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Fast Laps, Flips & First-Timers: CRS Invades the Thunderbowl

September 20th saw the California Regional Sprints invade the widely famous and notorious tracks that is the Tulare Thunderbowl as a support class for the World of Outlaws sponsored by NOS Energy Drink. We saw a season high 17 cars hit the track, and even one new guy on the season as Brandon Emmett aboard the #12E hit the track for his first race of the season.

This race was conducted a bit differently from the other races this season. Rather than qualifying, the drivers ran the standard IMCA pill draw format. Drivers drew numbers and were lined up based off of those numbers for their heat races.

Hot Laps Rundown:

1. George Tristao - #23T (15.242), 2. Kevin Barnes - #36B (15.481), 3. Brandon Emmett - #12E (15.771), 4. Davey Pombo - #2 (15.788), 5. David Knott - #28 (15.879), 6. Tylor Henson - #11T (15.980), 7. Jeremy Alves - #81A (15.998), 8. Koen Shaw - #64C (16.029), 9. Rino Felicioni - #15 (16.061), 10. Phil Heynen - #31H (16.186), 11. Maverick Myrick - #22 (16.364), 12. Joe Delisle - #88J (16.492), 13. Anthony Pombo - #3 (16.703), 14. Lance Jackson - #18 (16.712), 15. Jake Vermeer - #87 (16.968), 16. Andy Smith - #7 (19.737), 17. Kyle Rasmussen - #38N (Scoring Issues)

As there was no qualifying, the Quick Time Award worth $50 presented by BR Motorsports
was presented to George Tristao Jr. in the 23T. Heat race action would soon follow as Anthony Pombo, Tylor Henson and Kyle Rasmussen would grab the heat race wins in their respective heat races

Heat 1 Lineup:

1. Anthony Pombo - #3, 2. Jake Vermeer - #87, 3. Lance Jackson - #18, 4. Maverick Myrick - #22, 5. Phil Heynen - #31H, 6. Andy Smith - #7

Heat race action kicked off the night without severe incident as the #3 of A. Pombo jumped out to the early lead with the #87 of Vermeer and the #18 of Jackson following closely behind with Myrick, Heynen and Smith rounding out the group and this is how they would finish with Anthony Pombo grabbing the first heat race win of the night

Heat 1 Rundown:

1. Anthony Pombo - #3 (1st), 2. Jake Vermeer - #87 (2nd), 3. Lance Jackson - #18 (3rd), 4. Maverick Myrick - #22 (4th), 5. Phil Heynen - #31H (5th) 6. Andy Smith - #7 (6th)

Heat 2 Lineup:

1. Rino Felicioni - #15, 2. Tylor Henson - #11T, 3. Davey Pombo - #2, 4. Brandon Emmett - #12E, 5. Jeremy Alves - #81A, 6. Koen Shaw - #64C

The second of three heat races for the night kicked off with the #11T of Henson jumping out to the early lead with the #15 of Felicioni and the #2 of D. Pombo rounding out the top three with the #12E of Emmett in fourth with the #64C of Shaw grabbing fifth from the #81A of Alves and this is how they would finish the second heat of the night with Henson grabbing the second heat race win for the night

Heat 2 Rundown:

1. Tylor Henson - #11T (2nd), 2. Rino Felicioni - #15 (1st), 3. Davey Pombo - #2 (3rd), 4. Brandon Emmett - #12E (4th), 5. Koen Shaw - #64C (6th), 6. Jeremy Alves - #81A (5th)

Heat 3 Lineup:

1. Kyle Rasmussen - #38N, 2. David Knott - #28, 3. Joe Delisle - #88J, 4. George Tristao - #23T, 5. Kevin Barnes - #36B

The final heat race of the night came to green as the #38N of Rasmussen jumped out to the lead with the #23T of Tristao shuffling up two spots from fourth to inherit second and the #28 of Knott falling back to third where he would stay for a couple of laps until the #36B of Barnes would pass him on the third lap of the heat and just one lap later on lap 4, Delisle aboard the #88J machine would spin in turn three, bringing out the only heat race caution of the night. On the restart, the lineup would remain the same with Delisle going to the tail of the field because of the caution and this is how they would finish the final heat race of the night

Feature Lineup:

1. George Tristao - #23T, 2. Rino Felicioni - #15, 3. Jake Vermeer - #87, 4. Kyle Rasmussen - #38N, 5. Tylor Henson - #11T, 6. Anthony Pombo - #3, 7. Lance Jackson - #18, 8. Davey Pombo - #2, 9. Kevin Barnes - #36B, 10. Maverick Myrick - #22, 11. Brandon Emmett - #12E, 12. David Knott, 13. Phil Heynen - #31H, 14. Koen Shaw - #64C, 15. Joe Delisle - #88J, 16. Andy Smith - #7, 17. Jeremy Alves - #81A

Feature action kicked off with the #23T of Tristao jumping out to the early lead in which he would maintain for the race but the action behind him would very quickly ramp up as on the very first lap of the race, the #88J of Delisle would spin in turn 2 and due to the damage of his car, had to be towed off by “Tulare’s Trusted Tow Trucks” back to his trailer. On the restart, Tristao would continue to lead with the #15 of Felicioni in second with Rasmussen maintaining the third position and they’d get a couple more green flag laps in and then on lap four, red would come out as Heynen would flip in turn 4 and collected the #28 of Knott in the process, with Heynen getting towed off the track and Knott getting pushed off of the track with the both of them being done for the main due to the extent of the damage on their cars. After the track was cleared of the wreckage and debris, the field came back to green but only for a couple more laps as another incident would occur on lap six as the #87 of Vermeer, #22 of Myrick and the #7 of Smith would all come together in turn 3 with Vermeer and Smith having to be towed off and Myrick having to be pushed off of the track where all three would also be done for the night. On the restart, the lineup would remain the same with the cars in the back shuffling up some spots and on lap 7, Rasmussen would grab second from Felicioni and then Pombo would grab third from Felicioni, cycling the #15 back to fourth in just one lap due to a bobble out of turn four but the race would keep on. And on lap 9, the #11T of Henson would grab fourth from Felicioni, cycling him back another spot and just one lap later, the #2 of D. Pombo would grab second from Rasmussen and would give Tristao a run for his money as the laps clicked down eventually engaging in a battle for the lead on lap 14 but this battle was short-lived as a caution would come out for the #81A car of Alves as he would come to a stop on the front stretch and this caution would draw the end for the race due to “time constraints.”

After the race concluded, top 4 were called to scales to make sure they met the minimum weight requirement and the #38N of Kyle Rasmussen forwent scales, ultimately resulting in a disqualification. This would move everyone one spot up in their finishing order and give Henson the third place finish.

Additional Incentives were given out as the “Blue Collar Hardcharger Award” was given to the #81A of Jeremy Alves went 15th to 8th (+7)

We were also fortunate to give away three front axles, sponsored by the wonderful people over at Triple X Race Components to three random drivers and these drivers were the #3 of Anthony Pombo, the #15 of Rino Felicioni and the #88J of Joe Delisle.

The California Regional Sprints have one final race before their season comes to a close. CRS will be back at the historic, newly renovated Santa Maria Speedway on October 4th to run with the Tri-State ProStocks, Hobby Stocks, and SoCal Dwarfs.

The points battle to crown the California Regional 305 Sprints FIRST ever champion is a close one! Check it out!

1 2 D. Pombo 1281
2 23T G. Tristao Jr 1159 -122
3 11T T. Henson 1038 -243
4 31H P. Heynen 925 -325
5 36B K. Barnes Sr 842 -439
6 18 L. Jackson 787 -494
7 3 A. Pombo 705 -566
8 38N K. Rasmussen 615 -666
9 81A J. Alves 506 -775
10 15 R. Felicioni 496 -785

The most points one can gain from a single race is 135. This ONE LAST RACE of 2025 can mix up the WHOLE points finishing order. One race makes a difference!

BIG SHOUT-OUT to our sponsors, without them, this season would not have happened!

Quick Change Liquid Energy Drink
BR Motorsports
American Racer Southwest
MyRacePass
Sidewaze Designs

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