With temps soaring in the great Southwest and hitting 100 degree’s plus during the day in Phoenix, twenty three brave and committed indoor kart racers came together to compete in race #7 of 10 at Octane Raceway. Wisely, the master of ceremonies and Competition Director, Steve “Kandyman” Lattanzi recently relaxed the mandatory race suit rule to prevent driver overheats and fatigue. Birthday suits at no time are allowed unless you are of the female persuasion and were a runner up to be in the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit calendar. Water weight loss during a league race can be as much as 2 lbs so each driver compensates for that by adding the appropriate weight so that you make the target weigh out top 5 of 200# (198)
Isn’t Octane Raceway air conditioned you ask. Why of course but when you are racing 10 karts on each track simultaneously things tend to heat up.
May 29th was not only the 8th race of the league series but the 15th birthday of Chaz Baca Jr the league racer who has reset the bar to winning not only individual races but to winning 6 league championships in a row. We all celebrated with chocolate cake and best wishes. We did encourage Chaz to eat as much cake as he could muster before the race start to try and slow him down. It only worked in the Qualifier where he started Group 1 from P2 with a best lap time of 22.661. Steve Lattanzi started from pole with a best time of 22.607. Less than 5 laps into the 30 lap Heat race Baca took over the lead with a clean pass and went on to extend his race win record even though Lattanzi set fast time with a 22.121 to Baca’s 22.168. This put Lattanzi and Scott Lodding together who both put on a good clean side by side passing show for about 3 or 4 laps. Eventually Lodding fell off pace with Keith Sears and Chris Wynne getting by before the race ended.
It was Baca who won the race 3.667 seconds ahead of the closest competitor, Lattanzi.
Group 1 Heat Finish Order: Chaz Baca Jr…Steve Lattanzi…Keith Sears…Chris Wynne…Scott Lodding…Mike McClaran…Philip Schroeder…George Sklyarevsky…Kyle Tatman…Keaton Swane…Josh Tatman…Craig Moore.
Taking a break from the weekly action and now back after missing two races, Tony Rolfson came back big time by taking the pole for Group 2 Qualifier.
New to this indoor kart racing, Blake Leuty was right there to take P2. He was the meat in the sandwich with Kyler Repella in 3rd starting spot. Tony & Kyler are part of the same team that will be competing in the 2012 Grand Nationals June 22-24 at CalSpeed Karting Center in Fontana,CA. Chaz Baca Jr is the 3rd member of that team that will attempt to leave the Grands with pockets full of cash from the $5,000.00 prize pool.
The start of the Group 2 Heat race has no position changes until about 10 laps into the 30 lap heat race when Leuty slips up and see’s Kyler Repella and Josh Sarchet go sailing by, nose to tail. With no room to get between them Leuty holds off Brian Landry and settles for a 4th place result. The gap at race end between Repella and Rolfson was only 1.681 seconds. Cody Gutierrez not only spins out but is now facing the wrong way and stalled. He pulled it in and parked it on lap 24. He was moving his way to the front before the unfortunate incident and now starts from waaaaay back in the “B” Main.
Group 2 Heat Finish Order: Tony Rolfson…Kyler Repella…Josh Sarchet…Blake Leuty…Brian Landry…Don Angel…Charles Crowe…Josh Lambeth…Chris Manwaring…Greg Gillum…Cody Gutierrez
Surprisingly, always fast and near the front of the pack, Josh Lambeth ended up finishing 8th which put him firmly into the “B” Main. Not where you want to be if you are competing for top 5 overall points in the series. He will start 4th in the “B” Main and have to get by Philip Schroeder/Charles Crowe & Don Angel to take the win and advance to the “A” Main which he does. 50 laps complete and now 50 laps to go.
Gutierrez starts from 10th in the “B” Main but works his way up to 4th by race end. Just ran out of laps as he was only 1.734 seconds off the leader, Lambeth.
“B” Main Finish Order:
Josh Lambeth (advances to “A” Main)…Don Angel…Charles Crowe…Cody Gutierrez…Philip Schroeder…George Sklyarevsky…Keaton Swane…Kyle Tatman…Chris Manwaring…Greg Gillum…Craig Moore…Josh Tatman.
Josh Tatman deserves a pat on the back and a shoulder to cry on because he struggled with an ill handling kart for most of the race and once he pulled in after the race we found out why…left front tire was minus the needed air to properly inflate the tire aka flat tire!!! When I looked at it, it was only flat on the bottom so where’s the problem? It was to be his last race for a while as he will be moving to N. California for work and unless he wants to become a frequent flyer on Southwest airlines he will have to miss his Tuesday night racing fix at Octane with his brother Kyle. Up to now they have travelled from Tucson which is about a two hour ride one way. Thank You, Josh, Kyle and Don for making the trip every Tuesday for the leagues. We will all miss Josh and his bright orange race suit jacket. We wish you the best in your new location which is so much cooler than the now summer heat oven temp, Phoenix. Oven mitts are now required to drive your cars from now until Oct. when hopefully temps dip below 100 again.
On pole for the “A” Main is no other than birthday boy Chaz Baca Jr. Tony Rolfson captures the #2 spot with Steve Lattanzi 3rd and Kyler Repella right on Lattanzi’s bumper. Keith Sears who is part of Team Titanium is staring at the back of Repella’s helmet and vowing to keep Josh Sarchet at bay for once. Sarchet and Sears have clashed more than once this season and both have something to prove to each other and the rest of us. That they can race in the same proximity and not take each other out. With fingers crossed and the green flag waving the race is on. Almost immediately Lattanzi feels the heat of fast Repella who wants to join his teammates for another podium 1..2…3. Meanwhile Sarchet puts Sears a spot down with a so-so pass and then works his way past Lattanzi and puts a sizable gap between them. This is a 50 lapper so finding a race pace becomes important. Slowly but surely Lattanzi reels in Sarchet and also brings Sears along to double down the pass which happens but not without a little bit of contact which is deemed OK by track marshals. Now we have Sears and Sarchet fighting for every corner and every inch of the track. One such pass by Sarchet was called back which allowed Lattanzi to build up a comfortable lead and hold onto 4th place. The leaders you ask? Why they were so far ahead and busy passing the backmarkers, they were able to pass all the way up to the 6th place runner. Josh Lambeth went from 12th place to 7th and this is after doing more than 135 laps for the night! Chris Wynne had a different opinion of the pass by Lambeth but no penalty was issued. They are good friends and will forgive and forget with a bit of cash exchanged and a lot of booze.
“A” Main Finish Order:
Chaz baca Jr…Tony Rolfson…Kyler Repella…Steve Lattanzi…Keith Sears…Josh Sarchet…Josh Lambeth…Brian Landry…Chris Wynne…Mike McClaran…Scott Lodding…Blake Leuty.
Top 20 Overall Points……(with drop)
Chaz Baca Jr…396…..(341)
Kyler Repella…374…(325)
Keith Sears…325……(295)
Steve Lattanzi…320.(320)
Josh Lambeth…306…(306)
Cody Gutierrez…304…(271)
Chris Wynne…..304…..(269)
Brian Landry…..299….(268)
Josh Sarchet…..295…..(295)
Scott Lodding….284….(284)
Philip Schroeder…282…(249)
Tony Rolfson…..276…..(276)
Don Angel……272……..(238)
George Skly…..261…..(261)
Mike McClaran…254…(254)
Charles Crowe…219…..(219)
Greg Gillum…….203…..(176)
Josh Tatman…..201…..(201)
Kyle McGrath…163….(163)
Krystal Wright…160…(160)
Craig Moore….160…..(160)
All in all a great night of league racing and we do it all again Tuesday June 5th at 7pm.
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)
Octane Raceway - Your Phoenix Destination For Adrenaline-Packed Outings
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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