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PRE-ENTRY OPENS IN MID JULY |
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California ProKart Challenge
Neal Secures ProKart Challenge South Titles at Season Finale |
Thursday, 03 September 2009 13:37 |
![]() Heading into CalSpeed, the attention in the S3 class was geared toward point leader Jacob Neal. Coming in with five straight feature wins, those chasing him would need to put in their best runs of the season to hope to dethrone him. Patrick Cushenberry – who entered the event second in the points – began the event in that fashion as he put down the fastest lap in qualifying, edging Neal by just 14-thousandths of a second. PKC North defending champion Jason Toft made the trek down for more track time, and was third in the timed session ahead of Clinton Schoombee and S5 Junior graduate Race Liberante. The first 10-lap heat race saw Neal lead flag to flag, with Schoombee advancing up to second while Cushenberry fell to fourth behind Toft. Schoombee, third in the standings, got the jump off the line and paced the field the entire second heat race - despite some painful injured ribs from a few weeks back. Neal slotted into second until lap three, when he was waved off track for no neck collar. Toft would go on to finish second ahead of Cushenberry. ![]() ![]() Though Montgomery fought valiantly, Mastro was hooked up too well to challenge for the victory. Mastro would grab the holeshot and lead all 20 laps for his third feature win of the season. Montgomery was a solid second, while Firestone duplicated Butts’ run in heat two, advancing up to third, relegating Butts to a fourth place finish off the podium. The win also put Mastro on top of the standings when figuring the one-race drop, claiming another ProKart Challenge championship. Montgomery ended the year second with Butts earning the third place season-end trophy. ![]() The PKC finale also witnessed its first double winner for someone not named Neal. Rising star Gustavo Menezes, who has spent most of his 2009 season racing in Europe, won both the TaG Senior and KF2 features. A more populated TaG Senior class saw Andrick Zeen as the early man to beat, as he led the way in qualifying and the first heat race. After a poor qualifying session, Menezes recovered in the first heat to place second, one-second behind Zeen, before going on to score the second heat race win ahead of Devin Lindsey and Zeen. In the feature, Zeen and Menezes went back and forth until Zeen retired on lap 12 with a failed coil, handing Menezes the victory. With championship challenger Larry Fraser absent from the event, the title was awarded to Howie Idelson. ![]() The TaG Master division was controlled by series newcomers at the season finale. Making his first series start, Austin Dyne was the driver to beat throughout the day, as he topped the charts in qualifying -- and then led all 10 laps in both heat races. The start, however, in the feature shuffled Dyne back in the order as championship contenders Jeff Bobbitt and Steve Wiener fought for the lead. As Dyne was making his way back to the point, he would retire on lap 14 with mechanical problems. Bobbit, meanwhile, had begun stretching out a lead over Wiener, with Pasha Mirhadi challenging for the second spot. With one lap to go, Bobbitt’s chance at victory ended with his engine seizing. This gave Mirhadi his first victory, as he edged Wiener to the line by just 0.071-seconds in just his fourth series start – with Mike Kelley completing the podium. Bobbitt earned a fifth place finish despite not making it to the checkered flag while Wiener’s runner-up finish locked him in for the class championship. Securing the new S4 Magnum class championship was Luke Bianco. The point leader heading into the event swept the day’s action. With its biggest turnout of the year, Bianco paced the field the entire day, taking the feature win over Todd Scholta and championship contender Tony Morrison. Also gaining more entries was the TaG Junior division, as drivers continue to prepare for the upcoming SuperNats. Already crowned the class champion, Max Zacky welcomed the challenge. However, it was Carlee Taylor and Corey Neveau who paced the day. Taylor led the way in qualifying and the opening heat race, while Neveau won the second heat after Taylor sat it out with sore ribs. Taylor returned in the feature, climbing up to the second spot until lap five when she would retire after contact with another kart disabled her kart. Neveau went on to take the win in his PKC South debut, with Zacky ending the season second on podium, ahead of another PKC South rookie Austin Thomas. With the season now closed, the PKC South program will focus its attention on the awards banquet, scheduled for October 3 at the Grand Long Beach Event Center. More details on the banquet – along with the upcoming ProKart Challenge North season finale on September 12 at the Jim Russell International Karting Center – will be announced in the near future. For more information on the Superkarts! USA’s ProKart Challenge itself or the upcoming SKUSA SuperNationals XIII, head to http://www.prokartchallenge.com or call 951-491-0808. |