2015 SPRINT SERIES ROUND 2 MAKE-UP PREVIEW

On Sunday we will crown our first ever Sprint Series champion, as we complete the 2015 Winter sub-championship. The points at the top of the field are extremely tight, but if anyone wants to catch current leader Sean Fite, they will have to be nearly perfect in this weekend’s Round 2 event on Nuovo.

The Championship

As mentioned, Sean Fite is the current leader with just an 11 point lead back to his teammate Hasller Ortega. Then, just another 4 points back sits Ariel Rubio and Vladimir Orlov who are tied for 3rd. Vince Burke is in 5th, and is the last driver that has a mathematical shot at taking the Winter championship this weekend.

Although Fite is the points leader, he actually still must gain 2 points on himself to win the Winter title. Due to each driver dropping their lowest score, Fite cannot beat Ariel Rubio unless he scores at least 2 points more than his current drop of 248.

Every driver in the top 4 has a very realistic shot at the championship, and with only 15 points between them, there are a multitude of scenarios that could play out for any of them. We’ll just have to keep an eye on the battle as the day goes on.

The driver in 5th, however, must be nearly perfect. Vince Burke must score at least 293 points out of 300 in order to pass Ariel Rubio in points, and that assumes that Rubio scores a 265 or less. If Rubio brings home a 272 or more, Burke is eliminated. Of course, any of the other drivers ahead of him could score enough points to eliminate Burke as well, but again there are a lot of different scenarios at play there.

It all boils down to this, keep your eyes on Fite, Ortega, Orlov & Rubio and then be sure to take a quick glance over at Burke from time to time. This has the makings of one epic showdown.

Current Top 10 In Points

Pos	Driver	1H	1M	2H	2M	3H	3M	4H	4M	5H	5M	6H	6M	7H	7M	8H	8M	Drop	Sb Ttl	Total
1	Sean Fite	85	185	-	-	85	163	100	200									248	818	570
2	Hasller Ortega	95	169	-	-	80	160	100	195									240	799	559
3	Vladimir Orlov	75	129	-	-	75	200	95	185									204	759	555
4	Ariel Rubio	90	175	-	-	100	190	85	180									265	820	555
5	Vince Burke	85	157	-	-	95	180	80	172									242	769	527
6	Dennis Kimbrell	75	180	-	-	100	166	0	0									0	521	521
7	Jake Hood	80	151	-	-	90	175	85	169									231	750	519
8	Steve Jasinski	72	172	-	-	36	129	90	175									165	674	509
9	Ashley Arnott	60	166	-	-	85	172	75	163									226	721	495
10	Luis Calderon	66	154	-	-	90	154	72	148									220	684	464

The Race

Taking a look at the Round 2 entry list, this appears to be the most talent stacked race since the season opener back in January.

Not only do we have the names listed above that are going for the Winter championship, but they are joined by standouts such as Alex Gutierrez, who many picked as the driver to beat for the Sprint Series championship this year, but is only just now making his first start of the season.

Two other drivers who have to be considered favorites are T4’s Ian Enz and Arkham’s Justin Tolman. Both are supremely quick and have had good success in the Super Series this year, and each are looking for that one defining moment that moves them into that top tier level. Could one of these two get that moment on Sunday?

Finally, we have to talk about Andrew Wood. Wood is a driver that some may not be familiar with, but came out to the Sport Kart Grand Nationals last year and ran extremely well. Wood is too fast to be a darkhorse, but too inexperienced at CalSpeed to be a favorite. Regardless, Wood could be a very big spoiler in this half season finale.
Spots are still available for this Sunday’s race, get yours at http://calspeed.mycustomevent.com/

For the always current Sprint Series Record Book,