(April 12th, 2021)…..With two races now in the books, the 2021 Cycleland Speedway season is officially kicking into gear. This past weekend we had 153 entries sign into the Pit Area and we were treated to spectacular racing across all divisions throughout the night!
The Open Class had 26 entries sign into the pit area for Points Race #2. In Time Trials we saw Olivehurst, CA driver Jack Phillips earn his first career Open Fast Time with a lap time of 10.688 seconds. Jack went out late in qualifying and was able to lay down a great lap. In Heat Race action we saw Keagan Medeiros earn the win in the opening heat race to earn the Pole Position for the Main Event. The second Heat Race saw Preston Carr earn his first Open Heat Race Win, while the legendary Ryan Foster earned his 21st Cycleland heat race win in the final heat. Kaiden Butler showed speed all night long as he picked up the Trophy Dash win, the first in the Open Class for him. In the B-Main it was the Bunch & Bunch show as father-son duo John-Michael & Jayden Bunch ran 1-2 to lock into the Main Event. The A-Main was a WILD one as we saw Keagan Medeiros lead early, but contact between himself and Casey Schmitz as they tried to avoid a crash in turn two caused Medeiros to spin out of the top spot. Schmitz was able to continue as the leader, but he had damage to the right front of the kart that was causing him to struggle with the handling. Late in the race, a yellow flag would wave, and as the field raced back around to the flag, Schmitz lost the handle in turn four and spun out of the lead. That opened the door for Kaiden Butler, who despite struggling to get up to speed on restarts was able to hang on to capture the victory. In the final corner of the race, Butler got a little too sideways coming off the fourth turn which slowed his momentum nearly allowing Garrett Brown to sneak past. Brown would finish 2nd by just .023 seconds behind Butler. The third and final podium spot went to the #18p of Jack Phillips. Casey Schmitz hung on to claim the fourth position while Koa Crane finished in fifth.
The Box Stock Class had a steep increase in their kart count this week as they leapt up to 43 entries. The #53 of Carrie Osborne set the bar in time trials with a lap time of 12.245 seconds. Heat Races were won by the #6k of Kade Andes & the #7L of Logan Banks. The Semi’s were won by Brody Reinolds & Jared Jensen. Braxton Foster won his second straight Trophy Dash in his #21 entry while the #29 of Cole Croft won his Trophy Dash. The first Consi of the season was claimed by the #0 machine of Blake Scovel. The first of two A-Main Events was claimed by the #75 of Jaxon Hall for his first career Cycleland Speedway victory. Braxton Foster crossed the stripe in second, while Brantley Copeland made his Cycleland Speedway debut a good one with a third place effort. The second Main Event of the night was won by the #29 of Cole Croft, his second win in a row! Second Place went to the #7L of Logan Banks who led much of the race before getting passed late in the running. Bentley Nelson finished in the final podium position in third.
The 250 Intermediate Class once again saw 21 entries sign into the pit area. This week in Time Trials it was the #18 entry of Brax Dietz setting Fast Time with a lap time of 11.069 seconds. Heat Race action saw Jake Nuxoll win his first career 250 Intermediate Heat Race in Heat 1. Bakersfield, CA driver Jett Yantis got the win in the second and final Heat Race. The Trophy Dash and Main Event both went very similar to the season opener as Eric Botelho swept them both once again in his Brave Energy #2B entry. Botelho is off to a hot start this season already amassing two victories and a sizeable points lead. Jett Yantis was able to earn a second place finish in his #4 entry while Chevy Schroer rounded out the podium in his #29. Jake Nuxoll piloted his Bunch Electric #57 to a fourth place finish, while Brysyn Simeral rounded out the top five in fifth.
Open Intermediate Time Trials saw Dunnigan, CA driver Luke Hayes set Fast Time of the 21 entries with a lap time of 11.341 seconds around the Cycleland Speedway. In Heat Race action, Peyton Overmyer secured the Pole Position for the Main Event by way of earning his first career Heat Race victory in Heat Race #1. The second and final Heat Race was claimed by the #08H of Samuel Harper from Marysville. The Trophy Dash saw Tater Reich put the beatdown on the field as he won it by nearly three seconds. Reich, piloting the Tri-C Machine #3T entry has been really fast to start the season. For the second week in a row, the Main Event went the way of Nevada City, CA driver Tyler Matheny. Matheny earned his second career and second straight Main Event win. Tater Reich, despite a bent rear axle from an early mishap, was able to drive his #3t to a really impressive second place finish. Lincoln, CA driver Blake Burgess piloted the Grandpa George Motors #88 to a third place finish. Luke Hayes & Peyton Overmyer finished fourth and fifth respectively to round out the top five finishers.
The Sportsman Class has been absolutely thrilling each of the first two weeks of the season. We have seen huge sliders, dramatic finishes, and everything in between in the opening weeks. This week in Time Trials it was once again Scott Burgess setting the pace with a lap time of 11.295 seconds. Burgess has now been tabbed as the driver of the Yannazzo Motorsports #H20 entry, and will be donning a new look in the coming weeks. In Heat Race action, Kody Hunderman got the win in the first heat race in his #8k entry. The most exciting race of the night was Heat Race #2 for the Sportsman class. James Grant and Brad Juanarena absolutely went at it for the entire race. Juanarena had the lead and Grant wanted it in a bad way. Grant was throwing bombs into the corners, but each time Juanarena was able to cross him up and drive back by down the straightaway. This went on lap after lap and they never made any contact. On the final lap Grant would finally make it stick as he just barely edged Juanarena at the line by .024 of a second. The third and final heat race of the night was claimed by the #16j of Jason Throop. The B-Main Event was dominated by the #1j of Joel Duprey. Duprey had such a large lead that on the final lap he actually spun out in turn two and was able to get going and get to the checkered flag without losing the lead! Christian Hickman was able to get some redemption in the Trophy Dash as he got the win that eluded him last week. He then went on to win the Sportsman Main Event as well. Scott Burgess had a good debut in the #h20 machine as he came home in the second position. Kieran Brughelli had a career best night as he piloted his Ed Brown Trucking sponsored #4 machine to a podium finish in third after barely making it to the track in time for qualifying earlier in the night! Michael Schroeder earned another top five finish as he brought the #92 home in the fourth position, while Brad Juanarena rounded out the top five with a fifth place effort in his #21j.
We are back in action this Saturday Night at the Cycleland Speedway with Points Race #3. Hot Laps are scheduled to begin at 4:30 pm with Qualifying & Racing to follow. We look forward to seeing the drivers, crews and fans at the racetrack for yet another action packed night of wheel to wheel action!
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