Here we go, better late than never. It’s been a week since the last race, but the excitement that was in the air is still palpable.  Tonight, we start with the Intermediate Division.  Charging out to qualifying early in the day, the Intermediate drivers were met with a super green track with a lot of slick mud down in the apex of turn 3-4.  But, one quick run thru and they all discovered where to put their karts to make the most of their horsepower while sticking in the good dirt.  And it was Miss Morgan Sandhagen that found the best line out of the 20 drivers that clocked in.  Checking in with a very fast 8.535 second lap Morgan was on a roll which started last week with her awesome win in the A Main Event.  Three heat races were lined up to accommodate the field.  Mason Millard, who suffered from some tough mechanicals last week came back strong to take the win in the Heat One.  Mallorie “The Bombshell” McGahan held off Casey McClain to win Heat #2 and James Edens won the third round ahead of Brenna Johnson. 
Tony Rossi to Win the Intermediate A main

Tony Rossi to Win the Intermediate A main

An eight kart B Main was headed up by Rico Abreu over Logan Seavey and Wesley Dougherty.  James Edens won a great Trophy Dash.   The A Main was simply one of those races where things go bad for a number of drivers, but turned out to be a showcase race for Tony Rossi.  Rossi had a tough row to hoe as he had to make an exorbitant number of restarts as the yell0w-flag plagued race drew on and on.  One tachometer/laps meter put the race at over 100 laps including the interminable yellows.  Each restart was a test of Rossi’s skill, patience and kart setup as he held off Tyler Seavey and Jeremy Doss to win.

Always a great class at Red Bluff, the Box Stock Division remained strong with 27 drivers timing in and presenting some of the cleanest, hardest racing of the night.  Jesse Colwell hit the green track for his qualifying efforts and was rewarded with a 9.640 second time

Hollis Shane Thackerary coming into to win the A main

Hollis Shane Thackerary coming into to win the A main

which plunked him in to first place ahead of Michael Kofoid and Ryan Robinson in qualifying.  Four heat races saw Tyler Brown take the win in #1, Hollis Shane Thackeray started out his excellent night with a win in Heat #2, Colby Cate nabbed Heat #3 victory over Michael Mischoff and Derek Stone won his top-spot race with Trenton LaChance to the honors in Heat #4.  Michael Kofoid was the winner of the stacked B-Main which Brian McGahan Jr. tagging in second ahead of Michael Ing.  Tanner Carrick, who made the trek to Tulsa earlier in the year to be a contender in the Tulsa Shootout won the Trophy Dash for the class.  Right from the flagdrop of the A Main Hollis Shane Thackeray powered to the lead and held off Tyler Brown and Emily Williams to take the win.

Every week the young Beginner Box Stock Division just gets better and better ! it is so much fun to watch these drivers gain the confidence and skills that can take them to the top of any type of racing.  Still going strong with 26 kart pack even with a single race left, the karts hit the track early in the day to run their qualifying laps.  Kyle Pendergrass in the #66JR kart pulled the fastest lap of the group with a 10.730 second run.  Ryan “The Rhino” Williams took second spot ahead of Angelo Cornet.  Again, four heat races were lined up from the qualifying results.  Erik Nelson, who has simply come-alive this year, took the win in Heat #1 over hard-charging Jacob Wilson.  Dawson Hammes, sporting a new graphics package this week held off the super-smooth Jayden Bartlett to win Heat #2.  Gavin Cate, another stand-out drivers this season, held off “The Rhino” Williams to win Heat #3 and David Stroud in the #88 Hanson Glass  sponsored kart won over Brad Dolin in the final heat of the day.  A ten kart C Main saw Colton Raudman hold off Madison Mittry and Tyler Burke to grab the win.  Bailey Martin charged to a win in the exciting B Main over Tyler Rodgers and Lexi Raudman.   Jayden Bartlett would later share the victory circle with his big brother Cameron for his win in the Trophy Dash over Tyler Rodgers.  Colton Raudman, who was destined to climb the alphabet soup of Mains, started off by winning the C Main, then in the B Main he grabbed the last transfer spot into the A, and in the A he made a spectacular run from near the back of the pack to take the win in what was one of the hottest races of the night.

Rowdy McClenon hits his mark to take fast time in the Open Division

Rowdy McClenon hits his mark to take fast time in the Open Division

Which brings us to the Open Division.  Thirty-six drivers signed-in to run this next to the last race of the points season.  Rowdy McClenon in his “HotRodstoHell.net” sponsored #13 kart rocketed out of the corners in his final lap of qualifying to take fast time of the group with an 8.376 second run.  On a commentarial note, for those fans who don’t come earlier enough to watch the qualifying laps of these karts, you simply can’t believe what looks like when a kart simply hooks up and goes.  Last race it was Kyle Larson who nailed his lap, and this week with McClenon’s perfect run, it is remarkable how graceful, and elegant these karts can really be.

And Rowdy continued his strong night by taking the win in Heat #1 over Camron Millard.  Heat #2 posted Andrew Cumpton as victor over Tyler Wolf.  Rudger Worley sitting in for John Michael Bunch won Heat #3 head of Pistol Pete and Michael Tarter.  Jake Park pulled Kyle Larson who was subbing for Ryan Foster, to take the win in Heat #4 and in the final heat of the night Keith Bloom flew across the line just ahead of Cody Lamar and Cody Braund. 

Stand-out rookie Cameron Bartlett ran a super C Main just head of Justin Burton whose kart was well-tuned to the track conditions and was a contender for the lead a number of times.  In the super-stacked B Main Michael Tarter held off NASCAR racers Steven Gannon and Sprint Champion Sean Becker to win the top spot.  Cameron Bartlett made it look easy in the Trophy Dash as he wheeled his kart to the win over Andrew Cumpton.  That was a two-fer night for the Bartlett clan as Mom and Dad joined their boys in the Victory Circle for Trophy Dash presentations.  The A Main featured a front-pack battle between Keith Bloom Jr, Pete Johnston and Sean Becker.  While some of the best Outlaw Kart drivers in the world sliced and diced mid to back pack the battle up-front raged.  When a last lap pass by Johnston was foiled by a tangle with Bloom Sean Becker needled thru to take the win.

Todd Boyd Charging

Todd Boyd Charging

It just doesn’t get any closer than the points battle in the Sportsman Division.  The Cumpton Trucking karts, the #11 of Todd Boyd and the the #11X of Andy Cumpton are dead-tied going into the final race of the year.  And it was a one-two qualifying effort for the duo too, with Boyd setting an 8.701 second lap to edge out Cumpton for the fastest qualifying lap.  Three heat races were lined out with Donny Ritcheson taking the win in #1, Andy Cumpton the win in #2 and Brian Sperry in #3.  Boyd came back in the B Main to take the win over Evan Johnson and Scotty Morton.  Todd Boyd, who had an epic battle with Pettinger last week for the lead and the win in the A Main, this week was bested by Pettinger for the Trophy Dash win – and in the exciting A Main in which Pettinger successfully held off hard-charging Demo Mittry to take the win.

Next week ! – The Final Points Race – you will NOT want to miss this guaranteed action-packed event.

Check on line now for all the information and forms for the 5th Annual West Coast Nationals.

Video Courtesy www.KyleLarsonRacing.com

Video Courtesy www.KyleLarsonRacing.com