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California ProKart Challenge
| Former IndyCar Driver Invades PKC SoCal CalSpeed Event |
| Wednesday, 28 January 2009 22:58 |
 To commence its fifth year of competition, the ProKart Challenge South series – a Superkarts! USA regional program – began the 2009 season at the CalSpeed Karting facility in Fontana, California this past weekend. Seventy drivers in eight classes began their chase for championship glory at the 7/10-mile circuit located just outside the Auto Club Speedway (formerly the California Speedway). Wet weather would hinder the Friday practice day, but not the spirit of the opening event, as many drivers still took part in the festivities – including a dinner provided by the series on Friday evening. This led to nearly-dry racing weather on Saturday, dampened by just a light sporadic sprinkling around the course, where some of the best drivers from the western half of the United States were in attendance, including former IndyCar driver Alex Barron, reigning PKC South S3 Champion Bobby Legate, 2005 SuperNationals winner Lorenzo Mandarino and 2008 PKC South S5 Champion 14-year-old Race Liberante, who has moved up to contend in S3. The veteran Barron would eventually steal the show, putting in a great performance in the headline S3 category.Barron would contend the S3 division, the top level of the spec Honda program in the ProKart Challenge. A former promoter of a spec moto-based series, Barron is no stranger to the six-speed Honda CR125. The 38-year-old put his entry third on the chart during the qualifying session as former SKUSA SuperNationals SuperPro winner Lorenzo Mandarino took the top honors by 15-thousandths of a second over reigning PKC S3 champion Bobby Legate. Clinton Schoombee was fourth on the time sheets, putting the top four lap times within one-tenth of a second. Race Liberante qualifies in the seventh position – just four-tenths off the top qualifiers. The opening heat race saw Mandarino fall off pace with ignition troubles, eventually finishing 12th. This gave Legate the point and the race win, followed by Barron and Schoombee. Legate would win the second heat as well, leading all 10 laps as Mandarino battled up to second ahead of Barron and Billy Musgrave. Schoombee retired on lap two, forcing him to start the main event from the tail of the grid. The start of the 20-lap feature would see Mandarino get the jump on Legate in the opening portion of the race. Musgrave, moving up from the S4 division this year, would be on a charge to make it a three-driver fight for the lead. Musgrave took his turn at the point before Legate would regain the spot. This shuffling allowed Barron to join the mix and he would take over the lead on lap 13. From there, Barron put his experience to work in holding off the valiant late-race charges of Legate to take the win by just 0.029 seconds at the line. Patrick Cushenberry would complete the podium, while Schoombee climbed his way back up to fourth. Attempting to regain the positions that he lost, Mandarino was blackflagged on lap 13 for rough driving. After battling inside the top six for 19 laps, Musgrave fell to 12th in the final lap. Liberante rounded out the top ten.  Qualifying was tight also in the TaG Senior division with NorCal shoe Troy Diede making his way south to show the way in the timed session, edging Andrick Zeen by 0.026 seconds. Fellow NorCal pilot Brett Felkins and SuperNationals TaG Masters winner Billy Cleavelin were within a tenth of Diede’s lap time as well. Diede would show the way in the first half of the opening heat race until coming under the pressure of veteran Howie Idelson. The two would battle for the lead, bringing Zeen into the mix in the closing laps. Zeen would emerge with the lead on lap eight and hold on for the win. Diede would fall to fifth behind Idelson, John Zartarian and Shawn Cricca. The experienced Zartarian would go on to win the second heat, while Idelson and Cricca would fall down the order. Diede rebounded with a second place run ahead of his brother Cody, who advanced from the tenth spot, while their young teammate Brett Felkins finished fourth.The feature was a wild one with seven lead changes in the first 10 laps. Zartarian, Diede, Idelson, and Zeen each took their turn at the point until lap 11 when Felkins jumped from third to first, getting by Zeen and Diede. Felkins would hold on for the victory in his first Senior outing of the 2009 season. Zartarian slotted into second, while Cricca completed the podium in third.  A total of 13 drivers contended the S4 division, the heavier category for the spec Honda division in the ProKart Challenge. Defending S4 Heavy champion Ken Schilling was the quickest in the qualifying session by just over seven-tenths ahead of Rob Whitley and Peter Workum. Schilling saw smooth sailing in the opening heat, taking the victory by seven seconds. In the second heat, however, some precipitation came through the area and forced a restart after the opening lap. While leading, Schilling spun his machine on course as the rest of the field avoided him, ending his race early. Jeff Smith would assume the point and the win over Whitley and PKC newcomer Jason Attwood. Smith would have the advantage off the line to begin the 20-lap feature before Whitley assumed the top spot on lap six. The two ran nose-to-tail until the final lap when Smith made the final move and crossed the line first for the provisional win. PKC officials would dock Smith two positions for rough driving, putting Workum on the top step of the podium and Whitley to second. Schilling would drive back to fourth from the tail of the field following his heat two spin.TaG Masters’ top qualifier Hawshon Riley had a tough time staying up front after a superb lap during the timed session. After leading in the opening heat, he would fall back in the closing laps as Steve Wiener took the win. Both would be denied victory in the second heat as George Gallardo stepped up his game to take the victory and the pole for the main. In the feature, it was all Gallardo from green to checkered to take the victory. Mike Burnett outran Wiener for third after Riley retired on lap 13. Jason Campbell was the class of the field in the 13-kart G1 division by winning the feature – after topping the qualifying charts and winning heat two. Steve Ferrario was second, while Brad Dhesi crossed the line in third. Jacob Neal was on his way to a sweep in the S1 category until he sat out the final after injuring himself in the S3 main event. Peter Abba, who ran second to Neal throughout the day, ran unchallenged to the victory, while Imran Husain edged Gregory Liefooghe for the second spot. Phil Giebler and Cody Hodgson were on hand to showcase their KF2 engine packages, mixed in with the TaG Senior group and starting half a lap behind. Both put in impressive lap times throughout the day. Austin Schimmel and Max Zacky ran unchallenged in the S5 Junior and TaG Junior divisions to earn their first victories of the 2009 season. “I’m not giving up on these junior classes,” stated a hopeful Tom Kutscher, SKUSA President. “I would love to see more junior racers take advantage of running with us this season – especially on the same tire compound that we’ll be using in this year’s SuperNats. And the KF2 engine package is one I’m looking at seriously for our program in the near future. Keep an eye on our website for more information on this.” The SKUSA ProKart Challenge South program will return to action on February 28 as the series travels to the Willow Springs Raceway kart track in Rosamond, California. |