Charles Hastings
(Photo: dromophotos.com)

The weather cooperated for the second Red Line Oil Karting Championship races.  With drizzle and light rain all around on race day morning, the racers arrived to the track to find it dry and ready for a great day of racing.  The turnout of 92 drivers was not only strong, but evenly distributed across the classes. There were six race classes having eleven or more karts, making for some great racing on the tight Sprint track configuration.

GoPro Featured class: 80 Masters
The 80 Master’s class had one of largest turn outs with eleven karts.  The Red Line Oil drivers allowed two “under thirty” years to join the race to check out the action.  Charles Hastings took the pole ahead of Kevin Woods and Rob Mullaney.  In the first heat, three drivers, including Mullaney, spun out in turn one, right after the drop of the green flag.  All three drivers restarted their karts, with the driver causing the incident given a DQ at the end of the race.  Hastings won the heat, Woods 2^nd,Roger Cornwall 3^rd and Aaron Einstein 4^th.  In the second heat, the start went well and all made it through turn one without incident.  Again Hastings took the win, Rob Mullaney recovering to take 2^nd, Tom Nelson 3^rd and Woods 4^th.  In the Main, 125 Expert Jason Toft was invited to join the race and started from the rear of the field.  This added some fun to the race.  Hastings took the lead again out of turn one, followed by Woods and Mullaney.  The top of the field pretty much held their positions for the entire race with the only hard charger being Toft; who was working his way politely through the field.  In the end Toft moved up to 2^nd but was dropped from the final results.  Hastings took the checkered flag closing out a dominating day and taking home the GoPro mini camera.  Woods took 2^nd, Mullaney 3^rd, Cornwall 4^th and Nelson 5^th.  Hastings also took home $50 of Sanzaru bucks for his win.

Zach Petinicchi
(Photo: dromophotos.com)

Senior Rotax
Zach Petinicchi controlled the field all day to take the hat trick of pole, in addition,  all three race wins.  In Qualifying, Zach took pole ahead of Pablo Carballedo and Davin Foster.  Both Heats finished with the same top three of Zach, Pablo and Davin. The best battle all day was for4^thplace with Milas Mills beating out Andrew Colombini in both of the heat races. During the Main, Zach and Pablo lead the field out of turn one. The field moved into its predictable order of the heats race finishes, but Colombini was now pressing Mills for the 4^th place spot. Andrew made the pass mid race but was unable to chip away the lead that Foster had on him and settled for 4^th towards the end. The final results was Pettinicchi taking the win; his first feature win at the RLOKC series. Carballedo finished 2^nd, Foster third, Colombini 4^th and Mills 5^th.  Zach took home $50 of Sanzaru bucks for his win, to put toward future race entry or practice day fees.

Micro Max
With eleven karts including three new first time drivers, the Micro Max class had a good mix of veteran drivers and new comers.  In Qualifying, Grant Langon continued to show the top speed from Race one by taking pole again followed by Gino Sandoval and Tait Blum.  In the first heat, Grant took the early lead but had to battle Gino the entire way.  In the end, Grant took the win with Gino 2^nd.  Unfortunately, Gino did not make it through post-race tech and was moved to 11^th.  Tait Blum then moved into 2^nd, Ethan Travares 3^rd and Garrette Randolph Jr 4^th.  In the second heat, it was a repeat of the first heat with Grant and Gino battling for the lead the entire way.  In the end, Grant took the win, Grant 2^nd, Ethan 3^rd and Tait 4^th.  At the start of the Main, Grant got out of turn one first followed by Tait.  Gino got mixed up in a spin at turn one and had to rejoin the field in last.  Grant and Tait battled for the lead with the two swapping for it after a few laps.  Trying to make a move for the lead, Grant spun off and had to retire.  Tait then drove off to a twelve second win with Garrette coming home 2^nd, Ethan 3^rd, and in her first race, Emerson Action 4^th. Gino recovered to take the 5^th place spot.  Tait took home $50 of Sanzaru bucks for his win.

Paul Hohlbein
(Photo: dromophotos.com)

Pro Stock Honda and Jr 125 Shifter
Brian Keck took the pole ahead of Daniel de la Calle and Hunter Pickett.  In the first heat Daniel took the lead out of turn one but was hounded by Keck the entire 8 laps of the heat race.  Daniel came home a two- second winner, Keck 2^nd and Pickett 3^rd.  In the second heat, Keck took an early lead and was hounded by Daniel the entire way.  In the end, Keck took a one second win, Daniel 2^nd and Cabot Bigham 3^rd.  During the Main, Daniel took the lead out of turn one and again was hounded by Keck the entire way.  Keck could not muster the extra speed to challenge the Pro Stock rookie and had to settle for 2^nd.  The best action on the track was the battle for third with Pickett leading the battle until the last lap.  Bigham made a solid pass on the last lap.  In the end, it was Daniel de la Calle taking his first feature win.  Keck chose to push through tech thus making Bigham 2^nd, Pickett 3^rd, Blake Murdock 4^th and Jareett Lile 5^th.  Gino Gigliotti took the Jr 125 win.

Rotax Masters
With eleven karts, the Rotax Masters field had good numbers and strong competitors in the field.  Veteran Norcal karter Paul Hohlbein took the pole a half second ahead of David Carlisle and last month’s winner Stephan Gaudreau.  In the first heat, Paul took the lead out of the first turn and went on to a three- second win ahead of Gaudreau, Carlisle and Scott Ripslinger.  In the second heat, Paul again took the early lead but this time it was Carlisle staying very close, to come home less than a second behind in 2^nd, Ripslinger in 3^rd and John Breidinger 4^th.  In the Main, Paul for the third time during the day took the initial lead and never saw a challenge as he drove home to take the hat trick with a six second lead.  Carlisle held off the rest of the pack to take 2^nd only to have problems in post-race tech that produced a DQ.  Scott Ripslinger took the 2^nd spot, Breidinger 3^rd, Gaudreau 4^th and Kelly Heil the 5^th spot.  For his win, Paul took home $100 of Sanzaru bucks.

Jim Inglebright
(Photo: dromophotos.com)

Stock Honda Masters
The Masters class had lots of excitement throughout the field to entertain the crowd.  Nick Major again showed his speed by taking his second pole in a row ahead of Nick Galante and Jim Inglebright.  In the first head, Inglebright had a strong launch off the line and took the lead out of turn one followed by Galante and Major with Rene Martinelli pressuring Major for 3^rd at the end of the race.  In the second heat, again Inglebright worked his way to the front early on with Major right behind.  Major could not get close enough to make a challenge for the lead and settled for 2^nd followed by Chris Francis and Jim Kidd.  In the Main, Inglebright took the lead out of turn one.  Major held the 2^nd spot in the beginning but Galante, who started 5^th due to a DNF in the second heat made his way to Major’s rear bumper. Galante made the pass and took off after the leader.  At the end, Inglebright took the win, Galante 2^nd just two tenths of second back, David Arnstein 3^rd, Major 4^th and Martinelli 5^th.  Jim Kidd took the hard luck award for having a great Main, posting the races fastest lap and working his way into the top three before his kart stopped on the last lap and finishing 9^th.

Junior Rotax
The Junior Rotax class was again the largest class of the day with fourteen karts.  Michael Michoff took the pole ahead of Phillippe Denes and Enzo Prevost.  The field drove through the first turn in order and ran nose to tail with little passing.  Michoff took the win with Denes right on his bumper while Prevost a second back, closely followed by Mason Cohen and Toni Breidinger.  For the second heat, again the whole field made it through the first turn, with a few karts exchanging positions before turn two. The front of the field did not change with Michoff as the winner; Denes right on his bumper, Toni Breidinger made it by Prevost with Carter Herrera getting by Cohen to take the 5^th spot.  During the Main, another clean start as the front of the field took off.  The action at the front was tense, but Michoff did not make any mistakes and Denes could not find a safe way to make a pass for the lead.  Prevost and Cohen ran nose to tail about two seconds back.  The real actions of the race were the positions behind.  Lots of passing was going on.  Toni Breidinger had to make a pass to get back into 5^th; Carter Herrera worked his way up to 6^th.  At the end, Michoff took the win, Denes 2^nd, Prevost 3^rd, Cohen 4^th and Toni Breidinger 5^th.   Michoff took home $100 of Sanzaru bucks for his win, which will be good for entry and any practice fees at future RLOKC events.

Michael Michoff
(Photo: dromophotos.com)

Zero Motorsports EVO Electric and DD2 Masters
The electric karts with one DD2 Masters kart took to the track, Richard Hilleman took the pole ahead of Matt Cresci and Tristan Bayless with the DD2 of David Palic 6^th.  During heat one, Matt Cresci took his first heat race win in the series followed by Hilleman and Marcos Ramirez.  In the second heat, Ramirez worked through the field in short order to take the front spot and held it for the entire eight lap race.  Cresci took 2^nd, Hilleman 3^rd and Palic in the DD2 4^th.  At the start of the 12 lap Main, Ramirez took the lead as the field exited turn one with Cresci right behind.  Cresci had kart problems on lap three and had to pull off.  Killeman and Bayless were battling when they came together and had to pull to the inside of the track and wait for a tow after the checkered flag.  Palic then moved into the 2^nd position and held it until the end, taking the DD2 Masters win.  Kenyon Kluge took the 3^rd overall spot, 2^nd in the EVO class.

Mini Max
A strong field of twelve karts took to the track with Matteo Sandoval taking the pole ahead of Clayton Williams and Bryson Lew.  In the first heat race, Williams lead the field out of turn one with Sandoval in hot pursuit followed by the rest of the karts. Things went terribly wrong for Clayton as he crossed the start finish line after the first lap and needed to pull off.  Sandoval then drove to the win but had pressure from Colin Mullan who finished less than one second back with Dustin Salaverria 3^rd and Nick Persing 4^th.  In the second heat, Sandoval lead the field out of turn one followed closely by Williams.  About mid race, Williams tapped Sandoval as they were turning into the infield sweeper and Matteo spun, losing several spots.  For the contact, Clayton was moved to the back of the field.  Mullan took over the lead after Sandoval’s spin and drove home to the win followed by Salaverria in 2^nd, Sandoval recovering to 3^rd and Oliver Reed 4^th.  For the Main line up, Sandoval was the pole winner, in the #1 position and the original off the pole driver, Williams, starting last.  But this Main took on life of its own that truly made it one of the most interesting races in RLOKC history.  First, Persing’s nose piece came off after some bumping and he was given a mechanical black flag.  Then Brennan Stammer and Oliver Reed came together with both karts out with mechanical problems.  Then Matteo Sandoval’s radiator came lose and was flopping around, consequently he was also given a mechanical black flag on lap twelve.  On lap thirteen, Colin Mullan moved over on the track to set up for a corner, not realizing that Salovenria  was right at that spot and pushed Dustin off hard into the tire barrier.  Colin was given the black flag and had to leave the track.  Bryson Lew now finds himself with a ten second lead with Aiden O’Neill second while under pressure from Clayton Williams and Dakota White.  On the last lap, Aiden did some weaving on the track to hold back his pursuers and was given a three position penalty at the end of the race.  When all was done, Bryson Lew took the win, his first feature win in the RLOKC series, White 2^nd, Williams a much deserved 3^rd after all of his earlier hardships, Valdemar Eriksen 4^th and Ryan Tate 5^th.  For his win, Bryson took home $100 of Sanzaru Bucks.

The results can be seen at www.mylaps.com and the points can be seen at www.redlineoilkarting.com in the Results section.

PHOTOS COURTESY OF DROMOPHOTO.COM

The next Red Line Oil Karting Championship event will be May 25 where the track configuration will be the Reverse National track.  The GoPro featured class will be the Stock Honda Masters.  For more information about the Red Line Oil Karting Championships, go to www.redlineoilkarting.com

For more information go to the RLOKC web-site at RLOKC , you can also contact us by e-mail at organizer

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