Black Flag Racing Micro Max
Saturday Report
The MicroMax qualifying session came down to the wire. Max
Wright (Energy) showed great speed to lead early in the session,
but found himself falling from the top of the charts when Sebas-
tian Davis’ Tony Kart came to life. Davis posted a 52.468 on the
seventh circuit of the 10-minute session, and that lap was never
challenged through to the checkered flag. Like Davis, Austin
Torgerson (KGB) was mired deep in the pack early but turned
it up at the end of the run to sit second with a 52.653-second
lap. Local driver Tyler Ruth (KGB) got his weekend off to a great
start by timing in third, ahead of Diego LaRoque (CRG) and Cole
Keith Cotham (Birel). Point leader and Tucson double-race win-
ner Jak Crawford (Birel) struggled with a mechanical issue that
hurt his top RPMs, and he couldn’t get into the top-15. This
hurdle would only serve to put a spotlight on the young Nash
Motorsports driver.
The prefinal provided a ton of excitement, as the race came
down to the wire. Davis did not get a great start and fell back to
third as Torgerson led from the off-pole. Davis would eventually
work his way back to the point, but it was Wright who had the
best pace in the lead pack through the final laps. A confident
last lap move at the end of the backshute gave the Energy driver
the win and the pole for the main. Davis held on for second
to maintain his position on the front row for the final, finishing
ahead of Ethan Arndt (Tony Kart). Big kudos went to Crawford,
who fought his way back up to fourth after starting 19th. Craw-
ford, who swept the mains in Tucson, returned to form and set the
fastest lap of the race in the progress.
Crawford completed his comeback in the 14-lap main event,
working his way into the lead before the halfway point with a
strong move past Davis at the end of the backstraight. The Birel
pilot would stretch away over the final laps to post a 3.254-sec-
ond advantage, his third straight COTA race win. Davis and
Wright were left to battle amongst themselves for the final two
positions on the podium, and they finished in that order. Josh
Pierson (Tony Kart) started ninth and worked his way forward
throughout the race, holding fast lap at one point, and then made
a last lap pass to steal fourth. AJ Hernandez completed the top-
five.
Black Flag Racing Micro Max
Sunday Report
On Saturday, Jak Crawford (Birel) scored his third straight
Mini Max main event despite dealing with mechanical issues in
qualifying that mired him back in 19th. Things went much better
on Sunday morning, as the Texan turned a 52.297-second pass
on his third lap to edge out his primary championship contender
Sebastian Davis (Tony Kart) for the Pre-Main pole position by
just 0.021 seconds. Ethan Arndt (Tony Kart) was a further three
tenths back in third, although both Josh Pierson (Tony Kart) and
Tyler Ruth (KGB) were within a half a tenth. The tight nature of
Micro M
the qualifying times signaled the coming of some close racing the
Prefinal and Final.
In the prefinal, a four-kart pack developed quickly, as Crawford led
Davis, Arndt and Pierson through the opening laps. Crawford had
found his rhythm and paced the field all the way to the checkered,
winning over Arndt and Davis by 0.535 seconds. Ruth finished alone
on the track in fourth, while Max Wright (Energy) finished firth with
Pierson right on his rear bumper.
With the speed shown by Crawford on Saturday and into Sunday,
many expected Crawford to jump away early, but this was not to
be as Arndt, Davis and Ruth made it an exciting quartet through the
early going. The battle for the wine dropped to three after the first
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