The first race in the second half of the CalSpeed Karting season would belong to the IronMan Series, once again hosting a sold out entry list of drivers that included both sport and pro classes on track at once. For the second time this season the endurance branch of CalSpeed racing would take to the near flat-out Nuovo circuit, which once again showed why it is called the ‘Super Speedway’. The Pro Class would see a usual suspect lead the way once again, while the sport class category would see the first multi-time winner in the 2018 season…
Charles Eichlin would lead the field away for the single-file rolling start that would kick off the second half of the season, entering the Busstop complex with Alexander Bermudez right on his tail. The latter would waste no time taking over the lead, actually bringing series regular Tony Wika along in the process on lap one. Lap two saw Eichlin get back to the runner up spot, this time bringing east coast fly-in driver Ryan Curtin along to drop Wika to fourth. The immediate infighting would see Bermudez jump out to an early two second lead, and while the next three in line would stay together for the next handful of laps, Bermudez would maintain his advantage as they caught traffic for the first time. Curtin would take over second in these first few laps, before Eichlin took it back once in traffic, pushing to a two second gap of his own over Curtin. Putting his head down once through the first salvo of sport class traffic, Curtin proceeded to reel Eichlin back in, regaining the second spot about 10 laps after he had lost it in traffic.
That would be the last time any of the Pro Class drivers would be close enough to battle for position however, as with Eichlin pitting a couple laps after being passed by Curtin, the gaps margins would mount up, and it was just a Driver vs. Traffic battle for each of the entrants in the category. The master of this thus far continued to be Bermudez, who not only carried on to score his fourth win in a row, but did it to the tune of a near 10 second lead to boot…
Pro Class Round #6 Podium
| 1) | Alexander Bermudez |
| 2) | Ryan Curtin |
| 3) | Charles Eichlin |
Just a couple of seconds astern at the start of the one hour contest, the sport class would be led at the green by Tyler Redman and Mark Sternberg, with the latter taking over the top spot to lead lap one. The pair of sportsman class standouts were joined by veteran sport karter Ariel Rubio via his third place starting position, and the trio immediately settled into cutting fast laps. Their discipline allowed them to grow their advantage to a three second lead by the second lap, the infighting behind doing much to build that gap. Things would calm down a bit behind them after lap four or so however, and with Anthony Severson and Alyssa Yauney now linked up and giving chase, the lead trio became the hunted. Perhaps realizing that a good thing may be coming to an end, Rubio took this chance to move to the lead just before the Pro Class moved through the lead pack for the first time. At this point, Severson and Yauney had dispatched the aforementioned Sternberg and Redman, moving into second and third while the top five still held almost a two second lead over the chasing pack headed up by point leader Taylor Hays…
Linked up with Machismo teammate and reigning IronMan Series champion Adam Nagao, plus T4 teammate Steve Spring and last month’s winner Sean Fite, the quartet was making steady progress to join the front group of five. By lap twelve they were on them, the train of drivers now led by Yauney, with the once harmonious driving about to be traded out for a battle to get to the lead of the pack, or to stay there. It would take several laps and a few bouts with traffic along the way, but eventually the final protagonists for the victory would reach the front, with Fite leading over Yauney, Hays, and Rubio, with Sternberg still impressively holding on to the group. It would be Sternberg too that would be the first to blink in the pit stop game, and unfortunately that would be the last time he would be inside the top five. With the rest of the front runners leaving their stops to the very end, it became a whirlwind of pit stops and quick laps to see who would come out on top.
In the end it would come down to Taylor Hays And Alyssa Yauney battling out in the final lap, with Yauney right on the back bumper of Hays heading into the final corner. Yauney would be forced to settle for second this time around however, as Hays claimed his 7th career win, tying the record set for most wins with Sergio Bravo. Sean Fite would finish off the podium after pitting on the final lap, moving up to 4th position in the points in the process…
IronMan Series Round #6 Top 5
| 1) | Taylor Hays |
| 2) | Alyssa Yauney |
| 3) | Sean Fite |
| 4) | Ariel Rubio |
| 5) | Jose da Silva |
Overall Top 10 in Points
| 1) | Taylor Hays | 401 |
| 2) | Chris Huerta | 362 |
| 3) | Alyssa Yauney | 358 |
| 4) | Sean Fite | 348 |
| 5) | Jose da Silva | 333 |
| 6) | Steve Spring | 313 |
| 7) | Lukas Dziemidok | 301 |
| 8) | Chris Carter | 295 |
| 9) | Ariel Rubio | 292 |
| 10) | Adam Nagao | 292 |
Summer Series Top 5
| 1) | Taylor Hays | 103 |
| 2) | Alyssa Yauney | 100 |
| 3) | Sean Fite | 93 |
| 4) | Ariel Rubio | 88 |
| 5) | Jose da Silva | 80 |
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