Archives January 2008
1-18-08 Club Racer IKF Primer
| Every year club racers will
compete in there elected clubs and battle for the point
championship. When IKF comes to town they save their money,
prep there equipment, buy new tires, get their elected
engine shop to freshen their motor, and get set to battle
the best in Region 11. This previous season Mark Nason from
Reno did just this, and laid the smack down to both the Sr.
drivers and Masters drivers. When I say Smack down, I mean a
big lead from beginning to end of the race. To help the club racer get set for the 2008 IKF races at their home tracks, NorcalKarters.com has assembled a primer for these racers eye ballin the IKF race when it hits through their town to help prepare them. |
2-11-08 Norcal Karting represents at Sacramento's Autorama
| Every Year in
Sacramento at Cal Expo (California's State fairgrounds) many
classic cars, Race cars, Motorcycles, and a limited amount
of businesses promote their products. This year a few of
the Karting related associations were their to promote their
products.
Four of the Industry associations and business were
representing their product at the Autorama. The Kart Dealer
showing off their specialty was California Kartworld with a
booth. They had a Birel Kart with a Parilla Leopard. The first
thing you noticed was a big California Kartworld Banner that
caught the eye. They promoted their track support of both
Prairie City and Blue Max kart Clubs including the supply of
a fully stocked Parts Trailer. The Manufacturer showing off their designs and a variety of promotional tools was Motowear International. Motowear brought the attendees knowledge of the process of Sublimation, the newest in Track designer wear. Also adding to their line of products was full embroidery of Suits, hats, crew uniforms and jackets. Screen printing of T-shirts as well as Digital Printing.
The NCK Road Racing representatives were there to bring in new racers to the industry. Providing videos to the attendees of the racing as well as handouts. Mark Morrison's Superkart was on display for the public to get a close up look of an extremely fast Superkart. Lastly was Ron Suttons Winners Circle. Sutton had the full rig on display with his cars. Featuring one his latest Ford Focus Midgets, a Full Midget with a Carbon Fiber Body, and a Full Size asphalt Sprint Car. This gave the public great knowledge on the ladder system of motorsports. In the time of a struggling Economy, many businesses are making the attempt to get out further to the public. This is good for Kart Racing as currently the sport is in need of some new customers and racers. Coming up is the Southern Yosemite Festival. A festival of Motorsports from Vintage and Current times. Watch NorcalKarters.com for more information regarding the event.
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2-5-08 Kartel Region 7 Report
| During the winter months
Kartel Motorsports has been testing every weekend, rain or
shine. All that testing and development has helped Jr.1
Hotshoe Louis Tyrell start his 2008 season right where he
left off in 2007. Louis took his Kartel Motorsports Top Kart
Kadet to a Jr.1 Comer win in Fontana, Ca at California
Speedway. Louis had left 2007 season with a big win at the
same Race Track. In 2008 there is no Friday practice, so Louis needed to come out of the box swinging. That's exactly what he did. Through Qualifying and the heat race, Louis worked his way up to the front, and into the lead. His Dad, Tom, stayed on top of his game as well, making the necessary changes to his Top Kart which kept Louis up front both days. Sunday in monsoon like conditions, Tom put the rain set up on the Top Kart, and let Louis do his thing. Through calm and smart driving Louis managed a 3rd place finish. Louis will be back to race Region 7 at the Buffalo Bills round. After that, he will continue testing with Kartel Motorsports to prepare for the STARS of Karting series. Louis will race STARS and Region 11 IKF with Kartel, and is sponsored by Kartel Motorspors and Grand Products. Kartel is currently gearing up for the second round of the Florida Winter Tour at Moroso. Brendan Phinny, Neil Alberico, Taylor Miinch and Tyler Thomas will all be under the watchful eyes of Joey Hand, Erik Bartolero and Les Hand. Les and Erik will be at all of the events this year supporting Kartel drivers, while Joey will make any race that does not conflict with his Ruby Tuesday Daytona Prototype driving responsibilities. Kartel Motorsports has Arrive and Drive Programs available for round 2 of the FWT, STARS of Karting AND Region 11 IKF series. There are still a few spots available, contact Kartel @ 916-217-2181 |
2-3-08 Leatt Brace Joins NorcalKarters.com
| For the 2008 Racing Season the
Leatt Brace Corporation has joined NorcalKarters.com as
Presenting Advertiser. Leatt Corporation, the developer of a
Prophylactic neck bracing system designed to prevent
Motorsports injuries is in the business of designing,
developing and manufacturing protection equipment for all
forms of motor sports. Leatt currently has three braces in
there line. One designed for Car racing, one for off road
motorcross, and the most recent one to be released in the
next twenty days, for Karts.
The Leatt-Brace™ is an injection molded glass reinforced
nylon or carbon fiber and Kevlar neck brace system designed
by medical professionals and karting enthusiasts to help
prevent ; Hyperflexion (extreme forward head movement) ,
Hyperextension (extreme rearward head movement), Lateral
Hyperflexion (extreme sideways head movement), Axial loading
(compression of the spinal column due to the effect of force
on the helmet) Upon arrival of the new Kart Leatt brace, Norcalkarters.com will be performing tests with the brace to bring viewers a more up close tutorial on the advantages of wearing the Leatt.
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Norcal Driver Perform at Willow Springs Rotax Challenge of the Americas
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A 3 weekend/6 race Rotax Challenge of Americas Series kicked off at a stormy Willow Springs Kart Track this past weekend with several Norcal drivers taking home one win and 3 podium finishes. This 6 race series features 3 double weekends of Rotax racing here in California. The winners of the Junior Rotax, Senior Rotax and Rotax DD2 classes will automatically get an invitation to the Rotax World finals, so a lot is at stake in this series. Rotax Masters and Mini-Max classes are also part of this series. Over 100 drivers converged on a cold, rainy and some times blue sky Willow Springs Kart track with 9 drivers from the Norcal area in attendance. Friday practice was a good preview of what was to come on the Saturday and Sunday race day programs. It first started with cold and rainy conditions then finished the day on a dry track. Drivers thus got the opportunity to work on both wet and dry set ups and all this practice paid off as the weekend could never figure out what weather it wanted to provide the racers. Saturday dawned in blue sky and the dry tires came out. This series is the first one on the West Coast to use the new Mojo D2 tire, and the extra grip was put to use by all the drivers on this cold day. In a light DD2 class, Gregory Liefooghe qualified 2nd and took 2nds in both the Prefinal and Main behind Las Vegas’ Curtis Cooksey to earn a podium finish. In Junior Rotax, top Norcal driver was Jordan Jadallah who qualified 6th, finished 7th in the PreFinal but worked his way up to 3rd in the Main to take a well earned podium in the tough 28 kart field. This was Jordan’s first time racing at Willow Springs. Mikee Mejia was 12th in the PreFinal pipe knocked off on the start of the Main and had to retire. Northern Nevada’s Brody Zink drive all night to entire his first Junior Rotax race and had to learn the track, his kart and the new D2 Mojo’s without the benefit of the Friday practice day. Brody finished the Main in 20th dicing the whole race with several of the more experienced SoCal drivers. In Senior Rotax, Wes Phillips, 2005 Senior Rotax National Champ, qualified 7th, took 5th in the Prefinal and was up to 2nd in the Main when he lost his water and had to retire. Jake Mottaz had a good run in his first senior Rotax class event qualifying 17th, 13th in the Prefinal, but got tangled up in a turn 1 incident on the start and came away in dead last. Nikola Radosavljevich also was entering his first out of region event and looked good in the 31 kart field and qualified 22nd, was 17th in the Prefinal and had a good run in the Main to finish 20th. In Rotax Masters, Reno’s David Harwin was right in the middle of the top group of Masters drivers all weekend long qualifying 4th, 5th in the PreFinal and 5th in the Main. Dave also turned in the fast lap in the Main, which earned him 5 bonus points. Stockton’s Craig Nillsson took his 5 year old Rotax off his garage shelf and came down and put his Stockton track experience to good use by finishing 6th in the Main. On Sunday, the day started out in the rain for the practice rounds. Qualifying started out in the dry but mid way through Mini-Max Qualify, the rain came down and stayed wet for the rest of the day. In DD2, Liefooghe Qualified 3rd. In the Main, Gregory got into 2nd off the start, but was again chasing the fast Cooksey. Midway through the 30 lap Main, Gregory was starting to reel in Cocksey when a problem with his steering wheel caused a DNF. In Junior Rotax, Jadallah qualified a disappointing 9th, but he came back to take a strong 4th in the Prefinal on a rainy track. But in the Main, the track was semi-dry and these conditions did not suit Jordan and he fell back a bit to finish in 10th. Mejia finished the Main in 13th. Zink got by several karts on the first lap of the PreFinal to get up to about 13th place, but the more veteran drivers that were caught up in the first lap crashes stormed back to pass Brody who finished 26th. In the Main, Brody’s luck ran outas his kart lost all spark on the warm up lap. A tough first outing for Brody, but expect him much quicker at round two in 4 weeks. The Senior Rotax Race produced the only Norcal victory with Wes Phillips showing off his rain mastery in the Prefinal with a convincing win. But in the Main, SoCal’s Nick Johnson put the pressure on Wes near the end of the 30 lap race and almost stole the win away from Phillips. But Wes opened up a 3 kart lead on the last couple of laps to take the win. Jake Mottaz did a great job in the rain and finished 10th in the Prefinal and came back to take a solid 8th place in the Main, a solid performance for Mottaz in this tough Socal dominated field. Nikola also looked like he was going to have a strong performance with an 11th in the Prefinal despite a locked up clutch. In the Main, Nikola was a victim of the infamous turn one wreak and was dead last once he drove away from the crash site but finished a credible 16th. In Rotax Masters, Harwin took 4th in Qualify but in the down pouring rain of the PreFinal, he took 2nd and was on the front row for the Main. On the start, Dave fell back to 3rd as the top 3 drivers pulled away from the field. At the end Dave was still in 3rd earning him a well deserved podium finish. Nillsson started the Main in 5th spot, but he had problems early in the race and eventually had to retire. This was Craig’s first Rotax Max Challenge event having spent most of his time running TaG at the Stockton Club, but he was excited on his performance and was looking forward to the next race. Expect more from Craig when he gets his tired 5 year old engine tuned up. Races One and Two of the Challenge of Americas Series was now done with the hope that the weather will be better in 4 weeks for Rounds Three and Four. Next race will be held at the Infineon Kart track on February 22-24. Come out and see some of the best karters that Rotax has to offer. And expect to see some 20 Norcal racers at this event.
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1-28-08 Superkarts Winternationals Round 3 & 4
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Bet you're dreaming of blue skies and warmer weather! Although the San Diego Chargers aren't going to make it to the BIG game next weekend, they'll be sharing their home stadium with the kart racers of the SKUSA Winternationals! Rounds #2 and #3 of the SKUSA WinterNats 2008 series will be held on the SDKA West Course (CCW) in the parking lot of the famous Qualcomm Stadium in San Diego on Saturday, February 2nd and Sunday, February 3rd . Again, this series is a 2-race-day program with completely separate events being held each day. Points from these two events (plus the dual events in January and March) will accumulate towards the series championship and end-of-series awards. For those racers wanting to check out this facility and track layout ahead of time, there will be an SDKA race this Sunday, Jan. 27th, as well as a practice day on Friday, February 1st. This 1.1 mile course is sure to be challenging, and the weather looks to be spectacular! Bring the family to enjoy the wonderful attractions that this coastal community offers! Complete details regarding the SKUSA Winternationals are available on the www.skusawinternats.com website, including an online store where you can enter the event and purchase SKUSA memberships, Friday practice, spec tires, transponder rentals, spec fuel, etc. Click here for a downloadable entry form that you can fax, email or mail. Details about SDKA and their race this Sunday can be found at www.sdka.com . Registration opens Sunday at 7am. Winternats Event Entry: Pre-entry cutoff for this event is midnight on Wednesday, January 30th . Enter before the cutoff and save up to $150 with the 3-day combo package. Enter the event and purchase additional items through the online store on www.skusawinternats.com or call 951-491-0808. Entries are also being accepted at the track starting Friday, Feb. 1st at 7:30am. NOTE: There are no reserved pit spots for this event weekend. Trailer parking and overnight camping are available at no cost but on a first come-first served basis starting on Thursday, Jan. 31st. Host Hotel: We have negotiated a great rate at the Doubletree Club Hotel San Diego, 1515 Hotel Circle South, San Diego, CA. 92108, 619-881-6900. Use Group Code SK5 and mention SUPERKARTS to get your room(s) February 1st-3rd at a rate of $110/night (king bed + sofa bed). See http://www.doubletreeclubsd.com/ for more details about the hotel. Book now! Room block is limited! General Info:
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Jon Ban Joins Kartel Motorsports
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NorcalKarters.com has learned that Norcal driver Jon Ban will join the Kartel Motorsports team for 2008. Jon has been driving for Emmick Enterprise in the past seasons working with Ron Emmick and Linda Emmick but has recently made the jump to Kartel.
Jon will join other Sr. drivers Neil Alberico, Chris Scribner, and Tyler Espinosa. Winning two previous Championships in the Stockton Motorplex Club series, Jon had some Mechanical failures in 2007 keeping him from capturing his third straight Championship. Moving to Kartel will help Jon get back to his winning ways.
" It was hard to pass up the opportunity to learn from Joey and Les Hand and Erik Bartolero. Those three have years of experience that will help me further my racing Endeavors." Jon will driving Top Kart Flash and a Swedetech Racing Engine Parilla Leopard for the 2008 season.
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1-22-08 IKF President Passes Away
|
Wayne
Carl Brown, who was born on June 17, 1947 in Dallas, Texas,
passed away on January 18, 2008 at home after suffering a
heart attack. It is believed by his family that his passing
was sudden and quick. He was known as a “real Texan” and was
proud of his home state, and of his country. At the time of
his death, he resided in Double Oak Texas with his wife,
Rhonda Mims-Brown, their 14 year old son Casey and his
constant companion, his dog, Brownie. He was a loving son,
husband, father, brother, brother-in-law and friend to many
who was known for his loyalty, leadership and strength of
conviction. Deborah Davidson Harpur |
1-22-08 Stars of Karting Spec Racer Suspended
|
Seattle, WA - Snap-on Stars of Karting announced today the
immediate suspension of the Spec Racer category. Parties
interested in competing in the 2008 Stars of Karting series
in this category in 2008 are to be advised of imminent
action with regards to cancellation, restructuring and
reorganization of this class of competition. At issue is a critical destabilization of the market. Stars national administration will take necessary and appropriate actions to protect its customers and industry partners and announce a plan of action in coming days. "This class was originally created in order to provide a group of competitors the ability to compete with a guaranteed level of parity utilizing a technical set of regulations that would ensure fairness and a level competition," states Paul Zalud. "Events as of late have forced us to take these immediate actions in order to salvage the original goal of the class. This has been easily the fastest growing segment of our series and we have to be responsible to the core of what has made it so appealing to all of us." This suspension is announced now in order to ensure all competitors sufficient time to plan for their competition in the revised replacement class. For any further information regarding this announcement, please refer to Paul Zalud at Stars of Karting (425) 673-4346. |
1-17-08 2008 Stockton Agenda
| Every year Stockton Motorplex
meets for an Agenda meeting regarding the raceday details of
the coming season. This past Wednesday the club met for an
annual meeting. First topic was race Tech Director. Buck Sorenson from Swedetech was declared the new Tech Inspector. Race Director and Announcer were the next topics and Chris Scribner will be performing both. Chris Runiuo will be performing race duties as well filling out the Raceday team for Stockton. New to the Track will come a board displaying all the current Track Records for the different Layouts. New classes include Sr. Superbox Light, TAG Sumo, Rotax Sr., and Formula 80 Medium. 2008 will hold a different starting line for starts only, maintaining the current Finish line, full time announcer and Tech Director, and some improvements to the facility. Stockton currently holds over 300 members, a pickup from last year. Visit the Stockton Track page for Schedule information and Track Info......here! |
1-21-08 Southern Yosemite Film Festival Update
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1-8-08 MMS Shows well in Daytona Kartweek
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December 30th, 2007 - During the first 2008 Bridgestone George Kugler Manufacture’s Cup weekend presented by Mazda in Daytona, FL during KartWeek, a West-Coast race team was well represented by one lone-driver: Logan Bearden. Motor Machine Service made the decision to fly motor-builder Doug Sharp to Daytona to assist in making the young driver’s presence known in all four of the Junior Sportsman classes. “We had a great weekend of racing,” said Jeff Bearden, father of Logan Bearden. “The Birel Cadet handled great and was easy to work with. We need to thank Doug Sharp for putting together our engine packages and to MMS for making the call to send him out to the East. The results prove that it was worth the effort!” Logan Bearden represented the MMS Doug Sharp tuned 80cc Comer in the 53-entried Cadet Junior Sportsman. This was Bearden’s second national event in his racing career and put the number-66 on pole for Cadet-1 on Saturday with a time of 45.640. Due to time constraints, no pre-final was run. Bearden went straight to the finals, finishing in an outstanding 2nd place. In Yamaha Jr. Sportsman, Bearden qualified 25th and moved his way through the field finishing 22nd in the final. Sunday’s HPV Jr. Sportsman race had Bearden qualifying 10th. He had a great run in the pre-final but was taken off the track due to a racing incident. Bearden worked his way through the field and finished a respectable 21st in the final. Cadet-2 had Bearden starting 3rd in the pre-final, defending his position to finish where he started. During the final, after leading nine of the 18 laps, Bearden put in the time 45.190 and finished on the podium in fifth. “I was very impressed with Logan, especially since it is only his second national event,” said Doug Sharp. “I’ve been working with these guys for three seasons. He’s won many local and regional events and finished third at the TaG Worlds this year. The finish in Daytona was a result of a year-long carburetion and engine development program for the Cadet Sportsman class. We plan on running the rest of the season at the top and look to be in the running to win championships.” For information on MMS “The Biggest Little Kart Shop in the World”, please contact Mike Botelho at 775.322.4549.
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1-1-08 Trip to Hawaii Contestants
| In the 2007 season it was
announced there would be a trip given away to qualifying
contestants at the Banquet. To qualify a racer must enter
the same class eight times in a season. By entering two
classes eight times a season you qualify twice. Trip is
provided by Ron Sutton Winners Circle, Scribner Plastics,
Panavise and Tux & Tails Travel. The list of entrants to be drawn at the Banquet is as follows. Austin DeMent- two entries, Jr. Comer and HPV-1 Logan Wyman- two entries, Jr. Comer and HPV-1 JR Razko- two entries, Jr Comer and HPV-1 Nicky Prichard- one entry, Jr. Comer David Brant- one entry, Jr. Superbox Kelsey Nilsson- one entry, HPV-2 Wyatt Nilsson- one entry, HPV-2 Chris Scribner- two entries, 125 National Cup and 100 National Cup Mike Botelho Jr.- one entry, 125 National Cup Jason Toft- one entry 125 National Cup Cody Hodgson- two entries, 125 National Cup, 100 National Cup Jesse Gwin- one entry 125 National Cup Glenn McKinnon- one entry 125 National Cup Masters Lance Grimm- one entry 125 National Cup Masters Robert Towne- 80 Limited Trevor Schmid- 80 Limited Travis Duhn- 80 Limited David Mead- 80 Limited Gary Gwin- 80 Limited Adam Booker- 80 Limited Steve Dow- two entries, 80 Limited, 80 Masters Merrick Miller- 80 Limited Jay Neely- 80 Masters Chris Gomez- two entries, Superbox Light and Superbox Heavy Brett George- Superbox heavy Scott Smith- Animal Super Sportsman 33 total entries and 14 of them are double entrants. |
1-5-08 Bordogna looks to Continue 2007 Success
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In 2007 Bordogna was one of most unquestionably the most dominate Engine shop in North California Kart racing. Winning big races against huge fields while also winning club races, Stars of Karting Races ,States Championships and National Championships. What makes Bordogna's wins so prestige, is Bordogna power consistently backed up the winner with another Bordogna Racing Engine. Danny hope In 2008 Bordogna's drivers will continue with the success. Take a look at Bordogna Racing Engines list of 2007 success!
2007 SEASON BORDOGNA DRIVER’S RESULTS: the WKA Grand national Champion, The California State champion, 2 National Championships and 17 Club Championships on 2006. Those interested in joining the Bordogna Racing Engines team is urged to contact Danny Bordogna at (916)853-1110.
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1-2-07 Tyler Espinosa 2007 Report
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Tyler Espinosa came onto the karting scene in early 2007. During his first year he excelled in the sport. Starting with the KT 100 Class, Tyler was qualifying on pole and finishing on the podium in just his first few races. Half way through the season he decided to start racing the TAG 125 Class as well. Ending his first year of competition Tyler finished fourth in the points championship in TAG, and 5th in the championship points of Yamaha KT100. Tyler after is his Rookie season found himself ranked 6th in NorcalKarters.com Sr. Rankings. After having a very successful 07 Season, Tyler and his father have teamed up with Joey Hand and Erik Bartolero, of Kartel Motorsports, for the upcoming 2008 Season. He will compete in the new HPV 3 and IAME tag class as well as piloting the new TOP KART chassis. With the combination of Kartels experience and Tyler’s growing talent they should have a winning year! Tyler will run the entire Region 11 IKF Circuit throwing in some select club races throughout the season.
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