QUICK LINKS
California PKC Menu
California PKC Sponsors
SKUSA Partners
SEARCH
Next ProKart Challenge Event
PRE-ENTRY OPENS IN MID JULY |
|
California ProKart Challenge
Neal Takes Third Straight ProKart Challenge North Victory |
Wednesday, 17 June 2009 23:31 |
![]() Neal had to work for both victories as they were not easy to come by. The challenging S3 division saw Neal just miss out for the top spot in qualifying as veteran and Grand-Am Rolex star Memo Gidley returned for another outing to steal the pole position by just 13-thousandths. The two were joined by third fastest qualifier Tommy Thompson in the opening heat race. Neal led in the early goings until Thompson took his turn at the point. Neal would reassume the position and would go on to take the win in front of Thompson and Gidley. The final heat would be a near repeat of the first, with Neal and Thompson swapping the lead before returning to the same finishing positions. Neal, however, threw down the gauntlet in the feature to pull ahead by more than four seconds after leading all 20 laps for the victory. Teammates Thompson and Gidley shuffled the second spot in the early portion of the race until Thompson secured the position. Another pair of teammates, Steve Reasoner and New Zealander Daniel Bray, rounded out the top-five. In the S1 category, Neal would only have to fight one other driver in the championship race: defending class champion Cody Hodgson. Neal won the first round as he out-qualified Hodgson by just two-tenths. In the first heat, however, Hodgson won the battle with a final lap maneuver. Neal would then be removed from the results, as his kart came off the track too wide at tech. The second heat would go to Hodgson, as well, with Neal in tow – who would be penalized one position for jumping the start. In the feature, the deciding point would be lap 12 when Hodgson retired with a seized engine, handing Neal the lead and the victory. Troy Castaneda would finish second with Hodgson placing third. ![]() The HPV 2 Junior class has been a solid addition to the PKC North program, and continues to provide exciting racing for the future stars of karting. Defending class champion and championship leader Kiel Spaulding showed the way in qualifying, as he edged rival Luis Tyrrell by just 86-thousandths for the pole position. Tyrrell would have the advantage come race time, taking the opening heat race win after swapping the top spot with Spaulding in the eight lap event. Tyrrell went unchallenged in the final heat after Spaulding fell to eighth in the opening lap. That advanced Kyle Kaiser to second and Dylan Lupton up to third. Kaiser would be pushed out on the first lap, which opened up things for Spaulding. After starting fifth he was first, as they came to the stripe for the first time. Tyrrell held ground on Spaulding’s bumper for 13 straight laps - until he made his move on lap 14. From there, Tyrrell pulled out to a 1.359-second victory, as Spaulding fought and held onto second ahead of Joseph Keaton after Lupton retired on lap 13. ![]() The TaG Junior field looked just as promising, until two lead drivers blew their motors in qualifying. However, that did not take away from the performance put in by Dylan Lupton. After qualifying on pole and winning the opening heat, Lupton retired early in the final heat race to put him at the back of the field to start the feature. He quickly advanced himself up the order and took over the lead by lap two. From there, he pulled out to a 13-second margin of victory for his first win of the season. Adrian Starrantino was second with Niki Luna finishing third. S4 championship leader Jamie Wilson extended his point lead with a victory Saturday in the feature. Jared Woolf was the early favorite, after posting the fastest lap in qualifying; but Alex Keith took the opening heat win. Wilson got into the mix in the final heat by scoring the win, leading to a flag-to-flag victory in the 20-lap feature. Woolf retired on lap three with mechanical issues, allowing Keith to run second to the line with Peter Workum completing the podium. ![]() A special PKC thanks goes out to Shawn Thomas Automotive for again bringing out a priceless classic race car from the Tom Price private collection to share with the weekend’s competitors. The winners from both Junior classes, Dylan Lupton and Luis Tyrrell, were treated to a few laps around the kart track in a 1957 Maserati on Saturday afternoon, driven by Memo Gidley. More of these race cars will be featured in future ProKart races. The ProKart Challenge North program returns to Sonoma on July 11 for the fifth round of the seven race championship. The South program, however, is slated to hit the Santa Maria Kart Track on June 27, with a number of South and North drivers expected to attend. |