Aluminos, Inc.

Team Aluminos continues to march on as the third month of the season draws to a close. For a fifth straight event, Team Aluminos leaves the race track with victory in hand, this time doubling up at the ProKart Challenge South event at Grange Motor Circuit in Apple Valley, California. Aluminos manager Rob Soares strapped on the helmet for the first time in 2010 and dominated the TaG Masters category while G1 driver Fernando Diaz returned to the team for a sweep in his division. S1 pilot Brad Dunford kept his name in the title chase with his second podium on the year in the headline division.

Diaz missed the second round of the PKC South program but showed little weakness in his return aboard an Aluminos prepared entry. A lap of 52.680 was best in the qualifying session and put him on the pole position for the opening heat race. Nearly leading all the laps, Diaz ran to a 1.703-second victory in the opening stint. Heat 2 saw Diaz trailing early on as the off-pole man jumped the start and held the early lead. After some exchanges for the lead, Diaz crossed the line second but was awarded the win following the official’s penalty on his competitor. The 20-lap feature would then be a great showdown between the two. Running second for the first half of the race, Diaz stepped up his game. After the two exchanged the lead, Diaz confirmed the position as the white flag flew. Holding off the final lap charges of the current defending champion, Diaz got to the line 0.209-seconds ahead to score his second victory of the season.

Team Aluminos continues to be a consistent factor in the early months of the 2010 season. In its third season, Team Aluminos has recorded strong results and strives to guide their drivers to the top of the charts. For a fourth straight event, Aluminos recorded at least one victory with S4 driver Jeff Smith scoring a win at this past weekend’s ProKart Challenge North Round 2 event at Infineon Raceway in Sonoma, California.

Smith’s weekend wasn’t a complete sweep like his round one victory. Aboard a new Mirage kart for the first time, prepped by the Aluminos staff, Smith was narrowly edged out for the top spot in the morning qualifying session. Falling back to third on the opening lap of the first heat, Smith knifed his way to the point by lap three. Hounded through the remaining laps, Smith was able to post the fast lap of the heat to make some space before taking the checkered flag. With a better start from the pole in heat two, Smith was once again at the point, leading all eight laps while recording another fast lap for the win. With momentum on his side, Smith drove a smart and error free 20-lap feature race to score his second straight victory and the first in North America for the Mirage brand, running similar lap times to his first two heat races.

Another successful weekend went into the books for Team Aluminos following the second round of the ProKart Challenge South program. Challenging weather conditions put the Aluminos squad to the test at the Willow Springs Raceway kart track in Rosamond. Following solid testing sessions in the previous weekend, the result saw five drivers in an Aluminos entry battle for victory three categories.

Scoring the best result for the squad was veteran Larry Fraser who came away from the wet and rainy weekend with a runner-up finish in TaG Senior. Fraser started out the day second in qualifying in what would be the wettest conditions of the day. Once the green flag waved on the race action, Fraser led seven of eight laps in the first heat race to take the win by a tight 0.123-margin. Heat two looked to be a repeat of the first until a lap two spin sent him off-track. Falling down the order, Fraser was able to climb back and finish fourth, setting the fastest laps of the race. A great opening circuit of the 20-lap feature race put Fraser to the point quickly and engaged in a strong battle with two competitors for the lead. Never having a chance to break away, Fraser fought hard throughout the main event to take the checkered flag in the second position.