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.

 

 

Pacific Association of Karting Round 4 Preview

April 23, 2017 the Velocity Team will be back at the track chasing Championships at Round 4 of the Pacific Association of Karters season.  Velocity will field 7 drivers in 4 classes.  Over the past 2 rounds we have won at least one class with Brett Revetta taking home the top of the podium last month.  Weather is forecasted to be a hot and dry 92 degrees which will put our drivers endurance to the test. 


Akhil Bhakta will be representing the team in the highly competitive Mini Swift class.  Over the past two months Akhil has a victory and a 2nd place finish with PAK and is easily one of the top drivers in the class. 


Hayden Huelsman will look to get his first victory of the year in the Comer A division.  After a disappointing crash in the rain in Round two, and missing Round three, he is focused on finding the top of the podium.  Although Huelsman hasn't won yet this season, he has had the fastest lap in every event this year so he just needs to put a full race together.


Brett Revetta and Bela Richard will both be back on the track in the Comer B division.  As mentioned earlier Revetta is coming off a victory last month (1st of his career) and has been working hard to defend that win this month.  Richard however will be driving a new kart and a new blueprinted motor.  In testing last weekend this new package was super fast so Velocity hopes to go one, two in this class. 


The Sr. drivers will see Stephen Huelsman, Brian Smith and Bryan Parji battle in the F100 class.  Robert Melzer has won every race this season in this class, but Velocity has been working hard to find the speed to compete with him.  After weeks of testing Huelsman believes he has found the answer to Melzer and predicts a victory on Sunday.  Smith is always fast and has every opportunity to take home a win.  Parji has been working hard and he has invested some money into finding more speed so he should be near the front all day.


It is the Velocity dream to sweep the victories in every class one day. Sunday could be that day.  It takes hard work and a little luck to accomplish this goal.  We have put in the work now we just need a little luck.

The New Look of Velocity Karting

Velocity Karting is pleased to roll out their new custom graphics, racing suits and apparel.  The team in the past had used stock Italkart Graphics for most of their karts and only a few drivers had a version of the racing suits.  These designs will build the Velocity Karting Brand and tell all of the competitors that we are apart of a winning team.

The suits will be in a matching grey with the Red and Green Team colors.  Your name will be on the front belt strap and the back shoulder.  Additionally we have added the National Flag of your choice on the belt strap.

For the drivers undershirts we have designed the above simple shirt made out of a sweat resistant material.  This shirt will pull the seat away from the driver and keep him cooler.

Finally we have the Flex Fit hat for everyone with one of our logos on the front and the full team name on the back.  All of these items will be available for sale in the very near future.  The hats and shirts will be in stock soon.  The suits take six weeks to receive after we get everyone's measurements.  The custom kart graphics should be ready in 4 weeks.  No one is required to buy anything however I am hopeful that over time we can move everyone into these items.    



 Race Report for PAK Race #3

Velocity does it again!  This time thanks to one of our newest drivers Brett Revetta.  In just his 3rd race of his young career Ravetta found the top of the podium in the large Comer 80 B Division.  His performance was so dominate that team owner Stephen Huelsman has recommended that he move up to the A Division.  He may or may not make that move but he is proving to be a great young driver with Championship potential.

Akhil Bhakta continued his podium ways by getting another second place finish in the Mini Swift class.  This is the class that the Pro's run in so it wont be too long until we see him move to the Pro Division.  The only competitor that beat on this date was Stephen Grafton who is a perennial champion and race winner on the Pro tour and Bhakta was nearly as fast as him.  Bhakta will be a successful Pro racer soon.

 

Race Report

PAK Race #2 (2-26-17)

 

Velocity Karting hit the track under cloudy conditions last Sunday for Round 2 of the Pacific Association of Karters racing season.  With over night rain and showers expected throughout the day, the conditions were not ideal for racing.  With this as the backdrop, Velocity believed they could achieve great results as long as they stayed in front of the weather with their kart setups.

 

 

Ahkil Bhakta was the star for Velocity as he took home the first win of the season for Velocity in the Mini Swift class.  Bhakta entered the Main event starting outside of the always fast Steven Grafton who had won the Heat race.  As the checkered flew, Sofia Merrit jumped into the lead from the 3^rd place starting position followed by Bhakta and Grafton.  Bhakta stalked Merrit like a shark chasing prey for the first few laps of the race.  On lap 4 Bhakta entered the long straightaway with a burst of speed, drafted behind Merrit for 1/3 of the straightaway before pulling to the low side and making a high speed pace into turn 1.  A lap later Grafton would do the same maneuver and end up chasing Bhakta.  Grafton would eventually pass Bhakta as sprinkles began to fall on the track.  2 laps later Grafton would misjudge the amount of rain that had fallen and over drive a corner and put him in the dirt.  This would again put Bhakta in the lead where he would stay for the remainder of the race.  Merrit would put pressure on Bhakta, but to no avail as Bhakta in just his 2^nd start in this class would take home the checkered.  Congrats to you Ahkil!

 

In Jr1 Comer A, Hayden Huelsman had high hopes to get his first premier class podium.  In the heat race he had raced from 3^rd spot to a dominating win over almost 3 seconds.  No kart in his class could match his speed, but Mother Nature had her own plans.  As the class sat on the grid prior to starting their engines, a heavy rain cloud opened up above the track.  The subsequent rain made the track very slick for the Main.  Entering turn number 1, Max Saga starting outside poll entered the turn with too much speed and collided with Huelsman.  This pushed Huelsman into the dirt and gave the Saga brothers an insurmountable lead.  Huelsman would finish the race in third for his 1^st Podium in this class but everyone knows he could have won on this day. 

 

 

Jr1 Comer B was one of the largest fields of the day and Velocity’s own Brett Revetta had a eye on his first career podium.  A month earlier he had the speed to be a podium finisher but bad luck in the Heat and the Main cost him that opportunity.  This day was to be different.  Revetta showed his speed throughout the day and found himself starting 4th in the Main Event behind the very fast Jacob Peter, Aidan Hayner and last months winner Kayla Gibson.  As the flag would drop, Peter and Hayner would make contact and they would drop to the rear of the field.  This left Gibson in the lead and Revetta on her bumper.  They would race nose to tail the entire race being separated by just 6/100ths of a second.  Revetta piloted his kart with the skill of a veteran, in just his 2^nd race, and made many attempts to pass the veteran Gibson.  With just a lap to go, slower karts got between Gibson and Revetta which helped propel Gibson to her 2^nd victory of the year, but Revetta had his career best finish of 2^nd and his first Podium.

 

 

That left just the big boys to finish the day as the Sr’s would race in the 100cc Main.  Drivers Brian Smith, Stephen Huelsman and Phillip Ramirez represented Velocity on this day.  As always Robert Melzer was the Pole sitter in the Main, but Brian Smith actually had a faster time coming in to the Main and he started outside Pole.  Phillip Ramirez who is still a rookie was trying to improve on his career best 3^rd place finish.  As the karts hit the track, Smith threw a chain and was out of the race before it got started.  Huelsman would take his place on the outside Pole.  As the green flew, Melzer jumped to the lead with Huelsman tightly on his bumper.  On lap 3 Huelsman had a mechanical problem that forced him to exit the track.  This all but handed the victory for Melzer, but Ramirez wanted to prove that he has put the work in to stand on a podium and he did.  Ramirez fast lap the previous month was a 48.6 in perfect conditions.  On this day he ran a 47 flat in moist conditions and bested his previous record by getting a 2^nd place.  He has proven that he is a podium contender and with the next race just two week away, he is primed for a climb to the top of the standings.

Race Day Is Coming

 

Drivers, our next race is upon us.  Sunday February 26, 2017 we hit the track at Apex for Round #2 of the PAK racing season.  The Velocity Team is searching for its first win of the season and I think we have many chances to claim that.  Our Comer B drivers look primed for a victory.  Whether it is Bela Richard or Brett Revetta, one of our drivers should stand atop the podium. 

 

In Comer A Hayden Huelsman has put a ton of work in since the last race and is moving closer to the speeds necessary to have him winning.  We do anticipate that he will get his first podium in the A class after just missing it last month.

 

Ahkil Bhakta has shown that he is ready for his first miniswift victory.  The field is comprised of only Pro Kart drivers so he has his work cut out for him, but he will get there.  There is a rumor that he may race the Comer A class at this race.  If he does he will be a favorite in that class.

 

Moving on to the adults, Brian Smith put in a ton of practice time last weekend at Perris.  His times put him nearer to the front running Phillip Melzer who is the driver to beat and unfortunately not a Velocity Driver.  Stephen Huelsman is also a contender in that class and was seen practicing last weekend as well.  Other drivers like Bryan Parji, Philip Ramirez and Matt Odenshain are hoping to have a good showing for the team and find their way on to the podium.  We are hopefull to see Joe Sino and Paul Lipke make it back out to this race as they were good competitors.

 

The team is not planning to practice on the day before this race.  As you all know, Stephen Huelsman is expecting a child any day and there is no way that he can be at the track for the entire weekend.  He has offered to come out during the week prior to the race to work with any drivers who are able to get out of work or school. 

 

Finally, I have good news for the Comer B drivers.  I have been able to get PAK to allow you all to run the Maxxis SLR tire rather than the Envinco tire.  The Maxxis, in my opinion, is a better tire.  But more importantly it’s a less expensive tire.  The Envinco is $227 per set plus tax while the Maxxis is just $150.00 per set plus tax. 

 

Velocity Karting has an order of Maxxis SLR tires coming in next week.  This tire is legal in all Adult Classes for F100 and PAK for $160.00 per set plus tax and the PAK Comer B class and the F100 Cadet class.  If you want tires for the upcoming race, please reach out to Stephen Huelsman to get them put in the trailer.  As always, you can mount your own tires or the team can mount them for you for $20.00

 

See you at the track. 

 

 



Pacific Association of Karters

Round #1 Race Report



Sunday January 29, 2017 saw 9 Velocity Karting Drivers hit the track to start the 2017 season at Apex Kart Track in Perris, CA.  The Velocity Team joined many of Southern California's top drivers competing in Round #1 of the PAK season.  Our team saw 2 drivers racing in Jr1 Comer B, 1 Driver in Jr1 Comer A, 1 driver in Miniswift and 5 drivers in the F100 class.  Out of our 9 drivers, 4 made the podium and 2 others were fast enough to make the podium but luck didn't go their way.

Jr1 B Comer Race Report

This class had 2nd year racer Bela Richard on the track with rookie racer Brett Revetta making his racing debut.  In practice it was apparent that Revetta and Richard had the speed to compete for the victory.  Seasoned driver Kayla Gibson was the fastest but Revetta and Richard were just 3/10ths and 7/10ths off her pace.  By the time qualifying was completed Revetta and Richard took 2nd and 3rd and closed the gape on Gibson to just 1/10th and 4/10ths respectively.  It looked as though both of our drivers were ready to be on the podium and both were chasing their 1st career wins. 

Heat #1 saw Gibson jump out in front and start to drive away from the Velocity drivers.  They however had a tight race with one another for 2nd and 3rd, leaving the rest of the pack in their dust.  That all changed on lap 5 when Richard and Revetta made contact causing Revetta to spin and lose his 2nd place position.  Richard was able to keep going but Revetta fell to 7th position.  Richard would finish the race in  2nd, and Revetta battled back to finish 5th.

With Richard starting the Main on outside pole he had his sight set on his first victory.  Revetta's crew had to work overtime to get his kart ready for the Main, but he was there and starting in 5th. We all knew Revetta was fast enough to make his way on to the podium. 

As the green flew on the Main Gibson took the lead, but Richard tucked into 2nd closely behind her.  Revetta didn't seem to have the same speed as we witnessed earlier and it was apparent that he still had some mechanical issues.  Revetta battled hard, but at lap 8 he was forced to retire from the race with brake issues.  Not the ending we anticipated, but all in all it was a better day than we thought this rookie driver would show.  The group needs to be ready next month as Revetta will compete for the victory.

Richard stayed close to Gibson for the first half of the race.  He was actually posting faster laps than Gibson early on.  Then Gibson found a little extra speed and ran faster laps than she had run at any other point in the day.  She would eventually pull away from Richard and win the race by a 7 second margin.  Richard would hold on to 2nd to match his career best finish and finish the race 15 seconds ahead of the 3rd place driver.  Congrats to Richard on taking home the 1st podium of 2017 for Veloctiy Karting.

Jr1A Comer Race Report

Hayden Huelsman was the only team driver in the Comer premier class.  This class is where the best of the best Comer drivers in California, Arizona and Nevada come to race.  Huelsman only raced this class 3 times last season with a career best of 5th.

In practice it appeared that Huelsman had the speed to compete for a podium and possibly a victory.  The field was stacked though with Pro Kart drivers Troy Hageman, Alex Estes and Max Saga.  In practice Huelsman posted the 2nd fastest lap.

All that changed in qualifying though.  Huelsman had trouble finding his rhythm and fell to 4th but more importantly he slowed his pace by 7/10ths and fell 1.785 seconds behind the leaders time.  

As Heat #1 started, Huelsman found himself in 4th place behind Saga and Estes.  Those drivers battled hard and on lap 2 serious contact was made.  Saga kart was damaged enough for him to withdraw from the Heat, while Estes was able to continue.   Huelsman avoided the wreck and finshed the Heat in 2nd.  Hageman dominated the race and proved why he is one of the best young drivers in California.

The Main started with Huelsman on the outside Pole.  As the flag waved he tucked into 2nd with Estes hot on his tale.  It only took Estes 3 laps to get by Huelsman as Estes found some additional speed and layed down his fastest laps of the day.  Eventually Huelsman and Saga would end up battling for the final spot on the podium.  They would race nose to tail for 10 laps, bumping and banging, with each exchanging the 3rd spot a number of times.  With 2 laps to go, Saga bumped Huelsman and over took the 3rd position.  Due to the bump Huelsman lost some momentum and fell about 10 kart lengths behind Sage.  Huelsman didn't quit and layed down his fastest lap of the race on the final lap of the Main.  Unfortunately, the distance was too much to overcome.  He cut the space between he and Saga to approx. 4 kart lengths but had to settle for 4th.  Although he was obviously bummed by missing the podium, Huelsman still had a career best finish in this class with a 4th.

MiniSwift Race Report
     

Ahkil Bahkta is a seasoned racer with 3 years behind the wheel of Comer 80's.  On this day though he was making his career debut in the MiniSwift class.  This is the class that the Pro Tour uses so in these races you are regularly racing the best drivers on the West Coast.  This day was no different as the class had seasoned Pro Tour drivers Steven Grafton, Troy Hageman, Max Saga and Delany Delamo.
 

In qualifying Bhakta showed he was in the right class racing these great drivers.  He qualified in 3rd, but more importantly he was just 0.153 behind the Pole Sitter.  This also meant he had 2 Pro Tour drivers qualifying behind him.

In the Heat race Bhakta maintained his position in 3rd place through the first corners of the race.  Grafton jumped out to the lead with Hageman in 2nd.  Grafton would find a good rhythm and drive away with the race.  Bhakta and Hageman would race with limited separation between them as they drove away from the rest of the field.  Hageman would hold on to 2nd but Bhakta would finish 3rd just a second behind Hageman.

Going into the Main. Bhakta knew he had the speed to at least finish 2nd.  As the green flag dropped Grafton and Hageman separate from the field.  Bhakta would find himself battling Adamo for 3rd throughout most of the race.  They would swap positions for the first 10 laps, then Adamo would decide to work with Bhakta and see if they could catch 2nd place Hageman.  This strategy worked as the two of them together were able to cut the lead in half and both would post faster lap times than Hageman.  Unfortunately they worked together too late in the race and Grafton would take the victory, Hageman would finish 2nd and Bhakta would find himself on the podium in 3rd.  A remarkable finish for this new class debut.

F100 Sr Class Race Report

This class was the biggest class of the race day and Velocity Karting fielded 5 of those drivers.  Seasoned drivers and past Champions Stephen Huelsman and Brian Smith were driving for Velocity and were joined by rookie drivers Phillip Ramirez, Bryan Parji and Matt Obenshain making his racing debut.

Going into qualifying Velocity believed they could win this class.  After qualifying was completed it was clear that Robert Melzer showed up to compete with the Velocity Team.  He would take the Pole with Huelsman in 2nd, Smith in 3rd, Parji in 4th, Ramirez in 6th and Obenshain in 7th.

As the green flag flew in the Heat race, Melzer, Huelsman and Smith would take off together and race closely for much of the race.  Melzer would eventually pull away, but Huelsman and Smith stayed nose to tail through the first half of the race.  Exiting turn 1 on lap 7, Huelsman would catch Obenshain as a lap kart and while making an aggressive move they would come together resulting in both of them crashing out of the race.  Huelsman would take the responsibility for the crash knowing he made a move that was too aggressive against a new driver.  This crash handed Smith 2nd for the remainder of the race.  As the checkered flew Melzer took the win, Smith took 2nd, Paul Lipke rounded out the top 3.

Because of the crash in the Heat, Huelsman was relegated to rear of the field and would have to battle hard to get to the podium or so it seemed.  As the green flag dropped for the Main Event Melzer took the lead into turn 1 with Smith hot on his tail.  Huelsman layed back on the start and as the green flew he dove low on the front straightaway darting past almost the entire field and pulling into 3rd place.  Melzer had a level of speed that was unmatched on this day.  He would drive away from the field.  Smith and Huelsman would battle each other back and forth never being more than a few inches apart.  Huelsman was never able to make a move for the position so as the checkered flew Melzer would take the win, Smith would take 2nd, Huelsman would take 3rd, Parji would have a career best finish of 4th, Ramirez would take 5th and Obenshain would finish 7th.

All in all it was a great day of racing.  Velocity has 4 podiums on opening day and learned a lot that will translate to more success in the future.