The 2017 season for the Los Angeles Karting Championship came the an end with the ninth and final round of the season contested on October 22 at the CalSpeed Karting Center in Fontana, California. Nearly 150 entries took on the ‘Grande CCW’ course under perfect racing weather conditions. The final round of the 2017 season helped drivers lock up the class championships and also allowed others to earn that first victory of the season.

The Acceleration Kart Racing Mini Swift division continued its reign as the largest class throughout the season, ending the year with 19 drivers at the finale. Cole Morgan swept the day for his third victory of the season to clinch the season championship. Morgan was challenged by his brother Carson Morgan – the 2017 SKUSA Pro Tour champion – in qualifying, edging him by 58 thousandths of a second with a 53.064-lap. Kai Sorensen put on the pressure in the Prefinal, posting fast lap of the race after leading early, coming up short at the checkered. Morgan turned up the pace and was able to break away in the main event, leading all 19 laps for the victory and class title. Carson won the fight for second ahead of Sorensen with Frankie Mossman and Kasey Gillis making up the top-five. Chance Gibson ended the season second in the standings with Gillis third.

Christian Brooks finished the season where it began, on top of the podium in the 2 Wild Karting X30 Pro class. The vice-champion in the Red Bull Global Rallycross Lites division for 2017 made only two starts on the year, Round One and Round Nine. Brooks set fast time in qualifying (48.277), going on to lead all the laps in the Prefinal. The start of the Final saw Brooks dropping down to ninth on the opening circuit. Brooks worked his way forward, reaching the lead by lap 12 and going on to score the victory. David Ilavia was second-best all day, leading the opening 11 laps till Brooks reclaimed the position. The Texan finished second while Colby DuBato placed third. The podium finish helped secure the series championship for DuBato. Illinois driver Lane Vacala was fourth with Aidan Yoder in fifth. Yoder ended the year third in the series standings, behind Jesse Gutierrez, who finished 10th on the day.

Oliver Calvo is ending the season strong, earning his first victory on the season in the Ryan Perry Motorsport X30 Junior Expert class. The two-time Streets of Lancaster Grand Prix winner opened as the fast driver in qualifying (48.478), with the top four drivers separated by just 33 thousandths of a second, including Joey Brienza, Alan Tang and Colin Queen. Tang emerged as the driver to beat in the Prefinal, beating out Calvo and Brienza for the race win. California ProKart Challenge 2017 champion Trey Brown joined the party in the main event. He and Calvo swapped the lead a number of times before Calvo secured the position and the victory. Brown settled for second with Queen rounding out the podium. Tang was dropped to fourth with Dominic Gorden in fifth. Joseph Daniele had a rough outing, placing 15th with a DNF, however, gathered enough points on the year to end as the series champion ahead of Queen and Tang.

The Tru Tech Racing Engines Micro Swift class welcomed its fifth different winner on the year with Enzo Deligny reaching the top step of the podium for the first time in 2017. Championship contenders AJ Zarcone and Logan Toke were 1-2 in qualifying, separated by six thousandths of a second. Deligny was fourth in the order, remaining in the spot during the Prefinal with fast lap of the race as Streets of Lancaster Grand Prix winner Parker DeLong came up with the win. At the start of the Final, Deligny dropped to sixth, working his way slowly to the front. Lap 18, Enzo took the lead from Toke, holding on to the checkered flag for the victory by seven hundredths ahead of Zarcone. Toke ended up third, securing the season championship ahead of Zarcone and Dane Idelson. Rounding out the top-five for the race was DeLong and Logan Chambers.

Robert Heck Jr. swept the day in the Top Kart West S2 Semi-Pro Stock Honda category to secure the series championship. Heck led from qualifying, through the Prefinal, and all laps of the Final to earn his third victory of the season and put him on top of the championship standings. Garrett McKelvie finished second with Josh Early in third, with the two swapping positions in the year-end standings.

The top two championship contenders in the MRC S3 Novice Stock Honda division fought all day. Prescott Campbell and six-time winner Keawn Tandon went back and forth throughout the weekend with Campbell securing an event sweep. Campbell notched the fast time in qualifying by 27 thousandths of a second over Tandon. In the Prefinal, Campbell was able to get away at the end to secure the race win by over one-second. The Final saw the two battle again, with Campbell reaching the line first by 0.188 seconds for his second victory of the year. Tandon finished second, but came out the champion with Campbell the vice champion. Jacob Pope completed the podium for the race, while Blake Dunkleberger finished third in the standings.

Rob Logan made it three straight to close out the 2017 season in the PKS Kart Supplies S4 Super Master Stock Honda class. The now four-time Streets of Lancaster Grand Prix winner was able to win the Prefinal and score the Final win after getting beat for the fast time in qualifying by 31 thousandths from Zoli Sule. At the final checkered flag, Sule slipped to third behind new series champion John Crow. Javier Colombo and Sule rounded out the top-three in the championship.

Kalvin Chen ended the 2017 season in the Nash Motorsportz S4 Master Stock Honda class where he began, at the top of the podium. Chen completed the sweep of Round Nine to earn his seventh victory of the season. Chen went 7 for 8, missing the July event, earning near maximum points to secure the season championship. The one driver who was able to beat Chen, Myan Spaccarelli, ran second with Warren Kindberg completing the podium. Carl Lewis ended up second to Chen in the standings with Kindberg finishing the year in third.

The Mack Motorsports 206 Senior category welcomed its fourth different winner on the year with Jared Caylor taking the checkered flag. The nine-kart field was led by Caylor in qualifying until he was shuffled back to second in the Prefinal by Matt Johnson. Five different drivers ended up taking a turn at the point in the Final. On the final lap, Caylor was able to come away with the class lead, scoring the victory ahead of Jake Hood and Henry Morse. Johnson was a DNF, however, secured the series championship ahead of Hood and Morse.

Brendon Cramer did all he could to try and secure the championship in the Motorsport Development Group X30 Intermediate division. Cramer was able to sweep Round Nine to earn his third victory of the season. It ended up not being enough with Eric Slivkoff placing second to Cramer in the Final, topping the standings by just seven points for the championship. Brenden Delorto finished third in the race and in the championship chase.

The Mike Manning Karting X30 Master class was a battle all day. Stuart Hayner secured the fast time in qualifying while Tony Rossetti won the fight in the Prefinal. Rossetti retired after the opening lap, leaving Hayner with the lead. He would go on to score the victory, winning in only his second start of 2017. Kalvin Chen won the fight for second in his first start in the class, besting class champion Steve Martin. Chuck Sanford ended the season second in the points chase with Jonathan Silva in third.

Other winners on October 22 in addition to the series champions in parentheses include:

Slava Prikhodko – TM Racing USA 125 Open
Billy Musgrave – Italcorse America S1 Pro Stock Honda
John Crow (Steven Campbell) – iKart West Briggs 206 Masters
Yuki Tanaka (Lauran Adams) – Baldozier Racing X30 Novice
Jared Patterson (Troy Jones) – Mad-Old-Nut Productions Briggs 206 Novice
Lanie Benjamin (Bentley Adams) – Baldozier Racing X30 Junior Novice
Cooper Hicks – Fleming Racing Engines Junior 1 Comer
Chad Reed (John Antonino) – Formula Works Honda Kid Kart Expert
Truly Adams (Asher Horne) – Formula Works Honda Kid Kart Novice

The 2017 Los Angeles Karting Championship will honor the 2017 champions and the entire season at the LAKC 2017 Awards Banquet. The ceremony is set for November 4 at the Cal Aero Events center in Chino, California. To purchase your tickets, hed to the LAKC MotorsportsReg page. 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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