Romo Motorsports driver Randy Romo kicked off his California 300 race weekend in style on Friday morning, officially winning the UTV World Championship Short Course Race that started a full day of racing on Friday. Romo completed six laps of the nine-mile short course in 1:06:47.223, beating Short Course Pro Turbo rival Ronnie Anderson by just seconds as both drivers prepared to do double duty on the day with the UTV desert race coming directly after.
Cole Fike completed the overall podium with the Production 1000 class victory, becoming the third and final driver to complete six laps on the course. Production 1000 runner-up Devin Smith and Turbo third place finisher John Bonanno completed the overall top five with five laps completed apiece.
“I’ll take that all day!” Romo said at the finish. “The track is super fun, the Martellis did a great job laying the course out. It was very challenging, but we just sent it. We kept live timing going with us and we knew it was within seconds every lap, and that last lap I heard (Anderson) got a flat, so I stepped it up even more because I wanted to get some time between us. Sure enough, he came on like a madman and made up a ton of time. So it was really close, but it was fun!”
“Congratulations to Randy Romo for taking the first major win of the weekend at the California 300,” said California 300 CEO Matt Martelli. “Randy and Ronnie Anderson had an epic battle all race long, and to see them fight that hard with the desert race right ahead of both of them really set the tone for some great racing over the next two days. We can’t wait to see them do battle again in today’s desert racing, and look forward to seeing if Randy can make it back-to-back wins on the day!”
Live coverage of the California 300 is available all weekend long at live.thecalifornia300.com. The site includes live timing and tracking, results from completed races, PCI Race Radios’ Weatherman feed, and much more.
With the first race of the weekend in the books, the inaugural California 300 continues all day today with the UTV and Limited class race through 7PM. Be sure to visit TheCalifornia300.com for a full schedule and information on how to spectate, and follow @thecalifornia300 on social media for live updates throughout the event.
Thank you to all of our California 300 sponsors who’ve supported us since day 1:
Rugged Radios, King Shocks, Polaris, Rockford Fosgate, UBCO, Vision Wheel, Kawasaki, VP Racing Fuels, Maxxis Tires, Jimco Racing, Clean-Dezert, Assault Industries, Site Solar, Camburg, Belching Beaver Brewery, Surface Sunscreen, Heat Wave Visual, Catalyst Distribution, PCI Race Radios
