GAS Rounds 4 & 5

The Great American Shortcourse GAS series held round 4 & 5 June 10-11 at the Victorville, CA Fairgrounds. Breaking from tradition of running both events in the day, GAS held Round 4 under the lights with Round 5 held the following day. Having an evening event helped bring in the fans who were treated to some fast shortcourse racing. The series will take the summer off and come back Oct 7 in Primm, NV at the shortcourse venue there.

In the Pro 2 action Saturday evening Myan Spaccarelli dominated the event with Brock Hanmer taking second. Also running with the Pro 2s was the lone Mini Open entry of Brian Cannon, who finished third overall. The Pro Lite entry was Thomas Madigan,
Myan Spaccarelli again came to the checkers first on Sunday. Brock Hanmer was the second finisher. Brian Cannon was third across the line with Thomas Madigan fourth.

In the Pro Buggy event the race from the beginning was Lorenzo Bonacci’s to loose. I say that as Jaden Uribe and Zachary Drapkin were applying pressure. Uribe and Drapkin traded the runner up spot a couple of times and while that action kept them busy it allowed Bonacci to pull a comfortable lead. Drapkin had some trouble on the last lap and allowed Uribe to cross over second. Drapkin was third.
After a rough showing on Saturday night Zachary Drapkin held off a late charge by Gunner Kennedy for the win on Sunday. In the opening laps Jaden Uribe was pressuring Drapkin but looked to go off course and suffered a flat. Another driver with tire problems was Lorenzo Bonacci who also pulled off shortly after, but like Uribe, would return after the brief time out. When Bonacci came back on he was physically ahead of Kennedy who was able to pass him in turn one. Then Kennedy set his sights on Drapkin but never found any clean air, so he created some on the final corner, cutting inside in a move that maybe required a little extra track he pulled up alongside the rear of Drapkin but had to settle for second under the flag. Third was Lorenzo Bonacci.

In the UTV action on Saturday evening Jason Weller took the overall and UTV Production Turbo wins. Crossing over second overall and first Production 1000 was Cody Hodgson and George Llamosas was third. In the Turbo class it was Oliver Golding second and Chase Hill third.
Jason Weller dominated the Production Turbo UTV / Production 1000 / Youth 1000 event again on Sunday. The event had its share of action as Cody Hodgson, while running second, flipped violently after Chase Hill made in air contact with his rear bumper. Hodgson walked away but was not able to return to action. A few laps later George Llamos rolled out of contention in turn three. This put Dominick Benites into second overall behind Weller and first Production 1000. So On the podium it was Jason Weller taking the Turbo class win with Oliver Golding second. In the Production 1000 it was Dominick Benites winning with Chad Williams second and Connor Barry third.

Saturday evening there were seven Mod Kart entries. Once the green flag flew it was Dane Culver jumping out front. In the second spot was Aston Williams and behind him Hailey Berry. The race order remained this way for several laps until Berry dropped back in the pack and Luke Berry took up the third position. With just a couple of laps to go Williams was able to get to the inside of Culver in turn four. Culver spun out and Ashton Williams went on to take the checkers. Travis Jones was there to take second and Chase Berry finished third.
Most of the action in the Modified Kart event Sunday was again between Dane Culver and Ashton Williams. Culver held a comfortable lead for several laps before Williams was able to close up and shadow his every move. Just before the white flag was to fly Williams spun in turn four relieving the pressure on Culver who took the win. Travis Jones and Hailey Berry both drove past Williams taking the final podium spots.

In Round 4 of the Weller Racing SR1 class Cory Weller was able to take the win but had to earn it, lap after lap, as Sami Nino was able to pressure for the position most of the race. Paul Obrien is usually in the mix but after starting from the front row spun early and couldn’t make up the distance. Towards the end Weller was able to gain a little breathing room to take the win. Sami Nino crossed under the checkers second and Anthony Ochoa was third.
In the Weller Racing SR1 action again it was Cory Weller taking the win. Weller had to earn the win as Paul Obrien came on strong early and was in position should Weller make a mistake. Another battle raged for third place between Larry Hayes and Anthony Ochoa. These four provided many almost moments but when the checkers cam out it was Weller winning, Paul Obrien second and Larry Hayes holding off Ochoa.

The Limited 1600 action Saturday night had Carson smith jump out the early leader with Travis Howard a close second. These two pulled away from the pack which had Jesus Sanchez and Shawn Jones battling for third. After the yellow restart the two front runners made contact as Howard tried to move into the lead but Smith was able to hold him off. These two again pulled away with Smith eventually holding off Howard for the win. Travis Howard was second and Jesus Sanchez won third place over Shawn Jones. Richard Woods won over Kevin Streety in the 1600 Desert Buggy race.
Carson Smith again topped the Limited Buggy / 1600 Desert Buggy podium on Sunday. During the race Smith found Travis Howard a serious threat as Howard was able to take the lead from him. Once out front Howard was able to to pull a short distance but before he could get comfortable Smith closed the gap and eventually made the pass. At the checkers it was Carson Smith first Travis Howard second and Matthew Somody third.

Saturday evening in the Mini Stock event Anthony Csuzi had a flat and pulled off early which gave Brent Veenstra the lead. Robert Orr was quick to pressure Veenstra and Justin Miller held third. Csuzi would return after replacing the flat but had too much real estate to make up to be a contender. Brent Veenstra won with Robert Orr second and Justin Miller third.
In the Mini Stock action one could say everything went Robert Orr’s way while last year’s Champion Anthony Csuzi had everything go wrong. Csuzi first got off track in turn one dropping him to fourth. He was able to make a charge towards the front but then spun in turn four. But wait, there is more. Next Csuzi lost a wheel in turn three. So while all this was going on Robert Orr was able to drive comfortably to the checkers. Finishing second was Brent Veenstra and Anthony Csuzi was awarded third.

With an even dozen J2 Karts on course there was a lot of back and forth action early on. Jayden Manchester would come out in front of all the shuffling with Mikey Childress second. Then the front runners tangled and Childress would emerge the leader and Manchester had dropped back to fourth. The action settled down late in the race with Mikey Childress taking the win, Brody Glaze was second and Lake Adler third.
On Sunday Jayden Manchester got out front early in the JR 2 Kart race and left a tight pack of five racers battling for second place. Taylinn Pike was in front of the pack but as they were often three wide in turns it was hard to see who would exit up front. After a couple of laps Brody Glaze took over the second spot and seemed to have the position in hand until Mikey Childress tapped his rear bumper on the final turn allowing Childress to grab place. Brody Glaze did get the final podium spot.

Round 4 of the Brilon Iron Works RZR 170 series on Saturday evening saw Luke Vail jump out the early leader but a roll over gave the lead to Triton Lawrence. Lawrence had Jake Hill pressuring for the position and the two pulled away from the pack. On the final lap Hill was able to take the lead and went on to win. Triton Lawrence was second and Luke Vail third.
In round 5 Jake Hill took the early lead but had Brixton Wirt glued to his rear bumper. These two pulled away from Luke Vail in third. Once racing started after the yellow Wirt was able to get around Hill for the lead. At the checkers Brixton Wirt held off the pressure of Jake hill provided for the win and third was Luke Vail.

In the AM Ortega J1 Kart event Saturday had eight entries but it was Ian Torfi taking the early lead and quickly distancing himself from Brixton Wirt and then Samuel Gibbs. The three would finish in that order.
Ian Torfi again jumped out early in the AM Ortega J1 Kart action and headed straight to see the checkers fly. Brixton Wirt was a close second and Samuel Gibbs was third.