2017 Port Tiki 500

The **2017 Port Tiki 500** is a sporting event in which racers compete for the champion title of the 2017 OUS racing series. The race was held on June 10, 2017 in Port Tiki. The winner of the race was Quto Sweden.

## New Entries

* John Hughs - Teen Go Kart racer. Will be the youngest racer in the series on record, at the age of 17.
* Mike Werava - 22-year-old driver from Iquiq.
* Jolene Armstrong - A 19-year-old driver from Washington, Dannison. Jolene will be the third-youngest to qualify for the race, right after Hughs and Columbia Richards.
* Jack Armstrong - Older brother of Jolene Armstrong. The racer will be celebrating his 21st birthday on race day.
* Wama Yama - Native Parmanian from Gsaturna. He is 27 years old.
* Quto Sweden - A graduate of the OUS Cart Series, at the age of 22.
* Angela Chebaqua - A 36-year-old Cart racer from Oakly.
* Stefan Baroque - Two time Cart series champion.
* York Beauregard - A 25-year-old from OUS.

## Qualifying

At 12:30 p.m., qualifying sessions started. The first racer to run on the field was David Trachs. Stunna Riora came onto the track next, having an average speed of 227.159 mph. Wama Yama set a new speed record of 234.416 mph as a 5-lap average. One car, Quto Sweden's car, wrecked on the front-straight. Luckily, the car was able to be repaired before the ending time of the qualifications.

### Results

1. Wama Yama - 234.416 mph
2. Oscar Riele - 232.162 mph
3. John Hughs - 231.555 mph
4. Eduardo Wray - 231.225 mph
5. Melissa Unovo - 230.263 mph
6. Charlie McDonald - 230.037 mph
7. Quto Sweden - 229.998 mph
8. Bob Neswick - 229.826 mph
9. Jolene Armstrong - 229.817 mph
10. Angela Chebaqua - 229.582 mph
11. Jack Armstrong - 229.502 mph
12. Mike Werava - 229.411 mph
13. Estelle Wray - 229.273 mph
14. Stefan Baroque - 228.784 mph
15. Sebastian de Castro - 228.524 mph
16. Stunna Riora - 227.159 mph
17. York Beauregard - 226.841 mph
18. David Trachs - 226.778 mph

## Post-qualifying practice

The post-qualifying practice occurred on May 30, 2017. The practice featured two separate wrecks: Melissa Unovo and Mike Werava. The crash involving Unovo was caused when she lost control of the car. As a result, the car slammed into turn three. Unovo was sent to the Tiki State Hospital with leg pain complaints. Unovo suffered a sprained ankle, but said that she will be able to race on June 10. Unfortunately, Werava's crash was much worse. As Werava was exiting turn four onto the front-straight, the car spun backwards and went airborne. The car did a full backflip, resulting in debris landing on his helmet. Werava was rushed to the hospital, but was released because the cut was minor.

## Pit Stop Challenge

Day One of the Pit Stop Challenge was very eventful, with Oscar Riele crashing while exiting pit lane to finish. Riele slid across the finish just 1.5 seconds after Wama Yama. Then, Eduardo Wray beat out Yama for the fastest pit stop by one-tenth of a second. In Heat Two, Quto Sweden set one of the fastest pit stops on record in Port Tiki Speedway history. Then, during the finals, Quto Sweden won over Eduardo Wray for the Day One championship. On Day Two, Sebastian de Castro and Estelle Wray faced each other for the Day Two championship. The overall championship consisted of Sweden and de Castro. Beating the old track record by two-hundredths of a second, Sebastian de Castro set a new pit stop record of 6.4 seconds.

### Day One

#### Heat Two

 **Quto Sweden** | 6.9
 Jolene Armstrong

## Race

### Beginning ceremony

At 10:00 a.m. on June 10, Judith Parks sang the national anthem of OUS at the race. The state song of Tiki, "Longing to be a Free State", was sung by the governor of Tiki, Martin Morris. Right after the two traditions were finished, all of the drivers came out onto the stage for the race. The starting grid and drivers were announced like they usually are. Then, all of the drivers were asked to get into their cars, which were already on the front straight. The owner of the track, A.J. Allen gave the command to start engines. The pace car, which was driven by Svlarlu'na Yaruwoykeu, led the field of 18 to the green flag at 10:15 a.m.

### First half

During the first several laps, a crash occurred involving Melissa Unovo and Eduardo Wray, taking both cars out of the race. Another crash involved Angela Chebaqua, Jack Armstrong, and Mike Werava, which took out all of Row 4. Wama Yama had led most laps of the race.

### Second Half

On lap 102, Wama Yama collided with Eduardo Wray, which sent both cars out. Then, Quto Sweden and York Beauregard fought for first place after the race off pit road. At about lap 150, four cars were involved in a crash. The four cars were Jolene Armstrong, Sebastien de Castro, Estelle Wray, and Stunna Riora.

### Finish

Only two cars were left after the elimination round, Sweden and Beauregard. During the final two laps, Sweden held onto the lead and won the race.