Junior Max Sunday podium (Photo: SeanBuur.com)

Another perfect day of weather greeted the competitors of the Rotax Challenge of the Americas in Phoenix, as the fourth round of racing took place at the Phoenix Kart Racing Association in Glendale, Arizona this past weekend. Sunday’s racing provided a great end to what was a phenomenal weekend, finishing off the first half of the series and beginning the second, setting the stage for the final two rounds in Sonoma next month. Four of the six feature winners took their first checkered flag of the season – Mason Marotta (Senior), Matt Jaskol (DD2), John Crow (Masters), Payton Durrant (Mini) – while Robb and LaRoque added to their win totals for the year.

Cambrian Go-Kart Masters Max

John Crow notched his first win of the season in Masters Max (Photo: SeanBuur.com)

Needing every point possible to get back into the title hunt, John Crow (Birel) secured the pole position once again with another late-session run. Three-time winner Paul Bonilla (Tony Kart) set the pace early on, until Scott Falcone (Kosmic) made a charge for the pole. After pit stops, Crow’s pace improved as it did in yesterday’s timed session. On his 10th circuit, Crow posted a 47.685-second lap to land on the pole. This eclipsed Falcone’s time by nine thousandths, while Bonilla was off by only 57 thousandths. US Rotax Grand Nationals champion Ken Maxfield (Arrow) was fourth, with Chad Wallace (Kosmic) improving to make it into the fast five.

Crow and Bonilla went lap for lap, matching each others pace throughout the 17-lap Prefinal with Crow earning the win. Bonilla took over the top spot on lap two as the duo pulled away from the field, leaving Falcone and Maxfield running alone on the track. The gap between the two leaders grew and shrunk a number of times, before Crow took over the point with two laps remaining. A pass at turn 11 stuck, with Bonilla not forcing the issue. Crow held it to the checkered flag to finish ahead of Bonilla, Falcone, Maxfield with Wallace holding fifth.

The day ended with a perfect score for Crow, who went wire-to-wire in the 25-lap main event, scoring the fast lap honor as well to put himself in contention for the championship. Bonilla challenged Crow early, but was unable to make any moves. The margin was just one second, with the fast lap of the race separated by eight thousandths. Falcone earned his second straight podium finish, with Maxfield in fourth and Canadian Christopher Patterson (Tony Kart) climbing to fifth.

COTA-PHX-2015-Masters_Sunday Final

PSL West Mini Max

2013 Micro Max series champ Payton Durrant bagged his first in Mini Max (Photo: SeanBuur.com)

A lesson in the fickle nature of motorsports was provided in MiniMax, as the start of the day did not give a true indication of what would be seen on the post-race podium.  In qualifying, Sebastian Alvarez (CRG) stole the pole from his challengers on final lap by dropping a 46.682-second lap as Saturday winner Marco Kacic (CRG) and frontrunner Payton Durrant (Tony Kart) found themselves mired in slower traffic during the final minutes of the session, despite having the pace to top the entire field.

After the qualifying drama, the Prefinal played out as expected, with Alvarez running away to the win, although the Final was a much different story.   While Alvarez led early, Canadian Griffin Dowler (Kosmic) found his set-up to his liking and he challenged early, making a move in the right-hand hairpin Turn 11 to position himself in front of the field.  This honor would last only for a split-second, as Alvarez crossed underneath with the appropriate response – an over-under retaliation – but he connected with Dowler’s rear bumper, sending the new leader into an unrecoverable spin.  Both drivers would fall down the order, having went off into the gravel, and this allowed Durrant to slip through to assume the lead.

As Durrant settled into his newfound point position, Jak Crawford (Tony Kart) closed as the primary contender.  There would be no further action for the race win, as Durrant found his pace, settling into a speed that would give him an insurmountable lead and the eventful win.  The Utah pilot laid down the quickest lap of the race as well, moving him to fourth in the overall standings, just 29 markers behind Kacic, who finished fourth behind Crawford and Ashton Torgerson.  For Durrant, the win should give the likable Utah pilot the confidence to go out and dominate every session this year.

COTA-PHX-2015-Mini Max_Sunday Final

Nash Motorsportz Senior Max

Mason Marotta became the fourth different driver to win in Senior Max in four races (Photo: SeanBuur.com)

The 15-minute qualifying session for the Senior drivers was another cat and mouse act, with everyone looking for a dance partner in the hopes of scoring the pole position. Saturday top qualifier Luke Selliken (Kosmic) was the first to break loose, and ran out front to set the early pace. He was followed by a group of drivers, but it wasn’t until he slowed down and went to the back that he was able to use the draft and post a blistering 46.028-second lap. No one came even close to matching that pace, as Selliken waited on pit lane for someone to do better. Mason Marotta (Tony Kart) charged late, working with RPM teammate Stepanova Nekeel (Tony Kart). Marotta only came within three tenths of Selliken’s time, but that was good enough for second in the order. Saturday winner and point leader Christian Brooks (Tony Kart) ended up third with Brenden Baker (Tony Kart) and Nekeel making up the fast five.

Selliken led the field to the green flag in the Prefinal, but it was Marotta who showed the way for the entire 17-lap event. A fight for the second spot gave Marotta enough breathing room to run unchallenged to a two-second advantage by the checkered flag. Selliken was shuffled back to sixth on the second lap, as Brooks took over the second spot. The fight for third then heated up, giving the point leader enough space to cruise to the runner-up finish. Pagano came away with the third spot for a time, until Nekeel stole the position for a lap, before the 2Wild Karting driver retook the position. They ran that way until the final lap, when Selliken tried for a move on Pagano in the penultimate corner – turn 11. Both drivers pushed wide and Baker slid past both, crossing the line in third. Selliken finished fourth with Pagano fifth and Nekeel sixth. The fastest kart on the track was actually the Formula K of Jake Craig. After getting shuffled off at the start, he came from 21st to ninth in 17 laps.

The 25-lap Final was setting up to be another showdown to the flag. Marotta and Baker broke away out front, and the two exchanged the lead a few times. This allowed the lead group to grow from five to eight. They settled back down and Selliken helped to push the two away. Selliken got racey, and the trio fought for the lead once again, closing up the top-eight together once again. The fighting continued with Baker and Marotta taking turns at the point. A hard battle for the second spot allowed Marotta to break away, and that was all he needed. On lap 20, Baker and Nekeel made contact fighting for position, and then Pagano and Jim McKinney (Tony Kart) did as well, shuffling up the order. When the dust settled, Marotta scored the victory by just over one second ahead of Selliken with Brooks landing his third straight podium finish to help in the championship chase. Gustavo Menezes (Tony Kart) laid down fast laps all race, and climbed to the fourth position with Josh Kurtz (FA Kart) scoring fifth.

COTA-PHX-2015-Senior_Sunday Final

Motorsports Development Group Micro Max

Diego LaRoque made it four straight in Micro Max (Photo: SeanBuur.com)

In the last two seasons of the Challenge, only two drivers have won in the Micro Max division. Last year’s champion Jak Crawford swept all six main events in 2014, and thus far in 2015, it’s been all Diego LaRoque. After dominating the main event on Saturday, LaRoque (Benik) was the driver to beat again on Sunday, qualifying on the pole during the short timed session. Unlike Saturday’s race, where LaRoque was able to run away, he and his challengers fought each other all race long. It was Leland Honeyman (Exprit) who assumed the attack position in second with Josh Pierson (Tony Kart), Cole Keith Cotham (Tony Kart) and Anthony Willis (Benik) making up the fast five.

LaRoque won the Prefinal, hounded by Pierson and Honeyman. Willis moved up to fourth with local driver Tyler Ruth in the fifth position. Cotham finished fourth but was penalized five positions following tech inspection. The Final came down to a duel between LaRoque and Honeyman. The two went back and forth until LaRoque secured the position with two laps remaining. It was LaRoque at the line by two tenths for his fourth victory of the season as Honeyman finished runner-up. Pierson won the battle for third over Cotham as Ruth finished fifth, stealing the fast lap honors.

COTA-PHX-2015-Micro Max_Sunday Final

CRG-USA DD2

Matt Jaskol notched his first DD2 victory (Photo: SeanBuur.com)

In Tucson, Matt Jaskol (CRG) was able to post the fast lap in the qualifying session, however, he saw it taken away due to a technical inspection issue. A month later here in Phoenix, the PSL West driver was able to post a fast lap early, and the time stood for the remainder of the 15-minute session. Point leader and Saturday winner Sabre Cook (CRG) closed in late, but came one tenth of a second short. Round Two winner Michael Ilavia was a close third in the order with Ben Schermerhorn (Kosmic) fourth.

For the first time in the four rounds of racing, contact decided the results of a race, with Ilavia scoring the Prefinal win. Jaskol and Cook slotted into the top-two positions after the green flag, and reaching turn eight for the first time, contact was made. Both drivers went off, with Ilavia moving into the lead and Schermerhorn to second. Cook and Jaskol continued on, with Jaskol pulling off after five laps. As the race wore on, Schermerhorn kept Ilavia in his sights, but was ran down by Cook. She continued the fast laps of the race to land on the bumper of Ilavia with four laps to go. They finished that way, with Ilavia first to the checkered. Cook, however, was penalized five seconds for the contact, dropping her to third and putting Schermerhorn on the front row for the main event.

Ilavia led the way in the Final, as Cook and Jaskol fought for the second position. Once Jaskol assumed the spot, he began working on the leader Ilavia. It wasn’t until lap 18 that he pulled the trigger, bringing Cook with him. Ilavia fought back on Cook, and this gave Jaskol the breathing room he needed to drive to the checkered flag for his first series victory. Cook was a close third with Ilavia on the podium in third and Schermerhorn in fourth.

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Rolison Performance Group Junior Max

Sting Ray Robb evened up the win column with his victory in Junior Max Sunday (Photo: SeanBuur.com)

An exciting battle is brewing in the Junior Max category in this year’s Challenge, as two young stars are emerging. Nick Brueckner (Tony Kart) and Sting Ray Robb (Tony Kart) have asserted their positions as the outright leaders in the class, and on Sunday, it was Robb who stepped into the spotlight with a perfect day. Qualifying on the pole began Robb’s effort to combat Brueckner’s Saturday victory, which his extended his lead in the point standings. Unlike Saturday, when Robb was forced to start at the tail of the Prefinal after switching a chassis ahead of qualifying, the young Idaho phenom bolted away from the pole position to win the 17-lap race and secure the pole for the final.

In the main, Robb got away cleanly and then simply laid down consistent laps to hold Brueckner at bay. A scant half-second lead was all Robb needed, as he and Brueckner were identical on pace, trading fast laps back and forth. In the end, Robb got the much-needed victory, his first COTA win of the year, which brought him closer to Brueckner in the hunt for the championship. Along with the title comes a lucrative ticket to the Rotax Grand Finals, which is the ultimate goal for both drivers. Brueckner did score one important triumph in the final, posting the fastest lap of the race to steal the five bonus points from Robb. The podium was rounded out by a quick young Junior rookie, as Trey Brown (Tony Kart) all but matched the pace of the leaders to finish an impressive third. Michael Michoff (Kosmic) turned things up in the main event to finish a strong fourth ahead of David Ilavia (CompKart).

COTA-PHX-2015-Junior_Sunday Final

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