Tuesday March 13th had 27 indoor kart racers come together on Track 1 c/c/w for a night of fast and fun times here at Octane Raceway for race #7 of 9 in the 2012 Winter league series. Three groups of nine racers each in the 5 lap Qualifier/ 30 lap Heat with top 3 going to the 50 lap “A” Main, middle 3 going to “B” Main and bottom 3 going to “C” Main. Win the “C” Main and move into the “B” Main. Win the “B” Main and race your way thru the “A” Main.
Fifty laps back to back of racing on a track that see’s mid 21 second lap times can be quite a workout for even the most versatile and in shape indoor kart racer. Stamina will be the key to making that work. Proper hydration will also come into play for this.
First up is the 5 lap Qualifier into the 30 Lap Heat.
Group 1 Q/H Top 5:
Chaz Baca Jr…Jason Burstein…Kyler Repella…Cody Gutierrez…Keaton Swane.
Group 2 Q/H Top 5:
Tony Rolfson…Josh Walker…Keith Sears…Scott Lodding…Chris Wynne.
Group 3 Q/H Top 5:
Steve Lattanzi…Johnny Pegna…Mike McClaran…Joe Landram…George Sklyarevesky.
Honorable mention goes out to Mr Mechanic Race Suit, Johnny Pegna, who has rocketed his way past many other long time racers with sheer determination and what seems like an unlimited budget to practice almost daily. Seems like the old adage seat time=fast times are true in this case. It’s either that or he’s closing his eyes, screaming into his helmet and making risky passes to the inside, no holds barred. I’m hearing a mixture of both are the recipe for his new found success.
A, late in the race, battle for position was overturned in group 3 between Krystal Wright and newcomer Adam Baker. Baker made a give back the position move on Wright and so he was moved from P8 to P9 at the conclusion of Group 3 Q/H.
Redraw for karts and we are now set for the 50 lap Mains.
Chaz Baca Jr owns best lap time of 21.379 at the conclusion of the Q/H’s.
“C” Main Top 5:
Don Angel (advances to “B” Main)
Greg Gillum
Zaron Welch
Blake Leuty
Josh Tatman
After a very long spell (2004/2005) Zaron Welch returns to try his hand at league racing once again. He had at one time been one of the week in week out top league racers until he vanished into thin air until March 13. We welcome Zaron back and he remarked how much better the competition had become as well as younger. He promised to step into the league racing on a more than every 6 years regularity. Good to have you back. Even after all that time he only ended up 6 tenths of a second off the faster top times of the “A” Main leaders. 21.933 not a bad way to return.
“B” Main Top 5:
Scott Lodding (advances to “A” Main)
Cody Gutierrez
Chris Wynne
Joe Landram
Charles Crowe
Scott Lodding is the #1 King of Advancement to the next Main. In most cases he is also able to move up a spot or two to capture some of the coveted “A” Main points. He currently resides in 8th Place in overall league points and when all said and done I expect him to be in the top 5. He never gives up!
With the best of the best now suited up, weighted and belted in we now have the “A” Main ready to go. Warm up lap complete and the green flag drops and into the first turn there is already some action to the inside which manages to separate the top three of Baca, Rolfson and Lattanzi from the rest of the pack. Boy, that was a crazy early move by??? You can’t win a 50 lap race in the first turn. So with now a large gap between 1/2/3 and the rest of the field the top three slowly but surely pull away. Baca then finds his groove and never looks back. If he had done so he would have seen a 50 lap race bumper to bumper between Lattanzi & Rolfson with Rolfson successfully holding off Lattanzi to take 2nd Place even though Lattanzi set faster lap times. By making no contact between them, they didn’t allow the 4th place runner to gain much ground. Kyler Repella was that racer who broke away from the pack and made every effort to close the gap. Top 5 weigh outs complete and podium pics logged it was another exciting finish with You-Know-Who Baca standing on the top step of the winners podium. Tuesday March 20th we reset the action and most of us hope for better results. It’s crunch time with only two races left to walk away with the top prize of a Free entry into the Grand Nationals sponsored by CalSpeed Karting Center , Fontana, CA. Three days of outdoor Sport Karting against the best indoor/outdoor karters there is.
“A” Main Top 5 Results:
Chaz Baca Jr
Tony Rolfson
Steve Lattanzi
Kyler Repella
Josh Walker
Chaz Baca Jr holds onto fast lap time for the night with a 21.375. Very consistent compared to his times in a different kart in his Q/H. (21.379)
Top 10 in Overall Points going into Race # 8 on Tuesday March 20, 2012.
Chaz Baca Jr…392
Tony Rolfson…382
Steve Lattanzi…361
Kyler Repella…345
Josh Walker…340
Mike McClaran…310
Cody Gutierrez…304
Scott Lodding…297
Keith Sears…253
Joe Landram…251
We will be recalculating the score after the Final race held on Sat. March 24th, with the lowest league score dropped from each racers total points.
Keeping the Rubberside Down,
Steve "Kandyman" Lattanzi
Team Titanium of Octane Raceway
Competition Director
Offsite Specialty Events Coordinator
Lead Instructor for the Raceology 101 Jr Kart Racing School
317 S. 48th Street . Phoenix, AZ 85034
(d) 602-427-4416 / 602-302-7223 (t) 602-321-2035(m)
Visit us online @ www.OctaneRaceway.com
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Arizona's Premier Indoor Karting & Entertainment Venue
Seasonal Leagues, High Level Competition Events, Public Racing 363 Days A Year
Two Indoor Tracks, 45+MPH Karts, Billiards, Trackside Bar & Grill.
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