Miles wins first box stock feature

By Matthew J. Sullivan

The penultimate outlaw kart race of the 2016 season at Redwood Acres Raceway took place this past Saturday night on what proved to be a beautiful afternoon. It was Scott Hammond State Farm Night at the Go-Kart Races and the drivers in the three divisions produced exciting and spectacular racing on the .110-dirt track.

It was T.J. Sorrels’ night in the beginner box stock division. In qualifying, Sorrels set fast time with a 10.857 time. When the racing started, Sorrels was just as quick scoring victories in the trophy dash, heat race and main event. Sorrels margin of victory in the 20-lap feature was 5.624 seconds over Malachi Johnson who placed second in all three races.

Spears SRL Southwest Tour driver, Brandon White was driving Brad Curtice’s kart in the 500 division for the night. White set fast time with a 8.983. He went on to take the victory in both the trophy dash and heat race. White looked primed to win the 30-lap feature but fell out on lap 12 while leading. Dax Williamson inherited the lead from that point and never looked back. Williamson went on to take the checkered flag over Tony Miles while White was credited with a third place finish.

Nine youngsters qualified for the box stock division on the night. Fastest among them was Driver Dothage with a 10.089. Kandace Mace took the trophy dash win while the heat race winners were Kimberly Sorrels and Dothage. Sorrels led the opening five laps of the 25-lap main before losing the lead to Malessa Miles. Jayden Molloy took the lead a lap later before getting passed by Dothage on lap 7.

Dothage looked untouchable up front but a late race caution changed everything. Dothage was determined to have jumped a lap 23 restart. Officials placed Miles in the lead and racing resumed. Dothage did everything he could to regain the top position but Miles had enough speed and savvy to hold him off. At the finish it was Miles winning her first box stock main event. Dothage placed second followed by Quentin Ikeya, Sorrels and Derek Kessler, Jr.

As mentioned, there is only one more chance to witness outlaw kart racing at Redwood Acres Raceway in 2016. The final event for the karts takes place on August 30th. The biggest event of the season on the 3/8-mile pavement at the Acres is set for this upcoming weekend, August 6th. The Spears SRL Southwest Tour Series visits RAR for the third time in the series’ history. Top super late model drivers include Derek Thorn, Jeremy Doss and Eureka’s own, Brandon White.

Gates open at 5:00 PM on Saturday with the SRL tour cars qualifying at 6:00 PM. In between the heat races and main events, fans will have the opportunity to meet the stars of the Spears SRL Southwest Tour Series on the front straightaway. Presale tickets for this weekend’s event are available at Fortuna Wheel & Brake. It promises to be a spectacular and memorable night of racing. For more information on this weekend’s SRL race and everything going on at Redwood Acres Raceway please visit the track’s official website, www.racingtheacres.com

Richard, Sorrels outlaw kart victors at the Acres

By Matthew J. Sullivan

The second outlaw kart event of the 2016 season at Redwood Acres Raceway took place this past Saturday night. It was Humboldt Performance and NorCal Automotive Night at the Races as drivers took to the .110-mile dirt oval.

Taylor Fuller was fast time in the beginner box stock division setting a 10.671. Fuller took the trophy dash win while T.J. Sorrels was the heat race winner. Jacob Boldway led the first two laps of the 20 lap main before Sorrels took over. Fuller looked to have the setup right on his kart and on lap nine Fuller took the lead. Fuller looked to have the victory in hand until getting tangled with slower traffic with three laps remaining. Sorrels regained the race lead and was able to hold on the remaining few laps for the win. Fuller got back to second over Boldway, Adrian Richard and Kai McCardy-Hirsch.

Four speedway karts visited the Acres for the night to help add to the show. Sean Fuller was quick time in qualifying with an 11.385 qualifying lap. Lori Fuller won the trophy dash with Nick Davis claiming heat race honors. Lori Fuller led lap one of the 20 lap main event before giving way to Sean Fuller. It was pure dominance from that point on as Sean Fuller was able to cruise to the win by nearly eight seconds. Davis, Lori Fuller and Larry Fuller rounded out the field.

The 250 and 500 karts were combined for the night with Sean Fuller setting a sub-10 second lap in qualifying with a 9.836. The night belonged to Brad Curtice who took the dash and heat race wins. Anissa Curtice led the first two laps of the 30-lap feature before her father, Brad took the lead. He was able to lead from that point to the checkered flag. Anissa Curtice and Fuller took second and third.

Timmy Walters was the only driver under 10-seconds in the box stock class as he set a time of 9.510. Natalie Richard won the trophy dash while the heat races were taken by Malessa Miles and Brionna Fuller. The 25-lap main featured a fantastic duel for the lead between Fuller and Richard. Fuller led the opening 11 laps before Richard utilized lapped traffic to take the lead. Fuller regained the lead on lap seventeen but got tangled with lapped traffic with five laps remaining. This gave Richard the lead and she was able to hold on to take the win. Jeremiah Boldway crossed the line second with Quentin Ikeya third, Miles fourth and Fuller placing fifth.

The 2016 schedule for Redwood Acres Raceway heats up this coming weekend. Friday June 24th the outlaw karts return to the dirt for a special fair night race. The following night, Saturday June 25th features a special Night Of Destruction. Both fair races are presented by DelReka Distributing with grandstand admission for the Friday event included with the price of fair admission. The late models will have the night off but the other five local classes will be in action. Feature events include a pole race for the roadrunners and the popular boat race which will cap off the night. Grandstands will open at 5:00 PM while racing begins at 6:30 PM.

The next race for the late models is the Don Graham Firecracker 100 on July 2nd. The 100-lap feature will be followed by a thrilling fireworks show. For more information about all of the upcoming races, please visit the track’s official website, www.racingtheacres.com