Black Flag RacingMicroMax
Saturday Report
The first group on the course was the Micro Max category,
and the lightweight drivers were sliding all around the still green
course after the track had finally cleared of all the precipitation.
The lap times were quicker as the session reached the end of the
eight minutes with Josh Pierson (Tony Kart) getting a good draft
to lock up the pole position, his first on the season. Point leader
JakCrawford (Birel) was second,withMaxWright (Energy), pro-
visional pole sitter Ethan Arndt (Tony Kart) and Sebastian Davis
(Tony Kart) rounding out the fast five.
It was a busy 10 laps for the Micro drivers as they opened
up the Prefinal round of action. Pierson was able to lead every
circuit,witha littlebit of a challengemidway. BothCrawfordand
Arndt droppedout of the top-five in the opening corner, allowing
Wright to hold the second spot. Crawfordwas moving forward,
until spinningat turn four on lap three anddropping to the tail of
the field. Diego LaRoque (CRG) was on the charge early, mov-
ing up from sixth to the second spot by lap four. Running down
Pierson, LaRoque drove off at turn four, losing positions and a
chance at the racewin. Piersonwent on to thewinwith the fight
for second coming down to the stripe. Arndt drove back into the
spot, but was chasedbyDavis. Runningadefensive line, Arndt’s
pace slowedand that allowedDavis to takeanoutside rundown
the front straight, edging out the Texan for the spot. Dustin Sala-
verria (Birel)went fromeighth to fourth, as Tait Blum followedhim
through for fifth.
The 14-lap was another race showcasing the talent of Craw-
ford, coming from12thon thegrid tohis fifth victoryof the series.
Pierson led the field to the green flag and showed theway for a
number of lapswithArndt onhisbumper.As the raceprogressed,
the driver on the move was Crawford, working his way into the
top-fiveby the halfway point, and closing inon the leaders.With
two laps to go, the gapwas just over one second andCrawford
eliminated the distance with one move. Running the fastest laps
of the race, he snuck up on Blum and Arndt, making the move
from fourth to second. Pierson kept a solid gap on the final lap,
but the final third of the circuit Crawford closed in. Pierson and
Crawford set up a drag race, with Crawford slotting outside.
At the line, Crawford scored the victory by 69 thousandths of
a second over Pierson. Blumwas able to come through in third
but was removed for a throttle issue and Arndt was fourth until
he had an improper airbox. That promoted Davis up to the third
step of the podium, LaRoque in fourth and Salaverria fifth.With
his advancement from12th, Crawfordwas awarded the#GoRo-
tax Hard Charger Award of a free set of Mojo tires, courtesy of
MAXSpeedGroup.
MicroM
Saturday’sPodium
