Danny Formal kept the perfect score going in S1 Pro (Photo: On Track Promotions - otp.ca)

It was another picture perfect day looking south at the Las Vegas Strip with the first day of racing action taking place on the Las Vegas Convention Center grounds for the Superkarts! USA SuperNationals XIX. Timed qualifying set the grids for the three rounds of heat races in the nine categories, with two rounds of racing taking place in the morning and the afternoon, leaving just one round tomorrow to reset the order to determine who moves on to SuperSunday, and who must fight there way in with the Last Chance Qualifier. The racing today was intense, with the majority of the starts average and were not the chaos we anticipated with the narrow front straight. The long straight set up for some interesting finishes, which could be a major factor on the final laps of SuperSunday.

PSL Karting TaG Junior

Merlin driver Alex Bertagnoli has stepped up in his first SuperNationals, among the four different TaG Junior winner (Photo: On Track Promotions – otp.ca)

The Avs.D heat race was the first taste of wheel-to-wheel action for the weekend. The start was as expected, with the field bunching up about mid-pack. Polesitter Anthony Gangi Jr. (Tony Kart) held the lead through the start, with outside polesitter Alex Bertagnoli (Merlin) dropping positions when the lights went green. Gangi was joined by a number of drivers at the front. Contact on lap five with Vinicius Ponce (Kosmic) dropped them down the order, but Gangi charged back to the front. Arthur Leist (Tony Kart) took advantage and was able to defend to the checkered flag with Gangi right there in second. Italkart drivers Gabriel Paturle and Diego Ramos went third and fourth with Ethan Barrett (Kosmic) in fifth. The top two drivers were penalized however with Leist receiving 10 spots for passing under yellow and blocking. Gangi lost five for a dislodges front nose cone. That promoted Paturle to first and Ramos to second. Barrett, Rasmus Lindh (Ricciardo) and Bertagnoli became the new top five.

The Bvs.C group was unable to get going for the first few times, causing the field to be stopped to have a discussion. The field was lined up single-file for the green flag with Zach Holden (Tony Kart) at the point. Gianluca Petecof (Italkart) took the lead from Holden on lap five, with Dante Yu (Tony Kart) sitting right there trying to steal the second spot. Petecof took the win with Holden keep Yu back for second. Dennis Hauger (CRG) and Colby DuBato (Tony Kart) completed the top-five.

Avs.C was the first race of the second round of heat races for the morning categories, with Gangi and Petecof on the front row, with another round of wave-off starts. The field finally got the green light, with Gangi holding the lead over Petecof, Paturle and Leist in a four driver breakaway. Barrett and Nicky Hays (Ricciardo) were posting some fast laps toward the end of the race, closing up on the four leaders as the checkered flag neared. The last lap was a fight for second allowing Gangi to pull away to the race win. Leist moved up to second and Petecof third. Paturle held off Barrett and Hays at the end.

The opening corner for Bvs.D was crazy once again, with polesitter Holden dropping to sixth on the opening lap with Bertagnoli leading the way over Vinicius Ponce (Praga) and Lindh. It was the top-two pulling away from the field with another two driver group including Holden recovering up to third over Lindh by lap three. Holden and Lindh reeled in the leaders little by little, reaching the bumper of Ponce with three laps remaining. Beginning lap nine, Holden and Lindh worked past Ponce to move into second and third for the final lap. Bertagnoli’s Franklin Motorsports Merlin was half a second ahead, and increased as the fight for second heated up. That gave Alex the win to help his cause of starting on the front row for SuperSunday. Lindh took the second position over Holden and Ponce with Fikse Wheels Pro Tour point leader Brandon Lemke (Merlin) up to fifth for his best finish of the day.

Honda Racing/HPD S2 Semi-Pro Stock Moto

Veteran driver Jorge Pescador won two of his heats in S2 (Photo: On Track Promotions – otp.ca)

Polesitter Brandon Frank was able to get keep the top position with the holeshot in the Avs.D heat race. Texas driver Austin Wilkins (Sodi Kart) was right there along with Dario Capitano (Italcorse) and Will Preston (Aluminos). The entire field made it through the opening corners, understanding that survival is key to making SuperSunday. Lap six, Wilkins took the lead with Capitano following through for second, dropping Frank to third with Kyle Smith (PCR) the quickest driver on track up to fourth. Lap seven, Frank lost another position with Smith getting around for third. They finished that way for the top-three as Wilkins earned a very improtant win. Salvador de Alba (GP) was able to slip past Frank at the checkered by just three thousandths of a second. Championship contenders Carter Williams (FA Kart) and Miguel Lopez (GP) finished sixth and seventh.

It was a bottleneck in the opening corner for the Bvs.C heat race with mid-pack drivers getting together in turn one and turn two. Out front, Jorge Pescador (Praga) showed the way and was pressured hard by Cabot Bigham. Eventually, Pescador got away and drove to the win. Bigham drove to second ahead of Hunter Pickett (Aluminos). Fernando Casillas Jr. (GP) was fourth with Robert Bujdoso (PCR) in fifth.

Frank took the holeshot to begin Avs.C heat race, but again could not keep the lead as Capitano took the top position early on in the 10-lap event. Thomas Neubauer (BirelART) was able to get off the line, dropping to third from the front row with Preston and Lopez trailing the leaders. Preston was once again the driver on the move, up to third by the halfway point and pressure Frank for the runner-up spot. Capitano won by nearly two seconds with Frank holding off Preston with Lopez in fourth ahead of Neubauer.

Pescador took the holeshot for the Bvs.D heat race with Bigham able to move up to second with Smith around Wilkins for third. Bigham was eventually shuffled back with Wilkins and Smith fighting for P2 the second half of the race. Pescador continued to show the way, dropping fast laps of the race to lead by over 1.266 seconds to the win. Wilkins kept Smith behind him for the second spot, with Robert Bujdoso and de Alba fifth until coming in tech too wide on tire width, giving Aluminos driver Steve Reasoner the position.

SKUSA S5 Junior Stock Moto

Evan White (Kosmic) grabbed the holeshot from polesitter Hunter Kelly (Praga). Championship leader Callum Smith (Praga) moved himself up to second, with the top-three pulling away from the field. Smith began challenging for the lead with two laps remaining. Smith was unable to work past, with White taking a well deserved win. Kelly ran third with Blair Hosie (Alpha) and Andrew Engberson (Intrepid) making up the top-five.

White was able to get away more in the opening corners of heat two, establishing a solid lead over Smith and Kelly. Lawson Nagel (Sodi Kart) joined the lead group, making it a three driver fight for the second position. Nagel took over the third position on lap nine, and began pressuring the Fikse Wheels Pro Tour point leader. White scored a second win on the day, putting him as the leader going to the final heat race on Saturday. Smith drove to another runner-up with Nagel in third. Kelly fell to fourth with Ryan P. Lewis (Mad-Croc) up to fifth.

Rolison Performance Group TaG Master

Defending race winner Kip Foster won both heat races to defend his top qualifier position (Photo: On Track Promotions – otp.ca)

Top qualifier Kip Foster rocketed away in his Arrow machine when the lights went green, pulling away from the field early. Behind him, Jim Russell Jr. was the driver charging and took over the lead challenger position aboard his Russell Karting Specialties Parolin machine. A long line of karts were behind him, including Fredric Johais (Tony Kart), Juan Manuel Basco (AM Kart) and defending Fikse Wheels Pro Tour champion Ethan Wilson (FA Kart). Russell held off Johais with Basco dropping down the order thanks to Eduardo Dieter (Italkart) slipping up to fourth, and Wilson remaining fifth. Championship contenders Nick Tucker (Tony Kart) and Chris Giumarra (PCR) each had their trouble, finishing 39th and 41st.

The field wrecked a number of karts further back on the grid entering the opening corners, but up front it was Foster and Johais pulling away early over the fight for P3. Scott Falcone (FA Kart) was able to manage to move up in the opening corners, leading Basco and Erik Jackson (Tony Kart). That was until lap four when he spun around on the exit of turn four. Wilson was fighting for the a top-five finish, however his race ended with a broken rear bumper and a meatball flag. Foster drove away, leading all 10 laps for the win. Johais lost some ground but remained in the second position over Basco and Dieter. Jackson was promoted to fifth with Wilson ducking into the pit lane.

iKart S1 Pro Stock Moto

DRT Racing’s Danny Formal made it look easy in the opening heat race for the headline S1 division. Formal grabbed the holeshot in his DR Kart and powered away to lead all 10 laps of the race, winning by over two seconds. Fikse Wheels Pro Tour championship leader Rick Dreezen (Ricciardo) drove second comfortably, helping his advantage. Five-time world champion Davide Fore (CRG) fought off defending series champion Jordon Lennox (BirelART), until the SKUSA #1 plate made contact with Kiwi Matt Hamilton (Aluminos). That promoted American star Gary Carlton (Formula K) to fourth and Brian Keck fifth on his Ron White Racing CRG.

Formal kept the lead with the holeshot to begin heat two, narrowly losing the spot with Dreezen attempting to take the lead in the opening corners. The DR Kart pilot held off the point leader, and the two pulled away once again with Lennox and Fore making up the second group of drivers up front. In the end, Formal scored a second straight heat race by seven tenths over Dreezen with Lennox keeping back Mr. Five-Time while Carlton notched another top-five.

Texas ProKart Challenge S4 Master Stock Moto

Fikse Wheels Pro Tour point leader Darren Elliott is among the four different heat winners from Friday (Photo: On Track Promotions – otp.ca)

Avs.D opened up the racing action for the afternoon with Mirko Mizzoni (Italcorse) grabbing the holeshot over top qualifier Mike Beeny (Tony Kart). The two were joined at the front by Mike Mantel (CRG), Bonnier Moulton (Tony Kart) and Chris Jennings (DR Kart). Benny showed the straight speed, and finally was able to draft past Mizzoni for the lead as they began lap seven. Mizzoni kept the pressure on, returning to the point on lap nine in what was a very hard fought heat race at the front. Mizzoni took the checkered flag but was penalized two positions, one for jumping the start and one for contact. That gave Beeny the win and moved Mantel up to second. Jennings ran fourth with Moulton back to fifth.

Four drivers broke away in the Bvs.C heat race, led by Fikse Wheels Pro Tour point leader Darren Elliott with his lead rival Jimmy McNeil. The two CRG drivers were joined by Elliott’s Nash Motorsportz teammate Rob Logan (CRG) and defending champion Gian Cavaciutti (GP). The Italian fell back as the top three laid down a blistering pace, with Elliott taking the win ahead of McNeil and Logan. Sergio Aquilera (GP) ended up fifth.

Group Avs.C began with Elliott spinning around at turn two on the opening lap, dropping him all the way down to the end of the field. That put Beeny at the point with Logan and Mantel right there. Logan went on the attack early, working past Beeny for the lead on the second lap. The order went unchanged with Jennings a close fourth and Tim Ulmen (Praga) up to fifth. Elliott recovered to end up 14th but promoted one spot when Jennings was handed a penalty for the turn two contact that sent Elliott around.

A clean start for the Bvs.D heat race, with Cavaciuti out to the lead over McNeil with Mizzoni and Moulton trailing. McNeil pulled the trigger on lap five, deep into turn one to assume the lead. This put Mizzoni and Moulton on the bumper of Cavaciuti. Mizzoni was the only one to get through, as he finished second behind race winner McNeil as Moulton finished fourth ahead of Champion Racing / Intrepid driver Ryan Kinnear.

Benik Kart TaG Cadet

A few drivers got mixed into contact throughout the opening lap of the Avs.D heat race, including turn one and on the exit of turn 12. A number of contenders involved, including Fikse Wheels Pro Tour title contender Jason Welage (Top Kart). Up front, Mattia Michelotto (Energy) led the way with Benik drivers Victor Majgaaard and Lachlan DeFrancesco making up the top-three. DeFrancesco, the championship leader, was quick and aggressive, making great moves in turn two, reaching second place on lap seven. Three laps to go, DeFrancesco began working on Michelotto for a way around to take the lead. Nothing change with Michelotto, DeFrancesco and Majgaard going 1-2-3. Ryan Schartau (Tony Kart) drove to fourth with SpringNationals winner Jak Crawford (Energy) in fifth.

More wrecks and contact in the opening corners for Bvs.C with Sam Mayer (Merlin) moving his way up from fourth to first on the opening circuit, bringing Oliver Calvo (Tony Kart) with him. Nicholas d’Orlando (Tony Kart) dropped to third ahead of Jonny Edgar (Benik) with pole sitter Tomas Mejia (Tony Kart) down to fifth. Edgar was able to reel in the top three by the halfway point with Mayer working to keep Calvo back. Beginning lap eight, Calvo drafted past Mayer for the lead, with Edgar moving up to third after a failed attempt by d’Orlando to take over second from Mayer. Lap nine, Edgar and d’Orlando drafted past Mayer for position, dropping the former leader down to fourth. Lap 10, d’Orlando pulled the same maneuver, taking over second place from the British driver. The order remained unchanged, with Calvo taking the win and Mejia fifth.

The top four drivers broke away in the Avs.C heat race. Mayer jumped out to the lead once again, this time establishing a solid advantage over the fight for P2. Michelotto feel from the pole position down to third behind d’Orlando, with Schartau right there. The second half of the race began with d’Orlando putting in the quick laps of the race, cutting the lead for Mayer from eight tenths to just four tenths. Once on his bumper, d’Orlando just settled in without really pressuring the Merlin driver. Michelotto was able to match their pace, while Schartau fell off losing about half a second a lap. The order went unchange, despite a last corner effort by d’Orlando that came up just short, with Mayer taking win and Jacob Hudson (Formula K) crossing the line in fifth. The order did change in tech, with Michelotto removed from the results for excessive oil in the clutch, certainly hurting the chances for the top qualifier moving on to SuperSunday.

The entire field for the Bvs.D heat race got through the opening corners with no incident, a great job by the young drivers. Mejia led the field to the green flag but it was Edgar in the lead. Anthony Willis (Benik) climbed up to third behind Calvo with Mejia dropping all the way down to 11th and DeFrancesco outside the top-20. Edgar and Calvo pulled away from Willis by the halfway point, with Derek Carmenate (Benik) a close fourth. Calvo pulled the trigger on Edgar beginning lap nine, diving to the inside at turn two. Edgar sat back, keeping pace with Calvo. At the line, Edgar edged out Calvo by 18 thousandths of a second for the win. Carmenate ran third with Willis down to fourth. Mejia fought back to fifth with DeFrancesco up to ninth.

IAME USA KZ2

Jordon Lennox has taken over control of KZ2 following his two heat wins (Photo: On Track Promotions – otp.ca)

The top two set the pace to open up the wheel-to-wheel action for the fastest karts in the world with the best drivers from across the globe. Jordon Lennox (BirelART) grabbed the holeshot with provisional polesitter John Norris (Mach 1) on his bumper. The driver to watch was Kiwi driver Daniel Bray, pushing his GP machine to the third position by lap six. The following lap, he tried just too hard to work past Norris, spinning around at the apex of the corner and dropping down the order as he tried to refire his machine after most of the field rolled past. That moved Phillip Orcic (Mach 1) up to third over American Gary Carlton (Formula K) and Jorge Pescador (Praga), dropping Patrik Hajek (Praga) down to sixth. Carlton was able to make moves in the final laps, working past Orcic for third and then beating Norris to the line for second, all behind Lennox who took the win. Orcic held on for fourth with Pescador in fifth.

Lennox grabbed the holeshot once again from the pole position, this time with Norris dropping back to P3 on lap four thanks to Carlton pushing past for position. Hajek was the next driver through, going deep into turn one to take over the third position. Carlton was matching the pace of Lennox, with Hajek waiting in the wings for a challenge. Lennox led all 12 laps for the victory, with Carlton and Hajek finishing second and third for Formula K. Orcic and defending race winner Paolo de Conto (CRG) dropped Norris down to sixth.

Top Kart USA TaG Senior

Aussie David Sera is among the four different winners on Friday in TaG Senior (Photo: On Track Promotions – otp.ca)

The inside lane had the best position on the opening lap of the Avs.D heat race with top qualifier David Sera (Deadly Kart) having CIK-FIA KFJ World Champion Logan Sargeant (Tony Kart) following him through and putting on the pressure early. Sargeant moved inside for the lead at turn two on the second lap, leading for the first time as a Senior driver. Joinin gthe top two was defending race winner Marco Maestranzi (Top Kart). A water barrier broke open in the opening lap wrecking, cause a bit of a water element entering the first corner. The top three produced a large gap on the fight for fourth with Alexander Kardashian (Top Kart) leading the way in that group. Lap seven, Maestranzi took second from Sera with a move in the sweeping second corner. Officials however called the race after seven laps to help start the cleanup of the water spill early, thus giving Sargeant the win over Maestranzi and Sera. Dan Roeper (BirelART) moved up to fourth with Kardashian down to fifth.

The field for Bvs.C bunched up in the opening corner just as the first heat race did, this time it was at the front. Roger Ralston Jr. started second and was put into the wall, with others getting collected. Stepanova Nekeel (Tony Kart) led the opening lap, but was demoted by defending Fikse Wheels Pro Tour champion Jake Craig (Formula K). Nekeel went on defense mode, with Oliver Askew (BirelART), Ben Stewart (Arrow) and Louie Pagano (Tony Kart) right there. Askew close right up on Craig beginning lap four, but a rare mistake on the exit of turn one had him make contact with the barrier and bent the axle, taking him out of the race. With Askew out, Nekeel took back second and focused his attention on Craig, closing in little by little with fast laps of the race. Pagano moved around Stewart for third, and was matching the same pace as Nekeel. Lap eight, Nekeel made his move, and Pagano was close enough to slip around as well to put Craig back to third. Their fighting brought together a host of drivers, putting the top eight in the lead group all within a second of each other. Turn seven, Pagano the same move he did with Craig, taking the lead from Nekeel. Beginning the final lap, Nekeel went right back at turn one, and defending all the way to the final straight for the win. The fight for third heated up on the final circuits, with Christian Brooks (Tony Kart) into the position over Craig and 2010 winner Andre Nicastro (Italkart), still utilizing the Leopard engine.

Top qualifier Sera went very wide into the opening corner for Avs.C heat race, dropping down to P5 with Roeper taking the lead over Sargeant, Braden Eves (Kosmic) and Justice Lepe (Tony Kart) all past the Aussie. Sera was back up to third by lap three, around the young drivers of Lepe and Eves. The multi-time podium finisher found himself 1.1-seconds back of the top two drivers. At the halfway point, Sargeant went past Roeper, with Sera able to capitalize and push by the former leader as well, putting the two world-class drivers at the front of the field once again. Sera was bold, and made a rare move into turn 11, taking the lead back for the first time. The next lap, he was able to establish a gap on Sargeant, who now found himself under pressure from Roeper. On the final lap, Sargeant was able to close back up on the KartSport North America driver, but no move was made with Sera taking the win. Roeper ran third with Mike Bartels (Gillard) and Brooks into the top-five to push Eves and Lepe back.

Nekeel did exactly what Sera did in the previous heat, running wide into the opening corner and allowing drivers to slip through. Askew took the lead for the Bvs.D race with Brenden Baker (Tony Kart) second with Craig third. Nekeel fell back to seventh behind Kardashian, Stewart and Dalton Sargeant (Tony Kart). Maestranzi charged back as well, getting shuffled back to move up to fourth by the end of lap four, on the bumper of Craig. Askew held about a six-tenths of a second advantage at the halfway point, with Maestranzi into third with Stewart up to second. Four laps remaining, the gap was none, as Stewart was right on the bumper of the PSL Karting driver. Two to go, Stewart went by for the lead with Askew playing smart and not forcing the issue. Askew came back when the white flag came out, but Stewart fought back enough to hold on to the point and take the win. Askew was second with Baker and Craig around Maestranzi for position in the closing laps.

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