2019CalSpeedMagazineMay

Pole - Bill Kreig T ecnico would play host to the fifth round in the 2019 Super Series championship, the first of two times the marquee series would see the challenging layout this year. Typically a place where the more experienced drivers thrive, this round would again see a new face split a pair of veterans once the final checkers fell… Leaving right where he left off a month ago, round #4 winner Bill Kreig secured his 5th career pole position in green/ white/checkered qualifying, with 2019 standout qualifier Adam Nagao in 2nd, and title contender Paulo Franca in third. The trio would lead their respective heat races away at the green, but none of them would cross the line first at the end of them; instead that honor would go to Sam Hunt, Diego Morales, and Jose da Silva. The second heat would of course see the top ten inverted, this time with a different trio of drivers coming out on top. Although a big name in sport karting, it had been an almost 2-year hiatus for Aaron Downs– his heat win showed he hadn’t lost a step. 2018 champ Alyssa Yauney and series veteran Taylor Hays would secure the final two heat victories, the latter running one of his last events of the season ahead of a move back east. The main events would kick off with the C-Main, with Chaofan Hou leading the field at the start, but not through the first few corners. Brad Harvey would have that honor instead, however that wouldn’t last to the end of the lap, as Chaofan countered to take the lead back. It wasn’t just a mano-e-mano affair however, as Bryan Schubert made his presence known early, moving from third to second on lap 3, before taking over the lead on lap 4. From there it was all Schubert, assisted slightly by the infighting going on behind him, he cruised to a C-Main win at the end, and with it the B-Main transfer. The penultimate main of the day would see newcomer Mike Carlson in position number one at the start, commanding a field of thirty that all wanted that final transfer spot out of the B-Main, and into the big show. Unfortunately for the new guy, he had a lot of experience right on his doorstep, as former Sprint Series champ and Super Series rookie of the year TJ Blackledge made short work to get into the lead. To his credit, Carlson would hang tough for the next few circuits, until up and coming talent Scott Milne took over the runner up spot with about seven laps to go. Milne would take the fight to Blackledge all the way to the flag, keeping the pressure on, coming up just .084 seconds short at the line. As we have seen ever since the start of the 10-driver invert, consistency pays better than just scoring a single heat win, and Paulo Franca proved this point with the A-Main pole position via a pair of 2nds. Sam Hunt would line up along side with a heat win and a third, while Adam Nagao slotted into third with a pair of top threes, with heat race winner Diego Morales completing the second row. The driver to A Main Podium B-Main Winner TJ Blackledge C-Main Winner Bryan Schubert Round 5 - May 18