Happy Holidays and Homecomings
Dec. 20th, 2008
Again the weather smiled on the Red Bluff Outlaws and was cool and moist. This allowed the drivers to take full advantage of the new steep banked track. And it was a night for homecomings for many drivers, fans and former drivers.  Every year as the holidays approach the Red Bluff Outlaws that have moved away from the area come back to visit family, friends and quite often are drawn back to the track where they began their careers, or where they had some of the best times of their lives. This year we were honored to welcome back to the Outlaws several guests who have moved back east to pursue their careers in NASCAR and asphalt racing.  Three of these gentlemen share the last name of Hubert.  Tommy Hubert, one of the finest Outlaw Kart drivers to ever come out of Red Bluff now calls North Carolina home.  He has worked with many of the top NASCAR teams and has raced in the Nationwide and Sprint Cup divisions.  He is well remembered in the Outlaws as one of the few, if not only driver who has had to start from the F Main and work his way all the way to winning the A Main Event in a single evening.   His nephew, Michael Hubert III also returned to his roots to run in the Open Division.  He also has relocated to North Carolina and is a highly coveted pit crew member and has also worked with some of the top Sprint Cup, Craftsman and Nationwide teams.  Not to be outdone, Michael’s little brother Brian Hubert also returned to the track to race in the Box Stock Division.  Brian was last year’s Beginner Box Stock Champion but has been busy with sports this season and has taken the year off from racing.   Also returning to the track was Michael Morrison who now also calls North Carolina home.  Michael ran the Sportsman divsion in the #11V kart.  Gentleman Cody Braund returned home as well to come out and run with the Outlaws again.  Cody, despite having moved east as well, also raced a few times at Shasta Raceway Park this season, running his grandfather’s, Jack Epperson’s, modified.  He won as Trophy Dash in one of these outings in the openwheeled asphalt modified, if memory serves.

The evening started out well for Steven Gannon as he set fast time for the night with an 8.281 second lap. This put him starting at the back of the Trophy Dash, as there is a complete inversion format for these exciting races. But it was Seth Nunes, last year’s Southern Oregon Speedway’s Open Division Champ that held off the ‘Shark’ Sean Becker and very hard charging Andrew Cumpton to take the hardware home.  Five heat races and four main events were necessary to run the full field of 43 karts for the division.   Traditionally the last race before Christmas tends to be one of the lightest kart counts, as people have family and religious commitments which supercede even racing.   However, on this cold winter’s night we had one of the largest kart counts of the year to date.

Pistol Pete Johnston headed up the finish in Heat One. Heat Two saw collegeboy Jake Park hold off Beau Perkins to win.  Brian McCain had a great run in Heat Three as he took the win over Rowdy McClennon and Jasen Mittry.  Heat Four was won by Tyler Schaaf who is still riding a wave from his A Main Event win a couple of weeks back.   Daniel Becker in the awesome #22S kart ran a great battle with Ryan Foster but was able to hold off his long-time competitor to take the win in Heat Five.

The D Main Event was a wild race with some of the top guns having to start their evenings by climbing the Ladder of Letters towards the A Main. John Michael Bunch, Andrew Cumpton and Keith Bloom Jr. were among them and who took the top three spots respecitvely.   In spite of being plagued by bad luck Cody Braund ran a great race but didn’t make the transfer spot.  The C Main saw Kenny McArthur hold off Stephani Yannazzo to take the win as Jeremy Andreason worked his way up from a transfer spot to take third.   The B Main was one of the best races of the night with Tyler Ritcheson taking win as he too had to hold off the ‘Shark’ Sean Becker and the ultra-smooth Tyler McCain.   The A Main was an awesome event – the perfect way to finish out a year.  Beau Perkins had everything going for him in this race.  A good starting position, a hooked up kart and a track which, tho a bit dusty, was super fast all of which allowed this seasoned veteran to hold off all the other top drivers in the nation.  Second up was Ryan Foster then Steven Gannon and Brian McCain came in fourth.  A last lap melee ended with Mackena Bell’s kart hard in to the wall. 

The 250cc Division saw a quick qualifying time set by Casey McClain at 8.321 seconds. This put him at the back of the inverted Trophy Dash which was won by ‘Bombshell’ Mallorie McGahan.  The three heats were headed up by Jake Morgan, Zachary Heinz and Logan Seavey respectively.  The B Main was won by the ‘Reno Rocket’ Tanner Thorson over another Nevadan Mason Millard. The A Main was all James Edens’ to win.  The Seavey Brothers, Logan then Tyler pulled the 2nd and 3rd spots and Jeremy Doss nabbed the fourth.

It was going to be a magical Christmas for Carley Dougherty who won her very first A Main Event in splendid fashion.  After chasing down Ren Eberhart who led the first few laps she had to contend with many of the fastest karts on the track including a hard charging Chase Majdic and Ryan Robinson who finished 2nd and 3rd.  Eberhart despite a bobble that cost him his lead fought back to take a very hard-earned 4th place finish in the exciting race.  Several yellow flags dogged the race and must have made it into the longest race ever run, not only for Carley but her anxious family as well.    Mom, Ronda, paced the walkway in front of the track cheering on her daughter and crying with joy as the young lady in the bright pink kart whizzed under the checkered flag for a Christmas win that will be remembered forever in the hearts of the die-hard racing family. Congrats to Carley ! 

The evening started out with Chase Majdic setting fast time with a 9.420 second lap followed up by the “Squirrel” Morgan Sandhagen.  The Trophy Dash included winner, Ryan Robinson, Jesse Colwell, Majdic and Sandhagen in a great run.  The four heats were championed by Majdic, Lane West, Brenna Johnson and one of the “Terrific Twins” Trenton LaChance.  The B Main transferred winner Jesse James Colwell #86J, Sandhagen, Zachary Rushing and Tyler Rockwell into that amazing A Main. 

The Beginner Box Stocks – we never get tired of seeing this young racers put on one of the best shows of the night.  A nearly caution free, fast, clean race with exciting slicing and dicing throughout the pack.  Keeping in mind that this division has drivers with as much as 4 years experience racing against complete rookies who just took the wheel eight, or less, races ago.  This presents challenges that no other class faces.  The more experienced drivers have to contend with a lot of ‘lap traffic.’  This is where they learn to negotiate clean passes, how to deal with a tight-squeeze, how to anticipate what the karts all around them are doing and where they are and more importantly where they will be in a split second from now.  Starting this learning process at this age is a huge benefit to those drivers who are planning to continue their racing careers as teens and adults.  Watch any race, dirt, asphalt, open-wheel, late model, etc.. where an Outlaw Kart driver is competing and you will instantly see how their training and experience in the karts has given them a visible and distinct advantage over the other drivers. 

Twenty-seven young drivers were on-hand to compete in the holiday race.   Michael Kofoid set the quick lap of qualifying with a 10.397 second circuit.   Four packed heat races were needed to fill out the mains with Heat One being won by Colton Abel over quick timer Michael Kofoid. Heat Two was taken by Hollis Shane Thackeray over Blake Johnson.  Angleo Cornet took the win in Heat Three over Tyler Rodgers.   And Tanner Carrick had a great run for the win over Dustin Heath.  The B Main transferred the winner, Derek Stone, second place Brad Dolin, Tyler Brown and Bennett Gooch III. Rookie Erik Nelson has his best finish of the season just missing out on the transfer but finishing ahead of two hard charging drivers, Beau McDowell and VJ Stewart.

The A Main was won by Michael Kofoid who made a late race pass on runner-up Angelo Cornet. This puts Kofoid in the points lead.  Dustin Heath in his #23H kart led seven fast laps till the inside berm in turn 3 claimed his lead.  Thackeray and Colton Abel rounded out the top four spots.

Eighteen Sportsman drivers turned out for the last race of the year. Todd Boyd in the #11 set the fast time of the night with a 8.723 second run. Only 2 heat races were necessary to set the main events which were won by Jasen Webb over Demo Mittry and in Heat Two Eric Pettinger took the win over Darren Spencer.  This was a great run for Spencer who is a rookie to the Sportsman Division.  The B Main was a light race with only 7 karts.  The #55 kart won the race with “The One-Armed Bandit” Chad Hembree coming in second.  You’d hardly know that Mr. Hembree races these amazing karts with only one hand.  Several years ago he lost the use of his left arm in an vehicle accident. Although the use of the limb is improving, he keeps it tucked into a sling as he wheels around the track.  In homage to this he attaches a fake arm to his wing which waves in the wind as he drives.   Chad is also an amazing Quad – ATV racer and has competed with the local big boys of the sport including runs at the NEC Sports SummerCross Nationals and the NEC Fall Series. 

Jasen Webb won the Trophy Dash just ahead of Eric Pettinger.  Webb has been running the Red Bluff series for decades.  He and his brother, Jeremy, started racing at the bullring as young children and have raced on and off since.  Last year Jasen staged a stellar comeback by returning in the Sportsman Division.  He proved that he is a racer at heart – and didn’t miss a beat as he stepped back into a kart after a long hiatus and was a top-runner from the first race on.  He competed in the Open Division at the 2008 West Coast Nationals running against long time racing buddies Pete Johnston, Ryan Foster, Beau Perkins and many other veterans.  Todd Boyd won the A main just ahead of Webb and superfast Demo Mittry.

Wow, hard to believe we have had so much time off !  Hope everyone had a wonderful Holiday.  Well, the weather in Red Bluff is beautiful, gonna be in the mid 60′s later, very light winds and moderate humidity – lots of sunshine.  We were all a bit concerned as the wind has been howling north of here for the past few days, but today is much calmer. 

The big new year’s cowboy bash was held here in the pavilion thus the track had to be torn out completely to accomodate the dervish cowpokes and prancing pony ladies. So, we have a slightly new configuration for today’s race.  From here it looks still steeply banked in turns one and two but perhaps a bit more narrow in spots.  Either way, as long as the humidty holds up so should the track.

There are bunch of new faces arrive at sign-in ! Welcome to each and every one of them.  There are also some familiar faces of folks who haven’t raced in years – Welcome back to them!  Perhaps our new higher kart count can be in part attributed to Santa Claus – how many people got new karts for stocking stuffers !

The tantalizing smell of freshly fried Corn Dogs is wafting from the kitchen mixed with the aroma of fresh brewed coffee.  Many people are filling the pits up quickly, some breaking out cook and camping stoves whipping up soime tasty breakfasts of their own. 

Next Race January 17th, 2009 is the Red Bluff Yamaha Perpetual Trophy Night.  Don’t miss this amazing event.  There will be lots of racers who don’t compete during the season for points that register for this prestigious event.  If you have never see the trophys, here is a photo of last year’s winners.

January 12, 2008 The winners of the First Annual Red Bluff Yamaha Perpetual Trophy Night at the
Red Bluff Outlaws. – Read More…
Left to Right – Ryan Robinson, Tanner Thorson, Zachary Heinz, Seth Nunes, Ryan Foster, Eric Pettinger

These trophies are huge, and your name will be engraved on it for ever as winners.  This is the kind of win you will keep on your resume / statstics forever as well.