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Motorsports Development Group Micro
Max Saturday Report
Even the draft pairing of Josh Pierson (Tony Kart) and Le-
land Honeyman (Exprit) couldn’t hold back the pace of Diego
LaRoque (Benik) in Micro Max qualifying. As the field final-
ly dipped below the 52-second mark, Pierson and Honeyman
posted low 51.9s, putting them on the top of the timechart. How-
ever, in the final laps, LaRoque got a great draft tow from anoth-
er driver coming down the backstraight and slashed three tenths
off his best time to record a 51.566 to secure the pole position
for the Prefinal. Tyler Ruth (KGB) and Ashton Torgerson (Tony
Kart) completed the fast-five behind Pierson and Honeyman.
After falling back to third in the early laps of the 10-lap Pre-
final, Laroque turned up the wick and clawed his way back to
the front to pace the field. Honeyman and Pierson were not
going to let him get away, and stuck on his rear bumper. They
appeared primed to make several moves to retake the point, but
nothing every fully developed. Anthony Willis (Benik) was the
driver to watch coming from the back of the grid, starting 16th
after trouble in qualifying. Willis attacked quickly, gaining four
spots on the opening lap, and they put his head down to close
on the next group of drivers. He would eventually catch them
as they battled for position in the late going, and he was able to
steal eighth on the final lap.
In the final, an early train developed as expected, but once
LeRoque settled into the lead, the rest of the field felt apart and
decided to race each other. This allowed the Arizona pilot to
pull away to a 2.7-second triumph. Honeyman got to the front
of the chase pack to take second, while Cole Keith Cotham
(Tony Kart) paired up with Willis to get onto the podium in third.
Motorsports Development Group Micro
Max Sunday Report
In the last two seasons of the Challenge, only two drivers have
won in the Micro Max division. Last year’s champion Jak Craw-
ford swept all six main events in 2014, and thus far in 2015,
it’s been all Diego LaRoque. After dominating the main event
on Saturday, LaRoque (Benik) was the driver to beat again on
Sunday, qualifying on the pole during the short timed session.
Unlike Saturday’s race, where LaRoque was able to run away,
he and his challengers fought each other all race long. It was
Leland Honeyman (Exprit) who assumed the attack position in
second with Josh Pierson (Tony Kart), Cole Keith Cotham (Tony
Kart) and Anthony Willis (Benik) making up the fast five.
LaRoque won the Prefinal, hounded by Pierson and Honey-
man. Willis moved up to fourth with local driver Tyler Ruth in
the fifth position. Cotham finished fourth but was penalized five
positions following tech inspection. The Final came down to a
duel between LaRoque and Honeyman. The two went back and
forth until LaRoque secured the position with two laps remain-
ing. It was LaRoque at the line by two tenths for his fourth victory
of the season as Honeyman finished runner-up. Pierson won the
battle for third over Cotham as Ruth finished fifth, stealing the
fast lap honors.
Micro Max
Diego LaRoque
Josh Pierson
Leland Honeyman
Cole Keith Cotham