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Archives April 2009

4-21-09 Gatorz Karting Cup Press Release

Club Class, MicroMax, Tires and the return of the VIP Kart

With the second edition of the Challenge of the Americas wrapped up, the “regular season” begins with the Gatorz Karting Cup at the Grange Motor Circuit on May 23. That event will also see the reintroduction for the rest of the season of the series’ Club class.

This year, the Club class will also include the PRD Fireball, in addition to the Rotax FR125 and Parilla Leopard engines. Club races slightly shorter races than the regular Rotax Max classes, but still offers over sixty minutes of track time on race day. Club will also allow four brands of tire to be used: the Bridgestone YHC, Mojo D2, Burris 55A and Maxxis HG-3.

The class will also provide new racers a chance to sample kart racing with Karttech. Karttech will provide rentals for the Club class throughout the Gatorz Karting Cup season, and can also assist with trackside service and support.

“The reason that we run Club is so that we provide local club-level drivers the chance to try a different kind of raceday – with long races - in addition to giving them a chance to compete at new tracks,” said series owner Andy Seesemann. “This is why we’ve chosen the three most popular TaG engines in Southern California and the four most popular brands of tire. We’ve made things as simple and accessible as possible for club-level racers, and new racers, to jump in and see what Gatorz Karting is all about – having as much fun as possible with a minimum of hassle.”

Another new class to be introduced to the Gatorz Karting Cup is the MicroMax class, for drivers 7-9 years old. MicroMax racers will share tracktime with the Reaction Karting MiniMax class. For those unfamiliar with the package, MicroMax rentals will be available for Gatorz Karting Cup races.

Another rules change for the rest of the season is that racers can race with tires that are not purchased from the series. Tires will be subject to a tire durometer test, but racers will still have the option of ordering tires on the entry form.

“While we have been going through the second season of the Challenge of the Americas, we have been speaking with a number of drivers who plan to compete in our so-called ‘regular season’,” said Seesemann. “It is clear that people still want to race karts, and we’re going to make it easier for them to do so.”

And, with the reintroduction of the Club class, the series will debut a new VIP Kart. The VIP Kart already had its first public debut, in the Kyle Mohan Racing pits at the Formula Drift season opener in Long Beach, Calif. The series will seek drivers from various motorsport disciplines outside of karting in an effort to promote karting to new audiences. The final lineup of drivers and the Gatorz Karting Cup races they will compete in will be made at a later date.

4-29-09 NEAL DOUBLES UP FOR THIRD STRAIGHT EVENT AT PROKART CHALLENGE SOUTH

SoCal star continues to shine at race of 100+ competitors outside Qualcomm Stadium

SONOMA, CA (April 25, 2009) – The fourth round of the Superkarts! USA’s ProKart Challenge South program took the competitors to the 1.1 mile temporary circuit outside the Qualcomm Stadium, home of the San Diego Chargers. Running in conjunction with the San Diego Karting Association (SDKA), the two organizations merged similar classes, including the nine PKC divisions, to share the course throughout the April 25 event in perfect San Diego beach weather. As in the previous two rounds of the series, 17-year-old Jacob Neal continued to be the star of the traveling show by scoring two feature wins on the day.

The event in San Diego seemed to be much easier for the young hotshoe, as he swept all on-track sessions for the S1 and S3 divisions back-to-back. In the stacked S3 category, Neal led the way in qualifying as the only driver to post a sub-one minute lap time. In the opening heat, Neal was chased by Jimmy McNeil until he retired on lap five, after a steering component broke while attempting to pass Neal. Point leader Patrick Cushenberry and defending champion Bobby Legate assumed the chase positions, but came up just short at the line. In the second heat, Neal got away from the line clean, while Cushenberry had a tough opening lap and fell back to sixth to allow Brad Dunford to slide into the second spot. Though Dunford gave a solid effort, he settled for second, as Neal was able to hold him off for the win. Legate ran third until lap seven when his engine seized. By then, McNeil and Cushenberry had advanced up to fourth and fifth, and then moved up one more spot with Legate’s retirement.

In the feature, Neal would go unchallenged, as he put down a pace similar to his qualifying time to pull out to a 26-second margin of victory. McNeil looked to have the runner-up spot locked in, until a broken shifter cost him the podium. That gave a charging Legate the second spot, with Dunford winning the final podium spot – after Cushenberry spun while in battle on lap 14. Neal went on to sweep the S1 division, as well. Challenged early on by point leader Peter Abba, Neal would be too strong en route to a 28-second win, with Abba beating Imran Husain for the second spot.

The G class continues to carry large fields in 2009, with longtime PKC regular PP Mastro besting the field in San Diego. After earning the top qualifier honors, Mastro went unchallenged in the opening heat. The final heat race, however, would see Mastro battle Roy Montgomery for the top spot. The two shared the position, until Mastro retired on lap 10 with a broken throttle cable, handing Montgomery the win. Mastro’s pace in the feature, on the other hand, would be too much for Roy, as Mastro would recover the positions he lost by his DNF to regain the top spot in the first half of the 20-lap race – then go on to win by six seconds. Montgomery would also surrender the second spot to point leader Troy Butts to sit third on the podium.

Ken Schilling was the man to beat early on in the S4 category, as he began his bid for the first feature win of the season with the top qualifier spot. The rest of the day did not pan out Schilling’s way, as he had a bad opening lap of the first heat race and fell to fifth, managing to recover back to second. The win would go to outside front row starter and championship contender Rob Whitley. Another poor start for Schilling to begin the second heat race allowed Whitley to show the way once again and a second heat victory, this time with PKC newcomer Dave Van Gordon on his bumper for the entire 12 laps. Schilling would be unable to score a comeback, finishing fifth in the heat race and retiring on lap six of the feature after spinning to avoid contact with another kart. At the front of the field, Whitley was able to get away clean early on in the 20-lap feature to take home the win by nine seconds -- his first of the season. Van Gordon lost a great battle with point leader Jeff Smith for the second spot to complete the podium.

The TaG Master category saw its fourth different feature winner in as many events in 2009. After placing second at the Grange event last month, Jeff Bobbitt ultimately emerged as the victor in San Diego. Bobbitt began the event second in qualifying after Mike Kelley, who was just over two-tenths quicker on his fastest lap. Bobbitt got the jump to start the first heat race, and held on for the win. The rest of the event, Kelley continued to chase Bobbitt unsuccessfully, as he would finish second in the final heat and feature. Round two winner Jeff Deehan would complete the podium, with point leader Steve Wiener ending up fourth.

The Qualcomm Stadium event was the second trip for the new KF2 division in the PKC South program, with former shifter kart national champion Alex Speed dominating the day’s action. Grange winner Will Martindale – as well as Cody Hodgson – kept it close throughout the day, but Speed’s pace at the end of the day would keep them second and third. Larry Fraser was able to edge TaG Senior point leader Howie Idelson for the TaG Senior victory, his first of the season. In S4 Magnum, Luke Bianco had the field covered until retiring early in the feature, handing the win to point leader Tony Morrison for his second straight victory. Max Zacky was the lone TaG Junior competitor in San Diego, but gained valuable track time running with the TaG Senior and TaG Master fields. The Friday night ProKart Challenge complimentary BBQ, sponsored by PCH Motorsports, impressed the crowd with an amazing, slow-cooked brisket and a multitude of salads. A fantastic event, for sure! Special thanks to SDKA for hosting such a positive experience.

Up next on the ProKart Challenge calendar is the much anticipated West Coast Shootout on May 16 at the Buttonwillow Raceway Park kart track, where both the South and North programs will compete against one another. Some of the best karters from California and the surrounding areas are expected to compete in this South vs. North battle. For more information on the Superkarts! USA’s ProKart Challenge, head to www.prokartchallenge.com.

4-28-09 2009 Jim Russell Northern California Rotax Challenge Race 2 set for this weekend

The second race of the exciting 10 race series for the 2009 Jim Russell Northern California Rotax Challenge will take to the track this Saturday, May 2nd.

Following a record turnout of 68 karts in for the April race, another record number of entries is expected. We know of at least another half dozen new entries joining the action this weekend.

The Jim Russell Northern California Rotax Challenge is a best 8 out of 10 race series which runs 7 races at the Jim Russell International Karting Center at Infineon Raceway and 3 races at the Kinsmen Kart Club, Dixon Kart Track in the late summer and fall.

The big surprise so far this year has been the strong turnout for the new Micro-Max (8-10 years) and Mini-Max (10-12 years) classes. In addition to the full compliment of Rotax classes, the Jim Russell Cadet and Junior Arrive and Drive classes will be racing.

There will be practice available on Friday from 1:00pm to 6:00pm. Practice starts at 8:30am on Saturday, Qualifing at 11:15am, with the Pre-Mains and Mains starting at 1:00pm. The Track layout will be the Sprint layout.

Admission for spectators is free, so come out and see some great racing.

Food will be available from J&D's Snack Shack trackside.

Do you need to be a 2009 Rotax Member?

For 2009, it is not a requirement to be a Rotax member to race in the Jim Russell Northern California Rotax Challenge. Membership is not required to be eligible for any of the prizes in the series from all the great sponsors.

But, if you are thinking of going to the Rotax Grand Nationals or want to be part of the Rotax National Points Championship, you must be a 2009 Rotax member not later than May 2nd.

To qualify for the Rotax Grand Nationals, you must be a Rotax member and run in four local Rotax Challenge events. Three of these 4 races must be in the Region in which you have joined Rotax.

Rotax membership is also required for the Rotax National Points Championship. This is a series in which the points you earn at your local regional Rotax Challenge will be counted toward the National Points Championship.

The results for the April 4th race will be sent to Rotax on May 5th. If you are not a member of Rotax but want to become a member and get credit for the April race, then you need to join Rotax immediately.

Joining Rotax is easy. Go to www.RMAXChallenge.com and click on membership. You can join Rotax online with a credit card, or print out the membership form and send it in with a check. Or you can fill out a membership form at the May 2nd race and give it to Kit at the Marin Karting trailer and she will send it in on May 5th and make sure you get credit for the April race. Marin Karting is the Northern California Rotax Challenge administrator and handles all the series paperwork that gets sent to Rotax.

For more information, schedule, results, news, rules and sponsors information for the Jim Russell Northern Californian Rotax Challenge go to www.norcalrotax.com.

4-28-09 MISSOURI-ILLINOIS NATIONAL GUARD TO SUPPORT CENTRAL STATES CHALLENGE OPENER

Superkarts! USA regional signs up event sponsor for Gateway International Raceway

ST. LOUIS, MO (April 28, 2009) – The Central States Challenge is proud to announce signing the Missouri-Illinois National Guard as the event sponsor for the 2009 season opener scheduled for the Gateway International Raceway in Madison, Illinois. The two day event on May 9-10 will be contested on a revamped road course utilizing the majority of the infield course and a section of the oval’s back straightaway, resulting in a 3/4-mile sprint track.

“While at the SKUSA SuperNationals last November, I had the great opportunity to meet some of the great soldiers on hand from the Army National Guard,” stated Central States Challenge coordinator Pam Freund. “We were referred to Sgt. Dominic Butel with the Missouri Army National Guard and were able to get their support for the event. This will be their first time supporting a karting event in the area and we our excited at the possibilities they bring to the Central States Challenge.”

The support of the Missouri-Illinois National Guard works in conjunction with the series appreciation of the armed forces. Adding to the already friendly and patriotic atmosphere of the Central States Challenge, any military personnel that attend a Central States Central event in uniform will be given a free entry into the track property.

“The National Guard has a long history of supporting the motorsports industry nation wide,” commented Bob Seyller of the Missouri Army National Guard. “Our relationship with the SKUSA Central States Challenge will give the National Guard a chance to connect at a local level to provide a positive image of our soldiers to the St. Louis community.”

In addition to the support of the National Guard, Superkarts! USA President Tom Kutscher will also be in attendance at the Gateway event. Kutscher will be on hand to answer any questions racers may have about the SKUSA organization. Entries from as far as Texas, Minnesota, and Wisconsin along with the surrounding states of Illinois, Missouri and Iowa have already been submitted with a large turnout expected for the opening event.

Prizes to be awarded to Central States Challenge competitors on the year include the chance at a free trip to be part of the American team at the Granja Viana 500 in Sao Paulo, Brazil. Drivers who compete in the series will have their name thrown into a drawing for a chance to win the prize at the end of the season. For the classes that transfer to the SKUSA SuperNationals, each class champion will receive a paid entry to the Las Vegas event (fuel and tires not included).

The 2008 series champions will be honored at the Awards Banquet schedule for Saturday, May 9 following on-track activities at the 2009 season opener. The location will be at the event host hotel - Collinsville Inn - which is located roughly seven miles east of the track. Banquet tickets selling for $25 for adults, $15 for children (4 to 11 years) and 3 and under in for free. Hotel rooms are running low at the discounted $79/night price.

Following recent testing at the Gateway International Raceway, the circuit design will be revised from the layout announced earlier in the year to insure a safe and challenging circuit for those who will attend. For all the details on the 2009 season, the 2008 banquet and other information you need to know to become part of the SKUSA Central States Challenge, visit www.thecsss.com

4-28-09 OLEEN SCORES FIRST USAC FORD FOCUS MIDGET WIN OF 2009 AT MADERA SPEEDWAY

Maryland-based Ron Sutton’s Winner’s Circle driver led flag-to-flag in
Round Four of USAC California Pavement Ford Focus Car Series

MADERA, CALIF. (April 27, 2009) – For Jeff Oleen, 2009 is already a
race-winning season, as the talented young driver captured the USAC Ford
Focus Midget feature race win on Saturday (April 25) at Madera Speedway
in California, as part of the Gerhardt Open Wheel Classic event. The win
marked the first win of the season for the second-year Ron Sutton’s
Winner’s Circle development driver and propelled him to fourth in the
championship chase.

The fourth event of the 19-race USAC California Pavement Ford Focus Car
Series commenced for Oleen and his Ron Sutton’s Winner’s Circle crew on
Friday via practice on the third of a mile Madera Speedway oval.
Steadily working on both his driving line and the car’s setup, by the
end of the day’s activities, the Maryland-based driver was turning times
on par with those expected to challenge for tops honors during the event.

When race day got underway on Saturday, Oleen continued his strong
showing behind the wheel early on in practice, routinely turning times
among the top-four, despite continuing to focus on fine-tuning his USAC
Ford Focus Midget for single-car qualifying. The former multiple World
Karting Association champion and Skip Barber race-winner was poised to
challenge for the pole position when qualifying took place later in the
day, however a minor error exiting turn two during his run resulted in
the fifth fastest time. Thankfully, due to the top-six being inverted
for the feature race, Oleen earned a front-row starting position.

Returning to the cockpit of the No. 8 Oleen Pinnacle/PitFit
Training/Best Buddies/Ron Sutton’s Winner’s Circle Ford Focus Midget,
Oleen got a great jump when the green flag waved, slotting into the lead
entering turn one. While the Ron Sutton’s Winner’s Circle development
driver came under constant heavy pressure from the second place
challenger, particularly in turns three and four, he managed to retain
the lead lap after lap. Just as Oleen was beginning to build an
advantage, the field was bunched back together for a car spinning
on-course.

On the ensuing restart, Oleen showed the speed and composure of a title
contented, holding off the advances from the drivers behind. Running
fast and consistent laps from that point forward, Oleen captured his
first win of the 2009 season, setting the fastest lap of the race in the
process. Finishing second was Ron Sutton’s Winner’s Circle teammate, Nik
Romano.

“Jeff Oleen continues to show he has the talent to win in any type of
race car,” stated development coach Ron Sutton. “We came here with the
goal of improving his short track game, and he did just that by leading
every lap and taking a convincing win. We faced a lot of tough
competitors this weekend, so our drivers finishing one-two is very
gratifying.”

Oleen and the Ron Sutton Winner’s Circle USAC Ford Focus Midget crew
return to action on May 2^nd , with Round Five of the USAC California
Pavement Ford Focus Car Series taking place at Stockton 99 Speedway in
Stockton, Calif.

4-28-09 LICATA WINS POLE & TROPHY DASH IN ASA SPEED TRUCK CHALLENGE

Ron Sutton’s Winner’s Circle driver led flag-to-flag at Las Vegas Motor
Speedway

LAS VEGAS, NEV. (April 23, 2009) – Joey Licata Jr. is steadily building
a name for himself in the West Coast oval racing ranks, and that
continued recently, thanks to a strong run in Round Two of the 2009 ASA
Speed Truck Challenge. Racing at the Las Vegas Motors Speedway, the
talented teenager not only captured the pole position, but also scored a
dominating victory in the Trophy Dash race.

Licata Jr., who hails for Van Nuys, Calif., and is a first year member
of the prestigious Ron Sutton’s Winner’s Circle development driver
program, was immediately one of the drivers to watch when the ASA Speed
Trucks took to the 3/8-mile “Bullring” oval at the Las Vegas Motor
Speedway. After turning some fast laps in qualifying, the second-year
truck driver was positioned to challenge for top honors in single-truck
qualifying. Licata Jr. promptly rose to the challenge, capturing his
first pole position of the season by a mere 0.02-seconds.

The six-lap Trophy Dash race was next on tap for Licata Jr. Returning to
the driver’s seat of his No. 71 United Nissan/G2 Graphic Service/Chevy
Colorado, the former multiple IKF Grand National karting champion
enjoyed a clean getaway when the green flag waved. From that point
forward, the 17 year-old Licata Jr. proceeded to show the poise and
speed of championship contender, never putting a wheel wrong en route to
a dominating flag-to-flag victory.

“Joey impressed us immensely in our annual talent search driver shoot
out,” stated development coach Ron Sutton. “In just his second race with
the United Nissan Team, he is showing that talent in spades.”

Licata Jr., resumes his first season of racing under the Ron Sutton
Winner’s Circle driver development banner on April 25, with Round Three
of ASA Speed Truck Challenge at Havasu 95 Speedway in Arizona.

4-23-09 BOWLES TRAVELS TO MADERA SPEEDWAY SET TO EXTEND NASCAR CAMPING WORLD WEST SERIES WINNING STREAK

The Californian enters Round Four with a win and runner-up finish in his last two races

MADERA, CALIF. (April 23, 2009) – Jason Bowles returns to his home state of California on Saturday (April 25th) as the hottest driver in the NASCAR Camping World West Series. The championship standout enters Round Four, the NAPA Auto Parts/Toyota 150 presented by Exclusive Energy Drink, having won Round Three and finished second in Round Two following a new lap record in qualifying.

A little over a week after scoring his first win of the 2009 season, the seventh of his NASCAR Camping World West career, Bowles will get back behind the wheel poised to continue his winning ways. While the former karting and formula car standout has never previously raced at the 0.333-mile Madera Speedway in Northern California, both he and his team have shown great speed on similar short ovals. Bowles, in addition to winning on large ovals and road courses, has multiple pole positions and wins on short ovals, most recently starting P1 at the 0.300-mile All American Speedway. Bowles, who will once again be piloting the No. 6 Sunrise Ford/Oakley/Joe Gibbs Racing Oil/GS 610/RPM 12/Justice Brothers/Bell /Ford in the single-day event, enters Round Four second in the championship fight, rapidly closing the gap on the defending series champion.

“After last week’s win we are really looking forward to getting back to the track and continuing this momentum,” stated Bowles. “We’re bringing a different short track car this week to see if we can improve on our Roseville finish. I can't thank team enough for all there hard work, and hopefully we can leave Madera where we finished up in Phoenix.”

The fourth event of the 2009 NASCAR Camping World West Series season commences on Saturday at Madera Speedway, with the first of two practice sessions at 11:00 a.m. local time. Single-car qualifying is scheduled to get underway at 4:00 p.m., followed by the green flag for the NAPA Auto Parts/Toyota 150 presented by Exclusive Energy Drink at 8:00 p.m.

4-20-09 Jim Russell Sunday Series Race #1 Report

The Jim Russell International Karting Championship Sunday Series opened up 2009 at Infineon Raceway with lots of great racing.
Junior 1-Comer – With 3 or 4 2008 drivers moving up to Junior class, the Comer class numbers for Race #1 were down to 5 drivers, but all these drivers had
someone to battle most of the day. In Qualify, Michael Avansino took the poll ahead of Garrett Dixon and Jay Dennis. In the Pre-Main, Avansino pulled away and took a convincing win. Dixon and Dennis battled the whole race and finished less than a second apart for 2nd and 3rd with Mark Berman edging out Camden Lile for 4th place. In the Main, Dixon had a good start but had to come in after lap
one when his left rear hub slipped on the axle. Again Avansino took a convincing win over Dennis followed by Berman and Lile.

80 Shifters – Ten 80 shifters took the track, 8 Grand Masters and 2 Masters/Heavy drivers. In Qualify, Marc Stanley took the poll over Ahmiel Freed with 2008 Champ Tom Nelson in 3rd. In the 12 lap Pre-Main Stanley took the lead from the green but the pressure was on with Freed, Renoʼs Mark Nason and Tom Nelson all finishing less than a second back and Steve Peterson another second back. In the Main, the first 5 drivers on the grid were all Grand Masters drivers
(45 years and older). At the drop of the green flag, Stanley stumbled and came out of turn one in 4th. Freed and Mark Nason battled at the front with Nelson trying to hold off Stanley. Stanley first got by Nelson but had trouble making a move on the two front runners. As Stanley came down the front straight about mid-race, it looked like he was setting up Nason for the pass, but he went inside, drove past both Nason and Freed to make the pass of the weekend and took the lead. Stanley was never headed after the pass and went on to the win with
Freed in 2nd, Nason 3rd, Nelson 4th and again all finishing within one second of each other. Steve Peterson was 5th with the Masters/Heavy winner Andy Green in 6th over Aldo Martinez who finished 7th.

Junior HPV1 and Junior 1-Gazelle – 2 HPV1 karts and 2 Gazelle karts took the track with Michael Avansino (HPV1) taking the poll ahead of Jay Dennis (HPV1)
with Chloe St George (Gazelle) in 3rd and Tommy McCarthy (Gazelle) in 4th. In the Pre-Main, Avansino again dominated the race as be did in the Comer class with Dennis 2nd and McCarthy edging out Chloe for 3rd. The Main was a repeat of the Pre-Main with Avansino a convincing winner over Dennis. But the best race was for the Gazelle win. Chloe passed Tommy on the start but spun soon after on lap 1 and had to start the long chase after McCarthy. On lap 17 Chloe got to the rear bumper of McCarthy and made the pass going into turn one of the last lap. But McCarthy squeezed through to retake the 3rd place spot mid way through the last lap and held on to take the Gazelle class win.

TaG Grand Masters – Some how the word did not get out to all the TaG GM drivers since only 2 drivers showed up. By a win is a win and Cameron Evans
out dueled Peter Toft in the Pre-Main and Main to take top honors. If you are looking for a relaxing Sunday race day with lots of morning practice,
plan to come out to Race #2 on May 3 at the Jim Russell International Karting Center at Infineon Raceway. For more information about the Jim Russell Sunday

Series, contact race director Ric Shaw at racedirector-ric@hotmail.com. Back in 1958, Jim Russell ran the first 24-hour karting race in Snetterton England. Today, the 16-turn, 0.76 mile Jim Russell International Karting Center at Infineon Raceway, is one of the premier karting venues in the country and
offers a full range of karting courses for beginners to experienced drivers eight years and above. Jim Russell Racing Drivers School trains drivers in a variety of karting and formula programs to help them make it to the highest rungs of motorsports. Available for testing, the Jim Russell International Karting Center is open to experienced karting racers, who want to complete in a number of karting series, including the Jim Russell International Karting Championship Series, the Northern California ROTAX MAX Challenge and the ProKart Challenge North.

4-20-09 Two Zamp Helmets to be Awarded to 2009 Jim Russell Northern California Rotax Challenge Racers by Jon Robert Quinn Enterprises

The Jim Russell Northern California Rotax Challenge is pleased to announce that Jon Robert Quinn Enterprises (JRQ) has sponsored the series and will give away two Zamp helmets.

"Welcome and thank you to our new sponsor JRQ. His support for the Nor Cal Rotax Challenge furthers extends his passion for motorsports." commented Adrian Szwarcburg, series organizer "I can't wait to give away two new Zamp Helmets to a couple of lucky Nor Cal Rotax racers."

These helmets will be awarded by Jon Robert Quinn to the winners. They will have a choice of any helmet under $200.00 from the current Zamp product line at www.ZampOutlet.com.

"These helmets will serve them well for the 2010 Rotax race season. We want these racers and all other racers to know that we appreciate the love and passion they put into their sport." commented Jon Robert Quinn.

In addition the two winners will be featured on zampoutlet.com website and the JRQ Enterprises main web page.

Who is Jon Robert Quinn? Over the past several years, Jon Robert Quinn has put on many hats as an investor, entrepreneur and musician. Jon Robert Quinn has built a name in the motorsports industry providing top-name motorcycle accessories as well as parts and accessories for Ferrari, Lamborghini, Maserati and Porsche.

In 2004-2005, JRQ toured the U.S. West Coast playing over 400 shows in that time, appearing on television, radio, and fairs & festivals. Now after 10 CD Releases since 2001, JRQ has built a nice music collection for guitar lovers all over the world. The latest release "One Day at a Time", available in February 2009 features some of the most beautiful guitar recorded by Jon Robert Quinn. If you haven't already, hear it.

About Jon Robert Quinn Enterprises:
JRQ has built a motorcycle accessory company and exotic car parts company. JRQ currently owns TheHelmetMohawk.com, RiderGearOnline.com, ZanDannas.com, ZoxOutlet.com, ZampOutlet.com, Neoprene-Facemask.com, HelmetQuickRelease.com, ExotiComp.com, JRQWeb.com and many many other websites. For a complete list, visit www.JonRobertQuinnEnterprises.com.

The Jim Russell Northern California Rotax Challenge is the fastest growing kart racing series in Northern California. For more information about the Jim Russell Northern California Rotax Challenge Series, go to the Nor Cal Rotax website at www.norcalrotax.com.

4-14-09 IKF Region 6 Saturday Report

With Race #2 of the IKF Region 6 Gold Sprint Series is in the books and from this racers perspective it was a great one. Lots more karts and some great racing. A Saturday report for the 4 cycles as I am only able to attend on Saturdays. JR I animal was looking good with 7 entries and Michael Gutenberger was continuing his pace from the race 2 weeks ago as he was the one to beat the whole day. But Some blocking moves by Michael gave him a 1 position penalty giving the win to Brittney Zamora followed up with 3^rd place Kellen Dean, 4^th Luke Selliken, 5^th Sting Ray Robb, and 6th Canadian Jessica Dezell. Bryce Peterson had a bit of trouble in lap 5 dropping out of the race. All of the racers showed a huge improvement from last race.

JR II World Formula Heavy/ JR II Gas Animal Light. David Schorn fast qualifier over Tiffy Brown this week but Tiffy had a Great start and was able to hold Schorn off over half of the race with good portions of each lap of side by side action. Eventually Schorn was able to make the pass with Brown on his heals the rest of the race. Right behind in the Animals were Nichole Behar and Myles Peterson in a great battle the whole race with the win for Behar decided at the finish line. Right behind was Logan Livesay who had spin out problems last week and got the chassis working really well this weekend, followed by Harley Price and Taylor Overhoff .

IKF World Formula Heavy once again the second largest class of the weekend with 19 entries was an exciting show of racing. Fast qualifier Joey Miller weeded his way from the invert position of 19^th to the 5^th in the heat race giving him pole position along side heat winner Terry Lawrence.

The main was exciting as Lawrence trying an inside pass at turn 2 on Miller resulted in Lawrence throwing a chain. Later in the race Elliot McDonald and Miller fighting for position in turn one caused Miller to drop 2 wheels and out of the race. Race officials docked McDonald for blocking. Giving the win to Tim Lawrence with Brian Marsteller and Scott Barlee chasing the winner. Closing the gap on 4^th place Mike Schorn, a pack of young guns of Cole Hayward, Robbie Calhoun and Austin Moon with Bryan Green Gabriel Kajdy and Jeff Mullins rounding out the top ten.

4-15-09 BUSY TWO WEEKS SCHEDULED FOR PROKART CHALLENGE STAFF

South series heads to San Diego following North event in Sonoma this weekend

TEMECULA, CA (April 15, 2009) – The next 10 days will be the busiest portion of the 2009 schedule for the Superkarts! USA ProKart Challenge staff with back to back weekends scheduled in the next two weekends, roughly 500 miles apart. The North program is set to contend round two at the Infineon Raceway in Sonoma, California on April 18 with the fourth round of the South series set to take place outside Qualcomm Stadium in San Diego on April 25. The PKC South event at Qualcomm will be in partnership with the San Diego Karting Association on their very fast, temporary ‘West Course Reverse’ circuit that stretches out 1.1 miles in the West parking lot of the facility.

The collaboration with the SDKA will be a first for the ProKart Challenge and a much anticipated venture. The SDKA and PKC classes will be contested throughout the event, combining those classes that are similar yet scoring them all separately as to not interfere with the respective championship battles.

“We are excited to be hosting the fourth round of the ProKart Challenge South here in San Diego,” stated SDKA President Mike Nadeau. “Our SDKA club drivers are excited to be on-track with some of the best in the Western half of the country and be able to judge their talent against them. I hope that everyone comes out for a full day of nonstop racing action.”

With three rounds in the books, the PKC South program has reached the halfway mark with no one driver out to a comfortable lead in any of the 10 class championship chases. The class everyone has an eye on is the S3 battle. After three events, Patrick Cushenberry holds the number one spot over two-time winner Jacob Neal. Last year’s S1 champion Jimmy McNeil switched to the S3 division and finds himself third in the order, just ahead of defending S3 Light champ Bobby Legate. With the best six of seven results counted toward the final standings, anything can happen from now until the finale in August.

Neal finds himself in the lead chase position in the S1 category as well after scoring back to back feature wins. Peter Abba has been the consistent one of the two and leads Neal heading into Qualcomm. A number of other drivers with no victory yet on the ’09 season find themselves at the top of their respective standings. Howie Idelson is showing the way in TaG Senior over young gun Brett Felkins, who won the opener in CalSpeed but will miss the fourth round. In S4, Jeff Smith has visited the podium all three rounds but is absent a main event win. He leads Rob Whitley and round one winner Peter Workum in the points chase. Steve Wiener holds the number one spot in TaG Masters with Mike Kelley and Ken Manning giving chase. Though the G1 category has seen three different winners, round two victor Troy Butts holds the standings lead over Roy Montgomery and Brad Dhesi.

The new KF2 division made its debut at the Grange event last month, with the NorCal contingent sweeping the podium. Will Martindale took the victory over Brett Felkins and Alex Speed. Martindale, however, finds himself tied with Speed in the championship due to the extra points scored in qualifying, the heat race, and the feature for fast lap. The new S4 Magnum division will contest its third event with the PKC South program, where Tony Morrison and Luke Bianco each have a feature win and lead the standings respectively.

Following the busy back to back weekends, both programs will head to the Buttonwillow Raceway for the first ever NorCal vs. SoCal ProKart Challenge Shootout, set for May 16. The event will count toward both regional championships and help measure just who is the best in the west.

Pre-entry cutoff for the Qualcomm event will be Wednesday, April 22 at midnight. At-track registration will begin Friday morning at 7:30am and continue through the day until Saturday morning. Friday, April 24 will be open practice from 9am to 5pm, with a complimentary dinner following the day’s action for all who have a pit pass, thanks to the Superkarts! USA organization and PCH Motorsports. The host hotel for the event will be the Courtyard San Diego Mission Valley located within the famous Hotel Circle in San Diego – less than 10 minutes from the track. The $89/night rate for the recently renovated hotel can only be achieved with the ‘ProKart Race Rate’ mention when you book your room. Onsite camping for RVs will be allowed at no cost. For more information on the event or the Superkarts! USA’s ProKart Challenge itself, head to www.prokartchallenge.com

IKF Region 7 - Grange Race Report
Article by Sean Buur - Go Racing Magazine Courtesy of Ekarting News

The IKF Region 7 Championship Series presented by Bridgestone headed to Southern California’s high desert for round 3 of the series the weekend of April 4th and 5th. Tri-C Kart Club played host at one of their 2009 home tracks, Grangé Motor Circuit. Racers were met with horrid conditions on Friday practice as wind and cold was the name of the game. Saturday and Sunday lightened up to perfect blue skies and a light breeze, just what the doctor ordered for racing.

All was not great as the passing of IKF Region 7 racer Christian Stover earlier in the week marred the weekend. Sixteen year old Stover, a long time competitor of the series, was killed in an ATV accident in Barona, CA. Stover had spent the last few seasons racing Midgets and many friends and rivals from Region 7 watched his progress. The racing community and the world in general have suffered a great loss. Our thoughts are with the Stover family in their time of need. Drivers sported stickers with “Always a winner, always remembered” with Christian’s #18 on it.

On a less somber note the mid month addition of PRD Masters was a reasonable success with nine drivers taking place in the newly formed class. Another pleasant announcement came earlier in the month from TiMi Promotions and the Irwindale Kart Club. Originally round six of the series was going to take place at Willow Springs in August hosted by Irwindale Kart Club. Now by the grace of the racing gods it has been moved to Round 8 at Toyota Speedway of Irwindale December 4-6, 2009. Willow is great, but August is brutal and the later date along with the ability to run an IKF Region 7 race at the Irwindale Speedway is a win-win for all involved. As always ikfkarting.com has all the latest series updates as they are announced.

Speaking of win-win, Kyle Shriver hammered the Senior classes at Grangé Motor Circuit with a win, win, win, win, nearly going undefeated. The new trend in Region 7 seems to be a driver totally dominating the weekend and that continued here in the backwards Grangé configuration. Fortunately, it has been different drivers at each event bringing the pain to the other competitors and this weekend it was Shriver’s turn to shine with 4 main event wins, 3 heat wins and 4 poles.

Saturday’s HPV 4 race saw Shriver go flag to flag for his win while Lucas Barnett and Devin Lindsey battled most of the laps for 2nd place. As Shriver took the checkered flag Lindsey won out for 2nd place with Barnett and Dylan Nobile right on his bumper. Sunday was more of the same but this time Lindsey had enough speed to give Shriver a run for the trophy. Lindsey was able to make a few passes for the lead, but each time Shriver countered with a move of his own. By the halfway mark it looked as though Lindsey was set on the last lap pass, but a good effort in the final circuits by Shriver denied Lindsey that opportunity and added another win to the Shriver resume.

Andrick Zeen made Shriver work for the Saturday TaG win as he jumped out to an early lead and made Shriver give chase. He did and it took a handful of laps before Shriver made his pass for the win, putting six seconds on the field in the process. Zeen ran alone for 2nd place as Bobby Kelley moved up to secure 3rd place. The heat winner Sergio Pena had a problem in the final and only completed three laps but his issues started earlier as he and Ray Robinson were sent back a row after a few failed starting attempts.

A win is a win no matter the number of drivers, but a win is really a win this year when it comes in the Spec PRD class. With 24 drivers entered it was the second largest class of the event and clearly the queen of all Senior trophies. Shriver got the ball rolling in qualifying with the pole time of 50.438. Devin Lindsey and Dylan Nobile were just a few tenths back in P2 and P3. Lindsey was the only driver to keep in close contact for the 10-lap prefinal, as Nobile was a few seconds back leading the pack made up of Bobby Kelley, Phil Giebler, Colin Fleming, Derek Zimmerman and Travis Lowe. The final belonged once again to Shriver and his #59 as Lindsey and Kelley gave chase in the early going. Shriver never really escaped the pack, but they never really challenged him either. Behind the leader/winner was a lot of action as Derek Zimmerman clawed his way up to 2nd place, setting the fast lap in the process. Returning to the kart seat after his journeys in the open wheel ranks, Fleming looked pretty good running as high as 3rd before a late race pass by Nobile took him off the podium.

Carlee Taylor and Tyler Palmer both had solid performances this weekend landing two wins each. By sheer kart count Taylor’s wins had to be the more impressive of the two but Palmer had to work pretty hard for his Superbox and HPV 2 wins as well.

I’m not a doctor, nor did I play one on TV but my medical opinion is that the Yamaha KT100 is on life support and not expected to make it. If the powers that be hold true to their word next year we will be pulling the plug on all Yamaha powered classes except Rookie Sportsman. This weekend’s four karts in Junior Superbox and one kart in Formula Y/C is really just sad. Mike McGinnis obviously won his Y/C class running behind the HPV 4’s and Palmer and Jake Craig split wins in Junior Box. Although four karts sucks as a class I will say that Jake Craig, Tyler Palmer, Bryan Lemon and Jason Hannegan did race pretty hard every lap on both days. Sunday’s last two laps were as exciting as any on the weekend, but it is just painful to see a race group that small.

Palmer does get props for his HPV 2 win on Saturday for sure. HPV 2 saw the return of Justin Coplen to the mix and over the course of the weekend he played a pivotal role. Saturday’s pole went to David Vasquez with a 50.423 while Coplen, Palmer, Jared Torrez and Elliot Skeer rounding out the top five. Vasquez and Palmer went back and forth in the prefinal, but the final was where things got interesting, especially with Coplen starting the final shotgun in the field. Palmer and Vasquez continued their heated debate for all 16 laps of the final as Coplen blazed a path toward the front. Coplen’s 57.1 fast lap helped him climb up to 3rd place; unfortunately a racing deal ended his day as he climbed up over Elliot Skeer too. Coplen got the black flag and Skeer was unable to continue. None of this had any impact on the leaders as Palmer landed a well earned win over Vasquez. Bryan Lemon picked up a 3rd place finish to complete the HPV 2 podium.

Slater Stowell, as predicted, was a force to be reckoned with, setting the pace in Saturday’s HPV 1 qualifying and lead a 4-kart train comprised of Zane Smith, Carlee Taylor and Brenden Baker to the finish in the prefinal. The Cadet slugfest went per the typical script used by these young drivers, pass, pass, and if you can’t pass then try anyway. Carter Williams, Brennen Mankin, and Riley Reyes threw their hats in the rings, but all the tussling allowed Stowell and Taylor to break contact with the pack and make it a two kart duel for the win. Taylor waited until just past halfway to make a move. Stowell countered and the dance continued like that until the end. Stowell had the lead on lap 15, but when they came to the checkered flag it was Taylor with her hands in the air. Smith fought through the action for 3rd place. Reyes moved up to finish in 4th and a great drive by Christian Brooks landed the #34 in 5th.

Roles switched in Sunday’s HPV 1 as Taylor took the pole and Stowell had to start 2nd. The prefinal saw Stowell gain a slight advantage over Taylor and Jacob Drew, leading all the laps along the way. Stowell’s payback from day #1’s loss was a six second advantage over everyone at the finish. While he was taking the checkered flag from Anton, Mankin was tearing up the track for 2nd place. It took nearly all sixteen laps, but Mankin got by Taylor for 2nd with only a few circuits remaining. Taylor held off Smith, Baker and Williams to keep her 3rd place position.

Brennen Mankin and Brenden Baker made up the front row in the 19-kart Rookie Sportsman class to start the prefinal. Mankin maintained his pole position for the final after inching Baker at the finish in the prefinal. Zane Smith and Slater Stowell made up row two after finishing just off the pace of the lead duo. The last half dozen laps of the final were outstanding as Baker, Mankin, Stowell and Riley Reyes all took part in making the day interesting as three of the four led in those last six laps. As the leaders changed positions on almost every lap it allowed the follow group to close the gap and ultimately allowing Carter Williams to finish 4th. The last lap was everything you could want it to be, as Baker went from 3rd to first and Mankin fell from 2nd to 9th. Tough break for Mankin, but he will get a win here soon enough. Luck was with Baker who kept his winning streak alive. Reyes superb drive got him 2nd and Stowell took another podium trip in 3rd.

Although the Kid Karts have been lacking the numbers they had last year the competition has been wide open. We’ve had only a few DQ’s for minor stuff and great racing almost ever weekend. Again this weekend we saw no clear dominating performance and the love was spread around with two different winners. Jerett Tachovsky looked like he was going to control the pace on Saturday after a pole and prefinal win, but after 8 laps it was Anthony Sawyer and Ethan Barrett who led the field to the finish. Sawyer led all the laps with Barrett in hot pursuit. Tachovsky wasn’t up to full speed but still finished 3rd. The top three drivers podium’d again on Sunday but the running order changed from the previous day. Tachovsky again grabbed the pole but only after Barrett had a run in with the tech officials. Barrett bounced back still to run down everyone and win the prefinal. Tachovsky was celebrating his birthday and his wish was to win the race. After polling the front runners on the grid it was unclear if they had decided to just give him the win as a gift. Once on track they reconsidered but Tachovsky had the speed to blow out their candles. Barrett finished a close second and Sawyer found a little extra speed to move up into 3rd.

World Formula was the first class of the day on Sunday as the combined Junior and Senior race took the track for their final in the early afternoon. Tristen O’Rear once again was the cream of the crop in Junior qualifying as was Jonathan Miller in Seniors. That trend continued into the prefinal as O’Rear took the overall victory to sit on pole for the final. O’Rear led every lap in the final, Matias Podboj ran every lap in 2nd and John Wallace drove all 16 circuits in 3rd place to complete the Junior podium. Senior was a bit more exciting as Joe Grable took an early lead over Terry Nash and Miller. Nash was quick to pounce and led the way momentarily before Miller made his move. Once out front it was Miller time and Jonathan coasted home to the win. Nash and Gabriella Robles duked it out until the very end with Gabby just getting the better of Nash for 2nd place. Nash had his best run of the year so far to step on the podium in 3rd.

Tyler Palmer scored the pole in Sunday’s HPV 2 qualifying and then went on to beat Justin Coplen to the line in the prefinal. Palmer’s day ended before it began, as he never took a green flag lap in the final. I’m not saying this handed the win over to Skeer or Coplen, but it certainly didn’t hurt their chances any that’s for sure. With Palmer out of the picture Bryan Lemon stepped up to lead the first lap. Coplen then took over the point, but Skeer was the man who led the majority of laps. Skeer and Coplen drove away as Vasquez, Jake Craig, Jason Hannegan and Jared Torres cycled through the positions behind. Vasquez made up a handful of positions and was slightly closing the gap on the leaders when he ran out of laps and settled for 3rd. It took Coplen 15 laps and 12 corners before he made the winning move. Sometime during the night he remembered where he had left all his talent and made a great move on Skeer for the win with only two corners remaining. Skeer looked inside as they sprinted for the finish line, but he came up 0.014-seconds short of the win. It was good to see Coplen back on form after taking a while off from karting. Skeer put in a masterful drive too, but he will have to wait for Willow for another chance at HPV 2 victory.

Carlee Taylor earned her second win of the weekend in the event’s largest class, Junior 1. With 26 drivers taking the green flag in qualifying it was Nicholas Ramirez who posted the fastest lap of 103.015. Ramirez impressed in the prefinal keeping the top position after passing Slater Stowell on the last lap. Ramirez, Michael Womack, Stowell and Taylor all led some time during their 16 lap final. The leaders split into two packs of three with Taylor, Stowell and Womack in the front grouping and Ramirez, Zane Smith and Carter Williams in the chase group. As the first bunch changed positions it allowed the chasers to close back in the very late stages of the race. Ramirez wasn’t able to pull of the sweep, but his sixth place finish opened some people’s eyes for future events. Taylor was able to keep the wolves at bay as Womack slid under Stowell on the last lap giving Taylor just enough breathing room to get her second win on the weekend. Womack’s 2nd place was his best effort of the weekend while Stowell just edged Williams, Smith and Ramirez for 3rd.

With three TaG wins to his credit this year so far Andrick Zeen did not want to leave Grangé empty handed. He scored the pole in Sunday’s TaG combined qualifying session over the Saturday winner Kyle Shriver. Ty Matta led the charge in the newly formed PRD Masters class while Paul Grey finished the session in P2. The PRD Masters running order stayed the same in the prefinal, but Sergio Pena and Dylan Nobile were both able to get by Shriver in TaG. Zeen cleaned house by five seconds over the field and clearly had his eyes on the prize for the final. Zeen laid the smack down on the field in the final as no one was even close after the first few laps. Once again 2nd place was up for grabs as Pena and Bobby Kelley went at it for most of the race. Travis Lowe was flying through the field and even made it up to 2nd place but the tech barn sent him packing with an infraction. Matta led early in PRD Masters with Grey and John Bush giving chase. Grey fell out early as Jaques Lazier drove up into 3rd after passing both Ralph Bush and Steve Weiner. Matta was never really challenged and eventually took home the first ever PRD Masters 1st place trophy.

The next race is round 4 of the IKF Region 7 Championship Series presented by Bridgestone at the Willow Springs Kart Track in beautiful Rosamond, CA - May 1st-3rd.

4-1-09 Five champions crowned in Gatorz Challenge of the Americas finale

April 1, 2009 (Orange, Calif.) – Wrapping up its second season of competition, the Gatorz Challenge of the Americas descended upon the Willow Springs Kart Track, located in Southern California’s Antelope Valley. The .625 mile track is well-known to the local drivers in the Challenge of the Americas, but would provide a bigger test for the several drivers that had never seen the track before official practice kicked off on Friday morning.

As the only series on the west coast that offers direct qualifying positions to the Rotax Grand Nationals and Grand Finals, the competition level was extremely high in the final weekend of the Gatorz Challenge the Americas, which would send three drivers to Egypt for the Grand Finals and two drivers to Oklahoma for the Grand Nationals.

SATURDAY

Junior Rotax

Phil De La O (CRG) entered the final weekend at Willow Springs with a strong points lead over Phillip Orcic (Mach 1) and Taylor Miinch (Top Kart). While Orcic and De La O were tied at two wins a piece, De La O was ahead on the strength of finishing no worse than third all season. However, it was Miinch who came out swinging for the fences in qualifying, as he grabbed pole ahead of a battling Orcic and De La O in third. Keeping things interesting was the fact that the distance from Miinch to De La O was a mere .050 of a second.

De La O jumped past Orcic at the start of the premain and put heavy pressure on Miinch in the first part of the race, until making a pass for the lead into turn nine. The two would finish in that order, with Lou Pagano (birel) racing to third while Orcic fell through the order with engine problems, finishing ninth.

Pagano got the start of the day in the final, however, as he converted his third-placed starting spot into the lead as he slipped past Miinch and De La O. Miinch passed De La O for second in turn nine, then passed Pagano in the same place a lap later to take the lead. De La O was past Pagano a lap later and went to work on Miinch, with Pagano, Adrian Starrantino (CRG), Noel Dowler (Tony Kart), and Ayrton Triolo (Italkart) all running in a train right behind. After seven laps, De La O got a great run down the backstraight and passed Miinch for the lead into turn nine.

De La O pulled out a small gap but Miinch battled back, and was all over the back of De La O’s CRG as the race wound to a close. Miinch, however, never had the opportunity to make a pass and De La O won his third final, with Miinch second and Starrantino third after he came out ahead of a battle between him, Pagano, and Noel Dowler.

Minimax

Riley Reyes (CRG) headed Royal McKee (CRG) and Michael Davis (birel) in the championship standings after four rounds. However, Reyes’ drop before Willow Springs was larger than either McKee’s or Davis’, meaning he would have to finish ahead of both of them to keep his championship hopes alive. Davis, however, came out swinging in qualifying and took pole position ahead of Blake Dunkelberger (Biesse), who took his first series win at Fontana in February, McKee, Trenton May (CRG) and Reyes.

Davis won the heat race, McKee finished second and Dunkelberger finished third. However, McKee was DQ’d after the race in the tech shed, promoting Reyes to third.

At the start of the main, Davis kept his lead by Reyes worked past Dunkelberger for second, with May dropping into third. The four karts separated themselves from the rest of the field, but didn’t really battle amongst each other as Davis pulled out a larger gap, each lap, on Reyes. Reyes had to fight off the advances of May, while Dunkelberger was trying to make a move past May into third. A great battle behind them was waged between Bruno Carniero (Kosmic) and Austin Versteeg (birel) for the fifth spot.

The order stayed the same until the end, however, and Davis won his first Challenge of the Americas race of the year and put serious pressure on Reyes’ title hopes. May finished third, Dunkelberger fourth, and Carniero beat Versteeg for fifth.

Rotax Masters

Dave Harwin (CRG) made this championship very interesting after rounds three and four, where he nearly swept the weekend until championship leader John Crow (birel) grabbed the win in the Sunday final. Behind them, Tyler Brooks (Kosmic) and Mike Daniel (CRG) were to far back to mount a challenge to Crow or Harwin.

In qualifying, however, it was Crow who came out on top, ahead of Harwin and Brooks. They stayed that way throughout the premain, but Crow eased away from Harwin from the start while Harwin was hassled by Brooks throughout the race.

Harwin was aggressive at the start of the main, looking for a way past Crow throughout the first two laps. Just as in the premain, Crow began to pull a gap on Harwin that grew steadily throughout the race. Behind them, Brooks and Daniel provided the entertainment as Daniel pressured Brooks until making the pass for third in Willow’s turn nine and pulling away. That settled the final podium spot, as at the checkered flag, Crow won with a large gap over Harwin, who also had a large gap on Daniel.

DD2

Scott Campbell’s (Italkart) class championship was all but locked up after four wins in the first four rounds of the Challenge of the Americas. So the big question was whether or not he would make a sweep of the season.

Troy Castaneda (CRG), however, was looking to grab his first win and took pole position just ahead of Campbell, with Matt Ostiguy in third.

Campbell took the lead at the start of the premain but Castaneda fought to get it back. The two put on an entertaining battle until Campbell took it for good with a pass into turn nine. The race finished as it started, with Campbell ahead of Castaneda and Ostiguy.

As one trackside observer noted, “that DD2 final was the best DD2 race I’ve ever seen.” Campbell led Castaneda from the start but the two battled through the course, with Castaneda taking the lead by outbraking him into turn nine. The next lap, however, Campbell attempted to retake the lead into turn seven and contact was made between the two, sending Castaneda off the track and spinning Campbell. Suddenly, Erik ‘Action’ Jackson (Arrow) was leading with Ostiguy in second!

Castaneda went down a lap before his kart refired, but Campbell got going again and began to chase down Jackson and Ostiguy. It took nearly the whole race, but with only a few laps remaining, Campbell was on Ostiguy’s rear bumper again, passing him for second into turn seven before getting to work on Jackson. Jackson, however, wouldn’t be so easy, as Campbell made the pass going into turn nine but Jackson fought back, muscling his way back into the lead heading into turn one. Campbell, not content to finish second, pushed hard and dove under Jackson into turn four and took the lead. Jackson stayed close but was unable to mount a counter attack, and Campbell took his fifth win of the season, with Jackson and Ostiguy close behind.

Rotax Senior

The big story of the weekend was the absence of Joey Collins, who headed the points table heading into Willow Springs. This put Wes Phillips firmly atop the championship standings provided nothing catastrophic happened in two days of racing at Willow Springs.

But in the absence of ‘The Busdriver’, a new challenger emerged in Joey ‘The Substitute’ Wimsett. With a new nickname bestowed by Gatorz Karting announcer Tim “Chappy” Chapman, Wimsett took pole position ahead of Phillips, Stepanova Nekeel (CRG), Nick Herda (CRG) and Jake Thompson (PCR).

Thompson, however, wheeled his PCR to the front at the start of the premain, his strongest performance yet in the Challenge of the Americas, followed by Joey Licata (CRG). Behind them, Wimsett and Phillips came together in turn seven and Phillips went off track – nearly throwing a major wrench in the championship, but Phillips continued in the midpack while Wimsett fell to fourth.

Wimsett raced his way to the front, however, picking off Thompson after twelve laps of racing. He then put a gap on the rest of the group and held on until the checkered, with Thompson holding off Licata for second. Phillips wound up in sixth.

‘The Substitute’ held his lead at the start of the main while everyone dropped into order, but Phillips was on a mission and up to fourth, past Nick Herda (CRG) after one lap and past Licata for third on the next lap. Thompson was next for Phillips, and he dispatched the Canadian and started to hunt Wimsett down. Licata then moved into third as Thompson fell down the order with an apparent engine problem.

There was an entertaining battle behind between Mason Marotta (Intrepid), Nekeel (CRG), and Thompson for fifth, but at the front Wimsett went unchallenged by Phillips to win his first Challenge of the Americas race, with Phillips second and Licata third.

SUNDAY

Junior Rotax

Just as he had Saturday, Taylor Miinch took pole position, with Phillip Orcic taking second and Lou Pagano third. Orcic and Pagano, however, were sent to the back after a radiator tape infraction, bumping Starrantino to second place and Nicholas Silva (Kosmic) to third.

Starrantino, however, was late to the grid and missed out on his second starting place, and Miinch led from De La O and Silva at the start of the premain. Miinch pulled away from the start, but the story became the battle for second as De La O was under attack – and there really was no other word for it – from Silva. Silva pushed De La O for sixteen laps but couldn’t find a way past, with the champion-elect cool under fire.

Further back, Orcic, Pagano, and Starrantino were working their way back to the front. That action came to an end when Orcic and Starrantino made contact in turn seven and Starrantino went off. Miinch took the victory while De La O kept Silva behind for second.

Miinch held is lead at the start while De La O fell to fourth, with Silva moving up to second, Pagano into third and Orcic to fourth. Pagano and Orcic quickly demoted Silva to fourth while Miinch’s lead began to grow steadily. Orcic then passed Pagano for second place, while Silva came under attack from De La O for fourth. De La O made the pass, but in a repeat of the premain Silva mounted an attack to get the position back. The most entertaining battle on the track, Silva made the pass after halfway then began to pull away.

Orcic pulled away from Pagano but Miinch’s lead was too great, and Miinch crossed the line and took his first final win of the series. Orcic was second, and Pagano was third. De La O’s fifth place cemented his Overdrive Karting Junior Rotax championship, and he will represent the series at the Grand Finals in Egypt.

Minimax

Davis clearly had the rest of the field worried after his performance on Saturday, and he had lost none of his speed overnight as he took pole position for Sunday’s premain ahead of Dunkelberger, Parker Thompson (PCR), Carniero, and Reyes.

But it was Dunkelberger who took the lead at the start, around the outside of turn four, with Davis slotting into second while Austin Versteeg (birel) went spinning. Davis wouldn’t stay in second for long, and retook the lead into turn seven on the second lap. Reyes passed Thompson to move to third. Davis was harried by Dunkelberger throughout the race, but Davis held on for the win.

Again, Davis held the lead at the start while Reyes and May demoted Dunkelberger to fourth. Reyes chased Davis for a couple of laps, but just as he had on Saturday, Davis slowly began to pull away each lap, and Reyes fell into the clutches off May and McKee. With two laps to go, both passed Reyes to drop him from second to fourth. Davis ran unchallenged to win the race, and with that victory, took the Reaction Karting Minimax class championship and earned a trip to the Rotax Grand Nationals.

Rotax Masters

Despite his dominating win on Saturday, Crow’s championship was not yet secure as a mechanical failure or crash could hand the title to Harwin. Crow did not let up, however, and he took pole ahead of Harwin, Andy Seesemann (birel), Brooks and Daniel.

Crow led from the start but Harwin came under fire from Seesemann. The two went side-by-side from turn four to turn seven, with Seesemann going underneath Harwin into turn seven. Harwin turned in, Seesemann climbed the curb and both karts made contact and were spun out of contention. Brooks was now second with Daniel third. The three would finish in that order, with Harwin racing back to fourth.

Harwin’s last chance at the class championship was to somehow find a way to pass Crow in the final. However, he would never have the chance, as he made contact with Daniel at the start of the final, sending Harwin spinning out of contention and ending his championship chase. Crow pulled away and was never challenged for his fourth victory of the season, while the story behind him was Seesemann’s charge from seventh to second. Brooks finished third, and Crow became the Dave’s Performance Rotax Masters class champion.

DD2

Looking to avenge his race from Saturday, Castaneda took pole position ahead of Campbell and Ostiguy. Campbell pushed Castaneda hard throughout the premain, with Castaneda running a very defensive line at times to keep him behind, but Castaneda held on for the win.

It didn’t quite match the drama of Saturday’s final, but Castaneda and Campbell made things interesting. Castaneda led from the start and Campbell appeared to have no answer for him, until the end of the race. Campbell began to push Castaneda hard for the lead with a couple of laps remaining, and on the final lap, Campbell had a look in turn seven, then again in turn eight, and then again into the last corner. Castaneda ran a very defensive line to keep Castaneda behind, but it worked, as he crossed the line in first to take his first victory of the season. For Castaneda, five wins in six races was good enough to win the championship and earn a trip to the Grand Finals.

Rotax Senior

Backing up his first Gatorz win, Wimsett took pole position, but only just – a mere .001 of a second behind was Marotta, a surprising move forward for the driver spending his first season in Senior competition. Phillips, clearly not just racing conservatively to preserve his title hopes, was third.

The prefinal was the wildest race in this season’s Challenge of the Americas, and got off to a wild start when Cameron Jocelyn (birel) crashed heavily on the warmup lap after total brake failure. Marotta got by ‘The Substitute’ at the start, who fell under attack from Phillips. Phillips got a run on Wimsett out of turn seven and into turn eight, where the two made contact – sending five karts off the track! Wimsett and Phillips went spinning and collected Herda, Licata, and Nekeel.

Suddenly, after half a lap of racing, Garrison Masters (CRG), Alan Musev (CRG), Tyler Wheeler (PCR), and Dylan Stalker (Sodi Kart) made up the battle! for second as Marotta suddenly had a huge lead. Phillips, Licata and Wimsett got their karts pointed in the right direction and mounted a charge back to the front. Musev battled past Masters for second before Masters and Stalker moved him back to fourth.

Licata began to work his way through the group, with Phillips right behind, until Phillips tangled with Musev in turn nine, knocking both off the track. Both continued, and shortly after, a mechanical issue sidelined Stalker. With Stalker out, Licata was now running third and pressuring Masters for second as the laps wound down. With two laps to go, Licata worked past Masters and Wimsett now began pressuring the CRG driver for a way past. There weren’t enough laps left, and Marotta won by a huge gap of seven seconds ahead of Licata, Masters, Wimsett, and Thompson.

The first five karts stayed in order at the start of the main, while deep in the pack, all Phillips had to do was finish and stay out of trouble and his trip to Egypt was sealed. Instead, he battled his way up to fourth within the first few laps. Marotta, Licata, and Wimsett raced away from the field until Wimsett passed Licata into turn nine for second place. Licata was then caught by Phillips and Herda, with Phillips making the pass for third. Wimsett then passed Marotta to take the lead of the race and began to create some distance for himself, but Marotta had an answer and began to push the fellow Intrepid driver in a big way to take the lead back.

With two to go, Marotta made the pass for the lead into turn nine. Wimsett waited until two corners to go on the final lap to go for the lead again, with a late braking move into turn eight. Marotta wasn’t done yet, and in the last corner, Marotta dove underneath Wimsett to take the lead back. Wimsett timed it to perfection, however, and crossed Marotta on the exit and drove past to win by a mere .038 of a second – about the length of the nose on his kart. While all that went on, Phillips finished in third and took the Gobirel.com Rotax Senior class championship, and will represent America’s Team in Egypt in December.

4-8-09 Ron Sutton's Winner's Circle 2009 Shoot Out Spot Awarded to a Young Northern California Rotax Challenge Driver

The 2009 Jim Russell Northern California Rotax Challenge is very pleased to announce that the Ron Sutton Winner's Circle (RSWC) will award one talented Nor Cal Rotax Challenge driver a place in the coveted 2009 RSWC Driver Talent Search Shoot-Out. This represents a prize value of $2500 and a chance of a lifetime!

The RSWC Shoot-Out process is designed to identify young, up and coming drivers from across the United States and Canada with the talent, potential and commitment to achieve a driving career in NASCAR. Last year RSWC received over 700 resumes and narrowed it down to 44 drivers that got the opportunity to test in the Shoot Out.

Ron Sutton said, "We're not looking for a number ... We are looking for a young Rotax driver that has real potential to go all the way to NASCAR Sprint Cup."

RSWC will select one driver, from those who are eligible and apply, from the 2009 Jim Russell Northern California Rotax Challenge to test in the Shoot-Out.

About the Shoot-Out
The 2009 Shoot Out will be conducted over two 3-day weekends in October, in identical race cars, on an asphalt oval track in Northern California.

Day one of the Shoot-Out includes a seminar for parents and drivers, "The Real World Good, Bad & Ugly of Driver Career Development" and a training course for drivers on driving strategies, expectations and terminology. Three separate tests for the young drivers include body fat fitness, a written problem solving test and psychological analysis.

Days two and three are on track, with drivers getting five 20-lap sessions on track, 100 laps total, with coaching, to show their talent. Judges evaluate the drivers on 45 points, with the key areas being coachability, accurate feedback, focus, motivation, training retention, communication skills, personality, aggressiveness, learning rate, confidence and lap times.

The talented drivers selected for the RSWC development program through the Shoot Out will have a training program designed specifically for their age, experience and development stage, then be placed with a top team in the racing series that fits best.

The career development program consists of 12 veteran driver coaches, over 20 classroom topics and eight organizations fielding 24 race teams, all dedicated to develop drivers in the RSWC program. The teams are a balance of Open Wheel and Stock Car oval track race teams ... with Road Racing added ... to develop highly versatile and accomplished winning drivers.

"This is truly a chance of a lifetime for one of our exceptional Nor Cal Rotax drivers" commented Adrian Szwarcburg, organizer of the Nor Cal Rotax Challenge. "Both Ron and I are committed to providing young drivers with a special opportunity to progress in motorsports."

All 2009 Jim Russell Northern California Rotax Challenge drivers aged from 11 to 19 years old are eligible to apply. Drivers and their parents are encouraged to get all the information and answers to common questions from the RSWC web-site and then submit their resume in time to be considered. The web-site is www.Winners-Circle-Racing.com.

4-2-09 RUNYAN WINS TWO STRAIGHT RACES IN FORMULA FORD

Ron Sutton’s Winner’s Circle driver visits victory lane in first-ever
car races at Thunderhill Raceway and Infineon Raceway

DENAIR, CALIF. (April 2, 2009) – Ron Sutton’s Winner’s Circle
development driver Bobby Runyan has started his inaugural car racing
campaign off in perfect fashion, winning the opening two Formula Ford
races in the San Francisco Region SCCA. Indicating why many are already
keeping an eye on the 16 year-old Californian. Runyan scored a dominant
victory at Thunderhill Raceway on March 15^th , followed by a superb
come from behind victory on March 29^th at Infineon Raceway.

As part of the San Francisco Region SCCA “Gathering of Champions” Double
National/Regional event, Runyan made his car racing debut behind the
wheel of a Porter Racing/Raging Bull Motorsports Swift DB6 Formula Ford.
Despite having only first driven the car two weeks prior via private
testing, the Denair, Calif., resident immediately was up to speed.
Runyan solidified his position as the driver to beat in qualifying,
turning a fast lap of 1:51.644, which not only gave him the pole
position for the Sunday afternoon Regional race, but also would have
placed the former karting standout P1 on the grid in the National race.

When the race action got underway, Runyan quickly established a
multi-car advantage on his closest pursuer. Running fast consistent laps
throughout the 16-lap affair, the talented young driver never came under
any challenge of note. Runyan, leading from the green flag onwards,
captured the win in his first-ever SCCA Club Racing Formula Ford race,
setting the fastest lap (1:51.938) in the process.

“I think Bobby did a great job this weekend,” stated Team Owner Neil
Porter. “He ran times which were very good for someone who has only been
on the track two times and only driven the car twice. His qualifying
times were good enough to take the pole for the National on Sunday. His
next race at Infineon Raceway will be a good test of his racing skills
and his ability to learn a new track.”

Two weeks later, Runyan was back behind the wheel of his Porter
Racing/Raging Bull Motorsports entry as part of the “Season-Opener”
Regional event. The talented young driver quickly came to grips with the
undulating road course in Northern California during testing, posting
times on pace with the pole position mark from last year. Unfortunately
come qualifying, the team just missed the ideal setup, resulting in a
‘loose’ car. Despite the condition and a spin due to an incident with a
Formula Vee, the Californian managed to post the third fastest lap in
the session.

Runyan, returning to the cockpit of his Swift DB6 after a short break,
did not get the start he desired when the green flag waved for the
Sunday afternoon race. Missing a shift, he was shuffled back to fifth
place before turn one. The teenager however immediately refocused,
regaining third place by the midway point of the opening lap. Continuing
his charge to the front of the field, Runyan found a way past his
teammate, taking over second place before the end of lap.

The Ron Sutton’s Winner’s Circle driver, with the leader in sight and
his teammate right behind, continued to attack the 2.52-mile road
course, soon getting within striking distance for the lead. Utilizing a
daring out-braking maneuver in turn 11, Runyan took over the P1 spot.
While lapped traffic allowed his Porter Racing teammate to repeatedly
challenge for the win, Runyan held off the challenges, turning the
fastest lap of the race (1:40.706) en route to a six-second win. With
the victory, Runyan remains undefeated in his young car racing career.

“Bobby Runyan has amazing talent,” commented Ron Sutton. “How rare is it
for a young race driver to win his first two car races back-to-back?
Simply amazing!”

Runyan continues his 2009 Formula Ford race season on April 26th, at the
famed Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca outside of Monterey, Calif.

4-1-09 FX Racing ProKart Challenge South Round 3: Conte Makes a Clean Sweep

The FX Racing Makita Team joined Round 3 of the SuperKARTS! USA ProKart Challenge SoCal series at Grangé Motor Circuit, running drivers in the S4 and TaG Masters classes. The story of the weekend has two sides — one a dominant performance from first qualifying to the final checkered flag and the other a back and forth battle all weekend long against competitors and the proverbial “two dollar part.” The track, located just North of Victorville in Apple Valley, rises up out of the shimmering heat and dust like an oasis in the California desert. Although off the beaten path, Grangé offers a challenging 8/10ths mile technical track layout and well appointed pit facilities that make this a racer’s paradise.

Conte Dominates The Weekend

2008 PKC SoCal S4 Champion Philip Conte (Makita/TrackMagic/MidCities Honda) put his mark on the S4 class in a big way, only missing the top of the timesheets once, and then only by less than 2/20ths of a second in Practice 2. Every other S4 session for the event saw Conte out in front.

Qualifying put everyone on notice that the Lakewood, CA driver was going to be tough to catch as Conte put it a flying lap that was almost 6/10ths faster than everyone else. Working with mechanic Greg Marlow, the FX Racing Makita Team driver had found the right setup to tame Grangé’s 14 turns and used it to full effect.

Conte led the field off the line in Heat 1 and was never challenged, taking fast lap and crossing the finish line 5 seconds ahead of second place finisher Ken Schilling. Conte again led from the green flag for Heat 2, taking another fast lap and finishing 2.5 seconds ahead of the rest of the field.

Going into the Main, Conte and mechanic Marlow had worked their strategy to full effect, conserving the left front tire in the Heat races to ensure the grip was there for another win. When the green flag dropped, Conte brought all the preparation, tuning and strategy together and tied it off with stellar driving to deliver another fast lap and the win – 10.9 seconds ahead of the rest of the field.

Solid Day For Wiener Blunted By Mechanical Failure

FX Racing Makita Team driver Steve Wiener (Makita/Trackmagic) faced battles on two fronts for Round 3 of the PKC SoCal championship. On one hand he had the tough competition in the TaG Masters class and on the other hand, the proverbial $2 part.

Working with mechanic Brad Bowman, Wiener dialed in the kart during the practice sessions, taking P2 at the end of final practice, just under a second of the pace of session leader Rob Soares. The back of Soares’ #66 kart would be a target for the FX Racing driver throughout the day as Wiener posted P2 in Qualifying, 7/10ths off of pole.

Wiener started Heat 1 from second on the grid and took off after Soares. The FX Racing driver was unable to catch the #66 but held on to second until a last lap pass by Jeff Bobbitt moved Wiener down to 3^rd at the checkered flag. Wiener started Heat 2 from P3 on the grid and moved up to second on lap 6 before being sidelined with a broken throttle cable.

Starting the Main from the back of the grid, Wiener set off to work his way back to the front. The San Diego, CA driver began moving up the field, making passes and keeping on track when others didn’t to end the day in 4^th.