Foster Doubles Down In High Desert Finale
Written by I Dig SportsRENO, Nev. Braxton Foster, 11, stormed to an impressive feat on Thursday night when he swept both the 250 Intermediate and Open 500 championships to conclude the second annual High Desert Hustle.
Fosters lucrative victories in the worlds richest Outlaw Kart race netted him $13,000 in winnings, including the $10,000 Open 500 grand prize.
It was pretty gnarly. It was fun though, Foster said. It is cool being a winner. This is a hard race track to win at. My starts werent that good and the car was bogging down (in 500). My family was so hyped and it was so cool.
Two hundred and 45 Outlaw Kart entries competed in Thursdays finale across five divisions. Open 500 led the way with 88 participants from across the United States in action.
Foster earned the pole position for the Open 500 nightcap on the temporary dirt oval. He earned the dominating win in the dash race for the top ten locked in drivers after three nights of preliminary action. Foster slotted alongside Colby Copeland for the 40-lap feature.
Copeland slipped back to fourth by lap nine, behind Connor Mewhirter and Landon Brooks. Mewhirter hounded Foster on each successive restart, showing his nose on the inside on several occasions on the frontstretch to no avail.
Foster stretched his lead to a couple of car lengths over the final five laps, topping Mewhirter, Brooks, Copeland and Casey McClain.
The 250 Intermediate division arguably stole the show on the championship night. Foster and Brody Reinolds went back-and-forth in a thrilling dash race, with Foster getting the edge to earn the pole for the 30-lap feature.
Reinolds snookered Foster at the drop of the feature green flag, swooping around the outside to lead lap one. A red flag on lap 12 gave Foster an opportunity to answer back. Foster looked high on the outside of the frontstretch but the hole closed. On the following lap, Foster crossed over in turn four to the inside to lead lap 15.
Braxton Foster led the final 15 laps for the 250 Intermediate victory followed by Reinolds, Logan Reeves, Diggy Tellez and Mikie Mora.
The Cage Clone feature was controlled by Carson Souza, but the race saw a flip in turn four halt the action with just two laps to go. Souza held court over the final restart, topping preliminary winner Drew Landgren, Case Harris, Keagan Medeiros and Carson Hammes.
An emotional Deegan Pochop claimed the 30-lap Box Stock feature. Pochop led wire-to-wire for the victory. Zane Ritcheson held down the second position for most of the race. Preliminary feature winner Braxton Moniz finished third followed by Maison Mockridge and Sawyer Vanpool.
The youngest drivers in the High Desert Hustle participated in the Beginner Box Stock division in a 25-lap feature with Jaxson Evett claiming the coveted victory. Ryder Matthews swept the preliminary competition on Monday and comfortably won Thursdays dash for the pole position for the feature.
Tuesday preliminary winner Parker Pedrotti crashed on lap 11. On the restart, Evett pounced to take the top spot away from Matthews. Evett led Matthews, Nixon Soiland, Blake Rollag and Kruize Whitener.