Preston Carr dominated the Box Stock Class at the Cycleland Speedway over the last two seasons. This year though he has moved on to the 250 Intermediate Class and now he looks to take over the reigns there as well. He now has three wins in the last four races at the speedway, and is definitely one of the drivers in the hunt for the Championship.
Preston utilized the Pole Position starting spot in the Main Event to jump out front early in the race. He would lead the way as the other drivers did their best to keep up. In the end though he would prove too much to handle in the #46 kart. He crossed under the checkered flag first, scoring his second straight victory and third in the last four races. Mason Smith continued his podium streak as he finished in the second spot and now has six top three finishes in a row. Koa Crane scored a career best third-place finish in the #24K kart. It was the first top five finish of the season for the young driver. Tyler Shipley also had a great night and was barely edged by Crane for the third spot at the line. Shipley finished fourth, just .001 seconds behind Crane. Raymond Baldez came home in the fifth spot, his sixth top five finish of the season. The Hard Charger of the Main Event went to the #19 of Rylan Ragan who started 15th and finished in the ninth position, improving six positions from his starting spot.
The night began with 17 drivers signing into the pit area for the eighth points race of the season. Evan Burrola laid down the fastest lap in qualifying with a lap time of 11.345 seconds. It was his first Fast Time of the season in the bright green #21E kart.
Heat Race competition saw Preston Carr and Koa Crane each pick up their first Heat Race wins of the Season. Carr now has at least one Fast Time, Heat Win, Trophy Dash Win, and Main Event win this season. Koa Crane’s Heat Race win was a good one as he barely edged Tyler Shipley and Jack Phillips to hang on to the victory.
Trophy Dash competition saw the #68B of Raymond Baldez pick up his third dash win of the season. He was able to edge the #97 of Mason Smith in order to get it done. Baldez has really put together a solid start to the season and is getting closer and closer to notching his first win of 2017.
The Championship chase in the 250 Class is about as good as it gets right now. Preston Carr now holds just a two-point advantage over second place driver Raymond Baldez. Carr came into the night with a four-point advantage, but missed the Trophy Dash allowing Baldez to gain some valuable points. On the heels of six straight top three finishes, Mason Smith now sits just 15 points out of the points lead in third. Kaiden Butler is fourth in the standings and he is only 47 points out of the top spot. Evan Burrola is fifth in the standings and is 122 points out of the lead. Keep your eyes on the 250 Intermediate class this season as this points battle looks like it will come down to the wire.
We will be back in action at the Cycleland Speedway this Saturday night, June 24th, with Points Race #9 of the 2017 race season. We have reached the halfway point of the year and the Championship battles are all beginning to take shape. The second half of the year will be ever important to the drivers going for the Championships. Hot Laps are scheduled to begin at 5:30PM with qualifying to follow. For ticket information and/or directions to the racetrack please visit www.cyclelandspeedway.com.