Page 5 - 2022CalSpeedMagazineMarch

ARound 3 - March 12 fter 2 events in the three week period of time to kick off the season, the CalSpeed Sprint Series took its customary 6 week break between rounds #2 and #3, with the third
event of the year taking to the Grande Counter Clockwise course. In a season that has already seen plenty of new faces at the front of the field, this past Saturday held onto that theme, with a completely new podium lineup the result...
But while the end of the day would see fresh faces on the podium, things started out with some familiar names at the sharp end, although it would actually be Leo Ovtcharov’s first career pole position. Joining him with P1 starting spots for their respective heats would be early title contender Jeremy Aldridge, and Jacob Abrams. Once the heat races got underway it would be Denis Shakhovski scoring his first ever heat win, While Jeremy Aldridge kept his streak alive having won all three of his heats so far to start the season. Last but not least, Chris Fox added his second heat race win to his name, earning him a front row starting spot for the A-Main...
Leading the field away for the first main of the day would be Teohua Recendez at the drop of the green, and would control the first half of the race with plenty of infighting happening behind him. Alexander Diakoumopolous would be the first to provide a challenge, reaching the leader on lap 6, and making the move to the front on lap seven of the ten lap contest. The driver on the move however was Sergio Gonzalez, working his way up from 7th to also be in the conversation in the final circuits, mounting his challenge for the top spot on the penultimate lap. All three aforementioned drivers were in the mix at the end, but when Teohua made the move on Alexander on the final lap to steal away 2nd, it gave Sergio the breathing room he need for a solid gap and C-Main victory..
After a pair of podiums -including his first career win- to kick off the year, Joey Andrews found himself just missing out on the A-Main for round #3, leading the field away at the drop of the green. The driver to beat this time around however would be series veteran Robert Hernandez, looking to make the most of his last-second entry from the waitlist. He would do just that, getting to the lead on lap 1 from his third place starting spot, and never looking back – cruising to his first piece of hardware in 2022. For his part, Andrews would go unchallenged in second as well, and will look to get back into championship form at round #4. Speaking of bouncing back however, kudos to James Lieser who was the victim of contact in the open laps after starting sixth, only to work his way back up to snag third...
As it was mentioned earlier, It would be Jeremy Aldridge and Chris Fox leading the field of 31 into turn #1 for the first time, with Denis Shakhovski, Brett Lopinsky, Ken Hackman, and reigning
A Main Podium
B-Main Winner Robert Hernandez
C-Main Winner Sergio Caballero Gonzalez