2018CalSpeedMagazineNov

T he Season Finale for the 2018 IronMan Series would not only be a battle for the final podium of the year, but also the overall championship podium, as well as the Summer Series sub- championship. Taylor Hays, Alyssa Yauney, and Sean Fite were the three contenders in a field of 30 sport class drivers that owned this secondary spotlight, but it would not take long for them to turn their points battle, into a straight up fight for the win… Pro Class While the fight for the win and championship rolled on in the sport class, the Pro Class competed for what would not only be the final time this season, but perhaps for good, with the class potentially not returning in 2019. That said, it was still a fun show to watch the 206-powered VLR karts piloted through their sport kart brethren; the five or so second difference between the two classes mostly noticeably coming out of the corners. It was the last chance for a few drivers to get a taste of the package ahead of the 12-hour Machismo in less than a month’s time, and this time around it was a pretty straight forward run. Tony Wika would lead the field away from pole, with the field getting the green after a second attempt at the start. He’d hold on to the front spot for a handful of laps, with the group coming to grips with their machines, and the tricky Tecnico layout. Eventually it was Andres Prieto surging forward to take over the top spot, a driver that came up just short of the win one round prior in the two-hour contest. This time around he would not be denied, not only eventually cutting the fastest lap of the race, but also splitting off for his own pit strategy early. Knocking out both pit stops inside the first 15 minutes, Prieto would be on his own to the very end, picking up a well deserved victory, and the last Pro Class win for 2018. His closest competition would actually cross the line first however, as sports car racer Craig Stanton made his first run at CalSpeed in 2018, jumping into the Pro Class at the last second to snag some seat time ahead of another car race coming up. The talented Masters driver showed no lack of speed -clocking a lap just .033 seconds slower then the aforementioned Prieto- but he would get bottled up in traffic on more than one occasion. Unfortunately, Stanton was not on the same page in terms of pit stops, and would only make one trip down pit lane over the course of the hour. After the penalty was assessed, he would be moved to the second spot on the podium. For his part, season long Pro-Class runner Tony Wika put up his best performance of the year, and claimed the third step on the podium ahead of Matt Steele, returning after recovering from some health issues earlier this year. Sport Class Coming into the Season Finale, Taylor Hays held the point lead and needed a top five or better to clinch, regardless of what his closest competitors were able to do. Those challengers were Alyssa Yauney and Sean Fite, the pair separated by very few points themselves, jockeying not only for a shot at the overall, but their own places on the podium. Adding to the story, all three were also vying for the Summer Round 10 Nov 10