Race recap for 3^rd Annual Redneck Nationals

We had a great turn out for our Redneck Nationals on July 11, 2015. While Kevin Fry took some time off for a much needed family vacation, Kaley Engstrom filled in as Flagman.  The special contests for \”Farmers Tan\”, \”Dirty Feet\” and best dressed Redneck Costume were on the schedule for our intermission entertainment along with a lot of extra door prizes as giveaways to celebrate this mid-season race event.

Our 3.5 HP Class had 8 karts entered.  Because of the \”beginner\” status and size of group, we chose to split theinto two groups for the heats, then bring them all together for the Feature. At one point we had Noah Rowland #95 and Jacob Rameriz #09 battling it out in their 2^nd heat, swapping lead positions in a tight race until Jacob secures the win with Noah close behind. Meric Winnett in the #21 won both his heats, which earned him the pole position for the feature and making room for his Clean Sweep as he remained the lap leader until the checkered flag and only one caution flag early in the race. Class Rookie Richard Zimmerman #05 continues to show great improvement week after week, and impressed again starting inside third row and finishing a solid 4^th place after gaining a spot.

Our next class was the Jimmy Rivers Performance Works Pure Stock class, which also had 8 karts entered. In the first heat Shawn Marquez #2m led flag to flag for the win with Nathan Cicso #99 close behind for 2nd. Jonathan McCutcheon #99m suffered mechanical problems and had to park it after only one lap. In the second heat the pack was tight and in precision, setting perfect pace as they got ready to take the green.  The yellow to come out, bringing out The Orange Cone for a single file restart that found Shawn starting rear but quickly gaining 4 spots. Tatum Bell #8 secured the win after he passed the leader with 3 laps to go. In the Main Feature Shawn Marquez edged out Tatum for the lead position from the start and went flag to flag for all 20 laps and the win, with Tatum coming in 2^nd place and Wyatt Richeson #73 rounding out the podium for third.

The MWRS Animal class had 6 karts on the grid. We welcomed Joe Content #17N back after he took some time off, and Wes Knox #55 as he has permanently moved up from Gold Plate joining his brother and Teammate Sean Knox #21k. The Knox brothers – showing no mercy for each other and in it to win it – tangled in the first heat bringing out the caution, forcing them both to restart at the rear.  This made room for Jacob Bourland #43 to take the win with 2 laps remaining. In the 2^nd heat Joe Contente, starting scratch as he chose to do in all his heats for the night, gained 4 spots and finished 3^rd behind Wes Knox in 2^nd and Katelynn Dixon in the #11 leading all laps for the win. In the Main Feature the first start was waived off as a no start that caused the #21 and #17N before realigning for a 2^nd try at the green. It was Hard Charger Joe Contente (who also ran in the Gold Plate class) went from last row to 2^nd place on the first lap and held that spot to the end – but not without trying to battle for the lead as he was in a side by side battle with Katelynn Dixon for several laps  – but she held Joe off for the win. There was a momentary delay for a Red flag when Jacob Bourland #43 flipped his kart at the start line and rolled it about 4 times down into turn 1.   He was not able to complete the race but suffered no injuries.

 The Challenge Accepted Motorsports Gold Plate class was a 5 kart field that included newcomer Cristifer Penrod piloting the #11 kart for Team Penrod. The first heat found the points leader Mitchell Mobley #57 and Shawn Marquez #2m (also driving in two classes) taking the first lap side by side before Shawn took ownership of the lead and carried it to the end for the win. In the 2nd Heat, just as soon as the green flag was in the air Joe Contente hard charges yet again past the field for the win. Then in the Main Feature after a perfect start with Shawn Marquez as pole sitter and 3 lead changes later, Joe was able to out maneuver lap traffic taking the lead spot from Mitchell Mobley with Shawn Marquez glued to his bumper for the 2^nd spot at the half way point. Joe would take the checkered flag followed by Shawn in 2nd place, and Mitchell rounding out the podium for 3^rd.

The Jr 2 Clone class kart count was only 2.  However, with the very talented race team of brothers Westin Palanza #8 and Payton Palanza #6 it was still a good show for us as they battled each other for the night. It would be Payton who would win all three races for a Clean Sweep for the night.

The Outlaw 250 division sponsored by Sun Shield Window Tinting had 4 karts in the chase. Cody Pound in the #21c took full advantage of a low pill draw that gave him pole for the first heat, a spot that he took that all the way home for the win. Piece Urbanosky #19 did the exact same thing in heat #2 as he started pole on the invert. Katelyn Dixon #11 (another driver running two classes) took advantage of a wobble in lap 5 by Cody and made a pass for 2^nd spot where she finished behind Pierce. In the Main Feature we were happy to see Jacob Bourland make the lineup after his flip in the Animal class from earlier in the evening. Unfortunately he went to the infield at lap 7 and parked taking a DNF. Points leader Piece Urbanosky set the pace as pole setter with Cody Pound joining him on the front row for a fast action, flag to flag exhibition of amazing driving talent joined by William Sutton and Katelynn Dixon. William tagged on the class in his Outlaw 500cc #42.

Finally, everyone’s favorite class the Pro Tech Adult Clone, while on the light side with only 4 drivers, were comprised of 2 teams: one a Father/Son and the other brothers. As always, this class is a hardnosed, competitive group who are not afraid to demonstrate the racing term “Rubbin is racing”.  All 4 drivers hammered hard when the given the green in heat #2 with a battle for position that left Bob Ramirez #7 short of real estate resulting in a little sideway spin action, but he was able to correct and regained control without bringing out a caution.  Unable to make up any lost ground, Bob finished behind in last – not the results he was looking for but with his win in the first heat his start position would find him on the inside of the second row for the Main Feature. The feature had brothers Marc Velasquez #54 and Matt Velasquez #55 starting the race in the front row while father and son team Bob Ramirez #7 and Robert Ramirez #8 followed in the second row. Once again, there was a fight for position as soon as the green flag signaled the start with a 3-wide tie for the lead as Robert took the 2^nd place spot from Matt with Marc securing the lead until about lap 8.  That\’s when Robert muscles his way to the front and challenged Marc for a lap or two, until the yellow came out forcing a restart. There was a father/son battle on the restart with Bob taking the lead and Marc fighting for the number 2 spot for one lap until Robert sneaks by him and takes it away only to be followed by a 2^nd caution when the #55 spins out in turn 3. This made way for a Green-White-Checker finale with Bob taking the win edging out his son for 2^nd place and Marc rounding out the podium for third.

As the group celebrated on the front stretch and posed for pictures Bob said: “The old man’s still got it”, and we agree.  His victory took him from last place starting spot and included a very impressive pass on lap 14 as he slid by #54 in turn 4.

During intermission the drivers and teams got a chance to win some cool door prizes – from free pit passes donated by Ron at Texoma and KAM Kartway to free Driver Websites, and a one-on-one private driver coaching session from K&K Race Services. Special thanks to Pit Mom Tonya Penrod for donating 2 custom gift baskets and KAM Motorsports for the Burris Tire gift certificates.  Birthday boy, Mitchell Mobley also brought cupcakes to share with everyone to mark his special day.

The complete finish orders of the night are:

3.5 HP

1^st Meric Winnett

2^nd Noah Rowland

3^rd Andrew McCutcheon

4^th Richard Zimmerman

5^th Melia Winnett

6^th Jacob Rameriz

7^th Kaitlyn Vann

8^th Kamaron Brimmer

 

Pure Stock

1^st Shawn Marquez

2^nd Tatum Bell

3^rd Wyatt Richeson

4^th Nathan Cisco

5^th Jonathan McCutcheon

6^th Lucas Ramirez

7^th Case Penrod

8^th Landon Bellows

 

Animal

1^st Katelynn Dixon

2^nd Joe Contente

3^rd Wes Knox

4^th Sean Knox

5^th Austin Moore

6^th Jacob Bourland

 

Gold Plate

1^st Joe Contente

2^nd Shawn Marquez

3^rd Mitchell Mobley

4^th Dylan McCutcheon

5^th Cristifer Penrod

 

Jr 2 Clone

1^st Payton Palanza

2^nd Westin Palanza

 

Outlaw 240

1^st Pierce Urbanosky

2^nd Cody Pound

3^rd Kaitlynn Dixon

 

Adult Clone

1^st Bob Ramirez

2^nd Robert Ramirez

3^rd Marc Velasquez

4^th Matt Velasquez

[vimeo url=\”https://vimeo.com/133804946\”] 

Special thanks to all of our track and class sponsors.  Without you we would not be able give these drivers such a great race program to participate in week after week. 

 

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p style=\”text-align: center;\”>Our next race is July 18, 2015 where we will have a makeup event featuring the King of the Hill for Outlaw 250.  Gates open at 4pm with the drivers meeting at 6:15pm.  We hope to see you there.