Southern California’s premier dirt track karting club, the So Cal Oval Karters, closed the 2018 season when Tim Erickson, Scott Bohle, Mike Demello, Thomas Southern and Shane Holt posted wins in their respective classes at Wheel2Wheel Raceway in Victorville.

Anaheim’s Erickson, who only had a handful of starts in 2018, closed the season in style by scoring a convincing win in the Yamaha of America KT100 class.  When the checkered flag ended the event, Erickson was nearly a full straightaway ahead of his nearest competitor for his first win of the year.  Lake Forest’s “Hubcap Mike” Collins held off Las Vegas karter Art Klein for the runner-up spot.  SCOK rookie Norma Weatherbee of Torrance finished fourth with Escondido’s Robert Smith fifth.

After winning both heats and leading the main event for the first three laps, Hesperia’s Thomas Southern dropped out of the KT100 main with mechanical issues and finished last.  However, his class-leading five wins on the year were more than enough to secure the championship by 10-points over Klein.  Collins finished third in the championship standings with Smith and San Diego’s Ronnie Benton rounding out the top five.

Fountain Valley’s Scott Bohle scored his third win in his last three starts in the Burris Racing F200 class.  Whittier’s Steve Juillerat, who sewed up his second championship in the past three years, finished second to Bohle in the main.  Banning’s Scott Gaynor, Norm Reynolds of San Marcos and Weatherbee finished third through fifth.

For Juillerat, the key to his championship was three straight wins on the club’s home track, SoCal Fair Motorcycle Speedway, from June through August.  He also picked up a win early in the season giving him four in the class, which was more than anyone else.  Gaynor was only six points behind the now two-time champ.  It was the fourth year in a row that Gaynor has finished second in the standings.  Reynolds placed third and was only eight-points out of second.  Bohle and Riverside’s Justin Garcia took the fourth and fifth place positions for the year.

Wildomar karter Mike Demello closed out his first ever SCOK championship in style when he outdistanced the pack to win the Caltrol Incorporated Senior Clone main event.  The victory was Demello’s second in the last four races and he finished a full straightaway in front of second place James Kelsey.  Anaheim’s Emma Herzog and Christina Klein of Las Vegas rounded out the field.

Demello’s margin of victory, 34-points over Tyler Hoffman, was the widest margin in the clubs four adult classes.  Jeffrey Butler, who led the points before moving back to his native North Carolina, took third and was followed by Herzog and Benton.

Like he did in the KT100s, Southern won both of his heat races in the Colt Group Open class.  However, unlike in the KT’s, he did not have mechanical problems in the main event and waltzed away from the field in his 500cc Jawa for his seventh Open class win of the year.  Bohle, Gardena’s Nick Argo and Collins chased the champ to the checkers.

Southern’s wins in the first six Open mains of the year combined with his victory in the closer, was enough for him to take the title by 12-points over Collins.  Bohle took third and was only one point out of second.  Fourth in the final standings went to Cathedral Cities Dillon Hoffman with Christopher Gibb of Lakewood fifth.

In the Fair Oak’s Ranch Junior Clones, Shane Holt of Huntington Beach rolled to the victory ahead of Nuevo’s Cash Culp. The win put the finishing touches on the championship for Holt who ended up 79-points ahead of second-place Drake Cardey of Riverside.  The third spot in the season-long championship standings went to Riverside’s A.J. Thornell.

Plans are already underway for a big 2019 season for the So Cal Oval Karters.  Schedule details will be forthcoming soon.  The 2018 awards banquet is also on the horizon in early January.  Details on the schedule and the banquet will be available on the So Cal Oval Karters Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/socal.ovalkarters

The SoCal Oval Karters would like to thank 2018 series sponsors Yamaha of America, Burris Racing, Caltrol Incorporated, The Colt Group, Fair Oaks Ranch and Ancon Marine for supporting the 2018 championship season.  If you or your company would like to join the SCOK as a sponsor, please call Matt Jones at (714) 614-8891 or E-mail him at mailto:mattjonesracing@yahoo.com

To keep up with the So Cal Oval Karters on Facebook, please use the following link:  https://www.facebook.com/search/str/so+cal+oval+karters/keywords_search

The So Cal Oval Karters website is available at http://socalovalkarters.com/

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