Braden Chiaramonte Sweeps Friday in Texas and Takes Second on Saturday
(El Cajon, CA, September 27, 2023) Driving a Hyper Outlaw Micro that he built in his garage, talented El Cajon, California teenage racer Braden Chiaramonte dazzled fans by sweeping night #1 of the Keith Kunz Motorsports, POWRi “2nd Annual Micro Mania” race and placed second in the Saturday night main event at Lil Texas Motor Speedway. This week the teen hopes to carry that momentum into the “Richest Weekend In Micro Racing” Deuces Wild at Logansport, Indiana’s US 24 Raceway.
Friday, September 22
The prestigious Texas race drew the top 600cc Outlaw Micros in the nation. After the Wednesday night practice, the large field was split into two preliminary shows. Chiaramonte, 16, was in the Friday night prelim and he was on fire from the start. Forty-two cars were on hand on the pleasant night and Chiaramonte served notice in qualifying that he was on his game. He was the 14th car to test the clocks and he did so with a time of 12.304. That ended up being .212 faster than the second-fastest qualifier on the night.
“Two weeks ago in Missouri we had the speed but we did not have the luck,” the young driver told the fans in the stands and thousands more who were watching live on Speed Sport TV. “Right out of the box (tonight) in practice, we had this Hyper rolling and going fast. We knew we were going to be good and had the luck in the pill draw. Hopefully, we can keep the speed rolling.”
With a four-car invert, fast qualifier Chiaramonte was coming from the outside of row two in the opening heat race. At the end of the first circuit, he was up to third. He advanced one more spot on lap two and raced into the lead on the back chute on lap four. From that point on, he simply left the competition in his wake and scored a convincing win.
“That was big going fourth to first,” the talented teen told famous announcer Scotty Cook after the heat. “We should be sitting really good in points now. So hopefully we will have some luck in the qualifier and be on the box tonight. The track looks like it is going to move up. The top was decent there in one and two. Just the bottom has so much grip. Hopefully, it moves up and hopefully we get a good track.”
The friendly driver started in the same spot in his qualifier that he did in his heat. At the end of lap two he was up to second. He stayed there until there were only three laps remaining. Chiaramonte had been running the top and that is where he drove going into turn three on lap five. He then executed a beautiful move that sent the crowd into a frenzy and brought the announcer out of his seat. When he got to three, he turned the gorgeous #73B to the bottom and picked the surprised leader’s pocket for the point position. He stayed in front until the checkers and earned the admiration of the Texas crowd. Little did they know at the time that it was not going to be his last spectacular move of the night.
Chiaramonte started the Friday night 25-lap main event on the pole. That sounds good on paper, but the faster lane turned out to be on the outside. While he took some good shots at the leader, he was mired in second in the yellow flag-plagued finale. Things changed on the 18th lap when the leader banged the cushion and bicycled in turn four. The ever-alert Chiaramonte took full advantage of the situation. He swooped under the race-long leader and into first place. The teen’s foe crossed back under Chiaramonte in turn one for the lead, but Chiaramonte quickly returned the favor coming off two. Seconds later the yellow came back out and the table was being set for another spectacular move by the California racer.
With seven laps remaining Chiaramonte was in the lead. Thus he had the option of starting on the inside or the outside for the restart. To no one’s surprise, he chose the outside. What happened when the race resumed sent the crowd into another frenzy. The second-place car slid Chiaramonte going into turn one. Chiaramonte cut back underneath him off-turn two and reclaimed the top spot. He was leading into three when the third-place car threw a bomb and not only slid by the second-place car but by leader Chiaramonte as well. The move pushed Chiaramonte up the track. Coming off four he ducked to the middle, split his two challengers, and reassumed the lead. From that point, he drove away from his competition and won the race by nearly a half straightaway.
“I knew he was better at the beginning,” the happy winner said. “I started adjusting shocks and it got a little better. Tried to throw a slider on him on one of the restarts and that let him get out front far. So, I knew not to do that on the next start. I just followed him through the first couple of laps. He made a mistake and I was there to capitalize on it. Starting on the outside was definitely better than starting on the inside. It was a great night. We swept the night and we should be setting pretty good for points on Saturday.”
Saturday, September 23
Going undefeated on the first night meant that Chiaramonte was the high-point driver of the 86 racers heading into the finale. He, along with the other top eight point drivers, were seeded directly into the main event. The only other thing they had to run was the “King of Texas Pole Shootout.” Picking up right where he left off on Friday, Chiaramonte won that and that meant he would start on the pole for the 30-lap A-main.
“We have had a perfect weekend so far,” Chiaramonte told infield announcer Cook. “I seen that the top was better than the bottom (in the King of Texas) and I made a couple shock adjustments. This Hyper car has been on rails, so I did not have to do much. Just had to go fast. We have won everything we have been in. We keep getting the car better and this A main should go pretty good for us.”
With 23 other top drivers behind him, Chiaramonte blasted into the lead at the start of the 30-lap feature. The personable driver set the pace and stayed out front for the first six laps. He momentarily slipped back to third on lap nine but was back to second on lap 10. From that point on, he hounded the leader. Coming off turn four on lap 22 he nearly took the lead with an inside pass but the leader edged him to turn one.
Chiaramonte kept challenging the driver and was on his tail for a restart with two laps to go. He stayed close and pulled to the leader’s rear end going into turn one on the final go around. He remained in the runner-up spot and was two lengths out of the lead when the checkers ended the race.
“We definitely had the car all weekend winning everything but the main,” Chiaramonte told the fans after the race. “Me and Snyder (third-place finisher Steven Snyder Jr.) got to racing there and Chelby (winner Chelby Hinton) found the rubber on that one corner to get in front of us. We were fast all weekend and they knew we were here. Big thanks to Keith (Keith Kunz Motorsports) for doing it and all of the POWRi guys and everybody else who makes this race happen.”
To say the least, it was a banner weekend for the rising star. He won four of the five races he started and finished second in the other. He was also the fastest qualifier on Friday. Performances like that are hard to come by for all drivers in all types of motorsports disciplines.
This weekend, Chiaramonte is one of 117 entries for the “Richest Weekend In Micro Racing,” the Dirt2Media Deuces Wild Shootout, on September 28th, 29th, and 30th at Logansport, Indiana’s US24 Raceway. For Stock Non-Wing and Winged A Class Micros, the preliminary main events in each class will pay $1,222.22 to win. At the finale on Saturday, the winner in each class will pocket a cool $12,222.22.
Earlier this year, Chiaramonte contested the three-night All Transportation A Wingless Clash at US 24. His best finish came on May 12th when he placed 10th in the A-main.
Chiaramonte would like to thank all his sponsors who have made his racing efforts possible. RTL Traffic Control, AM Ortega, Hyper Racing, Chop Design, Adams Motors, Evil Plus Injection, King Racing Products, Tiner-Hirst Enterprises, and Keizer Wheels.
Chiaramonte and his team are in the midst of a busy racing season. If you are interested in becoming a marketing partner with one of the most talented and personable young drivers in the sport, please feel free to call or e-mail Daniel Chiaramonte mailto:dchiaramonte@rtltraffic.com or (619) 988 7563.
