Super Series Round #2: Career win #4 for Paulo Franca

The 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 10^th to snag 2^nd, while Fite held onto his starting spot in his first heat for second, and worked up from 9^th 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 3^rd, and another Rubio -Camila- in 4^th. 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 8^th 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 then with Franca taking over lead duties on lap 6. They had just under a second gap of P3 man Ayrton Demoss at the time, and the switch proved to be fruitful, as the pair cut their fastest laps of the race just 2 laps later. Behind them it was a less than smooth opening lap, with a couple of incidents would see a few contenders knocked down the order, and others score penalties in the process. Making their way through the hornets nest was former series champ Diego Morales, who would eventually work his way up into the third position by lap 11, clocking the fastest lap of the race in the process. The gap to the lead duo was nearly 2 seconds at that point, but things weren’t going to stay single file for long; Fite would make his bid for the lead on lap 12, and with a look over his shoulder, Franca would wait a lap to maintain the gap over Morales, before attacking for the lead on the penultimate lap. As it usually does on Grande, it would come down to the final corner, although this time, Franca would be able to hold off the last ditch effort from Fite, with Morales closing in enough to get in the win shot.

The CalSpeed Super Series returns for round #3 March 26^th with an already sold out crowd, which will take to the Grande CCW configuration!

Super Series Round #2 A-Main Top 10

1. Paulo Franca
2. Sean Fite
3. Diego Morales [M]
4. Donnie Clarke
5. Doug Yauney [M]
6. Ayrton Demoss
7. Alyssa Yauney
8. Max Demoss [GM]
9. Ariel Rubio [M]
10. Matt Steele [M]

Point Standings Top 10 (drop)

1. Paulo Franca               409      (288)
2. Sean Fite                     400      (323)
3. Sam Hunt                    381      (333)  
4. Diego Morales            378      (354)
5. Ayrton Demoss           374      (334)
6. Diego Alvarado           365      (289)
7. Alyssa Yauney             360      (348)
8. Doug Yauney [M]        360      (331)
9. Bill Kreig                      360      (0)
10. Donnie Clarke             356      (226)