Page 15 - 2022CalSpeedMagazineFeb

T Round 2 - Feb 12
he second round of the 2022 CalSpeed Super Series campaign ran through the longest of the Fontana, CA circuit’s layouts, Grande. A sold out show that in fact saw several names miss
out on signing up before things hit capacity, round #2 would see some classic drag-race style finishes that Grande is known for...
Former series champ Alyssa Yauney would be the first top strike, putting up top time in the green/white/checkered qualifying to snag her third career pole position. Joining her inside the top three to score P1 starting spots and some bonus points were Paulo Franca in second for the second race in a row, while Max Demoss matched his career best qualifying effort with a third overall.
The heat races would see 6 different winners, but two drivers were able to back up their wins with P2 performances in the second effort as well, that being Paulo Franca and Sean Fite. Franca’s win from pole in his first heat saw him come from 10th to snag 2nd, while Fite held onto his starting spot in his first heat for second, and worked up from 9th to win heat 2. The nod for pole in the A-Main went to Franca for his P2 in qualy, beating P4 man Fite by just over 2 tenths. Other heat race winners were reigning champ Sam Hunt, Masters contender Ariel Rubio continuing his fine form this year, as well as Ayrton Demoss, and first time heat winner Matt Steele.
The C-Main would have a slew of new faces in it, and would be a battle of Sportsman Supremacy as the entire field held the [S] moniker for the category. Newcomer Gabe Zamora would lead the field of 30 at the drop of the green, but former indoor karting standout and long- time 2-wheel racer James Romero would take over right from the start. Romero would lead for nearly the entire first half with Paige Abraham and Andre Monastricky in tow, until the latter made his move on lap six, bringing Paige along in the process. Once out front, the pair would slowly stretch out from Romero, eventually making it a two- horse race, with Paige applying heavy pressure until the end. While the fast er of the two, Abraham could not find a way past Andre for the lead, his defense stout enough to claim the C-main win.
James Lieser would be the pole man to kick off the second Main of the day, with Sophia Rubio alongside, followed by Ethan Chen in 3rd, and another Rubio -Camila- in 4th. Lieser would show his experience holding off attacks in the opening circuit, but then it was Chen playing the pusher, and the duo started to stretch things out a bit over the infighting that ensued behind. It was a bit of an accordion from the top two, as Ethan would take a few looks, lose some time, and then need to make it back up, while behind them, the fastest driver on the track was up and coming talent Frank Chen. Frank methodically worked his way up from 8th to clear the pack on lap 5, giving chase from third to bridge the gap to the lead duo. It would all culminate in a three-wide drag race for the win, with Lieser holding on to go flag to flag over Ethan and Frank, the trio separated by just .065 at the line...
The start of the A-Main would see outside Pole main Sean Fite carry the outside through the Kimbrell corner at the start, holding on to keep the lead with Paulo Franca slotting into second. The pair then went to work in gapping the rest of the field, first with Fite lead Franca, and
A-Main Podium
B-Main Winner James Lieser
C-Main Winner Andre Monastrisky