Round #2 in the CalSpeed Super Series took to the Grande CCW course this past weekend, and drivers were treated to perfect conditions, and with it, a track record pace. In the end, the track record set at this event last year by Paulo Franca would hold up, but along with the fast times came some great racing and plenty of contenders for the race win…
Qualifying for the second round would see a pair of South American wheelmen at the sharp end, with Colombian ace Andres Prieto scoring the overall pole position, while Brazilian Paulo Franca backed up his top time from round one with a P2 in qualy. Up and coming Masters driver Max DeMoss Sr scored the final bonus point with a third overall, and would roll out first for his heat race as well.
While all three of the top qualifiers would score heat race wins, it was Prieto backing it with a second place in his second heat race. Making it a Colombian lock-out of the A-Main front row, round #1 winner Diego Morales matched Prieto with a win and a second, while DeMoss would line up 3rd, joined by reigning champ Sean Fite to make up row two. Joining the four aforementioned heat wins would be Chris Huerta, and a break out win by Jacob Reis; that duo would make up row three in the A-Main.
As usual, the C-Main would kick off the final three races of the day, and as we often see, a driver atypical of the C-Main would take command. Grand Masters standout Jeff Latimer would line up P1 to start the 12 lap feature, with Jacob Sainz and Sheng Wu following him to finish lap one. By lap three, however, it was Wu out front of the other two, and he never looked back. While Sheng Wu would go on to a dominant win and transfer to the B-Main, the driver on the move was Max Demoss Jr, working up from the 8th spot in an effort to bounce back from an incident in his heat races. He would eventually catch and dispatch the aforementioned Latimer and Sainz, with the latter finding his way around the Grand Masters to complete the top 3.
The B-Main is often a place where we see drivers looking to sneak into the A-Main after an incident in the heats, and this round was no different. Grand Masters point leader Tony Wika would lead the field into Short Beach for the first time, but would immediately come under pressure from Ariel Rubio, hoping to rebound after an incident at the start of his second heat. Rubio would get to the lead, but just after halfway would be attacked himself, as first Wika and then Evan Lawrence made moves for the front. Lawrence would eventually take over and fight to keep Rubio and Wika at bay, and it was he that finished the rebound story for the B-Main this time around.
Sometimes a day just lines up perfectly, and for Andres Prieto, it was nearly that. After scoring the overall pole position, a win and a second in his heat races, it was from P1 he would start the second A-Main of the 2020 Super Series season. Right from the start, it was Prieto over Diego Morales and Sean Fite, the trio dutifully staying in line with Max Demoss coming under immediate challenge from the pack in tow.
The top three would continue to stay in line, pulling away from the infighting behind in the opening laps, but it would be Spencer Russell breaking through the pack and begin to reel in the leaders towards the end. He would reach the lead trio just in time to have a couple of laps to attack the back of the train, but Fite used superior experience to keep the youngster at bay. That little tussle did make it tough for them to challenge the top two, where Prieto also used superb defense to hold on to the top spot for career win #2, with Morales and Fite rounding out the podium.
The CalSpeed Super Series returns for round #3 March 21st, heading in the forward direction for the first time since August on the Grande circuit, so sign up today!
Super Series A-Main Top 10-
| 1) | Andres Prieto |
| 2) | Diego Morales [M] |
| 3) | Sean Fite |
| 4) | Spencer Russell |
| 5) | Paulo Franca |
| 6) | Ayrton DeMoss |
| 7) | TJ Blackledge |
| 8) | Max DeMoss [M] |
| 9) | Michael Hazlewood |
| 10) | Bill Kreig |
Point Standings Top 10 (drop)
| 1) | Diego Morales [M] | 415 | (392) |
| 2) | Andres Prieto | 412 | (336) |
| 3) | TJ Blackledge | 388 | (337) |
| 4) | Paulo Franca | 385 | (351) |
| 5) | Sean Fite | 376 | (375) |
| 6) | Ayrton DeMoss | 374 | (347) |
| 7) | Spencer Russell | 363 | (275) |
| 8) | Max DeMoss [M] | 360 | (332) |
| 9) | Sam Hunt | 353 | (283) |
| 10) | Pietro Moro [S] | 351 | (324) |
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