By Matthew J. Sullivan
It was a special night for Redwood Acres Raceway outlaw kart drivers this past Friday night as the speedway hosted its first ever outlaw kart races during the Redwood Acres Fair. Drivers in the four divisions put on an exciting show for the fans in attendance, many of whom were witnessing their first outlaw kart races ever.
Qualifying in the beginner box stocks was paced by Taylor Fuller with a 10.409. T.J. Sorrels was the winner of the dash while the heat was won by Fuller. In the 20-lap main, Fuller got the jump into the lead and was gone from there. The best battle on the track was for second place between Drew Barry and Sorrels with Barry eventually gaining the upper hand in the latter stages of the race. At the checkered, it was Fuller winning by nearly a second over Barry and Sorrels. Jacob Boldway crossed the line fourth while Kai McCrady-Hirsch rounded out the top five.
Speedway karts returned to the Acres for the night with Ed Gurbb setting the fast time in qualifying with a 9.991. Nick Davis was the winner of the trophy dash and heat races. The 15-lap main event was dominated in the opening half by Larry Fuller. However on lap nine, Gurbb took the lead. Gurbb was able to pull out to a massive lead and was the winner at the checkered flag by over 3 seconds. Larry Fuller placed second followed by Davis and Lori Fuller.
The 250 and 500 karts were combined for another night with Daniel Whitley setting fast time at a 8.511. Redding’s Ken Mahoney won the dash while Sean Fuller took the heat race. Fuller led the opening six laps in the 30-lap main. Brad Curtice took over on lap seven and looked to be dialed in on the night. Nobody was able to mount a serious attack on Curtice even with a few restarts. At the checkered flag it was Curtice taking the win followed by Kyle Whitley, Mahoney, Anissa Curtice and Steve Rambo.
Lower Lake native, Dryver Dothage was fast time in the box stock class with a 9.814. Natalie Richard won the trophy dash while the heat races were taken by Brianna Fuller and Dothage. The first half of the 20-lap main featured a fantastic duel between Richard and Dothage for the race lead. Unfortunately on lap 15, the two collided with Dothage suffering irreparable damage to his kart. The restart saw the renewal of the rivalry between Richard and Fuller. With five laps remaining, Fuller was able to sneak by Richard for the lead. From there on out it was Fuller taking the checkered flag over Richard, Maleesa Miles, Derek Kessler, Jr. and Quintin Ikeya.
Outlaw kart racing at the Acres takes a break for a few weeks before returning Saturday July 16th. After that event, there will only be two more chances to see the karts in action. Saturday July 30th is the second to last event for the karts while Saturday August 27th is the final event of the year. For more information on the outlaw karts at Redwood Acres Raceway, please visit the track’s official website www.racingtheacres.com