Today we begin with the Intermediate, or as it is also known, the 250cc Division. This week’s Intermediate action was nothing short of amazing.  This group of drivers seemed to have shed the pall of ‘first race jitters’ and have settled in for some great side-by-side racing.  “Mr. Fast Time” himself, Mason Millard, scored another top qualifying time with an 8.318 second ride.  Close behind was Logan Seavey and Casey McClain.  Speaking of fast, this track had it all, great banking, good moisture content and SPEED, in fact one of the track records was broken in the Open Division by Pistol Pete…. and the top twenty qualifiers behind him were only separated by a few one-hundredths of a second.  But on with the Intermediates.
Four heat races were lined out to accommodate the 28 karts that showed up to run their roaring 4-strokes in the bullring. Jeremy Doss, son of the AABLM Late Model Series promoter, Mike Doss, took the win over quicktime M. Millard.  Heat #2 saw second quick timer, Logan Seavey inch past the checkered ahead of Chase Majdic.  Heat #3 saw Jake “Smoke Jr.” in the GMG, Gary Gabel stables #77J take the brass ring ahead of Wes Dougherty and Casey McClain.  Heat #4 was won by the the older of the of Seavey Brothers racing team, Tyler, over James Edens and Nick Varricchio.  After a rough start for Varricchio in the early races of the season, he has really picked up the pace and is dialing in his kart for some more strong runs.
No stranger to Winner’s Circle, Chase Majdic picked up another Trophy Dash statue for his win over Edens and McClain.  Notice how many of the same names keep cropping up in the top ranks of the results and points – these youngsters are all having a stellar season.
B Main action for the division saw Tanner Thorson battle with Tony Rossi for the lead for a dozen laps or so – but eventually Thorson was able to nab the lead and hold it for the win.  Again, it was the super-quick, super-smooth James Edens putting another notch in his Feature Event career by edging out Doss and Majdic to earn him his 102 main event win.
The Box Stock battles continue.  Twenty-six drivers returned to compete for the race wins and the championship this weekend.  Of those Michael Ing screamed thru his qualifying laps to take top spot with a 9.409 second time.  Now, points leader, Brian McGahan Jr. took second and Jessie James Colwell hit the third spot mark.  Some really hot heat races ensued with rookie, Tyler Brown winning Heat One. Brian McGahan Jr. championed in Heat #2.  Last week’s stand-out start Emily Williams rode on home for the win in Heat #3.  Lane West in his #5 kart took the Heat Four win over Brandon LaChance.
LaChance Brothers Racing continued their strong season as Brandon’s brother Trenton took home one of their beautiful trophies for the win in the Trophy Dash.  Last year’s “Co-Sportsman” of the year, Colby Cate, held sway in the final laps of the B Main to finish ahead of hard-charging Carley Dougherty, Michael Kofoid and Derek Stone.  All these drivers transferred on up to the A Main Event.  Three drivers dominated the 25 lap tour, Jesse James Colwell, Emily Williams and Brad Hysell had a strong lead over the rest of the pack, even on the few ragged restarts that plagued the first part of the race.  It all ended well for them as the placed respectively in the finish.
Beginners, huh, these 23 drivers who clocked in to run round five of the 2009-2010 season have really gotten the hang of this whole kart racing thing.  Even those who have only run these 5 races seemed to have picked up the pace and are showing up some of the Sportsman drivers.  In the mix this week Tyler Rodgers took the fastest lap of the crew with a 10.353 second. Close behind was Angelo Cornet and rookie Gavin Cate.   Four heat added to the life experience for these drivers as Jacob Wilson nabbed another win in his rookie year with the win in Heat One.  Second fast timer took the win in the second Heat Race as Cornet won Heat #2 over Jayden Bartlett.  Erik Nelson continues to rise to the top of the field has he proved his skills with a win in Heat #3 edging out Brad Dolin.  And the Rhino, Ryan Williams took home victory in Heat #4.    The six fastest drivers competed for the hardware in the Trophy Dash – which is a bonus 6 lap race who’s dividend is a beautiful trophy.  Jayden Bartlett took home the bounty in his win over Tyler Rodgers and “The Rhino”.
Three main events were then lined out.  The C Main featured some of the youngest drivers on the track.  These youngsters have really come a long way.  Madison Mittry took the win over Dawson Hammes and Andrew Garcia.  B Main and Tyler Rodgers makes a rare start outside of the A, but stays strong and takes the win from Colton Raudman and Lexi Raudman to transfer to the rear of the A Main.  Carrying his momentum into the Feature race of the night, Rodgers worked his way thru the pack passing kart after kart to finish third place just behind Angelo Cornet and winner The Rhino Ryan Williams.
Despite a slightly lower kart count this weekend, the Sportsman had some really good races.  Rather like the Beginner Box Stock drivers some of the rookie adult racers are settling into the track and are getting much better control of their setups.   Always in control, Todd Boyd wheeled his Cumpton Trucking sponsored kart to a quick time lap at only 8.450 seconds.   – oh, and yes, I’m writing this story on Thanksgiving Day, hoping that everyone is having as wonderful a holiday as I.   Anyway, Boyd out-qualified Eric Pettinger and Darin Spencer.  Only 2 heats were run to divvy up the drivers.  Boyd continued his domination of the action as he won the first heat over Donny Ritcheson.  Andy Cumpton in his Cumpton Trucking sponsored kart (surprise there, eh) took the win over Pettinger in the second heat. The Trophy Dash for the top fastest karts in the division was one of the funnest races of the night to watch.  Donny Ritcheson charged off to a great start looking like there would be no challenge from second place was surprised when Pettinger blew by him in turn four to finish up with the win.  A shortlist B Main was won by Scott Morton ahead of Kyle Calvert and the “One Armed Bandit” Chad Hembree.  For A Main experience held sway as veteran Donny Ritcheson was able to hold off Todd Boyd for his first A Main win of the season.
Did I mention that the track was fast? – Really fast? It is hard to discuss track records at Red Bluff.  Unlike most tracks that remain a constant size, only varying slightly from race to race, the bullring at Red Bluff is kind of expandable.  With its current configuration there can be variance in the length of the track by 20 or more feet between races ! – and when you are talking 1/1000ths of seconds between times – that is a huge distance.  All things considered Mr. Pistol Pete Johnston quite probably broke the track speed record with and absolute blistering 8.158 second lap – wow.
Heat #1 welcomed back Aaron Colburn sitting in for Sean Becker who was in Arizona competing in the final sprint car race for this spectacular season.  Aaron made it look easy as he took the win for the race over Rudger Worley in the Red Bull style kart.   Heat #2 featured the smooth driving of Mr. Jake Park as he held off Cameron Millard for the win.  Jake Pochop tagged the third spot in that race boosting his points.   Heat Three started out a great night of winning for longtime Outlaw Andrew Cumpton.   The Cumpton family has become a bastion of racing enthusiasm over the many long decades they have raced and support the local Outlaw Kart scene.   “Nashville” Derek O’Bannon clicked off another heat race win by finishing ahead of Beau Perkins in Heat #4 and Tyler Taylor won Heat #5.
Each year the Open Division Trophy Dashes get more and more exciting.  Unimpeded by traffic, most caution flags and the mayhem that ensues during most big-pack races, the top six fastest drivers of the night absolutely shine in these short races.  Without the usual rush-hour traffic to contend with these amazing drivers can really release the beasts and run to the best of their abilities.  This week Outlaw star Ryan Foster took the win over Pistol Pete Johnston.  These two have been sharing the spotlight since they were both about eight years old.  Both have taken the skills learned in Outlaw Karting into the pavement arena: Foster into Late Models and the NASCAR Nationwide tour and Pistol Pete made a huge splash a few  years ago in asphalt modified racing.
Thirty-eight Open Drivers were set into their Main Events for the night.  All the way down to another D Main event.  It is such a statement about this sport that even with an uncertain economy and the rising costs of travel and just about everything else, that the ranks of local racers who can continue to do what they love is still number strong.  The D Main event included 5 drivers working hard to gain the 4 transfer spots to the C Main.  Scott Sabol took the win and led Austin Raoch, Justin Burton and Cody Lamar into the C.  But trouble plagued Sabol as the front of the pack battled wildly to get the next transfer positions. On the pole were the Tarter Brothers – David took a quick lead and brother Michael dogged him as he had to contend with a number of challenges from behind and a red flag for Cody Braund’s spectacular flip over the south wall.  David Tarter squeaked under the flag ahead of Michael with roaring Tyler Wolf on his tail.
The B Main Open Division race is always exciting and this week’s was no exception.   Zach West nailed the win over Pistol Pete and Cameron Bartlett.  John Michael Bunch broke a run of bad luck with a 4th place finish and long hauler Joe Weststeyn followed him into the A Main.  And what an A Main it was.  Leading off the pack were Andrew Cumpton and Jake Park.  Right past the start cone they came together and wheels lifted, but their skills kept the karts on track and both recovered from the tangle.  Not to be left out, the rest of the pack piled up behind them and the cagiest of drivers used the jumble to dash ahead of slower karts.  They don’t call them “Sprint Karts” for nothing.  These opening seconds of a race are so crucial – they can make or break a race in many situations.  Seconds into the race two pile-ups in turn one brought out the red flag and saved the fused karts of Foster and Perkins a trip to the tail of the pack. On the restart Cumpton, still the leader dove to a strong lead, but trouble came for the #23 kart of Colburn suffering a mechanical which brought out another caution.  When the green flag flew again, the race continued uninterrupted for a number of laps, at one point Pistol Pete squirmed his way out of two nasty tangles barely losing a position to take the inevitable yellow flag. The battles continued with Cumpton and Park still holding sway over the veterans Foster and Perkins.   On almost every restart Foster would dive to the outside to get an edge over Park but the GMG and Gabel Motorsports powerhouse kept him at bay.  In the end Cumpton was able to hold off Park to take the win, as Foster and Johnston tangled in turn three allowing Rudger Worley to jet thru for a 3rd place finish.