PLAZA PARK RACEWAY CALIFORNIA SPEEDWEEK WINS TO PAUL, MYRICK, PORTER, AND EVETT
VISALIA, CALIFORNIA (July 4, 2024) – Triple digit temperatures and a triple digit field of Micro Sprints led to a thrilling night two for the Hoosier Tire California Speedweek, Wednesday night from Visalia’s Plaza Park Raceway. A Non-Wing feature full of twists and turns saw Springville’s Cameron Paul prevail for the $1000 victory. All four winners earned their first career coveted wooden bear trophies with Maverick Myrick, Jaxon Porter, and Jaxson Evett also taking wins. Photo by Maxwell Patrick Imagery
Austin Torgerson of Glendale, Ariz. led Hyper Racing qualifying for a $100 prize for the second consecutive night, topping a 37-car Non-Wing field. Paul, Eric Botelho, TJ Smith, and Braden Chiaramonte won the heat races. A pair of B-Features narrowed the 37-car field to a 22-car, 30-lap feature.
Torgerson crossed over Smith in turn two on the opening circuit to take the lead. Opening night Super 600 winner KJ Snow of Kingsburg slowed in turn four to bring out the first caution flag and he was unable to rejoin.
Opening night Non-Wing winner Jeffrey Pahule was on a mission, advancing from 18th starting position to ninth just before halfway. Visalia’s Cash Lovenburg challenged Smith for second place before the two collided in turn four on lap 16 to bring out a caution flag. The incident relegated Smith to the rear of the field.
Ashton Torgerson and Pahule then had a similar collision in turn four while sliding for a top-five finish. Pahule was unable to continue.
Eric Botelho of Kerman challenged Torgerson for the lead, sliding past him on lap 22. Paul seized second as well. Lovenburg then flipped in turn four for a red flag with five laps remaining. Mesa, Ariz.’s Corbin Rueschenberg went up in smoke in turn three on the following restart from the third position.
Paul made his move on the next green flag, sliding into Botelho in turn two to make the decisive pass for the lead. Cameron Paul scored the Non-Wing feature followed by Botelho, 15th-starting Caden Sarale of Stockton, Torgerson, and Oklahoma’s Kale Drake.
Maverick Myrick of Tulare had a much more uneventful path to victory in Super 600. Action kicked off with Colton Key of Fresno leading Hyper Racing qualifying while heat races were scored by Snow, Myrick, and Torgerson.
Myrick started on the pole position and held the lead through several restarts. Snow lost a wheel in turn two to end his race on lap eight. 2023 Plaza Park Super 600 winner Jake Smith of Madera spun in turn two and was clipped by Elijah Gile for race ending damage. Khloe Cotton of Bakersfield and Pahule were also unable to finish.
Myrick darted to the $1000 win followed by Cody Christensen of Fresno, Torgerson, Canyon, Texas’ Brecken Reese, and 14th-starting Stefan Sidur of Madera.
Scottsdale, Ariz.’s Braxon Porter won the 25-lap Restricted feature worth $500. 2023 series runner-up Blayden Graham earned the Hyper Racing fast time for the second straight evening. Porter won the opening heat race and Braxon Vasconcellos of Visalia won heat two.
Brayton Roberts of Lake Havasu City, Ariz. led the race from the pole position. Porter drove from fourth to cross over Roberts on the inside to lead lap four. Aubri Huckleberry of Visalia followed into second place.
Porter held off Huckleberry for the win. Graham took over third on lap 15 but never reeled in the top-two runners. Tuesday winner Jace Thurein of Tucson, Ariz. and Vasconcellos rounded out the top-five. Roberts fell out with mechanical woes on lap 21.
Visalia’s Jaxson Evett won his first-career Jr. Sprints race when he won the 20-lap feature on Wednesday night at the California Speedweek.
Mackcen Roush of Riverdale was the quickest qualifier for the series’ youngest competitors. Heat races went to Arizona’s Micah Porter and Beau Bickner.
A grinding crash halted the $500-to-win feature on the opening lap. Julian Zayas of Sun City West, Ariz. went airborne and was hit by Matteo Logan of Hanford while in the air. The violent impact ripped the engine off Zayas’ car. None of the half a dozen drivers involved in the crash were injured.
Evett and Roush dominated the feature event after that with Porter settling for third. Jace Meyers of Fresno and Missouri’s Liam Barton were the balance of the top-five.
The 2024 Hoosier Tire California Speedweek concludes with rounds three and four in a “double-dip” at Stockton’s Delta Speedway on Friday and Saturday nights. Cars hit the track for hot laps at 6:30pm each night.
California Speedweek thanks its partners Hoosier Racing Tire, Chase Chevrolet, Engler Machine and Tool, G Baby Specialties, Keizer Aluminum Wheels, Hyper Racing, Wilwood Disc Brakes, CSI Shocks, Citywide Graphics, Shaw’s Structures, Schure Built Suspension, Bullet Impressions, Fast Four Media, and MyRacePass for their support.
For more information, visit www.CaliforniaSpeedweek.com
Hoosier Tire California Speedweek Results – Night No. 2 Plaza Park Raceway
NON WING – 37 entries
A Feature 1 (30 Laps): 1. 1J-Cameron Paul[5]; 2. 2B-Eric Botelho[6]; 3. 32-Caden Sarale[15]; 4. 88-Austin Torgerson[2]; 5. 28-Kale Drake[12]; 6. 02-Ashton Torgerson[10]; 7. 44-Darren Brown[17]; 8. 5-Mattix Salmon[16]; 9. 4K-Khloe Cotton[7]; 10. 8-Corbin Rueschenberg[9]; 11. 21-Cash Lovenburg[4]; 12. 20Q-Brecken Reese[14]; 13. 66-Broedy Graham[20]; 14. 7-Quinn Thurein[21]; 15. 14-TJ Smith[1]; 16. 44X-Jeffery Pahule[18]; 17. 55-Jett Barnes[19]; 18. 54-Braden Chiaramonte[3]; 19. 74-Robby Brockman[22]; 20. 8G-Teddy Bivert[13]; 21. 24-KJ Snow[8]; 22. 4-Jett Yantis[11]
SUPER 600 – 30 entries
A Feature 1 (30 Laps): 1. 54-Maverick Myrick[1]; 2. 14-Cody Christensen[4]; 3. 88-Austin Torgerson[6]; 4. 20Q-Brecken Reese[3]; 5. 11X-Stefan Sidur[14]; 6. 02-Ashton Torgerson[12]; 7. 4-Jett Yantis[16]; 8. 63-Colton Key[8]; 9. 12-Alex Panella[20]; 10. 24X-Caden Sarale[18]; 11. 5-Mattix Salmon[13]; 12. 3-Cole Schroeder[15]; 13. 13-Elijah Gile[17]; 14. 55-Jett Barnes[22]; 15. 44X-Jeffery Pahule[10]; 16. 4K-Khloe Cotton[2]; 17. 14M-Drake Carter[21]; 18. 21B-Brayson Gillio[11]; 19. 82-Cody Key[19]; 20. 28-Jake Smith[9]; 21. 24-KJ Snow[5]; 22. 84-Deegan Irey[7]
RESTRICTED – 20 entries
A Feature 1 (25 Laps): 1. 222-Jaxon Porter[4]; 2. 10J-Aubri Huckleberry[8]; 3. 66B-Blayden Graham[7]; 4. 5-Jace Thurein[5]; 5. 13V-Braxon Vasconcellos[3]; 6. 37X-Cole Bezio[6]; 7. 17B-Brycen Roush[12]; 8. 9J-Levi Osborne[10]; 9. 27C-Cam Carraway[2]; 10. 69-Logan Reeves[14]; 11. 5C-Colton Knapp[9]; 12. 96-Briggs Davis[11]; 13. 38JT-Jackson Tardiff[13]; 14. 16S-Bryson Sozinho[17]; 15. 17Z-Manuel Zayas[15]; 16. 21-Brayton Roberts[1]; 17. 11A-Austin Lee[16]; 18. 67Z-Clayton Wilson[19]; 19. 21G-Greyson Henry[18]
JR SPRINTS – 18 entries
A Feature 1 (20 Laps): 1. 4-Jaxson Evett[1]; 2. 17M-Mackcen Roush[2]; 3. 23-Micah Porter[3]; 4. 14-Jace Meyers[9]; 5. 19-Liam Barton[7]; 6. 9D-Tyce Domingos[6]; 7. 3P-Connor Penix[11]; 8. 9B-Beau Bickner[4]; 9. 77-Nixen Gabbard[15]; 10. 12-Haven Sherman[12]; 11. 3B-Boston Banks[18]; 12. 11E-Easton Wright[13]; 13. 7L-Logan Banks[8]; 14. 4U-Lee Uzzell[14]; 15. 37J-Jayden Ferneau[5]; 16. 3-David Anderson[10]; 17. 32-Matteo Logan[16]; 18. 24Z-Julian Zayas[17]