By Gary Jacob
Colusa, Ca -- Beau Perkins, Matt DiBenedetto and Kyle Larson scored the feature wins as the QRC All Star Tour for the Outlaw Karts ran round four of their 2002 schedule at the Colusa County Fair Friday night. Colusa became the latest County Fair to be added to Lowell Moural's specially prepared race tracks and had to handle nearly 120 entries in a long day and night of racing. Perkins has expanded his racing into the winged sprint cars, but still remains a threat whenever he steps back into the kart action. He set fast time for the open outlaws, ran third in the dash, won his heat and then won the A Main from the pole with Robert Ballou second over Ukiah's Rick Schamber and Oregon's Brandon Farquhar. Grass Valley's DiBenedetto is the hottest driver weekly at Cycleland Speedway now and he carried that over to the Colusa action by timing 9th fast, winning the 3rd heat and the A Main. His victory boosted him into the series point lead as incoming point leader Tyler Schaaf ran fifth. Dash winner Alan Ambers was second ahead of Justin Reinolds. Larson was the Box Stock point leader entering the event and he had a huge night with fast time, a heat win and the A Main victory. Only a fourth in the dash marred his efforts. Ukiah's Andrew Anderson ran second over Garrett Mills. The 9 year old Larson has been especially successful at these limited events Fairgrounds tracks like Yuba City, Gridley and now Colusa.
There were 47 entries in the Open Outlaw division and Perkins' fast time was a 10.494 effort. Schamber ran a 10.556, Ballou a 10.586 and Tyler McCain a 10.642. Cassie Thain was fifth over Kyle Hirst and Santa Rosa's Chris Mansell. Hirst won the dash over Ballou and Perkins, but had nothing to do with the feature lineup. The karts were split into four heats with the fast timers in front. The top 3 finishers in each heat advanced to the A Main. Perkins won the first heat over Farquhar and Jason Webb, who was filling in for Ryan Foster. Schamber won heat 2 over Hirst and Chris Faulkner. Ballou took heat 3 ahead of Mansell and Steven Gannon. T McCain took heat 4 over Daniel Becker and double division racer Tyler Schaaf. Five more slots were available in the B Main where Robbie Berge won over David Lewallen, Kirk Simpson, Series point leader Sean Becker and Heath Withrow. The A Main had 19 starters as both Tony Sousa and Dennis Clark were added to the A Main grid. Alec Kerns won the C Main over Michael Tarter and Pete Johnston. Johnston is one of the hottest drivers at Cycleland, but was saddled with a 10th place heat run. He ran second in the D Main behind D Clark and advanced through the C Main with a 3rd, but saw his night end with a 8th in the B Main. Starting up front was a key to finishing high as Perkins won the A Main from the pole, second place Ballou started 3rd, third place Schamber lined up 2nd and 4th place Farquhar came from 5th. Sousa put a show coming from dead last to place fifth over Gannon, Berge, Mansell, Lewallen and S Becker. Schamber will climb to third in points behind S Becker and Berge with his big night.
Michael Hubert III was the quickest of the 27 125's with his 10.969 lap. Incoming point leader Schaaf ran a 11.047 effort with Lakeport Speedway star Bradley Terrell third at 11.126. Brothers Michael Helwig and Nic Helwig rounded out the top five qualifiers. Alan Ambers was sixth fast and won the dash over N Helwig and M Helwig. The entire field was split into three heat races with the top 5 finishers in each moving into the A Main. Hubert won the first heat over M Helwig and Reinolds. Jessica Helberg won heat 2 over Javonne Cowan and Richard Bailey. DiBenedetto had to come from third starting to win heat 3 over front row starters Ambers and Terrell. Only 3 transfer spots were available in the B Main where Tyler Wolf won over Nevada's Tom Purcell and Schaaf. Derek O'Bannon was fourth over John-Michael Bunn. DiBenedetto charged to the A Main win over Ambers, Reinolds, N Helwig, Schaaf, Brett Miller, JoJo Helberg, Hubert and Cowan. M Helwig was last in the 18 kart field and tumbled in the points as he started the night third behind Schaaf and DiBenedetto.
Larson was the quickest of 42 Box Stocks with his 12.476 lap. Brian Southers ran a 12.612, Dillon Silverman turned a 12.620 and both Jake Cartwright and Thomas Bruckenstein had 12.635's. Sixth fast Moore won the dash over Bruckenstein and Southers. Larson won heat 1 with Bruckenstein second over Jesse Red. Southers won heat 2 over Moore and Keith Bloom Jr. Silverman was chased to his heat 3 win by Anderson and Jonny Lentz. Cartwright won heat 4 with Garrett Mills second over Hunter Colodny. The top 4 in each heat advanced to the A Main and they were joined by four more transfers from the B Main. Derek Copeland won that B Main with Medford winner Riley Gomes second over Shane Graham. Kelley Bell won the C Main with Jerrad Cowan second over Matt Killion. Larson grabbed his third A Main win of the series with Anderson second over Mills, Southers, Red, Copeland, Cartwright, Lentz, Derek Kennemore and Moore. While Larson maintained his solid point lead, the second place duel between Red, Anderson, Southers, Mills, Lentz and Moore continued fierce with Bloom losing ground with a 20th place finish.
Summary Box Stock Fast Time-Kyle Larson 12.476 Dash-Mason Moore, Thomas Bruckenstein, Brian Southers. Heat 1-Larson, Bruckenstein, Jesse Red, Derek Kennemore, Derrick Hirst. Heat 2-Southers, Moore, Keith Bloom Jr, Mackenna Bell, Riley Gomes. Heat 3-Dillon Silverman, Andrew Anderson, Jonny Lentz, Cody Ambers, Dallas Colodny. Heat 4-Jake Cartwright, Garrett Mills, Hunter Colodny, Doug Kennemore, Shelby Dargert. C Main-Kelley Bell, Jerrad Cowan, Matt Killion, Brad Patchen, Leanna Kenyon, Zachary Heinz, Zachary Pina, Jennifer Purcell, Tristan Miller, Dylan Greenleaf. B Main-Derek Copeland, Gomes, Shane Graham, Andrew Compton, Tyler Seavey, Bradley Coupe, Jasper Fenton, Hirst, D Colodny, Cameron Mendes. A Main-Larson, Anderson, Mills, Southers, Red, Copeland, Cartwright, Lentz, Derek Kennemore, Moore, H Colodny, Gomes, Bruckenstein, Compton, Ambers, Silverman, Doug Kennemore, Graham, M Bell, Bloom. 125 Intermediate Fast Time-Michael Hubert III 10.969 Dash-Alan Ambers, Nic Helwig, Michael Helwig. Heat 1-Hubert, M Helwig, Justin Reinolds, JoJo Helberg, Brett Miller. Heat 2-Jessica Helberg, Javonne Cowan, Richard Bailey, N Helwig, Michael Forslund. Heat 3-Matt DiBenedetto, Ambers, Bradley Terrell, Cody Miller, Austin Kerns. B Main-Tyler Wolf, Tom Purcell, Tyler Schaaf, Derek O'Bannon, John-Michael Bunn, Alex Cartwright, Steven Rogers, Klint Simpson, Glenn Parman, Ryan Gomes. A Main-DiBenedetto, Ambers, Reinold, N Helwig, Schaaf, B Miller, JoJo Helberg, Hubert, Cowan, Kerns, Forslund, Purcell, Terrell, Wolf, Bailey, Jessica Helberg, C Miller, M Helwig. Open Outlaw Fast Time-Beau Perkins 10.494 Dash-Kyle Hirst, Robert Ballou, Perkins. Heat 1-Perkins, Brandon Farquhar, Jason Webb, David Lewallen, Taylor Simas. Heat 2-Rick Schamber, Hirst, Chris Faulkner, Robbie Berge, Heath Withrow. Heat 3-Ballou, Chris Mansell, Steven Gannon, Kirk Simpson, Sean Becker. Heat 4-Tyler McCain, Daniel Becker, Tyler Schaaf, Cody Braund, Kyle Calvert. D Main-Dennis Clark, Pete Johnston, Shawn Amos, Aaron Colburn, Chad Widener, Cassie Thain, Zack Mason, Michelle Mootz, Josh Hughes, Josh Chartier. C Main-Alec Kerns, Michael Tarter, Johnston, Mike Clark, Hank Withrow, D Clark, Kevin Juvenal, Bubba Hill, Colburn, Thain. B Main-Berge, Lewallen, Simpson, S Becker, Heath Withrow, Braund, Ryan Kaplan, Johnston, M Clark, Robbie Whitchurch. A Main-Perkins, Ballou, Schamber, Farquhar, Tony Sousa, Gannon, Berge, Mansell, Lewallen, S Becker, Faulkner, T McCain, Heath Withrow, Schaaf, D Becker, Simpson, Webb, Hirst, D Clark.