GAS 2022 Season opener

The Great American Shortcourse GAS 2022 race series got underway April 9-10 at San Bernardino County Fairgrounds in Victorville, CA. The weather was agreeable, and a decent racecar count provided fans with plenty of racing action. The series had planned to kick off March 19 at Wild Horse Pass but contractual issues arose causing the event to move. Next, the series heads to Glen Helen Raceway May 14-15 for Rounds 3 & 4.

Both days the show ended with Pro 2 action but on Sunday the Pro Lite field was combined to give the closing a new perspective. Ricky Gutierrez would end the weekend with a clean sweep of both the Pro 2 races. Troy Cox was second with Mason McCarthy third on Saturday. With the Pro Lite’s on track Sunday most of the fans kept their eyes on Trey Gibbs as he powered his was into second overall. Pro 2 driver Troy Cox tried to power back around Gibbs in turn one resulting in him catching a rut and doing a barrel roll taking him out of the action. Gibbs was a second slower than Gutierrez so never gained on the leader but was able to keep Pro 2 pilot Mason McCarthy at bay. Crossing under the checkers it was Ricky Gutierrez, Trey Gibbs and Mason McCarthy overall. Robby Hornsby was second Pro Lite with Kyle Knott taking third. On Saturday it was Robby Hornsby taking the Pro Lite win with Kyle Knott second and Carson Etter third. Trey Gibbs was out after the fifth lap.

Pro buggy racing is always exciting and on Saturday it was Matthew Brister and Zachary Drapkin providing most the action. It was Brister that led from the start with Drapkin on his bumper the whole way. Pressuring Brister did pay off on the final lap when Brister had a flat right rear tire allowing Drapkin to take the win. Mark Zimmerman was also able to pass Brister for second with Brister crossing over third. On Sunday the two were back at it again passing one another throughout the first half of the race. On the restart after the competition yellow Drapkin spun, allowing Brister to pull into the clear. Lorenzo Bonacci slipped into the second position and Gunner Kennedy third. Drapkin would get around Kennedy to finish third. Matthew Brister took the checkers with Bonacci second.

There were 15 Production 1000 cars on track with Joe Collinsworth taking the early lead on Saturday. Collinsworth would loose his position to Chad Williams on lap two. Williams would then have to fend off Connor Barry before feeling the pressure from Cody Hodgson. Those two battled for several laps before Hodgson took over on lap seven. Once out front Cody Hodgson held on to win with Chad Williams second and Connor Barry third. On Sunday the race seemed to belong to Cole Gamma. He was out early but had Karaston Hernandez pressuring for position that is until Hernandez got up on the bicycle dropping him to fifth on lap eight. During the excitement Cody Hodgson had moved past Gamma and after that Chad Williams slipped into second and Gamma had dropped to sixth. At the checkers Cody Hodgson took the win with Chad Williams second and Cole Gamma had worked back into third.

Production Turbo UTV/Unlimited UTV classes were combined and at the end of the event Trey Gibbs had won on both days overall and top Production Turbo UTV. Chase Hill was second on Saturday with Kyle Ahrensberg third overall and first Unlimited UTV. Oliver Golding was third Production Turbo UTV and Dan Kelly was the only other Unlimited UTV driver. Jason Weller had pulled off early on Saturday but came back Sunday to keep pressure on Gibbs. At the checkers pressure wasn’t enough as Gibbs saw the checkers before Weller. Chase Hill finished third. Dan Kelly would finish in front of Kyle Ahrensberg in the Unlimited class.

A total of 10 Modified Kart racers came on course for Saturday’s event. When the checkers flew it was Talan Martin taking the top podium spot with his brother Cade second and Rhyan Denny third. The two had come from as far back as sixth and fought one another throughout the race. Talan made the final pass on lap eight while Cade dropped back to sixth before making his way into second on the final lap. On Sunday Talan took the early lead and went straight to the checkers. G3 Argyros would get into second on lap four and hold position to the end. Taking another third spot on the podium was Miss Rhyan Denny.

The Weller Racing sponsored Weller Racing SR1 event was dominated by Corry Weller. Her and husband, Jason Weller, provided most of the competition but in both races Jason Weller had handling problems and once Corry was out front proved to quick to catch. Jason Weller would regain control to hold onto second in both events with Larry Hayes third.

Shane Prescott dominated Round One of the Limited Buggy / 1600 Desert Buggy class on Saturday. Once out front Prescott was never threatened. Carson Smith ran second for several laps but dropped out with just one lap to go giving the lone Desert 1600 car of Kevin Streety second overall. Darren Sefton would be third overall and second Limited. Third in the Limited class was Shawn Jones. Carson Smith would take the win on Sunday as he jumped out early and left the battle for second between Shane Prescott and Travis Howard. Howard was able to hold off Prescott until lap nine when Prescott moved into second but was not able to catch the leader. Kevin Streety was the 1600 Desert Buggy winner.

Ryan Venegas was the lone Mini Open truck and dominated the overall field on Saturday. Anthony Csuzi was first Mini Stock truck and took the lead in his class early to drive unchallenged for the win. Brent Veenstra had to work his was from sixth to finish second in class and third overall. Jaden Wardrip was third Mini Stock. On Sunday Robert Orr was the dominate Mini Stock driver taking the win from green to checkers. Aubree Wardrip battled with Ryder Palmer before taking the second spot late in the race. Ryder Palmer would take the final podium position. Greg Shapiro brought his Class 11 out on Sunday as the lone class entry.

Olive Hoover took the early lead in the Jr 2 Kart race Saturday but say Ashton Williams take the lead on lap two. Once out front Williams was able to go straight to the checkers. Mikey Childress was also able to get around Hoover to grab the second position and would hold on to finish second as well. Olive Hoover kept her third place on the podium. Lake Adler started Sunday’s race in third but would get around Mikey Childress and drive straight to the checkers. Mikey Childress would hold on to second and Kylee Collinsworth moved up to third after having been as far back as 11th.

In the AM Ortega Jr1 Kart race Chase Berry took the win on Saturday with Luke Berry second and Brody Glaze third. On Sunday the two Berry’s changed positions as Luke Berry won with Chase second. Brixton Wirt was third.

Declan shields dominated the Accredited Labs RZR 170 races by winning both Satuday and Sunday events. Jake Hill finished second both days while Ian Torfi was third on Saturday and Brixton Wirt took third on Sunday.

The Youth 1000 event saw Gorge Llamosas take the win both days. Dominick Benites was second both days and Tyler Shade was third.