Page 5 - 2022CalSpeedMagazineFeb

R Round 2 - Jan 29 ound #2 of the CalSpeed Sprint Series capped off a busy month of January, taking to the Grande track layout for the only time this season. The third sport karting event in 4
weeks and second Sprint event of the month meant lots of seat time for sport karters at CalSpeed, and while we saw some rebound performances over the season opener, the front of the field looked almost the same...
Jacob Reis would be the first to strike on the day, claiming the top spot in the group qualifying session, followed by SE standout from a year ago Ethan Chen, and up and coming talent Emerson Thieman in third. The trio would start from the first starting spot for their respective heat races, however, when the dust settled on the preliminary races it would be some veterans at the front. Heat 1 would see title contender Jeremy Aldridge make it two heat race wins in a row to start the year, while round #1 winner backed things up with his first career heat win. Then with a rebound performance, Mike Gonzales showed that he indeed is going to be a threat in 2022 by claiming his third career heat win. Of the three, Andrews would get the nod on pole position after a P4 effort in the timed session.
The first Main of the day would Bill Lin lead the field away from the standing start, a group nearly entirely comprised of newer drivers, with plenty of SE monikers looking for their first piece of hardware. Included in the group was Brian Cohen, making his 5th career start over the past three seasons, and slotting into P2 by the end of lap one. He would start on the coattails of Lin to kick things off, and when the completed the halfway point, would make his move for the lead, bringing with him Alexander Diakoumopoulos, and Ernesto Sanchez. Cohen would be able to maintain his advantage once out front though, taking down the C-Main win and with it a fresh piece of hardware.
The B-main would its pole sitter David Schaefer have issues on lap one, promoting Paul Wagner into P2, with Robert Hernandez and James Bratton in tow. The trio would pull away from the rest of the field, with Hernandez actually clocking the fastest lap of the race just before making his move for the lead just after the halfway point. The pair never did shake Bratton in third however, and when Wagner repassed for the lead, Bratton came with him, bumping Hernandez back to third. A large gap back to the rest of the field, the three-horse race saw Wagner in control, constant pressure from Bratton, and Hernandez waiting for a mistake. None came though, and Wagner picked off his second B-Main win in a row, and with it, the bump to the A-Main.
The second A-Main of the Sprint Series season would see two of the three drivers from round #1 at the sharp end, as Joey Andrews led away at the start over Jeremy Aldridge, although things would shake up right from the get-go. Point leader and
A Main Podium
B-Main Winner Paul Wagner
C-Main Winner Brian Cohen