CalSpeedJune2018

J ust 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… Round 6 June 16