Race Report - Monterey Bay ProKart Challenge

 The third round of the SuperKarts USA California ProKart Challenge was hosted by the Monterey Bay Kart Club in Marina, CA.  SKUSA has not been to this facility since the current owners took the series over.  For those that made the trip, they were not disappointed.  The kart club did an excellent job of keeping the track cleaned, prepped, and ready for Pro racing action.  

SwedeTech was in attendance to offer trackside support for approximately 20 customers.  Being the third round of the championship, there was an extra edge of exitement in the air for those looking to gain ground in the points chase.  

 A change in the race track safety barriers before the main event caught drivers off guard, and for some, changed their racing lines. 

The headline Stock Moto Pro Class, S1, was a very fierce battle between the top 4 drivers.  In many sessions, only 0.20 covered the top five.  Team Visalia pilot, Jimmy McNeil, had a strong weekend aboard his CRG chassis.  Setting the fastest lap in the main event, Jimmy was on the rear bumper of the leaders while crossing the checkered, a mere 0.148 seconds behind first, for final finish of third place.  Jacob Neal, KartSpeed VRP TonyKart, had been gaining speed all year while healing from rib injuries.  This event was a good place to showcase his Pro talent as he was always in the mix at the front of the pack.  Rookie S1 driver, Marco Eakins, piloted his FK chassis to a 5th place finish in the pro class.

The S2 Stock Moto Intermediate class runs in conjunction with the S1 pro drivers.  S2 winner, Hunter Pickett was rolling this weekend aboard his Aluminos chassis.  He was in the mix and had lap times to run with the Pro S1 drivers, but made a smart decision to keep a safe distance to help pad his points lead.  Robby Heck, 2nd place in the championship points chase, found himself battling in the mid pack after a few drivers had problems in the opening laps, holding him up.  But Robby was able to keep his Nash Motorsportz CRG out of trouble and finished the event in 5th.

The veterans of the paddock are the S4 and Super S4 drivers.  Robert Marks, Team Visalia CRG, was at the front of the field all weekend long.  In every session, he was running in the top three.  In the main event, he was dogging the leader and waiting to make his move during the final three laps of the race.  The leader was pushing beyond his control and ended up exiting the racing surface in turn one.  The allowed Marks to cruise to a 6.819 margin of victory over second place.  Nick George, Team Visalia CRG, keeps getting better each race weekend, while adapting to the tough level of ProKart racing.  He finished fourth, 10.2 seconds ahead of fifth place.

The S4 Super Masters group is specifically for drivers over 45 years old.  One of the most notable drivers is Ken Schilling, current points leader.  He has a knack for writing indepth race reports and can be found on social media promoting the S4 class, as well as the great sport of karting.  Ken had a good points race for his Extreme Karting Vemme team, finishing the main in second place.  Current runner up in the championship chase, Team Visalia's Darrel Tunnell, also had a strong points weekend, finishing up in fourth place.

You can view our online photo gallery of the Marina ProKart Event on Flickr. SwedeTech Flickr Photo Gallery

SwedeTech is prepping for the next race support event at the Thunderhill facility in Willows, CA.  

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