The annual Lone Star Grand Prix went off this weekend at the picturesque Speedsportz Racing Park in North Houston, Texas, but the weather was what everyone was talking about. With cash prizes on the line courtesy of presenting partner Ferguson Truck Center, Austin Garrison, Aden Rudolph, and Helio Meza walked away with over $10,000 in cash combined as they took top honors in the three largest classes.
Set to run as a night race with practice on Thursday, qualifying, and the first final on Friday on one layout with drivers returning Saturday to race wheel-to-wheel on a second layout, weather derailed those plans.
“It was a definite challenge, and I can’t thank the teams and competitors for sticking it out in one of the longest days of racing we have ever had,” explained Alan Rudolph, President of the Speedsportz Racing Park and Promoter of the Lone Star Grand Prix. “With a tropical storm moving into the area, and heavy rain forecast for Saturday, we voted at the drivers meeting to race two days’ worth of events on Friday and finally ended just before 3:00 in the morning.”
As it would be, rain on Friday put a brief hold on the day before qualifying and racing began. Once drivers were able to get on track, it was a jam-packed and long day of competition.
Austin Garrison was the biggest winner on the weekend taking home $5000 for his efforts in winning the KA100 Senior class and earned an extra $500 for being from outside the state of Texas. Alex Stanfield and Peyton Phillips pushed Garrison to the end and would celebrate on the podium in the second and third positions respectively. Helio Meza was the emerging victor in the KA100 Junior class and took home a cool $3000 cash as he outdueled Landon Skinner and Brayden Domingue for the win.
As Garrison looked to double up on his winnings, we would cross the line second in the 206 Senior class as Aden Rudolph took the win and $1000 cash in a hard-fought battle. Garrison added his second podium result of the event weekend finishing second, just ahead of Blaise Dorenbaum in third.
It was a Chambers one – two finish in Mini Swift as Josey Chambers scored the victory ahead of Sawyer Chambers, who finished second when the checkered flag flew. David Ybarra was able to climb to the third step on the podium. In the Micro Swift ranks, it was Alex Chandler who took home top honors ahead of Aston Wyatt and Kade Kasper.
Rudolph continued “Running everything on Friday was the right decision as heavy rain and strong storms were present throughout the day on Saturday. It sucked to race into the wee hours of the morning, but we had a good event and created stories that could last a lifetime. A huge thank you to everyone who helped make this event possible. Thank you to the teams and drivers for believing in us and thank you to the amazing staff that we get to work with every day. A huge shoutout to Ferguson Truck Center for their continued support in the growing Lone Star Grand Prix.”
Unfortunately, the Tire Changing Challenge did not happen due to the weather but will return during the 2023 edition of the event weekend.
For more information on the Alan Rudolph Racing Academy, Lone Star Grand Prix, and Speedsportz Racing Park, please contact Jessica Rudolph via email to Jessica@SpeedsportzTX.com.