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| October 24, 2012 |
| Series News: Red Line Oil Series - Round 9 Report |
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 | Electric karts hit Simraceway with RLOKC
(Photo: Megan Rhodes) |
Early morning fog wiped out most of the practice rounds, but by the time Qualifying started, the Simraceway Kart track at Sonoma Raceway was bathed in sun shine and the racers would run the rest of the day in great weather. This was a historic event in that the first ever electric powered kart race on a permanent outdoor track was run in the North America (as best as has been able to confirm). Three classes had ten or more entries (Junior Rotax, Rotax Masters and Stock Honda Masters) and the winners of these classes all received a $250 cash prize provided by Sanzaru Games and Molecule. The new radar-controlled rolling start procedures were used in this event, with the objective to both slow down the starts of the larger fields, but also to make the starting speeds more consistent. Overall this was a great success with the added bonus of drivers and crew able to watch their top speed on the radar board as they raced down the front straight.
First Ever all EVO Kart race
Seven karts came to Simraceway to make history. The karts were in two classes, an Under 30KW class and an Open class with as much as 60hp that can reach straightaway speeds surpassing the Pro Stock Honda karts. The karts were good for up to 8 laps of racing and require about a 2-hour recharge time, so the race format was adjusted slightly to accommodate the needs of these karts. A "Standing Start" was utilized and although there wasn't much wheel-to-wheel racing, the karts were very interesting to see in action. Marcos Ramirez was the fastest kart and won both races, the other six drivers experienced no issues and learned a lot about kart racing. The crowd spectators and competitors were witness to a race with only the sound of tire scrubbing and the whistling of air. This race has generated great interest and RLOKC promoter Steve Cameron will be working with this group to develop an EVO Spec Kart formula that could offer racers a reasonable performance package at an affordable price. Expect to hear more on this concept over the winter.
GoPro Feature Race:
Seventeen karts took to the track for the Stock Honda race, seven Pro Stock Hondas and Ten Stock Honda Masters. In Qualifying, the first 6 positions on the grid were Pro Stock drivers led by Daniel Langon, Brett Buckwalter and Jason Toft. The Masters class was led by Jim Inglebright, Patrick O'Neil, and JP Cadoux. In the first Heat, Toft picked up some speed and worked his way into the lead to win the 8-lap race, followed by Buckwalter, Nic LeDuc and Langon. In the Masters class, Inglebright took the win ahead of David Arnstein, Jonathan Allen and Alex Keith. In the second heat, Toft again got past the front row to take the win, closely followed by LeDuc, Buckwalter and Langon. In the Masters class, Inglebright again controlled the race followed at the checkered by O'Neil and Arnstein.
The Main looked set to be a great race but on the first lap in turn 3, Langon, Buckwalter and LeDuc got together. Langon and Buckwalter were stalled on the track with Langon pointing the wrong way. Somehow the rest of the field got through the melee; Buckwalter and Langon restarted but were now at the back. Toft was the first through the spinning karts, taking a large lead over Jamie Wilson (Pro Stock) and Inglebright. As the 15 lap Main wore on, Buckwalter and Langon sliced through the field but were not able to make up the gap to Toft. At the checkered, Toft took the win and, amazingly, Buckwalter had moved all the way up to 2nd. Wilson took 3rd, Inglebright 4th as the Masters class winner , and Langon recovering to 5.th In the Masters class, Arnstein came home 2nd followed by O'Neil and Cadoux. Toft took home the GoPro Hero Camera and Jim Inglebright won the bonus cash of $250.
 | Pro Stock Honda podium
(Photo: Megan Rhodes) |
Sanzaru Games NorCal Rotax Challenge
Micro Max
The Micro Max Class continues to become more competitive at each race as the young drivers develop their speed and racecraft. Dakota White took the pole ahead of Aiden O'Neil and Valdemar Eriksen. In the first heat, Dakota took the early lead with Aiden right on her rear bumper looking for a place to get by, but in the end Dakota took the win, Aiden 2nd and Ethan Travares coming home 3rd. In the second heat, Dakota took a convincing win, Eriksen took 2nd ahead of Travares. Aiden missed the start and had to join the race 2 laps down. The Main got off to a slow start as the drivers were still coming to grips with the new Radar "control" speed; Dakota got caught out and was delayed getting away. As the field entered turn one, it was Ethan leading Valdemar and Dakota, with Aiden out of the race when his chain came off. Dakota made a pass attempt as the karts entered the straight away but spun and got caught on top of the inside curbing and lost a lot of ground getting off the curbing. Being a good second faster the rest of the field, Dakota drove a determined race to make up ground. Ethan and Valdemar stayed close to each other the entire race but in the end, Ethan did not make any major mistakes and came home the winner with Valdemar just a half second back in 2nd. Max Ellgen came home 3rd with Dakota making up a lot of ground to take 4th, just 5 seconds back from the winner. For their efforts, the Sanzaru Games cash went to the top three drivers, $50 to Ethan, $30 to Valdemar and $20 to Max.
Senior Rotax
Jarrett Lile put his kart on pole by a strong seven tenths of a second ahead of Carlos Calderon while points leader Sean McDonald sat 3rd. In the first heat, Lile controlled the pace of the race and drove to the win ahead of Calderon with Tazio Ottis coming home in 3rd. In the second heat, Lile again took the win well clear of McDonald and Andrew Colombini in 3rd. In the Main, Lile was again fast, taking the initial lead but with a spirited Calderon putting on the pressure, he gave up the point on lap six. On lap 7, Lile's day came to an abrupt end as his kart rolled to a stop at the exit of the infamous tic-tac-toe, another victim of battle between chain and curb. Calderon was left with a large lead and was not challenged for the win; McDonald came home 2nd followed by Colombini and Ottis.
Junior Rotax
The Junior Rotax class has seen large fields all year and has had two bad starts this year with one driver getting injured. With the radar gun pointed and digital display visible so the front row drivers could bring the start down to the desired 20 mph speed, this aggressive group of young drivers did a great job of keeping the starts orderly.
With a strong field of field karts, Alex Keyes took the pole ahead of Corrie Hiatt, Will Preston and Annie Breidinger. In the first heat Keyes took the early lead and pulled away to take a 6 second win. But the next five drivers came home with less than a second separating all of them; Hiatt leading in 2nd, Preston 3rd, Annie 4th and Jaden Conwright 5th. In the second heat, Keyes again came home ahead of the pack for the win but there was more battling going on behind him. In the end Preston took 2nd, Conwright 3rd, Hiatt 4th, Annie 5th and a fast Michael Avansino 6th. In the Main, things got mixed up as the field exited turn one. The front row of Keyes and Preston came out okay but Hiatt and Conwright both went around and several karts had to scatter to avoid them. Justin Yanez was now in 3rd followed by Annie with Avansino charging. Avansino got by Annie and was challenging Justin when the two touched and both of them to spun out of control with Annie just missing both of them. In the end, Keyes came home with a large margin of victory for his fourth win of the year. Preston took 2nd with Annie Breidinger 3rd, Enzo Prevost 4th, Conwright and Hiatt recovering to take 5th and 6th. Alex won the $250 bonus cash as this class had more than ten entries.
 | Micro Max podium
(Photo: Megan Rhodes) |
Rotax Masters
Eleven karts took to the track with Rob Soares securing the pole ahead of David Carlisle and Geoff Wise. In the first heat, Soares pulled away at the green and came home the winner followed by Carlisle, Scott Ripslinger and Greg Huff. In the second heat, the front row of Soares and Carlisle somehow tangled on the warm-up lap and had to park their karts, thus Wise and Ripslinger lead the field down to the green flag. A great race ensued with points leader Ripslinger going into first, he was hounded at first by Wise, then Mary Beth Wilson got by Wise to challenge Scott. In the end, Scott took the win, Mary Beth 2nd, Wise 3rd and Huff 4th. In the Main, the front row was Ripslinger and Wise, with Soares starting 5th and Carlisle 7th. Ripslinger jumped into the front at the green flag followed by Wise and Wilson. Wilson then got by Wise, along with Huff and the three of them battled hard right behind the leader. Soares went off-course which put him back farther while Carlisle was patiently working his way through the field. Things got real intense in the later laps with Mary Beth and Huff exchanging spots a couple of times. But while trying to stay right on the bumper of Mary Beth, Huff tapped her rear bumper midway through tic-tac-toe and both of them spun, leaving Wise in 2nd ahead of a charging Carlisle and Soares. At the finish it was Ripslinger taking the win, Wise 2nd, Carlisle 3rd, Soares 4th, John Breidinger 5th with Wilson and Huff coming home 7th and 8th. Some days it is better to be steady and out front as Scott Ripslinger showed as six drivers posted faster laps than the winner, but Scott was out front and clear of all the incidents. Scott also earned the bonus $250 cash for his win.
Rotax DD2
January Grove was the lone DD2 competitor at the event and so raced with the 80 Honda Master class. Even though she had no other DD2 to race, January always drives every lap fully committed and showcases her speed and talent. Details of her race are included in the 80 Masters report.
Molecule Karting Championship
80 Masters Honda and DD2
This was one of the largest fields of 80 Masters karts of the year with nine drivers turning out. The DD2 kart of January Grove would start in back all day and work her way through the field. In Qualifying, points leader Bob Lesnett put his kart on pole ahead of championship challenger Charles Hastings, Tom Nelson was 3rd. In the first heat, Lesnett lead all the way but was closely followed by Hastings and Nelson, Grove coming home 4th overall. In the second heat, Hastings got by Lesnett and drove on to a narrow win ahead of the pole winner with Nelson another second back and again Grove came home 4th in her DD2. Sadly what looked to be tight fight for the win in the Main was essentially over after turn one. Hastings challenged Lesnett from his outside front row position and ran out of room on the exit of turn one forcing him to give up some positions. After that Lesnett controlled the tempo of the race and got stronger as the race got into the later laps. Hastings quickly made up ground and got into 3rd spot but was not able to catch Nelson who drove home a solid 2nd in class, Geoff Provo finished in 4th place with January Grove working her way up to 2nd overall by the end of the 15 lap Main.
 | Junior Max podium
(Photo: Megan Rhodes) |
IAME TaG and Junior Tag
Seven karts took to the track with the front row after qualifying being filled with the Junior Tag karts of Zack Dante and Maxx Marian followed by the IAME class karts of Josh Buttafoco and Darren Geahry. In the first heat, Zack took the initial lead and held the front spot for the entire race to take the win ahead of Marian with Geahry 3rd, Alex Keyes (Junior TaG) 4th and Buttafoco 5th. In the second heat, Zack again lead the race to the checkered flag closely followed by Marian with Buttafoco 3rd, Geahry 4th and Keyes 5th. In the Main, Zach took the early lead to win wire-to-wire with Marian 2nd, Buttafoco 3rd Keyes 4th and Stephan Gaudreau (IAME TaG) 5th, a tough break for Geahry as he broke on the last lap. Post race tech showed Zach had on the wrong tire and was classified as 3rd in class giving the Junior TaG class win to Maxx Marian and Keyes 2nd. Buttafoco took the IAME class win, Gaudreau 2nd and Michael Torrano 3rd.
Banquet Date set for November 10
You also can see the point standings at http://www.redlineoilkarting.com then go to the Results section. The last race of the 2012 season will be run November 4th and will be run on the long straight away National track. The GoPro featured class has not been decide upon yet, so watch for the pre- race flyer. |
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