InsideGroove - Race Report

TYLER MCCAIN THREE FOR FIVE AFTER SWEEP

Chico, CA -- Defending series champion Tyler McCain continued his complete domination of the 2004 QRC All Star Tour for open outlaw karts by picking off a $410 clean sweep of the Cycleland Speedway holiday stop on Saturday night. T McCain has now won three of the first five races on the 2004 schedule and holds a huge 86 point lead on Justin Reinolds. Only 105 points are available at each race, but T McCain has averaged an incredible 101 points per race to date. T McCain led the 72 kart field in time trials, won his heat from the pole and then paced all 30 laps of the A Main. T McCain is sponsored by Gary Owens, Hayward Consulting and QRC. It was another All in the Family night as older brother Brian McCain came from 4th starting to 2nd on the opening lap and stayed there for the entire race for a $200 payday. Usual Open Intermediate racer Austin Kerns impressed as he timed in fifth quick, won his heat race and made a late move into the $135 third spot on lap 28. Reinolds had to battle through the B Main, but charged forward from 19th starting to finish fourth in the feature. That finish allowed him to move around recent Lakeport QRC All Star Tour winner Brandon Farquhar from Medford OR into second in the points. Farquhar ran 15th and stands four points back of Reinolds. A long list of series sponsors allows the tour to pay out a $12,000 point fund with each of the three division champions pocketing $1000. Returning sponsors include Jimmy Sills School of Open Wheel Racing, Burris Tires, Crow Enterprises, Bud's Jolly Kone, Garth Moore Insurance and Financial Services and LTE Exhaust. They have been joined in 2004 by new major sponsor Courage Sports of Las Vegas along with Care-Free Pools, SILV-O-LITE Quality Pistons, PTP Sales and Consulting, JW Web Designs and Gary Morgan Graphics.

Time trials are critical at the QRC All Star Tour events as the heat races are started straight up and only the top three finishers in each of the six large heat races advance into the 30 lap A Main. T McCain paced time trials with his 11.086 clocking. Reinolds was second at 11.233 and Tyler Schaaf ranked third at 11.259. B McCain ran a 11.271, a time that was later tied by Kerns. The top ten qualifiers were rounded by Anthony Orgain, Tyler Wolf, A J Kerns subbing for Chadd Noland, Robbie Whitchurch and Justin Grant. T McCain won the first 8 lap heat race from the pole by nearly a second over Wolf. Sean Sheppard got third ahead of Michael Helwig. Open Intermediate racer Kayla Thain came from 7th to win heat 2 over Richard Bailey with Peter Lawrence the third transfer. Reinolds ran fourth to earn his B Main assigment. Schaaf captured heat 3 by 1 1/2 seconds over Brett Miller and Whitchurch. B McCain beat Kirk Simpson and Grant in heat 4 with Farquhar also falling into the B Main with a fourth. Pete Johnston was penalized out of his heat 5 win for a jump start, but he still ended up in a transferring third behind winner Austin Kerns and Bradley Terrell. Orgain won heat 6 over Chris Mansell and Jimmy Pettit. The hotly contested B Main found 16 drivers dueling for those final four transfer spot into the A Main. Reinolds got that win with a best lap of 11.062. He was two seconds ahead of Helwig at the checkered flag. Helwig just nipped Farquhar and Michelle Argetsinger in a photo finish for 2nd. Just missing the transfer out of the 15 lap race were Brandon Aldred, Nevada's Tom Purcell and Adam Main. Aldred had been a busy racer as he advanced through the E, D and C Mains before his fifth place B Main effort ended his night. Aldred beat Michael Tarter in the E Main with Nick Soto third. Aldred then battled to 2nd in the 12 lap D Main that was won by JoJo Helberg. James Sweeney and Kirt Organ also advanced. Just missing the move up was David Tarter, who was subbing for top runner Rudger Worley, who is sidelined by a shoulder injury. Aldred then advanced through the C Main with a third behind winner Ian Jones and runnerup Ray Johnson. Purcell got the final transfer out of the C with Reyna Krueger and JoJo Helberg just missing.

The A Main was now set with 22 racers chasing the large purse and important points. The six heat winners started in the front and Schaaf was done early as T McCain took a quick lead over B McCain, Thain and Austin Kerns. Kerns took over third on lap 2 as Thain spun, but lost the spot to Bailey on lap 7. At the midway mark, T McCain led B McCain, Bailey, Austin Kerns, Johnston, B Miller, Orgain and 19th starter Reinolds. Johnston climbed to third on lap 21 and Reinolds moved into sixth on lap 23. Bailey's race was over on lap 25 while fourth and both Austin Kerns and Reinolds drove by Johnston for the 3-4 slots on lap 28. The top ten karts finished on the lead lap with T McCain winning over B McCain, Austin Kerns, Reinolds, Johnston, Whitchurch, Grant, B Miller, Simpson and Lawrence. T McCain's best main event lap was a quick 10.796. Johnston ran a 10.839 and also breaking into the 10.9's were Argetsinger, Bailey and Wolf. T McCain was three seconds ahead of B McCain at the checkered flag with Austin Kerns another 1/3 second back in third.

Next action for the QRC All Star Tour is a rare two races on the same weekend as they return to Lakeport Speedway on Friday, August 6 and then come back to Cycleland for the third time in 2004 on Saturday, August 7. B McCain is fourth in points, 16 behind Farquhar and 10 ahead of Grant. B Miller is just a single point behind Grant. Whitchurch, Wolf, Terrell and Purcell round out the current top ten.

Summary Fast Time-Tyler McCain 11.086 Heat 1-T McCain, Tyler Wolf, Sean Sheppard, Michael Helwig, Chris Faulkner. Heat 2-Kayla Thain, Richard Bailey, Peter Lawrence, Justin Reinolds, Donny Ritcheson. Heat 3-Tyler Schaaf, Brett Miller, Robbie Whitchurch, Michelle Argetsinger, Jessica Helberg. Heat 4-Brian McCain, Kirk Simpson, Justin Grant, Brandon Farquhar, Nick DeCarlo. Heat 5-Austin Kerns, Bradley Terrell, Pete Johnston, Adam Main, Emalee Ramirez. Heat 6-Anthony Orgain, Chris Mansell, Jimmy Pettitt, E J Ross, Cody Braund. E Main-Brandon Aldred, Michael Tarter, Nick Soto, Blaine Bergen,.Kevin Gaines, Ronnie Lingron, Dylan Greenleaf, Joel Courage, Rodney Moses, Sean Downs. D Main-JoJo Helberg, Aldred, James Sweeney, Kirt Organ, David Tarter, M Tarter, Bergen, Eric Carlson, Joey Petroni, Alex Cartwright. C Main-Ian Jones, Ray Johnson, Aldred, Tom Purcell, Reyna Krueger, JoJo Helberg, Kyle Miller, Justin Mincey, Josh Young, Troy Combs. B Main-Reinolds, Helwig, Farquhar, Argetsinger, Aldred, Purcell, Main, DeCarlo, Jessica Helberg, Ross. A Main-T McCain, B McCain, Kerns, Reinolds, Johnston, Whitchurch, Grant, B Miller, Simpson, Lawrence, Argetsinger, Wolf, Sheppard, Pettit, Farquhar, Helwig, Thain, Orgain, Bailey, Terrell, Mansell, Schaaf.

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