Incredible 5 in a row for Samuel Hunt on Sportivo at Super Series #6

Summer certainly arrived in Southern California for Round #6 of the CalSpeed Super Series, as near 100 degree temps greeted a sold out entry list, taking to the Sportivo layout for the second time this year. It was the start of the second half of the season, and either a chance for drivers to solidify their spots in the standings, or perhaps hit the reset button and press the attack to move up the ranks…

And it looked like it would be the latter on the agenda for many, starting with the overall pole sitter in qualifying, Donnie Clarke. It was his first career pole position, starting his attack on the day with the first starting spot in his first heat, as well as 5 bonus points to his total. Joining him in the bonus points and getting their own P1 starting spots were second overall qualifier Bill Kreig, and former Series champ Sean Fite in third, each their best qualy performances of the year.

Once the heat races began however, none of the top qualifiers would victory lane, with six other drivers finding their way to the top of the pile in the 10 lap pre-lims, including Michael Hazlewood, Diego Morales, Spencer Russell, Chase Nickells, Sam Hunt and Jose da Silva. Consistency would be key however, and even though he did not win a race, it would be Bill Kreig earning the pole position for the A-Main on the back of a pair of 2^nd place finishes in his two heats…

The C-Main would take off as the customary first main event of the day, all drivers vying for the win, and the transfer into the B-Main from there. Runner up at the most recent debut of the CalSpeed GP Series, newcomer Tiange Li would lead the field away with veteran Frank Hsu alongside. Li would not only come under fire from Hsu right away to lose the lead on lap one, but fellow sportsman driver Brian Langone would also dispatch Li to take over the second spot. Hsu showed his experience however, and not only kept the top spot, he would pull away to a comfortable lead, even having time to joke for cameraman Sean Buur before snagging the win at the end of 12 laps.

The B-Main however would see no jokes, and would be anything but comfortable for the drivers out front, as the attacks came early, and the pressure only mounted as the race went on. Dmitry Korotkov would start from pole and keep the lead through the first circuit, but the drivers on the move -Evan Lawrence and Spencer Russell- were scything their way to the front from 7^th and 9^th respectively. After a phenomenal first set of corners and solid first lap, the pair were up to 3^rd and 4^th by the end of it, with Evan lining up his sights on P2 man Nathaniel Small the very next lap. After making his way past Small, it took one more lap before he found his way past Korotkov, with Russell also making his way by, albeit with another lap in the books. From there the top two slowly pulled away from the field, and in the final laps it was a mano-e-mano dice between former Sprint Series stars for the B-Main win, with Lawrence staving off the pressure to claim the win, and final A-main spot.

The start of the A-Main would see Bill Kreig elect to try things around the outside for the first turn, as he chose the off-pole grid position for the run up into Kimbrell. It almost paid off too, as he and Sam Hunt went side-by-side thought the opening corners, before Hunt emerged out front. Coming into the event, Hunt had actually won the past four events on Sportivo in a row, and once out front, he showed exactly why; putting on a 15 lap clinic from start to finish he grew his lead to over three seconds in the end. It was yet another dominant performance on this layout, now aptly nicknamed “Sam-tivo”.

The rest of the field were racing for best of the rest, with the aforementioned Bill Kreig slotting into straight away, before coming under attack from fellow title contender, Donnie Clarke. Clarke worked up from fourth to secure second, and it looked like that would be the way they finished, until Emerson Thieman reached them in the final few laps. Thieman found his way by Kreig to secure what would be his first podium with three to go, but then went one step better on the penultimate lap to steal away P2 and his first Super Series hardware.

The CalSpeed Super Series returns for round #7 July 23^rd, which will take to the Nuotivo layout for the only time this year!

Super Series A-Main Top 10

1. Samuel Hunt
2. Emerson Thieman [S]
3. Donnie Clarke
4. Bill Kreig
5. Michael Hazlewood
6. Diego Morales [M]
7. Doug Yauney [M]
8. Ian Odermatt [S]
9. Sean Fite
10. Ayrton Demoss

Overall Point Standings Top 10

1. Samuel Hunt               1531   
2. Ayrton Demoss           1512
3. Donnie Clarke             1499   
4. Bill Kreig                      1478   
5. Diego Morales [M]      1468   
6. Sean Fite                     1429   
7. Jose da Silva [M]         1428   
8. Alyssa Yauney             1390   
9. Doug Yauney [M]        1359
10. Max Demoss [GM]      1347