A Strange Day at the track in Round 4 of PAK
Round 4 of the Pacific Association of Karting was a wild day at the track for Velocity Karting this past Sunday. The results were very good but they could have been so much better. We did however end up winning two classes and took a podium spot in every class we entered. The results weren't the issue, it was how we got there and what could have been.
Lets start in the Sr division with the F100 class. Velocity Karting had the 3 fastest karts in the field. Stephen Huelsman took the Pole, Brian Smith was outside Pole and Brian Parji started third. Three Velocity drivers in the top three positions. As the Main began, Parji jumped to a great start from the 3rd position and took the lead in corner 1. Huelsman fell to 2nd with Smith falling to 4th. Joe Sino who is not a Velocity driver was considerably faster than days past and slotted into the 3rd position.
Huelsman would follow Parji for the first 6 laps until the craziness started. Parji took the pit road corner a little quicker than his kart could hold and drove the left side of his kart into the wall. The resulting crash would knock Parji out of the race and send his kart to welder. Huelsman would take the lead and it would have appeared that he would drive home to victory. But like we said craziness was on the agenda. Around lap 7 Huelsman's kart started to make a large howling sound that continued to get worst. This sound ended up being a broken header stud which eventually would break off the kart. With a black flag on lap 9 for Huelsman his night was done. Smith would find his way around Sino on lap 10 and take home the victory for Velocity. It was Smiths first win of the season. Sino would hang on for 2nd and get his best finish of the season.
Comer A was a lot less crazy. Akhil Bhakta qualified 3rd with Hayden Huelsman starting 4th. A last second carburetor tune on Huelsman's motor would eliminate him from contention before the race started. Upon leaving the pits his kart would not show any power and Huelsman would put around the track for a last place finish. Bhakta on the other hand would have a great start into turn 1 and take over 2nd right out of the gate. He would have nothing for the eventual winner Troy Hageman, and have to settle for 2nd. Wyatt Vidovich who is not a Velocity driver would round out the top three.
The craziness continued in the Comer B Division as Brett Revetta took the Pole for Velocity with Bela Richard starting 3rd. As the race started Revetta would take the lead followed closely by Gavin Decuir (non velocity driver) with Richard in 3rd. Revetta and Decuir would drive away from Richard and battle noise to tail for half the race. Decuir would make an aggressive move entering the tracks hairpin on lap 8 and take the lead for a moment. Revetta from the outside would try to go over/under to take the position back. They would collide stopping both of them for about 45 seconds. This would allow Richard to take over the lead. With a clear track in front of him, Richard would race to his first ever victory while Revetta would have to settle for 5th.
Finally Akhil Bhakta would be the teams only entry in the Mini Swift class that had some tight racing. This class only had 4 entries but the fastest kart was running a 45.1 and the slowest kart was running only 3/10ths off with a 45.4. Bhakta would have be very competitive in this race running a 45.3 but finishing 3rd.
All in all it was a great day of racing for Velocity. 4 classes entered, 2 victories, 1 2nd and 1 3rd. Next stop is F100 on Saturday night April 29th at Adams. This race will see the team enter 7 drivers in 3 classes. Last season at this race Velocity won in both classes they entered so we expect a great day at the track.
