Sprint Series 2017 Championship Preview

The sophomore season for the CalSpeed Sprint Series continued from its debut year with excellent battles on track and in the points, once again proving to be one of the most exciting championships on offer at CalSpeed. Now in it’s third season we see even more people coming out to race in the ladder series at CalSpeed, as well as the fruits of the experience gain by it’s graduates. The Sprint Series has become the absolute best place to start kart racing, building champions along the way.

Along with more drivers, 2017 season for the Sprint Series will see an expanded schedule and an additional track to its lineup, making for the most diverse championship to date. With the hype building over the off season, both drivers and fans of the series alike are eager to get this one started. So let’s take a closer look at what to expect in round #1, as well as some of the names to keep an eye out for, right from the very beginning…

2017 What’s New: More drivers and a ‘new’ track highlight 2017 changes…

Like the IronMan championship that precedes it, very little has changed for the 2017 season in the Sprint Series, and perhaps not much that will be of notice. The season has been lengthened to ten events, and now allows two drops, while both sub-championships are ‘best 4 of 5’ in accordance with the longer season. The value cap for 2R drivers has been lowered for the third season, now only allowing the reigning podium as well as drivers from 275-300 driver value to come out for two races on the season.

Other than that, perhaps the most noticeable thing is the expansion to three run groups and obvious more people in attendance. After selling out just about every event over the past two seasons, CalSpeed has opened the doors to even more drivers looking to see what karting is all about, or hone their craft before stepping up to the Super Series. The influx of new drivers proves that this is what people wanted, and there will be many new faces to watch for when the green flag flies tomorrow afternoon.

For series veterans, there is one other thing that is new, and that is this weekend’s track: Nuovo. Absent from the series since it’s inception, Nuovo makes its debut in the Sprint Series this weekend, and will again be on the calendar for round #6. Known as CalSpeed’s “Super Speedway”, its flat-out nature can sometimes be a tough challenge for new drivers, but also has a flowing nature that drivers can sometimes pick up quickly. Regularly used in the Super Series, competitors that have seen the layout before there will have an immediate leg up on the competition, but this could be why we are seeing a few new faces in the Clinic for tomorrow morning…

Smitty’s Spotlight: Get ready for a good time…

The Sprint Series has become one of the most exciting things to watch at CalSpeed; with a mixture in experience and talent, yet void of the top wrung drivers, it has been a lot of fun to watch the on track battles blossom into championship fights. It has been equally enjoyable to see graduates of the Series go on to other successes, sometimes in the same season; inaugural champion Sean Fite earned an overall podium as well as the Summer Sub-Championship in the IronMan Series last year, while the 2016 champ Alexander Bermudez brought home the Rookie of the Year championship at the Super Series the same year.

This season we will again see a mix of both returning drivers and newcomers alike battle for the top step round after round, and for three different championships. Out of the gate will be a new challenge for some, Nuovo. New to the series’ calendar, this near flat-out track really enhances the ‘pack racing’ that we see at CalSpeed in these karts, and that brings its own kind of challenges. The inclement weather over the last several weeks has prevented a lot of drivers from getting some valuable seat time in, and we could see the clinic be the only time for some that have never been on the layout.

I am definitely excited to not only see how the returning full time drivers do from last season, but also the drivers that came in late or did not run full years but raised eyebrows. And as it is every year, there always seems to be someone new that comes out and surprises, like Thomas Blackledge did last year. This series really is a blast to watch, and I can’t wait to get it started!

Overall Championship: Top returning drivers from 2016…

The Sprint Series is a tough one to try and predict right out of the gate in terms of who the primary championship contenders are going to be, but if last year is any indication, looking at the sharp end from the previous season is the best place to start. In this case there are initially four drivers I am looking at as the ones to beat, and then a few others that caught my eye right at the end of last season that I want to highlight. First up is the guy who just missed the top three and was in the championship hunt all last season, three-time podium finisher Caden Thure. His 4th place overall almost doesn’t do his season justice, as he was certainly one of the top drivers in the series and was in the hunt for the title right to the end. For sure, he is the de-facto #1 contender for the title in 2017, and will be the one people will be watching right away.

Next is young Thomas Blackledge; ‘TJ’ was a new face to CalSpeed in 2016, and while the year started off a little slower for him, when the 4th round came around we saw a glimpse of what was to come. His 2nd place in the heat race and 4th in the A-Main began a run to finish out the year that saw him never outside the top 4 in the heats, as well as pick up a pair of podiums. Blackledge is looking to do what last year’s champion did as well, and that is win both the Sprint championship, and the Rookie of the Year title at the Super Series in the same season.

Diego Alvarado was under the radar a bit in 2016, quietly picking up top 10 finishes until the penultimate round where everything seemed to click. Starting things off on the right foot with the overall pole position, and capitalizing on it by winning his heat race, in the Main it was a fantastic battle that saw him come up just .115 seconds from earning his first win in the series. He showed what he was capable of, and while he may be moving to the east coast later this year, I think he’ll make a big impact until he does.

The last guy I want to focus on is Don Diego Veloria; Don finished 10th in the standings last year, but that was with missing two rounds. If you were to add his worst round total as what he may have been able to do, he would have finished 5th overall. Scoring a podium of his own, he was one of the strongest drivers towards the end of last year, showing strength in both qualifying and the races. He has put in a lot of time in preparation, and I would argue there may not be a better prepared driver heading into the 2017 campaign.

Aside from these four, there are few returning drivers that I have my eye on, but honestly, this short list only scratches the surface. Michael Floerchinger missed a pair of races last year and still managed a 14th in the standings, and with receiving coaching in the latter part of the year, we could see a boost in his performance this season. Owen Lerman has continuously improved over the past two seasons, and we were just starting to see a glimpse of what he could have in store in the last two rounds last year. And I also have a close eye on Randy McKee; only running six rounds last season, he raised eyebrows in the final two rounds, culminating in a 4th in his heat race and a top ten in the A-main at the finale.

These are just a few of the returning drivers that could be challengers for the hardware this season, and combine that with the influx of new talent, and it is anyone’s guess who we could see on top of the box tomorrow, never mind what to expect in terms of the title fight…