TaG Senior driver bags first main event triumph while Woolf takes second straight S2 feature winPRAIRIE CITY, CA – Nearly every category at the second round of the Superkarts! USA ProKart Challenge North program - contested at the All Star Karting facility in Prairie City, CA - saw a new winner. The competitors in the seven divisions battled wet conditions throughout the race day, providing an added challenge to the technical 3/4-mile ‘Grand Prix’ circuit – with all drivers in attendance earning a 100-point ‘rain’ bonus toward the season ending championship. Leading the way for those first-time winners on March 26 was TaG Senior driver TJ Fischer, who earned his first series victory. The lone exception was S2 Semi-Pro Stock Moto driver Jared Woolf, earning his second straight feature win in the category.
Bronson Eggert led the way during the Peterson Wealth Management-sponsored TaG Senior qualifying session, posting a 50.207-lap to earn the pole position for heat one. Fischer was just a bit off, as both posted faster times than round one winner Austin Elliott. Eggert led all 12 laps of heat one, while Fischer fell to fourth early but regained the spots he lost to Elliott and Jess Peterson. Fischer inherited the top spot when both Eggert and Peterson were unable to start the second heat with mechanical issues, running to the win with Elliott in tow. Fischer continued on through the main event, going wire to wire from the pole position to outrun Elliott for his first series victory. Shelby Sander completed her series debut with a third place finish and the second straight event with a female driver on the podium for the class.
2010 S5 Junior Stock Moto SKUSA Pro Tour champion Daniel Langon was the driver to beat following qualifying in the Sunshine Daydream-sponsored S2 Semi-Pro Stock Moto category, putting down a hot lap of 49.918. A poor start to begin heat one put him behind early, but not for long as he recovered back to the top spot by lap three, going on to take the win. Langon put down a better opening lap for heat two and led the way – until a charging Woolf began to pressure. After retiring on the opening lap of heat one, Woolf drove up from the tail of the grid to Langon’s bumper, taking over the lead as they took the white flag. Woolf scored the win with Langon in second. At the start of the feature, Langon fell behind once again with two competitors from other categories sliding in between him and Woolf. That was until lap six when Woolf went off course and lost positions, including the lead to Langon. On lap 10, Langon returned the favor as he too went off course. Woolf retook the lead, with Jamie Wilson holding second over Langon. In the end, Woolf took the victory over Langon with Wilson retiring on lap 17, giving Chris Ouimet the third step of the podium.
Jarred Campbell marked his PKC North 2011 debut with a victory in the Bordogna Racing-sponsored TaG Junior division. Campbell was quickest in qualifying (51.031) of the 12 drivers, clearing the field by six-tenths. The start of heat one did not go his way as he spun in the opening lap to record a DNF. Reigning SKUSA Pro Tour champion Luis Tyrrell went on to take the win over “Nitro Nick” Sommers. At the start of heat two, Sommers got the jump on Tyrrell to go wire-to-wire for the win – with Tyrrell finishing second over point leader Blaine Rocha. Sommers held on to the top spot through the opening laps of the feature, but quickly became under fire by Campbell. Starting eighth, Campbell was into the top-three by lap two and began running down Sommers. The two put on a great show for the remainder of the 20-lap main event, with Campbell escaping to a one-second victory over Sommers. Jack Freese completed the podium over Tyrrell and round one winner Austin Dement to mix up the championship chase heading into round three.
Reigning SKUSA Pro Tour champion Ethan Wilson returned to his winning ways at Prairie City, sweeping the day in the Cambrian Go-Karts-sponsored TaG Master division. Wilson posted a 51.349-lap in qualifying to earn the pole position. From there, Wilson went on to lead all 12 laps of heat one and heat two, in addition to the green-to-checkered victory in the main event. Round one winner Glenn McKinnon finished second with PKC newcomer Corey Mitchell placing third.
The Cambrian Go-Karts-sponsored TaG Cadet class was hotly contested from the opening practice to the final lap of the feature. Scott Huffaker was the quickest in qualifying (54.348), with Hunter Kelly and Hunter Corbitt within six-hundredths of his time. The start to heat one shuffled up the field, with Huffaker and round one sweeper Davey Manthei Jr. able to break away. Huffaker led until the final lap when Manthei took the spot and the win. Manthei went flag-to-flag in heat two all alone after Huffaker was shuffled back early on, leaving Kelly in the second spot. Kelly grabbed the lead as the green flag waved to start the feature, while Manthei dropped down the order after some early race shuffling. Kelly would go unchallenged to score his first series victory, with Danny Rubino and Corbitt completing the podium. Huffaker and Manthei would finish fifth and sixth, respectively, behind Cole Davis.
Chris Yettito completed an event sweep in the S3 Novice Stock Moto category, outrunning round one winner Ryan Rasberry, which is setting up to be a season long battle for the series championship. Jim Kidd took home his first victory in the Fastech Racing-sponsored S4 Master Stock Moto division. Nick Galante was quickest in qualifying and the opening heat, but Kidd took home the win in heat two. Galante led the first half of the feature, before Kidd took over the spot and was able to hold him off to the checkered.
The SKUSA ProKart Challenge North program will take the month of April off to allow racers a full month to prepare for the upcoming SKUSA Pro Tour SpringNationals at Musselman Honda Circuit (formerly P1 Kart Circuit) in Tucson, AZ on April 29-May 1. The series will return on May 27-28 for round three – traveling for the first time in its history outside the state of California – to the Desert Park Raceway in Reno, Nevada. The SKUSA crew will be back trackside prior to the SKUSA Pro Tour 2011 opener for round three of the PKC South program on April 8-9 at the Buttonwillow Raceway Park kart track in Buttonwillow. This will be a good time to get in one last SKUSA race prior to the Pro Tour SpringNationals.
About Superkarts! USA:
Established in 1995, Superkarts! USA is dedicated to shifterkart and TaG racing and is the leader in the field, currently promoting five regional racing series. Racing programs are currently running in Southern California, Northern California, Hawaii, Colorado, Missouri and Iowa, in cooperation and support from official tire supplier MG Tires. In 2011, the organization is promoting the second edition of the SKUSA Pro Tour, which features a pair of major events in Arizona and Colorado, all leading up to the annual SKUSA SuperNationals, the biggest shifter kart race in the world, held every November in Las Vegas, NV. For more information on SKUSA, please visit www.superkartsusa.com.
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