By Matthew J. Sullivan
The highly anticipated debut of the outlaw karts at Redwood Acres Raceway took place this past Saturday night. A great crowd was on hand to watch the group of young drivers, most between the ages of five and nine years old. The event was staged on a 1/10-mile dirt oval in the infield of the 3/8th-mile paved oval which fans normally see racing action.
Due to this being the inaugural season of karting action at the Acres and since all races this year are non-point events, concessions were made in the rules to allow for better competition on the track. The 250 and 500/open karts were combined for the night which featured racing between the father/daughter pairing of Brad Curtice and Anissa Curtice. Brad set fast time with a 9.247 lap time while Anissa qualified at 9.623. When it came to race time, Anissa dominated winning the trophy dash, heat race and feature over her father.
T.J. Sorrels of Ukiah set quick time for the beginner box stocks with a 10.583 lap in qualifying. Taylor Fuller of Medford was the heat race winner over Jacob Boldway of Eureka, Sorrels, Adrian Richard of Myrtle Creek and Kai Hirsch of Garberville. Fuller quickly maneuvered his way to the lead of the 20-lap feature while Hirsch had issues on lap two which forced him out of the race. Fuller was absolutely dominant, leading every single lap of the race en route to winning by a full lap over second place Sorrels. Boldway placed third over Richard and Hirsch.
Brionna Fuller was the fastest qualifier for the box stocks setting a time of 10.312 seconds. Natalie Richard took the victory in the trophy dash. Maleesa Miles won heat race one followed by Quentin Ikeya Bailey Jackson, Timmy Walters and Derek Kessler, Jr. Richard won heat two over Fuller, Jeremiah Boldway and Jackson O’Ferrell. The 25-lap main featured a scary accident on lap six when, Timmy Walters got out of control and hit the front straightaway wall. Thankfully Walters was unharmed.
O’Ferrell got to the lead on lap one and ran away from the field. He looked to have the race well in hand until two laps remaining when he lost control in turn four. Fuller moved to the lead and was able to withstand a late charge from Richard to take the win. O’Ferrell finished third while Boldway and Jackson rounded out the top five.
Redwood Acres Raceway would like to thank Scott Hammond State Farm for sponsoring the evening’s races. Also, a special thank you to Kenny Demello Racing, Wendt Construction and Michael Buell for their help in getting the races going. The outlaw karts return to the Acres on June 18th. Grandstands open at 5:00 PM while racing begins at 6:30 PM. For more information on everything going on at Redwood Acres Raceway, please visit the track’s official website, www.racingtheacres.com.