2020CalSpeedMagazineJanuary

S tarting off the New Year, drivers took to the 2020 Season Opener of the Sprint Series on the Classico CCW configuration and it would not be without excitement. A 2-month hiatus since the 2019 finale certainly didn’t blunt any of the coming talent and we would see both new and old faces atop the podium for the first race of this season… Weather would be sunny and perfect for racing over the weekend and we’d see drivers mainly in the 3rd qualifying session pull off the fastest times. It would come as no surprise that last year’s 2nd overall winner, Ayrton DeMoss [2R], knabbed pole position with 58.508s. Up and coming drivers Devins Baker and Tommy Haake didn’t linger too far with a 2nd and 3rd respectively, one of their best showings as well. Pole sitter DeMoss had the green flag and hopefuls Ivan Martinez and Diego Alvarado trailed behind. The latter pair would not sit still however, and would exchange positions every few laps. Eventually, Alvarado would take the fight to DeMoss, holding the lead with less than 3 to go. Meanwhile, Michael Chen dueled with Martinez, now poised in 3rd. Eventually, DeMoss stole back his front position and went on to the heat 1A win ahead of Alvarado. Now on to the A-Main: Ayrton DeMoss had a great start and quickly made it clear why he was on the podium for the 2019 Sprint Series championship. It wouldn’t be long until the infighting behind him allowed him to sail away comfortably to over a 1.5 second lead. The 3-pack behind him saw the likes of Orlov, Haake, and Alvarado all shuffling for the last 2 pieces of the day’s hardware. At the final lap, Alvarado made the move for second but the fight for third would be settled post-race; with the dust settled, DeMoss had the win ahead of Alvarado and Haake, the bearer of his first-ever podium hardware in the Sprint Series. A Main Podium B-Main Winner Christopher Lovell C-Main Winner Nathaniel Small Round 1 - Jan 4