, the group of four drivers behind them had caught up and in a turn one shuffle, Dutch Westbrook (Team Benik) found himself in the lead from fourth with Howard in second. They were able to get away from the rest of the group fighting for third. Howard took the lead coming to the white flag and was able to hold off Westbrook through the final corner, securing the victory by one tenth of a second at the line. Brody won the battle for third with Forrest Blair (Ruthless / GFC) up into fourth and 2025 US Trophy Final winner Samuel Chaverri (PSL / Birelart) in fifth.

A great first victory performance by Alessio Tosti in Micro MAX (Photo: EKN)

The 12 drivers in Micro MAX were all very close together in pace once racing began, but it was Jett Fisher (REM / CRG) that edged out the field in qualifying by just one thousandths of a second over Dusty Strayer (Parolin USA). Qualifying fifth, Alessio Tosti (MPG / Kart Republic) charged his way forward to score the Prefinal win bringing Beau Wyatt (Team Benik) to second with Tre Sanders (RPM / Nitro Kart) sitting third. After shuffling early with the big pack of drivers, Tosti and Sanders were able to break away from the field. Tosti led the majority until Sanders went on the attack with a few laps remaining. Tosti took the lead at the white flag, but Sanders dove to the inside of turn four for a pass. He was unable to hang on getting into the sand on the track and drove off course on the exit. This allowed Tosti to drive away to victory, winning by just over two seconds. Tristan Francisco (RPM / Nitro Kart) won the battle for second over Stayer with Fisher fourth and Wyatt placing fifth.

A perfect performance in Masters MAX for Billy Cleavelin (Photo: EKN)

Veteran Billy Cleavelin (REM / LN Kart) dominated the day in the Masters MAX division. Cleavelin swept the action, capping off the day with a 14-second advantage in the 20-lap main event. Chapman Ducote (Ruthless / Exprit) won the battle for second over Jose Delagarza (RPG / Kosmic) with Ken Simonelic (CB / CompKart) placing fourth.

The opening day of racing in the new FZ125 Senior class was led by Gage Korn (Maranello USA). A lap of 49.461 cleared the 11-driver field by four tenths. The opening heat race was a three second advantage after 10 laps, winning over Ziming Wang (BBR / Falcon) and Daniel Fellows (FDM / Pantano), while Heat #2 was another three-second win this time with Theo Kekati (Factory Karts) in second ahead of Wang.

Gage Korn swept the first half of action in FZ125 Senior (Photo: EKN)

Two different drivers were at the front in the FZ85 class with six drivers taking to the Tucson track. Brandon Ng (Factory Karts) and Ashton Woon (SCR / Factory Kart) set identical laps in qualifying with Ng earning the tiebreaker. Woon however was able to get the holeshot win over Ng in the opening heat race and did the same in the second heat, this time with Wyatt Kroeger (Factory Karts) on their bumpers.

The FZ Shifter categories will run a Prefinal and Final to determine their opening round race winners while the five Rotax divisions will complete a full round on Sunday at the Musselman Honda Circuit to close out the opening weekend of the 2026 RMC America’s Trophy from Tucson, Arizona.

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