Page 11 - 2022CalSpeedMagazineMarch

ARound 3 - March 26
fter a 6 week break since round #2, the third installment of the 2022 CalSpeed Super Series would again take to the Grande circuit, but this time heading in the reverse
direction for the sole time this year. While the longest and fastest of the counter-clockwise layouts at CalSpeed Karting, the Grande CCW configuration also offers up some technical parts and plenty of passing zones to be a driver favorite. To that end, it is pretty routine to see the usual suspects at the sharp end, and this edition. Was no different...
Arguably the best qualifier amongst the season regulars of the Super Series, reigning champ Sam Hunt clocked yet another fast time in qualifying, bumping up his pole position tally to 10 on his career, and second in the opening three events. Joining up in the top three to score bonus points, as well as their own respective poles for their heats were Chase Nickells in second, and veteran Bill Krieg in third, but of the three, only Hunt would back it up with a win in their opening race. No driver would be able to do the double this time around either, with 5 more drivers adding their names to the heat winners list, including Jose da Silva, Donnie Clarke, Alyssa Yauney, Paulo Franca, and Dmitry Korotkov – who actually scored his first career heat win...
The first main of the day would roll off with a driver we don’t often see in the preliminary mains, as John Rice was looking to bounce back from an unlucky day and win the C-Main. Rolling off P2, he would quickly dispatch up and coming rookie Shane Leistner, and cruise to not only a comfortable lead, but the eventual win. For his part, Leistner would also show strength, pulling away from the rest of the field to a comfortable second place, albeit not quite enough to match the pace of the reigning Grand Masters champ. Behind the top two would be a gaggle of drivers looking to score ‘best of the rest’ honors, with veteran sport karter Steve Lattanzi working up from a starting position outside the top ten to make the most of his trek from Phoenix, AZ and score third...
The B-Main would be a bit less ‘cut-and-dried’, as Robby Stanovich would lead the field of 31 away at the line, each driver hungry to not only score the win, but the final transfer spot into the A-Main. Stanovich would come under fire immediately from emerging 206 karting talent Albert Yeh, who would actually make is way into the lead by the end of lap one. It would be the Yeh and Stanovich show for the first third of race, before Matthew Justmann entered the fray, taking the fight to both drivers and making his way into the lead by the halfway mark. The three-horse race quickly turned into a solo run, as Justmann was able to slowly pull away, leaving Stanovich and Yeh to battle for runner up. It would go to the former, as the more experienced driver not only found his way by, but was able to hold off the counters employed by Yeh to come hom eP2.
Forced to move back to his native Brazil next month, Paulo Franca would start his last Super Series event for the foreseeable future from pole, having scored a win in heat one and a P2 in heat two. Starting alongside would be former series champ Alysa Yauney -herself claiming a third to go along with her heat win- and the two would go
A-Main Podium
B-Main Winner Matthew Justmann
C-Main Winner John Rice