2019CalSpeedMagazineMay

T he Winter Subchampionship set the tone for Sprint Series R5 with several hopefuls looking to take home the title. With beautiful Socal weather on the drivers’ sides, the race would prove to be a boon for one driver in particular, as he scored not only his first podium, but would also make that appearance on the highest step… Tecnico earns its name as one of the most technical configurations here at CalSpeed, thus providing a playing ground for drivers to have to figure things out fast. The man who would make it happen in qualifying was none other than overall points leader Tyler Redman. The start of heat 1C saw Chase Nickells immediately taking possession of the top seat but he would have Seth Willits to contend with. Both teamed up and kept in line for the whole of the race as the battle behind raged on. Nickells and Willits would cross the checkered in respective order and Tony Wika would score third post- race after penalties were delved out to other drivers. The A-Main proved to be a fun one to watch. Eyes were on Redman, overall points leader and nearly- in-the-bag Winter Subchamp, and there was podium hopeful Nickells just a hair’s length behind. After only a lap, both Nickells and Willits had inched ever closer to Redman’s bumper, the group of three separating from the pack. After another lap, Nickells now had the lead– Redman was right behind though, leaving absolutely zero breathing room for his rival. Each lap had to be perfect and with the pressure on high, the top two began moving away from Willits who was comfortably in third. At the white flag, it would seem there was no chance for Redman– the checkered finally came and it would be Nickells with his first career win in the Sprint Series. Officially, the first half of the Sprint Series is now behind us, and with that, Tyler Redman crowned winner of the Sprint Series Winter Subchampionship. Despite being points leader, he still has yet to actually get the big W but has stood on the second step for 3 consecutive races up until this point. Nickells, having now risen up the rankings to be 2nd overall, is scheduled to miss exactly 2 rounds in the last half of the season, so perfection weighs heavily on his mind. He has only 10 points over Ronnie Swaim Jr in 3rd and that’s a gap that can be easily closed. We begin anew with the Summer Subchampionship in June and we’re left with a big question mark on what will become of the Overall championship… A Main Podium B-Main Winner Jacob Abrams C-Main Winner Mike Carlson Round 5 - May 4