The sixth round of the CalSpeed Sprint Series saw yet another first time winner, as a few new faces were seen at the front, taking the fight to the usual suspects. When it was all said and done, winter champ and current overall championship contender Ariel Rubio brought it home first, and with it, drew a little closer to the overall point lead.
A total of 50 drivers would make up the field for the sixth installment of the 2015 season, and it would all start with a pair of practice/qualifying sessions. The key players in this series are getting closer and closer, and this was proven by a very close qualifying run on what is one of the most technical layouts, Classico Counter Clockwise. Bringing home the overall pole position would be young Alyssa Yauney, narrowly beating out fellow summer series contenders Matt Hart and Marcin Balazy, the trio separated by just .066 seconds.
This gave Alyssa the pole spot for heat race #1, a position she would not relinquish throughout,as she led flag-to-flag to bring home the heat win. Behind here it was a similar story up until the final corners, as a failed move for the lead by Balazy saw Ariel Rubio pounce to steal away the second spot at the line. Vince Burke came across the line 4th, and Yuki Tanaka rounded out the top 5.
In heat race #2 it was round #5 winner Matt Hart leading the field away, but unlike the previous race, the lead would come under fire early. Hart would relinquish the lead to Nick Marascio with just a few laps to got, and although Hart took a few looks, it was Marascio holding on for the ‘w’. Behind the lead duo was a great fight inside the top five, with overall point leader Sean Fite fighting his way up to snag third away from Cameron Rose, with Steve Jasinski sealing the deal for 5th.
With the heat races in the books the results were compiled and the fields split for the mains, with Sprint Series regular Eric Monteith leading the field away for the start of the B-Main. Showing unrivaled smoothness and consistency in this race, Monteith dominated from the drop of the green, pulling out to a 4+ second gap to earn the A-Main transfer, while the racing for second was fierce behind him.
Johan Lindbrandt fought all race long to hold off a pressuring Diego Alvarado, and although the latter had the pace, it was Johan that would hold onto the spot. Unfortunately at the scales for Alvarado, he would come up a bit light, awarding third spot in the B-Main to Marc Salvador.
With the final grid spot now full for the A-Main, drivers gridded up for the standing start to the 10 lap Main event on the day, lead by pole and heat 1a winner Alyssa Yauney. Yauney would hold onto the top spot throughout the first half of the race, but the guy on the move was Ariel Rubio. Starting 4th, Rubio made quick work to get to the front, moving up to 2nd by lap 3, immediately putting pressure on the leader. He would make his way by Yauney for the lead on lap 6, and although Yauney put heavy pressure on him, he was able to hold on for the win by just .048 seconds.
Behind them a fierce fight for the final podium spot embroiled at least five drivers, with overall leader Sean Fite making the biggest inroads, coming up from 7th to challenge Nick Marascio for the third spot. Marascio would prove just a bit too much for Fite however, and he would have to settle for 4th, while Yuki Tanaka raised eyebrows with a late charge to steal away the 5th place position.
Post race Ariel Rubio was very happy with not only the win on the day, but also the points that bolstered his chances at earning the overall points championship. “I had a great day being able to be in the front of the pack in the heat and the main” explained Rubio. “Before the race I knew the only option for me was to win heats and mains and I need to continue to do that in the next two rounds to hopefully win the Summer and Overall Titles.”
Top Ten in Overall Points after Round #6
| 1 | Sean Fite | 1383 | (243) |
| 2 | Ariel Rubio | 1356 | (220) |
| 3 | Hasller Ortega | 1296 | (0) |
| 4 | Vince Burke | 1290 | (199) |
| 5 | Steve Jasinski | 1239 | (165) |
| 6 | Jake Hood | 1232 | (220) |
| 7 | Ashley Arnott | 1176 | (188) |
| 8 | Luis Calderon | 1127 | (214) |
| 9 | Alyssa Yauney | 1074 | (0) |
| 10 | Caylee Britain | 974 | (144) |
Top Ten in the Summer Sub-Championship
| 1 | Alyssa Yauney | 295 | (275) |
| 2 | Matt Hart | 295 | (267) |
| 3 | Ariel Rubio | 295 | (220) |
| 4 | Sean Fite | 290 | (275) |
| 5 | Nick Marascio | 290 | (188) |
| 6 | Hassler Ortega | 280 | (0) |
| 7 | Vince Burke | 270 | (251) |
| 8 | Scott Kennedy [2R] | 266 | (0) |
| 9 | Marcin Balazy | 265 | (240) |
| 10 | Jason Collins | 265 | (0) |
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