The firsts keep coming in 2022: Chris Fox Wins Sprint Round #5!

The CalSpeed Sprint Series saw the third of three reverse direction tracks in a row to cap off the first half of the 2022 season, as round #5 took on the Tecnico circuit this past Saturday. Along with adding to drivers tally for the overall championship, the fifth round is also the decider for the Winter sub-championship best 4 out of 5 campaign, with all of the players meeting in the end to decide the first title of the year…

Qualifying and Heat Races…

The year of firsts continued with the first sessions of the day, as Joey Andrews made the most of his draft-heavy lap to snag his first overall pole position, heading out as the lead-off man for the heats. It was a very close qualy session too, as Jack McNeel went P2 in qualy only .014 astern, while 2021 SE title winner Frank Chen and round #4 pole winner locked in the third best time to complete the pole sitting lineup for the 8 lap heats. Once the green flag flew for those races however, only McNeel would be able to back it up with a win, as Tecnico hot shoes Chris Fox and James Lieser brought home the ‘W’s in their respective heats.

C-Main

A small error that saw him spin in the heat race is the only reason the ever-quick Jacob Reis was in the C-Main, and once he got to the front on lap 3, he was gone. Starting from 9th, Reis’s experience showed at the start, scything his way through the field and capitalizing on mistakes to be third by the end of lap 1. He dispatched pole sitter Justin Salzman the very next lap for second, and then finally took over the top spot from another newcomer, this time the driver who started 2^nd, Roth Desko. Once in clean air, Reis would show why he is typically in the higher mains, cutting lap after lap over a second faster than most of the field, the only exception being another fairly experience driver in a sea of rookies, Ramy Albany. The only other driver in the 63 second range, Ramy worked up from a tough lap one to go from 9^th to second, but still 10 seconds astern from the C-Main winner, Jacob Reis.

B-Main

The B-Main would end up being a 2-horse race at the front, as round #3 podium finisher Ken Hackman lead the field away at the start, but it was current SE point leader Lee Povey taking over after a small mistaking from Hackman in the hairpin. Hackman would keep the pressure on for the entire race, and although he made several looks, nothing would stick; maintaining a gap from 3^rd on back via their own infighting. Hackman would find his way passed with a move into 4, but Povey would do the double under-cut through the Bypass and Kimbrell complex to take it right back. That move with 2 to go was the only one he could muster however, and the SE driver would hold on for the B-main win, and transfer into the A -a first piece of hardware for Lee Povey…

A-Main

The aforementioned Jack McNeel would score the top spot to start out the A-Main, but it would be fellow heat winner Chris Fox that would come away with the lead to kick things off, the par scoring a slight gap over point leader and Winter championship hopeful Ivan Martinez in third. That gap was bolstered for a lap via James Lieser making his way past Martinez for third, but then it would be pretty evenly matched amongst the front six or so drivers, which included fellow winter contenders Brett Lopinsky and Jeremy Aldridge. The leaders traded off quick laps but all the while stayed fairly evenly spaced out, with Fox maintain the lead over McNeel and Lieser, Martinez and Lopinsky Holding on, while Aldridge started to slip off the back of the train. When the quintet took the white flag they were nose-to-tail, and the move would come, but not for the lead; instead it would be Lieser on McNeel into turn 4, but then contact from Martinez would see the pair wide, and after the double under-cut in the final complex it was Martinez, McNeel, Lopinsky, and Lieser. This was all behind the leader however, and Chris Fox was able to cap off a near-perfect race to score his first career win, and his second podium of the year. For his part, Martinez would be relegated off the podium for his contact with Lieser, but it would still be enough to clinch his first CalSpeed title as the Winter Series champ!

The CalSpeed Sprint Series is already SOLD OUT for round #6, taking to the Sportivo circuit on June 4^th, which will also be the start to the Summer Sub-Championship!

Sprint Series Round #5 A-Main Top 10

1. Chris Fox
2. Jack McNeel
3. Brett Lopinsky
4. James Lieser
5. Ivan Martinez
6. Jeremy Aldridge
7. Derek Borunda
8. Alexander Blake
9. Leo Ovtcharov
10. Jacob Abrams

Overall Point Standings Top 10

1. Ivan Martinez              870
2. Chris Fox                     865
3. Emerson Thieman       852     
4. Brett Lopinsky             850
5. Jeremy Aldridge          840
6. Joey Andrews              828
7. Jack McNeel                827
8. Vince Azua                  809
9. James Lieser                 786
10. Jacob Abrams             757

SE Sub-Championship Standings Top 5

1. Lee Povey                    659
2. Luca Zambello             656
3. Nick Rajewski              578
4. Brian Vidales               571
5. Shane Leistner            555

Winter Series Sub-Championship Point Standings Top 5

1. Ivan Martinez               1145
2. Brett Lopinsky             1115
3. Jeremy Aldridge          1102   
4. Chris Fox                     1071
5. Jack McNeel                1068