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7-27-10 IKF Region 11 Super Series Finale
Source & Photos RaceMediaGroup.com

The Region 11 Super Series provided hot action in the desert at NNKC and Desert Park Raceway in Reno Nevada for their Season ending Finale. The Reno facility was the home of the 2009 IKF 2-cycle Grand Nationals and was the home for the season finale where class Championships would be decided as many of the classes were coming right down to the last race.

Kid Karts was first on the track and Championship Points leader Zach Corbitt took the pole with a fast time of 1:11.058. In the heat race it was all Tomas Mejia. He flexed his muscles every time another driver attacked for position and held off several attempts for the Heat race win. On the start of the Final Mejia got the jump to lead lap one, but as the raced progressed Corbitt quickly snagged the lead away from Mejia and ran away to a 2 second victory, but most importantly secured the Championship. Tomas Mejia was second with Cambrian Go Kart’s Clayton Williams third.

Jr 1 Comer was up next and the attention was on the close championship battle between Kartel’s Joseph LaRosa and Tyler Burk. Kartel’s Blaine Rocha got fast time with a 55.606. In the heat race Rocha, Burk and LaRosa were all in tow to the checkered setting up what looked to be a great battle for the win and the Championship in the Final. On the start of the Main LaRosa got collected in a wreck that was none of his doing and this allowed Rocha and Burk to sneak out to an early lead. Burk held patiently for the entire race bump drafting Rocha until the White flag flew. Burk pulled the trigger on the lead and the two drivers swapped the lead several times the last lap with Burk getting to the line first to secure the win and the Championship by 5 points. Rocha was second with Jospeh LaRosa third.

Jr Super Sportsman was on track and the Championship battle had the top three all within 35 points. Kartel’s Luis Tyrrell got fast time with a 52.300 who was second in points 25 points behind the leader JR Raczko. In the heat race it was all Raczko cruising to the win looking like he had the championship in hand. However starting in the fourth position in the Final, Tyrrell went right to the front and jumped out to a big lead. Meanwhile Raczko running in the third position had his championship lead in jeopardy. Tyrrell was behind by 25 points and needed a strong run while Raczko needed to struggle for Luis to come out on top. Tyrrell drove to a 4 second win. Zach Maclean was second and JR Raczko held on to secure his IKF Championship by 5 points.

Fastech’s Mark Nason won both the Formula 80 Shifter Sr class and the Formula 80 shifter Masters divisions. The 125 Stock Moto class had a great race between a couple of long time shifter racers with Cambrian Go Kart’s Jamie Wilson getting the win and the Championship.

HPV-1 Jr was next up and Championship Points leader Cambrian Go Kart’s Justin Yanez grabbed fast time with a 54.220. In the Heat race it was Kartel’s Joseph LaRosa led the way to get the win and start pole for the Main. On the start of the Final Kartel’s Blaine Rocha and Yanez jumped out to an early lead to work together and put some distance between the other drivers. As the race progressed it appeared Rocha had learned a lesson from Burk in the Jr 1 race earlier in the day in the fact he waited patiently behind Yanez bump drafting him and setting him up. Late in the race Rocha made the pass for the lead and secured the win to the Checkered. Yanez came home second and Joseph LaRosa finished third. With the second place finish Yanez secured the Championship.

The awaited Sr Super Sportsman was next and Leading Edge’s Brett Felkins was a lock on the Championship only needing to start. Emmick Cobra’s Clayton Snow got pole with a fast lap of 51.904. It was a three kart battle in the front with Snow leading MMI’s Mike Botelho Jr and Brett Felkins in the heat race. From the drop of the green the close racing was intense with the top three swapping positions several times. With three laps to go Felkins passed Snow who lost the draft. This left the race up to Botelho and Felkins. On the last lap Felkins made the pass to go to the lead and held on to the Checkered. Botelho was second with Snow third, and the exclamation point for the championship was Felkins winning.

Coming into the HPV-2 Jr race Kartel’s Austin Elliott held a 45 point advantage over second and needed an equally good run as the contenders. Elliott opened up qualifying with a fast lap of 51.473 over three tenths over second place. Elliott was strong in the heat race flexing his muscles over MMS Karting’s Austin DeMent who stayed close the whole race. On the start of the main Elliott jumped out to a quick lead but Dement quickly ran him down. As laps wound down Elliott put a gap on DeMent and cruised to a 2 second victory with fist pumped to secure the Championship title. DeMent was second and Emmick Cobra’s Sonny Cervelli made a great run to third.

Last on the day was the TAG Sr category and Leading Edge’s Jess Peterson qualified pole with a fast time of 49.356. Peterson led the heat race with David Harwin pressuring him till the white flag flew and Harwin broke a tie rod and had a scary wreck into the front stretch barriers. Peterson would start pole in the Main with Harwin at the back. Harwin made a great run through the field setting fast time by more than three tenths in the race. Peterson got the victory with Harwin second. MMI’s Kelsey Nilsson was removed from post race tech for illegal ignition timing which bumped Michael Yazembiak to the third position.

In 2010 the Region 11 Super Series was a success. Not only were the classes full of talented competition but region 11 in 2010 became the highest level of IKF Members in the Nation. Next year’s schedule has yet to be decided as the meeting for new board delegates and scheduling will take place later in the year around early December. Stay tuned to NorcalKarters.com for upcoming information as the Gold Rush series which proved to be very popular last year gets set to kick off their season. For more information or for series points visit the official Region 11 IKF website www.NorcalKarters.com . For the series Photos visit http://scribnerracingpromotions.zenfolio.com/

7-22-10 Speed and Giebler Emerge as Skusa Summer Nationals Champs

NASCARs Allmendinger and McMurray enjoy return to roots at fantastic facility

For any competitive kart racer, USA International Raceway in Shawano, Wisconsin is an absolute must on any bucket list of race tracks. A combination of high-speed corners, tight hairpins, undulations and wild elevation changes makes the track one of the best in the country and the structural facilities at the venue only help to further complete the package. This past weekend, the Superkarts! USA organization brought its top drivers to the track for the inaugural SummerNationals, and with blue skies and warm temperatures being the order of the weekend, the racers were treated to a special experience. There was a little rain on Sunday morning that turned the qualifying rounds into a wet weather circus, but things eventually cleared and the afternoon was perfect. A total of 85 competitors hit the track over the weekend as SKUSA continued its new national Pro Tour program, and when the dust had settled, the big winners in the two headline classes were veterans Alex Speed and Phil Giebler. Each driver raced hard in both the Saturday and Sunday events, taking a win a piece and podiums in both mains, earning themselves their respective $1000 first place check in the process. The addition of NASCAR stars AJ Allmendinger and Jamie McMurray brought the event to a new level, and both drivers showed well in their return to their karting roots.

Speed was certainly the man to beat in S1 Pro Stock Moto on Saturday, dominating the main event to post a 5.054-second win over his STA Racing teammate Jason Toft. Allmendinger rebounded after a tough day of practice on Friday when nothing seemed to work, settling in with long-time tuner Tim Pappas to find the sweet spot of his chassis. The Richard Petty Motorsports driver battled into the top-five in the heats and eventually slipped through for an impressive podium run into third in the main. Absent from the head of the class was S1 stud Fritz Leesmann, who struggled all day Saturday in his Aluminos CRG. The veteran shifter pilot exploded back on the scene on Sunday and dominated the proceedings, out-running Speed in the 20-lap main to take the win and second overall for the weekend, although Speeds pair of podium finishes gave him the crown and the money. Allmendinger capped a great weekend with another third place finish, taking third overall in the tally. To his credit, McMurray drove his butt off all weekend, taking fifth on Saturday and fourth on Sunday. With his Sunday win, Leesmann now takes control of the points heading into the SKUSA Pro Tour finale the SuperNationals in November. The Californian leads SpringNationals race winner Clinton Schoombee by 283 points in the chase for the #1 plate.

Like Speed and Leesmann, St. Louis, MO shop owner/driver Derek Crockett enjoyed an impressive weekend at the SummerNationals, sweeping the main events in the S2 class. Crockett steered his way to the win on Saturday over Lukas Johnson and Evan Batt, but he needed some luck on Sunday as he looked locked into a third place finish behind Evan Walters and Josh Lane. Lane was leading heading to the white flag when Walters made a bid to re-take the point as they drove into the tight hairpin a track addition laid out by SKUSAs Tom Kutscher as the second-to- last corner on the track. After completing the move, Walters looped his ride as he put down the power to rotate the kart, collecting Lane in the process. Crockett had tucked underneath them both to get the best run he could out of the corner, and found himself exiting the turn alone with a full lap standing between him and his second win of the weekend. Syar Motorsports Matt Alcorn took over second, which helped him maintain the overall S2 point lead that he had gained after sweeping the SpringNationals, while Johnson completed the podium in third to advance to second in the standings. Alcorns lead in the championship tally is now a healthy 125 markers heading to Las Vegas.

The S4 Stock Moto Master drivers put on a great show in Shawano. The star of the opening day of action was Phil Conte, who held off the consistent advances of Evolution Kartings Kurt Mathewson for the win. Aluminos Jonathan Allen started the day as the driver to beat by qualifying on pole, but he slipped back in the opening heat race. Allen would claw his way back to the front in the second heat and then maintained his position in the final to complete the podium. On Sunday, Conte was again expected to fight for the win, but after losing his air filter on the opening lap, he was sent to pit lane. This opened the door for the Aluminos team to take control, as Allen was joined by teammates Phil Dunford and Peter Workum at the head of the pack. The trio would battle all race with Dunford setting the pace, but the leader would lose the position on the final exit from the hairpin on the last lap, his engine gasping just enough to allow Workum to dive to the bottom of the track and seize the opportunity, winning his first national event. The margin of victory was a slim 0.055 seconds, with Workum, Dunford and Allen finishing in that order. In the S4 point standings, Conte still holds onto the lead by 188 points over Workum. In the other Master shifter class in the SKUSA line-up G1 Fernando Diaz and PP Mastro split the victories, keeping Diaz well out front in the championship tally.

As always, the TaG Senior race was great entertainment, pitting some of the best drivers from the West Coast against a strong contingent from the Great Lakes area. Veteran karter and former Indy 500 Rookie of the Year Phil Giebler stole the show on Saturday, keeping long-time SKUSA racer Benny Moon at bay. Moon is currently working on putting together a Late Model stock car deal in North Carolina and traveled up to Shawano with Allmendinger, who put his friend in the seat of his own TaG entry. Moon looked like hed never been away, challenging Giebler at every corner. National Kart Supplys Mark Vielgut joined the duo in the fight, sitting just off Moons bumper to keep him honest. On the final lap, Moon forced the issue during the exit from the hairpin and was able to pull alongside Giebler, but that was it. Vielgut slid low to push Giebler through, stealing second as Moon went off track and hard into the barrier cushions in front of the flag tower, just a yard away from the finish line. He would be classified in 14th, as Tommy Andersen (Merlin) came through to take the final rung on the podium. In the TaG Masters class, Steve Wiener was awarded the victory.

On Sunday, Moon was back at it again and was joined by Franklin Motorsports TJ Koyen up front in the TaG Senior class, as they ran away together to fight it out for the win. Koyen took over the top spot early, and while Moon was again able to mount a consistent challenge, he did not have what he needed to control the lead. Koyen would stand on top of the podium beside Moon, while Giebler again astounded the paddock by driving from dead last to third after a DNF in the second heat. This performance earned him the $1000 first place prize for the overall weekend victory in the class and, maybe more importantly, an almost insurmountable 340-point lead in the standings in the race for the national championship. Vielgut and Koyen were second and third in the overall chase. In TaG Masters, Brian McHattie topped the order to win the day.

In the Junior categories, Colorados Austin Schimmel was the class of the field in S5, although he encountered trouble in the waning stages of the Saturday main and was chased down by teammate Christian Schureman (for the win. Schimmels mount would be stranded on-track during the final lap, leaving him with a DNF as Texan Alex Tartaglia and Grant Prejean passed by his crippled entry to complete the podium. Schimmel would rebound on Sunday to score the victory in dominant fashion over Tartaglia and Schureman, who posted his third straight podium finish. In TaG Junior, Californian Luis Tyrrell dominated the weekend with a pair of main event victories to run his season total to three, taking a commanding lead in the points heading to the SKUSA SuperNationals in November. Emmanuel Mestre and Austin Thomas were second and third on Saturday, while Tyrrell and Mestre were joined by the impressive Karl Weber on the Sunday podium. To cap this Junior review, Colton Herta and Parker Thompson split the TaG Cadet main events, as the five drivers in the field were locked all weekend long. Herta outran Noah Grey and Thompson on Saturday, while Thompson stepped up and stretched away from the field on Sunday to take the win, leaving Herta to battle with teammate Christian Brooks. Herta won the scrap to take a solid lead in the championship hunt.

All in all, the inaugural SKUSA SuperNationals should be considered a big success. The race was missing a large number of entries it could likely have counted on should the Rotax Grand Nationals not have been scheduled on top of their date, but the end result was a paddock full of smiling faces. SKUSAs approach to customer service was a talking point, as Friday and Saturday night BBQs were enjoyed by the racers and with the focus on fun and enjoyable racing, they certainly gained some new fans. The addition of Jamie McMurray and AJ Allmendinger to the paddock added to the excitement, as both drivers enjoyed strong outings during their weekend off. Theyll both be back in the office this coming weekend as the NASCAR Sprint Cup series heads to the Indianapolis Motor Speedway for the Brickyard 400.

The SKUSA staff will now turn their focus on both the upcoming ProKart Challenge North-South Shootout at Santa Maria on August 13-14 and the continuing preparations for the SuperNationals in November in Las Vegas. Online registration for the sports biggest race was opened on June 1 and the entries are coming in on a regular basis. The special SKUSA hotel code for the Rio is also now available so that teams and drivers can get their discounted room rates. All the necessary information is available at their website www.superkartsusa.com

7-20-10 Red Line Oil Karting Championship Race #5 Preview

Race #5 of the Red Line Oil Karting Championship (RLOKC) on July 25th will mark the mid-season for the Northern California Rotax Challenge (NCRC) and is Race #5 of eight races for the TaG and Shifter classes. Most classes have hotly contested point battles going on and the Sprint Track configuration of the Jim Russell International Karting Center track will challenge the racers and make for some great driver duels. The most exciting classes this year have been the Rotax Mini Max and Rotax Senior. This will also be the second race for the newly added 125 Stock Moto Masters class.

Rotax Mini Max
Cole Davis sits atop the points board but has many fast drivers right behind him. Although he has scored a feature win this year, Michael Michoff is close behind in second. With last month's sweep of Race #4, Michael Avansino boosts himself up to third in points, followed by Gino Gigliotti. With eight to nine karts at each race this year, the Mini Max class should continue to be one of the most competitive classes of the weekend. Mini Max will also be the GoPro featured class with the race winner taking home the GoPro Hero mini camera.

Rotax Senior
Rotax Senior also has a tight point battle with Carlos Calderon sitting in first place, closely followed by Raymund Bustamante, Jr. Improving each race and taking a strong second last month is Amber Friedberg. The veteran lady pilot now holds down third place in points and is looking for a feature win in Race #5. Matt Weiss, fourth place in points, has also been coming on strong. NCRC 2009 champ Jordan Jadallah is fifth in points even though he had to miss two of the first four races.

IAME TaG
This new class has had good entry numbers in the last couple of races and with it, a battle for the top spot in the points is starting to shape up. Having run all four previous races, Casey Monohan has the points lead, but his lead is getting smaller with each race due to strong finishes from Michael Torrano and Jim Zootis. Zootis is looking at making it two feature wins in a row while Torrano will need to bounce back from his fourth place finish last month.

Cambrian Go-Karts Junior Rotax
After his best race in Junior Rotax last month and also competing at the US Rotax Max Challenge Grand National last weekend, Brody Zink looks to be in a position to start pulling away from the field. Sean McDonald is looking to get back into the race groove that took him to the Race #1 win. Bobby Tifft is looking at backing up one of his best drives from last month and if Kiel Spaulding returns, well this could make for a very interesting run for the lead.

Rotax Masters / Masters Light
One of the most improved drivers from 2009 now sits atop the Masters Light class with Mary Beth Wilson holding down the points lead just ahead of hubby Jerry Pretti. Wilson has shown to be consistent in all her starts this year and would like nothing better than to open up the gap. With his return to the NCRC last month, 2009 Masters Light champion Andrea Delfanti dominated, just like did in 2009, but he has already used up his two throw-away races this season and thus has no margin for poor results if he plans to back up his championship.

In the Masters class, Andre Eriksen has been the class of the field so far this year, but if young Barry Lee moves over from Senior into the Masters class, he will give Eriksen a real run for the top spot in this class. Eriksen will be coming off a long weekend of racing at the Rotax Grand National, but be sure he will be ready race.

80 Shifters
After the largest field of the year last month, the 80 Shifters are putting a good challenging race on. Points leader and defending champ Tom Nelson would like a win to put some distance between him and his rivals, but Mark Stanley would like nothing better than to chase Nelson down and close the gap. Rob Mullaney has been consistent all year and looks to continue his steady finishes.

125 Stock Moto Masters/Rotax DD2
Combining these two classes provided some exciting racing last month with DD2 driver January Grove challenging the 125 Moto of Jim Inglebright and getting the best of Brad Shaffer. As the 125 Stock Moto Masters class grows, this could be a very entertaining race group to watch.

Rotax Micro Max
With Annie and Toni Breidinger just getting back into town from the Rotax Grand National, Wilson Skjerven may get the upper hand while the young gals get re-oriented back to their home track. Skjerven showed some new driving speed last month only to have mechanical problems spoil his weekend. He is looking to bounce back.

Saturday Schedule
12 PM - 6 PM Open Practice, Pre-Registration & Pre-Tech

Sunday Schedule
8:30 AM Controlled Practice
9:30 AM Qualifyling
10:45 AM Racing
Race Entry Fee: $100
Pit Passes: $10, kids 11 and under, $5

For more information about the Red Line Oil Karting Championship, go to www.cameronkarting.com, www.norcalrotax.com or contact race director Ric Shaw at racedirector-ric@hotmail.com.

The Red Line Oil Karting Championship is supported with over $20,000 of prizes and awards from the sponsors below.

7-20-10 Leesmann and Koyen Emerge from SKUSA SummerNationals Sunday Battles

After enjoying three days of beautiful sunny skies and mid-80s temperatures, Shawano, WI’s USA International Raceway was hit with rain and wind on Saturday evening, and this precipitation continued into the Sunday morning qualifying sessions for the inaugural Superkarts! USA SummerNationals. The morning rains did not dampen the enthusiasm of the participants, as once the storm cell cleared the area, the MG slicks were back on and the hard racing continued. A pair of new weekend winners was crowned at the end of the day, as Fritz Leesmann recovered from a tough Saturday to outrun Alex Speed for the S1 win, while TJ Koyen was masterful in his Sunday performance as he topped a strong TaG Senior grid to score the victory.

The S1 Pro Stock Moto class took center stage on Sunday as the feature race of the day, and being positioned as the final class in the rotation presented them with a drying track during qualifying. The racing surface was starting to clear up, but wet weather rubber was still necessary. Aluminos’ Fritz Leesmann struggled on Saturday, but regrouped overnight and came out swinging, laying down the fastest lap of the wet session with a 1:21.477. NASCAR star and Daytona 500 winner Jamie McMurray impressed in the tough conditions by posting the second quickest lap, out-pacing Syar Motorsports’ Nick LeDuc and the STA Racing duo of Alex Speed and Jason Toft. Richard Petty Motorsports driver AJ Allmendinger qualified eighth, but he knew that he had competitive pace in the dry thanks to his solid third place finish on Saturday.

Leesmann would go onto sweep both heat races, getting solid launches from the grid to run away from the rest of the field with Speed hot on his rear bumper. Speed had the measure of his competition on Saturday, but motivated by the dissatisfaction of running mid-pack, Leesmann had come alive and was certainly Speed’s equal. McMurray maintained his spot in the lead group in the opening eight-lap moto, taking third ahead of LeDuc and Allmendinger, as AJ was back on pace with the MG slicks installed. In the second heat, which set the grid for the main, McMurray did not get a good start from the inside of the second row and would get shuffled to the tail of the 12-kart grid, allowing LeDuc to slip by into third, a position he would hold to the finish. Leesmann pulled away to a 2.5-second cushion over Speed, while Allmendinger advanced one more position to sit fourth behind LeDuc. Rocky Mountain Kartworks Daniel Bray capped the top-five after a good dice with Toft for position.

The 20-lap final featured a head-to-head battle between Leesmann and Speed, with the former heading the field from start-to-finish. Speed kept up the pressure all race, but only a big moment in the ‘Elevator Shaft’ corner kept him from sticking with the leader. Speed was able to save the aggressive ‘tank-slapper’, keeping the kart on the track after drilling the start of the apex curbing, but his shot at gunning for the win was long gone, as Leesmann drove a superb error-free race to win by 2.271 seconds. Allmendinger completed a stellar weekend by slipping past LeDuc for third, his second podium of the weekend. Speed would take the overall weekend win and the $1000 first place check, while Leesmann and Allmendinger would take home $500 and $250, respectively. On the podium, Allmendinger was pleased to finally enjoy the payoff of being a team owner. The former SKUSA star was gracious in his podium speech, as he thanked Tom and Patti Kutscher for putting on a great event and the paddock for making him feel welcomed on his off-weekend.

The remainder of the order in S1 saw McMurray lay down a great performance in recovering back to fourth after his start-line miscue, while LeDuc capped the weekend with a top-five finish.

Like S1, the S2 Semi-Pro Stock Moto class was a barnburner. Point leader Matt Alcorn battled set-up on Saturday and needed to come back big on Sunday, so he attacked the wet qualifying session like a man who knew that he needed to step up. With his primary title competition standing on the Saturday podium as he watched from the fence following a tough ninth place finish, the Energy pilot took control of the timed session to win the pole and the 10 available bonus points with a time of 1:24.086. The session was halted at the halfway point when the rained accelerated, accompanied by some lightning. Once things let up, race officials deemed the session complete, which left Saturday winner Derek Crockett at the tail of the field as he was on his out-lap when the red flag appeared. With the times from the first six minutes standing, Evan Batt was second quick in the rain session, ahead of Connor Iseli, Lukas Johnson and Eric Batt.

In the first S2 heat race, which was run in dry conditions, Evan Walters (Intrepid) turned up his game in coming from seventh on the grid, taking over the lead from Johnson as the top four checked out on the field. Alcorn maintained his pace up from to finish third on the track, only to get moved back a spot for creeping on the start line. Crockett was on the move from the back and finished second in the heat to move to the front row for the start of the second moto, while Johnson was eventually advanced to third when Alcorn received his one-position penalty for jumping the start. Alcorn showed now negative affects, as he knew that he had made major gains from the opening day and was ready to fight for a podium finish.

Johnson would move to the front in the second heat race to take the pole for the main, finishing ahead of Crockett and Walters. Clint Korte and Jack Bradley completed the top-five, while Alcorn slipped back to seventh behind Iseli.

The S2 final featured some interesting strategy, which was not popular with everyone in the paddock. Energy driver Josh Lane had sat out the two heat races, essentially conserving his dry tires, and with the relatively short 14-kart field, he was able to attack quick from the seventh row. At the start, Walters would power to the lead over Johnson and Crockett, but Lane had fresh rubber, which was worth about a second per lap over the opening circuits. Lane quickly worked to the lead group, getting past Crockett and then Johnson as he closed on Walters. Crockett would follow suit, moving into third and closing on the lead duo as Walters worked hard to hold Lane at bay, his newer rubber giving him a distinct advantage. Things came to a head on the penultimate lap, when Lane took over the top spot. Walters would fight back heading into the final hairpin, making a solid move to the inside to steal the position. However, in trying to get his kart to rotate as he slid past the apex, Walters’ looped his Intrepid right in front of Lane, locking the two together. As Crockett ducked underneath to steal the lead, Lane jumped from his kart to separate the chassis, and then they both re-fired and got back underway. Crockett would go on unchallenged to his second victory of the weekend, while Lane recovered for seventh and Walters 11th. The incident also allowed Alcorn to advance to second and Johnson to third, putting the top-three in S2 Pro Tour points together on the podium. Korte and Bradley will cap the top-five.

The S4 class provided some of the best action of the weekend, and once again, Aluminos’ Jonathan Allen topped the qualifying run. The S4s kicked off the morning on full wets, with the rain falling lightly, and Allen was impressive in topping Saturday race winner Phil Conte by just under two tenths of a second to win the pole and the 10 bonus points. Phil Dunford was third in the order ahead of Christiaan Bouhuys and Peter Workum. Things got interesting in the first heat race as a dry line was beginning to develop during the final qualifying runs. Only Mike McDonough would take the risk of heading out on slicks, but it would be the right call. With the race line drying, McDonough slowly brought his MGs up to temp and then powered through the field, eventually closing on Dunford, who had taken the lead from Allen. McDonough pushed hard over the final laps to reach the leader, but he would come up just short at the line. Conte, Workum and Bouhuys capped the top-five.

The track was completely dry when the second S4 heat came around, allowing the field the ability to re-sort itself to similar positions as Saturday. Dunford pulled away at the start and maintained the point all the way to the checkered, chased closely by Workum and Conte. Allen and Bouhuys completed the top five.

The S4 final was a thriller, even though the lead group was without Conte, who was forced to the sidelines early when he lost his air filter on the opening lap. It was a rough blow to the Californian as he would have been simply padding his point lead with another podium run. Conte’s departure left Dunford to roll out to a comfortable cushion at the start of the 16-lapper, that is, until Workum and Allen reeled him in. Over the final laps, Workum kept the pressure on the leader but just couldn’t find a way by. The climax would hold off until the final lap in the final corners, when Dunford had trouble getting out of the hairpin as his kart bogged slightly on the exit. Workum jumped on the opening and stuck his GP inside his Aluminos teammate and they would run side-by-side for a few yards. Dunford realized that he was hung out to dry and that his only chance at the win would be to cross-cross inside Workum as they exited the left-hand sweeper heading to the stripe. The move came up just short as Workum had enough forward bite to edge his challenger by 0.055 seconds at the line to score his first national win. Dunford was close to losing second as well, as Allen had tucked up behind Workum heading to the line, but he was able to maintain the runner-up position. Mark Cleppe finished fourth while Luke Bianco capped a strong weekend in fifth.

Just as it was at the SpringNationals at Infineon back in April, the G1 class was dominated by Aluminos’ Fernando Diaz. After winning on Saturday, Diaz posted the fastest qualifying time in the wet, exactly a tenth of a second quicker than Eduardo Martins. Colorado’s David Conyers was enjoying a great weekend in Shawano and was third in the order, ahead of Evolution Karting’s Kurt Mathewson and PP Mastro. In the first wheel-to-wheel run of the day for G1, Diaz once again ran his set program of pulling away quickly at the start of the opening heat race and then pacing his speed to maintain the lead while conserving tires. Mastro, his main competition, retired right after the start and would have the added edge of better rubber for the remainder of the day as his MGs would have run eight less laps. In Mastro’s absence, Conyers took up the charge and ran to an impressive second ahead of Martins. Roy Montgomery and Mathewson had a coming together late in the race when the latter attempted an optimistic move in the second corner that resulted in heavy contact. Montgomery would loop his CRG off the track, while Mathewson would be hit with a penalty for avoidable contact. This allowed Darrell Tunnell to slip through for fourth as Montgomery recovered to hold onto fifth. Armed with fresh MG slicks, Mastro was able to get a great start and eventually reel in and pass Diaz for the lead early in the second heat race, winning by 0.668 seconds. Martins, Conyers and Mathewson were third through fifth, respectively.

In the main, Mastro took full advantage of his pole position and his fresher tires to stretch away to a 3.804-second win over Diaz. To his credit, Mastro never put a wheel wrong in his run to the checker, scoring his first SKUSA Pro Tour win. Conyers would join the lead duo on the podium, his first trip to a SKUSA award celebration after many years of competing with the organization. The veteran stepped up for the SummerNationals and was certainly rewarded for his impressive efforts.

The paddock was still buzzing on Sunday morning after the amazing finale from the day before, as the TaG Senior put on an incredible show. Phil Giebler had scored an impressive win following some last lap excitement, and he rolled with the momentum in the wet qualifying run, posting the fastest time of the session. Benny Moon was again in the hunt in his Allmendinger-owned entry, qualifying second ahead of Robby Seward, Jamie Sieracki and Larry Fraser.

Giebler was masterful at the front of the opening heat race, again having to deal with the relentless pressure of Moon. The lead duo pulled away cleanly from the field as Moon didn’t press the issue, understanding the need to stay at the head of the class all day if he wanted to fight for the win in the main. Sixth place qualifier TJ Koyen (Merlin) hooked up with Fraser to advance up the field to sit third and fourth at the checker, right ahead of Franklin Motorsports pilot Tommy Andersen. In the second eight-lap heat race, Moon would take the point when Giebler encountered trouble, forced to hold his airbox on his carburetor with his right hand as it had worked loose. Amazing the paddock, Giebler went almost the entire distance using just his left arm to pilot his kart, in fact passing a couple of drivers in the process. He was running eighth when the motor finally failed, leaving him dead-last on the grid for the main. This would only set up a stunning drive to the front.

Back up front, Moon was eventually joined by Koyen in their charge to the checker, as Koyen never left Moon’s bumper. The margin at the line was just 0.234 seconds, putting the two drivers on the front row for the main event. National Kart Supply’s Mark Vielgut was third, having advanced from sixth, while Fraser and Sieracki completed the top-five after late-race contact for an aggressive move by Andersen resulted in a penalty that dropped his to eighth.

In the 16-lap main, Koyen and Moon put on a show up front, while Giebler wowed the crowd by driving from 19th to third. The lead duo was never separated by more than two kart lengths, as Koyen held the point after getting past Moon on the start. Koyen was forced to run every lap at 100% in an effort to hold back the visiting driver, and in the end, he completed the day with a big victory. Moon was forced to settle for second, but it was an impressive return for the multi-time SKUSA ProMoto Tour winner. Giebler’s drive from the back was equally impressive, as he charged hard to the podium, using the result to back up his Saturday victory to take the overall weekend win and the $1000 first place check. Sieracki was fourth in the Sunday order ahead of Andersen, putting three Merlins in the top five. Second overall for the weekend was Vielgut, who was second on Saturday and seventh on Sunday, receiving $500 for his effort. Koyen’s win also paid off with some cash, as he advanced to third in the final tally to take $250 from SKUSA’s Tom Kutscher on the podium.

SKUSA ladder of Stock Moto classes continues to develop, and the S5 Stock Moto Junior drivers handled the wet qualifying nicely, with STA Racing’s Daniel Langon topping the charts with a lap of 1:26.429. Saturday winner Christian Schureman was second ahead of Crocket Motorsports’ Colton Brooks (GP). Langon was not able to fully capitalize on his qualifying effort in the open heat as Austin Schimmel eventually took the lead from seventh on the grid thanks to a great start at the lights. Langon stayed right with the leader through the short six-lapper, leaving Schureman to fight with Alex Tartaglia to fight for third and the inside of row two for the start of the second heat race. Schimmel would maintain his lead in the second moto, this time ahead of Tartaglia to set the front row for the main.

The final was all Austin Schimmel as he avoided the mechanical disappointment that left him one lap short of a podium finish on Saturday. Schimmel ran to a 4.671-second win, turning the fast lap in the process, to get his first career Pro Tour victory. Tartaglia ran a strong race to finish second ahead of Schureman, who performed well all weekend to take his third straight Pro Tour podium finish. Langon and Lerch completed the top-five.

In TaG Junior, Saturday race winner Luis Tyrrell avoided the mechanical issues that put him on the sidelines for the opening day’s qualifying run, instead pacing the field with a 1:25.201 that was three tenths quicker that Pennsylvania driver Trent Walko, who was making his SKUSA debut. ‘The Flying Farmer’ Karl Weber was third in the order, ahead of Emmanuel Mestre and Mason Daughters. Weber then posted the fastest lap of the first heat, but he would not be able to get in front of Tyrrell, as the California pilot would not be challenged again all day. Weber advanced to second ahead of Mestre, with Maxx Marian and Austin Thomas finishing fourth and fifth. In the second heat, Tyrrell would stretch his lead to 4.3 seconds at the stripe, with Weber again positioned as the primary challenger. Marian would improve to third in this six-lap sprint.

In the TaG Junior final, Tyrrell performed like a champion to score his third Pro Tour win of the year, his only non-victory being a second place finish to Kathryn Cornell in the Sunday final at the SpringNationals. Tyrrell won by 5.642 seconds from Mestre with Weber completing the podium. Marian was fourth in the final order ahead of Emily Maddison.

The young class in the SKUSA program – TaG Cadet – attracted just five drivers to Shawano, but the youngsters were the top-five in points following the SpringNationals and they all put on a good show as the racing was intense. The drafting was tight in this category, although SKUSA did a good job to separate them in qualifying. Colton Herta topped the timed run ahead of Tate Holleran and Christian Brooks, while Parker Thompson and Noah Grey were fourth and fifth. Thompson would work his way to the front to win the opening heat over Herta, while they would swap positions in the second. The final saw the two drivers again hook up to pull away from Brooks and Grey, that is, until Thompson made the move for the lead mid-way through the race. Thompson was then able to pull away to score a 5.105-second triumph. Herta was eventually caught by Brooks, but held onto the position to finish first overall on the weekend, winning a full Vortex Mini Rok package in the process. Grey was fourth in the Sunday tally, while Holleran was finally able to get his kart rolling after DNFs in both heat races following some mysterious technical issue that kept his engine from spooling up to full revs. It was a disappointing end to a good weekend for Holleran, who is now looking forward to making his first appearance at the SuperNationals now that the organization has added the TaG Cadet class to the weekend line-up.

All in all, the inaugural SKUSA SuperNationals should be considered a big success. The race was missing a large number of entries it could likely have counted on should the US Rotax Grand Nationals not have been scheduled on top of their date, but the end result was a paddock full of smiling faces. SKUSA’s approach to customer service was a talking point, as Friday and Saturday night BBQs were enjoyed by the racers and with the focus on fun and enjoyable racing, they certainly gained some new fans. The addition of Jamie McMurray and AJ Allmendinger to the paddock added to the excitement, as both drivers enjoyed strong outings during their weekend ‘off’. They’ll both be back in the office this coming weekend as the NASCAR Sprint Cup series heads to the Indianapolis Motor Speedway for the Brickyard 400.

The SKUSA staff will now turn their focus on both the upcoming ProKart Challenge North-South Shootout at Santa Maria on August 12-14 and the continuing preparations for the SuperNationals in November in Las Vegas. Online registration for the sport’s biggest race was opened on June 1 and the entries are coming in on a regular basis, and the special SKUSA hotel code for the Rio is now available so that teams and drivers can get their discounted room rates. All the necessary information is available at their website – http://www.superkartsusa.com.

SKUSA now has their first Pro Tour season all but in the books, with new traditions now launched in the form of the SpringNationals and SummerNationals. SKUSA president Tom Kutscher informed that he will be releasing next year’s Pro Tour schedule as soon as possible in an effort to side-step the chance for conflicting weekends in 2011. Keep an eye out on this website for this information as soon as it is released.

7-2-10 SKUSA Summer Nationals Line up Continues to Develop

Fields building as local drivers and professional racers set to challenge SKUSAs best

The first annual Superkarts! USA SummerNationals is promising to provide an early look at the on-track battles that the organization will likely see at its SuperNationals in November. The SKUSA staff will be heading for USA International Raceway in Shawano, WI in just about two weeks (June 16-18) and they are thrilled that the SummerNationals is expected to see a solid influx of local drivers for the race, pitting them up against the top drivers from their own ProKart Challenge, Mountain and the Central States regional programs. Add in the confirmed participation of NASCAR stars Jamie McMurray and AJ Allmendinger, and this race could be a solid pre-cursor of things to come in Las Vegas. SKUSA has an assortment of plans in place to make the SummerNationals an enjoyable experience for everyone who treks to Shawano to join in on the party.

Wed love to officially welcome everyone to come and join us in Shawano for the SummerNationals, offers Tom Kutscher, SKUSA President. Theres a lot of crazy stuff going on in karting right now and as I am watching it unfold, I can remember exactly why we started our ProKart Challenge program in 2005. Karting should be about having fun, and thats what we try to offer our customers when they come race with us. We had a great time at Infineon in April during the SpringNationals, and our approach to the SummerNats is no different. Its going to be a fun summer vacation! Well do a little golfing, enjoy some BBQ with our karting friends, new and old, and well get the chance to hit a great racetrack for some hardcore competition. Thats what the Pro Tour is all about!

The pre-entry discount for the SummerNationals will end this Sunday, July 4, but drivers can still take advantage of these savings by entering on SKUSAs website www.superkartsusa.com. SKUSA is also offering a reserved entry at the SuperNationals with payment deferred until August 15 for any competitor who wants to race in Shawano but is strapped for available funds right now. As entries for the SKUSA SuperNationals in Las Vegas opened on June 1 and seeing as many competitors have already committed an investment to enter the season-ending race, this opportunity has been offered in an effort to ease the financial strain on SKUSA customers. Any racer wishing to take advantage of this offer should contact the SKUSA head office directly.

The entry list for the SummerNationals is shaping up to be an incredible weekend of racing. Not only will the racers get the chance to rub shoulders with NASCAR stars Jamie McMurray and AJ Allmendinger, but a growing number of local drivers have confirmed their entries, which will be exciting as theyll be set to take on SKUSA top competitors from all of their regions. McMurray, the reigning Daytona 500 champion, is primed and ready to battle the S1 establishment, which will include a whos who of shifter kart racing, including round two winner Clinton Schoombee, Alex Speed, Jason Toft and current Pro Tour point leader Fritz Leeseman. Add in the entry of Texan Nick Lucido, NorCals Brett Felkins, SoCal hotshoe Jimmy McNeil and Kiwi transplant Daniel Bray, and the shootout for Pro Stock Moto supremacy will be huge.

Like the S1 competitors, the TaG Senior pilots will be gunning for the $1000 event winners paycheck, which will certainly turn things up a notch. Phil Giebler leads the point hunt coming into Shawano and he will be focused on maintaining his position up top as he is set to dice with a field that will enjoy the attendance of some very quick drivers from the local racing community. Top WKA Manufacturers Cup pilots TJ Koyen and Tommy Andersen have confirmed their entries, and several others have also voiced their intentions on being in the paddock at Shawano. The Great Lakes region is a hotbed for fast TaG drivers, and this could certainly develop into one of the strongest fields of the year.

If anyone is still looking for shipping options for their kart and equipment, there are still a number of teams from both California and the Pacific Northwest who will be traveling to Shawano and still have room in their trailers. Interested competitors are asked to contact SKUSA headquarters to be connected with the right team or check out some available options listed on the website.

Early entry line-ups are looking good as a majority of the frontrunners from the SpringNationals remain fixed on securing the #1 plate for 2011. One of SKUSAs primary projects for this new season was the development of a TaG Cadet program for both the Pro Tour and the SuperNationals, and the decision to go with the Vortex Mini Rok has been very popular as the class debuted with 12 drivers at Infineon. Most of the top guns from Infineon have already entered for Shawano, so the racing is sure to be intense. Vortex stepped up this spring with a special engine program that would provide 10 motors for complimentary use by interested Cadet families at the Spring and SummerNationals, and SKUSA still has a few of these engines available for Shawano. And as a reminder, the weekend winner of the TaG Cadet class in Shawano will also receive a complete Mini Rok engine package. If you are the parents of a Cadet driver who would like to sample this new category at the SummerNationals, you are urged to contact the SKUSA head office to sign up for the program. The TaG Cadet class will be the only opportunity for a young driver aged 9-12 to participate at this years SuperNationals in Las Vegas, so getting a taste of the new powerplant at the SummerNats has many advantages.

This inaugural Mothers Polish SummerNationals is set to go on the July 16-18 weekend at USA International Raceway in Shawano, WI. Registration remains open via www.superkartsusa.com and the pre-entry cutoff is Sunday, July 4.