It was a busy yet successful weekend for the Aluminos operation as they helped kick off the 2011 Superkarts! USA Pro Tour with the running of the Honda Racing/HPD SpringNationals at the Musselman Honda Circuit in Tucson, Arizona. Aluminos set the pace for the weekend early as S1 driver Brad Dunford was first to set a new track record at the facility. Dunford joined fourteen additional drivers under the Aluminos banner, competing in four different categories on the weekend in a double-round weekend. Leading the Aluminos group in the result column was returning driver Kyle Hathcox, team driver coach Tom Dyer along with veterans Larry Fraser and Fernando Diaz.“Under our tent, successful race weekends are more than defined by results, they are judged by each driver’s ability to improve no matter what the skill level. In Tucson, we were stacked in the skill department, both behind the wheel and our entire crew working on each and every kart, but skill can’t always compensate for bad luck,” joked team principle Rob Soares.
19-year old Hathcox made his first start on the Pro Tour in the S2 Semi-Pro Stock Moto category on the weekend, rejoining Aluminos after a small number of regional seasons with the squad. The Phoenix driver began the weekend qualifying just outside the top-10 for Saturday’s round. Through the two heat races, Hathcox worked himself to the front, scoring the win in heat two to start the main event from the pole position. Following a 20-lap battle, Hathcox crossed the line second to start out weekend with a solid performance. Putting in a better qualifying effort on Sunday, Hathcox quickly jumped to the front of the field. After earning wins in the two heat races, Kyle asserted himself as the leader on lap five of the main event and drove away to a three-second margin of victory. With his weekend results, Hathcox left Tucson leading the Pro Tour S2 championship. Also in the S2 category for Aluminos was Cory Milne and Christian Bird. Milne recorded a solid sixth place finish in Saturday but retired early on Sunday. Bird showed speed to run inside the top-10, however, luck did not swing his way as he retired in both main events.
Another Aluminos driver to stand on the podium both days of competition was TaG Master driver Larry Fraser. Qualifying just outside the top-five to begin round one, the NorCal driver made his way inside the top-three by the start of the main event. As the 20-lap battle raged on, Fraser was challenging for the win. At the checkered, Fraser held strong in the second position. The following day, Fraser was battling inside the top-five throughout the second round of the event and found himself in the hunt for the main event victory as they reached the final laps. As they completed the final circuit, Fraser secured the runner-up spot for the second straight day and put himself in position for a run at the Pro Tour championship. Peter Workum was the other TaG Master driver for Aluminos. Running inside the top-10 for much of the weekend, a wreck on the final lap took him out of the race on Saturday with a mechanical issue putting him to the sidelines on Sunday. Never to let things bring him down, Workum is sure to be back challenging at the next round.The S1 Pro Stock Moto driver roster for Aluminos put in a solid performance over the weekend. Aluminos driver coach Tom Dyer scored the best results of the squad, placing second in Saturday’s main event and fourth on Sunday to finish the weekend third overall and take home a check for $250. Defending Pro Tour champion Fritz Leesmann finished the weekend with mixed results. After just missing out on the podium on Saturday in fourth, Fritz only managed to end up sixth on Sunday.
Up-and-coming driver Brad Dunford held the new track record for the circuit’s configuration for one day following Saturday’s qualifying session. The Southern California driver posted a 48.453-lap to hold the record until the following day when it would be broken. Unfortunately, Dunford’s chance to better his record went away as a transponder issue during the session cost him any chance of posting an official lap. While the pole position on Saturday only produced a sixth place finish, Dunford was well on his way to battling for a podium position Sunday when his rear bumper snapped loose, forcing him to pull off early. Canadian Don McGregor rejoined Aluminos for his second season on the Pro Tour as the 29-year old karting veteran continued to improve throughout the weekend, posting ninth place finishes both days in the elite category.2010 G1 Pro Tour champion Fernando Diaz made the transition to the S4 Master Stock Moto category for the new season. Making his first race start of the season, Diaz managed to remain in the top-10 throughout Saturday, eventually finishing 10th in the main event. On Sunday, Diaz made the right changes to jump to the top-five, qualifying fourth and winning the race-long battle for third in the main event. Phil Dunford and David Conyers both recorded top-15 finishes against a field of 33-drivers. Conyers placed 14th on Saturday, following it up with a 21st effort on Sunday. Dunford was 16th on Saturday and moved up three spots to 13th on Sunday. Jonathan Allen and Todd Wilson had difficult weekends in Tucson, both retiring early on Saturday and Sunday.
Aluminos will make a quick turn-around with the team trailer and equipment as they travel to the fourth round of the ProKart Challenge South program, set for the Streets of Willow facility in Rosamond, California on May 13-14. Aluminos is accepting any inquires for any type of specific Arrive and Drive packages for the upcoming ProKart Challenge events and the SKUSA Pro Tour SummerNationals in July. Any interested parties wishing to learn more about this professional team are asked to contact Aluminos at 925.786.7865 or visit them online at http://www.aluminos.com as well as sending Rob Soares an e-mail to This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
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