The Los Angeles Karting Championship hosted the sixth round of the 2017 schedule on July 16 at the CalSpeed Karting Center. Competitors took on the ‘Sportivo’ layout of the Fontana, California facility outside the Auto Club Speedway with bright sunshine providing the perfect weather for a day at the track. With three events remaining, those in the hunt for the year-end championship either made another step forward toward claiming the title, while others helped to increase their chances of fighting for a spot on the championship podium in November.

Logan Toke notched his fourth victory of 2017 in the Tru Tech Racing Engines Micro Swift category. Toke swept the day, leading from qualifying to the final checkered flag with 10 laps in the Prefinal and 18 in the Final to further establish his championship lead. AJ Zarcone kept it close at the end, coming 48 thousandths short at the line. Austin Manka took the third spot on the podium, beating Dane Idelson and Parker DeLong.

Joseph Daniele added to his championship lead in the Ryan Perry Motorsport X30 Junior Expert class with his fourth victory of 2017. The 11-driver field was stacked with talent and close racing all day long. Texan Jak Crawford set the pace in qualifying with Daniele back in fifth. Crawford led the first three laps of the Prefinal until Trey Brown took over. Daniele followed him through to finish second behind Brown as Crawford slipped to fifth behind Colin Queen and Round Five winner Alex Siragusa. Daniele got the jump at the drop of the green and never looked back, scoring the win by over one second. Queen ended up second with fast lap of the race with Crawford up to third. Brown and Siragusa completed the top-five. Bently Adams took home the victory in Baldozier Racing X30 Junior Novice class. Officials initially penalized Adams for cutting the track, however, after review it was determined he did so to avoiding a dangerous situation. Justice Calabro finished second with Lanie Benjamin in third.

Billy Musgrave was nearly a double winner once again in the Italcorse America S1 Pro Stock Honda and Empire Karts X175 Pro categories. Musgrave swept the day in the S1 class over Matias Podboj and Cody Hodgson. It was a fight in the X175 division with Musgrave third after qualifying behind Henry Morse and Andrick Zeen. Musgrave retired after the opening lap of the Prefinal, with Zeen going on to win ahead of Morse. Morse led the opening laps of the Final before Zeen took over for the majority of the race. Musgrave charged forward, and took the lead with two to go, crossing the stripe first. Musgrave’s kart however left tech before it was released, and thus the victory was taken away. That put Zeen on top of the podium with Morse second and Brennon Viera in third.

Coming off his first victory at LAKC in the Top Kart West S2 Semi-Pro Stock Honda class, Josh Early added his second with victory at Round Six. Early was chasing Vivek Tandon early on. Tandon scored fast time in qualifying (41.500) as the top-three finished the session within 75 thousandths, including Royal McKee and Early. Tandon led all 10 laps of the Prefinal with McKee retiring early, moving Early up to second. The first half of the race, Tandon led until Early took over. At the same time, McKee was charging back to the top duo. Once past Tandon, McKee set his sights on Early. McKee ran out of time, coming up short with Early scoring the victory.

Keawn Tandon became a four-time winner in the MRC S3 Novice Stock Honda division. It was a complete sweep for the point leader, driving to a near four-second advantage over Prescott Campbell and Blake Dunkleberger in third. Kalvin Chen relinquished his streak in the PKS Kart Supplies S4 Super Master Stock Honda class, as he was not in attendance. The streak ended at five straight at LAKC with Jonathan Allen scoring the victory at Round Six. Allen swept the day, pulling out to a 5.6-second gap in the main event for the victory. Chris Karlen and Larry Hayashigawa completed the podium.

Cole Morgan was able to secure his first victory of the season in the 20-driver Acceleration Kart Racing Mini Swift division. Morgan set the fast time in qualifying (47.287) by 41 thousandths over Jonathan Portz. The top two showed the way in the Prefinal, with Morgan leading the first nine laps. Portz was able to edge out Morgan on the final lap, reaching the checkered flag by 71 thousandths first. Morgan was able to lead the Final, holding off Portz for the full 18 laps to secure the victory. Portz settled for second with Frankie Mossman joining them on the podium. Kasey Gillis and Chance Gibson finished fourth and fifth.

The Mack Motorsports 206 Senior category welcomed one of the largest fields of the year with 13 drivers battling all day. Two-time winner Matt Johnson set the mark in qualifying, edging out fellow veteran Lloyd Mack by 84 thousandths of a second. Championship leader Henry Morse was third in the order, and worked his way to the front by lap four of the Prefinal, going on to score the win over Johnson and Jake Hood. Each of the trio took a turn at the point, equating to four lead changes at just the start/finish line during the 20-lap Final. On the last circuit, Hood was able to work past Johnson for the lead, reaching the checkered flag for his first victory of 2017. Johnson settled for second with Morse in third. Race Liberante was fourth with Mack back to fifth.

The 2 Wild Karting X30 Pro class welcomed its sixth different winner in six rounds with Worawong Komarakul earning his first victory at LAKC. Komarakul set the fast time in qualifying (42.796) by 59 thousandths over championship leader Colby Dubato. The Prefinal saw Dubato move up to the lead after one lap, going on to score the race win. Komarakul got the jump at the drop of the green flag to begin the Final, leading all 18 laps for his first victory. Dubato settled for second with Jesse Gutierrez rounding out the podium.

It has been since February that Brenden Delorto finished the day at LAKC on top of the Motorsport Development Group X30 Intermediate division. Delorto made it count, sweeping the action for Round Six. At the end of the Final, Delorto was out to a four-second advantage over Brendon Cramer and Kyle Babida. Roy Steele made his debut in the Mike Manning Karting X30 Master class a memorable one, sweeping the action on the day. Steele led from qualifying, into the Prefinal, and at the Final checkered flag for his first victory. Vatche Tatikian drove to second with John Nielsen in third.

Other winners on the day include:

Slava Prikhodko: TM Racing USA 125 Open
John Crow: Nash Motorsportz S4 Master Stock Honda
John Crow: X175 Master
Lauran Adams: Baldozier Racing X30 Novice
John Crow: iKart West Briggs 206 Masters
Troy Jones: Mad-Old-Nut Productions Briggs 206 Novice
Kasey Gillis: Fleming Racing Engines Junior 1 Comer
John Antonino: Formula Works Honda Kid Kart Expert
Keagan Kaminski: Formula Works Honda Kid Kart Novice

The Los Angeles Karting Championship is back in one month, returning on August 20 to the CalSpeed Karting Center track in Fontana for Round Seven of the championship chase. Registration is now available with the ‘Classico CW’ layout to be utilized. More details regarding the Los Angeles Karting Championship can be found on the series website – LAKC.org. Be sure to ‘Like’ them on Facebook and follow on Instagram.

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