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California ProKart Challenge
| Musgrave and Elliott Top Headline Categories at California ProKart Challenge |
| Wednesday, 15 April 2015 10:16 |
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Two-time defending S1 Pro series champion Billy Musgrave jumped back on the winning track at Round Three (Photo: dromophotos.com) The third stop of the California ProKart Challenge brought the teams, competitors and families to the Buttonwillow Raceway Park on April 10-11. It was a 180-degree flip in terms of weather conditions from the first weekend back in February, with the perfect weather for the record-breaking 160 drivers on hand competing in the Superkarts! USA regional event in Buttonwillow, California. The end of the event marked the halfway point of the championship chase, with six of the 11 class winners sweeping the action around the 7/10-mile course as drivers positioned themselves closer to their title hopes.
Austin Elliott was promoted as the race winner in TaG Senior, making his the third driver in as many races to score a victory in 2015 (Photo: dromophotos.com) Billy Musgrave was finally able to complete a full event without any issues, sweeping the Vemme Kart/Extreme Karting S1 Pro Stock Moto division. The two-time defending champion was able to score his first victory of the season, leading the S1 field all day. A monster lap in qualifying (46.777) was over a half second quicker than point leader Jarred Campbell. Musgrave then went wire-to-wire in the two heat races, along with the 20-lap main event. Campbell finished second to keep the points lost to a minimal, as Matias Podboj completed the podium with Kolton Griffin fourth and Peter Abba fifth.The Phil Giebler Racing TaG Senior category welcomed the third different winner in as many races, with Streets of Lancaster Grand Prix Scholarship driver Austin Elliott promoted to the top of the podium at the end of the day. Defending Pro Tour champion Jake Craig set the pace early on, edging out the tough 24-driver field in qualifying for the fast lap, as the top five were separated by just 82 thousandths of a second. Craig led all nine laps of the opening heat race, and was demoted late in the second race by veteran Mason Marotta. The two were the class of the field in the Final, with Craig taking over the lead early and going on to take the checkered flag first. Craig, however, was handed a five-second penalty for not obeying a yellow flag, as was second place finisher Marotta. That advanced Elliott, who moved to third late in the race, to the first position and point leader Christian Brooks to second. Craig fell to third with Marotta back to sixth, moving Matt Johnson to fourth and Nick Ramirez to fifth.
Carter Williams extended his streak to three in S2 Semi-Pro (Photo: dromophotos.com) In total, six drivers swept the day in their respective categories. Carter Williams continued his dominance in the Ryan Perry Motorsport S2 Semi-Pro Stock Moto class with his third straight victory. Williams kept pace with the top S1 drivers, posting fast lap in qualifying for the S2 division and winning both heat races. Carter walked away with the victory in the main event to secure his second-straight sweep, as Will Preston and Marco Eakins completed the podium. Brian Phillipsen became the third different victor in the Mike Manning Karting TaG Master division. Phillipsen cleared the 17-driver field by two tenths in qualifying, and never relinquished the top spot through the two heat races and the Final. The fight all day was for runner-up, with Michael Middleton coming away with the position ahead of point leader Vatche Tatikian. Chris Eagles and Dave Kunicki completed the top five.Trey Brown added his name to the win list in the Nash Motorsportz TaG Junior category, increasing the total to three drivers in three events. Brown took advantage of point leader Sting Ray Robb’s absence to sweep the third round and take over the point lead. The 2014 TaG Cadet series champion edged out Round Two winner Nicky Hays in qualifying by 98 thousandths for fast time. After two convincing wins in the heat races, Brown never let off the throttle as he won the 20-lap Final by 10 seconds ahead of the 19-kart field. Rookies went 1-2 with Jagger Jones earning his first class podium and Hays placing third ahead of Hannah Grisham and Ethan Barrett.
S3 Novice winner Aaron Schmitt and S5 Junior victor Callum Smith cross the line together for their wins (Photo: dromophotos.com) The lower rungs of the Superkarts! USA Stock Moto ladders system welcomed two sweeps on the day as well. Professional Kart Support S3 Novice Stock Moto point leader Aaron Schmitt added another win to his total for 2015. Schmitt went unchallenged by the 12 other drivers in the S3 category all day, winning the two motos and main event. Joe Morton and Robert Heck Jr. joined him on the podium, each making their second trip to the steps this season. It is now three straight wins for Callum Smith in the Sanner Racing S5 Junior Stock Moto category in 2015, with the third round his first sweep. Smith was up front and challenged S3 winner Schmitt all day, going on to take the victory in class ahead of Noah Grey and Hunter Kelly.Cadet was once again the largest group of the weekend, welcoming 43 total that made up the Leading Edge Motorsports TaG Cadet and TaG Cadet Rookie categories. TaG Cadet was led early by point leader Anthony Willis, who topped the time sheets in qualifying. Ryan Schartau qualified second, and went on to win both heat races. The first was uncontested, while in the second, he was joined at the front by 2014 Texas ProKart Challenge champion Jak Crawford. The Texas driver got the jump on Schartau to begin the Final, and led all 14 laps to the victory. Schartau fought back to finish second with Round Two winner Oliver Calvo in third. Jace Jones was fourth with Willis in fifth, stealing the 10 bonus points for fast lap. Rookie welcomed 20 drivers on the day, all of them chasing Dakota Tate. The series point leader won each heat race, and drove to a near eight-second advantage in the main event. Aiden Kempf was second, with Bryce Stevens completing the podium.
Texas driver Jak Crawford won in his 2015 PKC debut in TaG Cadet (Photo: dromophotos.com) Defending class champion Darren Elliott returned to the top of the podium in the SwedeTech Racing Engines S4 Master Stock Moto class. Elliott found himself running second to former champion Jimmy McNeil at the end of Round Two, and was trailing to begin Round Three. McNeil laid down a monster lap in qualifying to clear the field by over half a second. Elliott was fourth in the order behind Robert Marks and Willy Musgrave. Elliott moved himself into the second spot in Heat #1, but found himself six seconds back of McNeil at the checkered flag. The two went back and forth early in Heat #2 until a mechanical issue put McNeil on the sidelines. Elliott took the lead in the main event from the pole position with a group of drivers trailing. Mike Mantel worked his way to the second spot and kept the pressure on Elliott. As the race progressed, a charging McNeil finally reached the top-two after starting 15th. On the final circuit of the 20-lap race, Mantel tried a deep braking move into turn one, and made hard contact with the curb. The result of that contact damaged his powerplant and slowed his pace enough to finish seventh. McNeil took over the second spot, but was unable to close enough on Elliott as the defending champ won his second Final of the season. Musgrave completed the podium, with Rob Logan and Vivek Tandon rounding out the top five.The new 2Wild Karting S4 Super Master Stock Moto class almost welcomed its third different winner of 2015. Darrell Tunnell was leading the way after qualifying and the two heat races, but then lost the lead early on in the main event to Round Two winner Ken Schilling. Tunnell eventually retired with a mechanical issue, giving Schilling the clear path to the top of the podium for the second straight event. Kalvin Chen drove to his second runner-up result of the year, with Jim Kidd landing on the podium in his 2015 debut.
Darren Elliott added a second victory to his S4 Master total for 2015 (Photo: dromophotos.com) The California ProKart Challenge staff was pleased with the large turnout, returning the favor back to the racers with an exciting raffle drawing during the podium presentations worth approximately $2,500. Those prizes included four sets of MG Tires, two free entries to the next California PKC event, two top-end kits from IAME USA West, and a free SpringNationals entry –including tires, fuel and oil – won by TaG Cadet racer Dakota Tate.The month of May will be off for the California ProKart Challenge as Superkarts! USA racers around North America prepare for the first event of the 2015 SKUSA Pro Tour – the sixth annual SpringNationals – scheduled for May 1-3 at the Phoenix Kart Racing Association facility in Glendale, Arizona. Round Four of the California PKC takes the program north to the popular Simraceway Performance Karting Center in Sonoma, California on June 5-6. |
