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November 2008 Archives
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11-24-08 Reno Drivers 2008 SKUSA SuperNationals Recap NNKC was represented very well last weekend by a handful of drivers that took the trip south to Vegas. Tag Senior was entered by Zach Derrico and Mike Botelho Jr. Dave Harwin and myself (Glenn McKinnon) in Tag Masters and Cody Kay in HPV-2.
They were claiming this was this biggest
kart race
ever in North America and I won't argue, 450 karts. I'm
not talking about 100 drivers racing different classes
for 4 days. There were very few people racing multiple
classes. This made for some long days and some wildly
changing track conditions. Not only were you racing
anytime between 7:30 AM and 9:00 PM, but every time you
went back on the track there had been another 450 karts
on the track since the last time you were there. That is
like a day of club race rubber put down every couple
hours for 4 straight days. Now throw in very large, very
heavy automotive type barriers that created the track.
Touching them with a rear tire would instantly suck in
the front of the kart and cause a spin. On most of the
turn apex's, they used the kart type barriers so you had
a chance to see over them. The problem there is if you
clip them, you change the track, in one turn you could
close down the whole racing line with the right impact.
The track was about the same length as Reno but much
faster and wider than ours. The shorter back straight
was slightly longer than Desert Park Raceway and the
infield straight was about 250 feet longer with
a 180 degree hairpin at the end, great for passing under
braking. Lap times were about 5 seconds quicker that
Reno.
They did a pretty good job sticking with their time
schedule, until the normal Red Flags knocked them off a
little. We might look at copying some of there timing
for our Nationals. Depending on your class, you could be
on the track at any time. One day, my class started at
8:30 AM, another day I wasn't on the track until 11:00
AM.
The pits were full of team trailers and foreign accents.
Anytime you think you spend a lot of $$$ on this sport,
go to a race like this. Some of these teams spend more
money on catering than we did on motors. I'm not
convinced a tent on the side of a semi trailer makes any
better shade than our easy-ups but to each there
own. The only thing better than beating someone is
beating someone who spent 10 times more money than you
did.
Cody Kay had the best results from NNKC with a podium
finish in HPV-2. They take the top 5 drivers and karts
straight from the track to the podium for awards and
interviews. Then to post race tech and tear down. Cody
came off the track with and amazing 5th place finish and
got interviewed by the announcer. One of the drivers
ahead of him got DQ'd in tech, moving Cody up to 4th.
They brought everyone back to the podium later to retake
the picture. Great drive in a very tough field.
Dave Harwin was consistently in the top group of TaG
Masters all weekend. Qualifying 6th he started all 3
heats in the 3rd row and moved up the 2nd row by the
start of the main. After a Red Flag took out a kart
ahead of him, he restarted the main event of the
SuperNationals on the front row of a 41 kart field! The
problem with TaG racing is sometimes you get beat
because you have the wrong motor type for that track.
Dave just missed a podium finish in 6th place in the
main but was in the top leopard finisher.
Zach Dericco and Mike Botelho Jr. were in the largest
field of the race. 99 Tag Senior karts entered the race.
With only the top 40 entering the main event, the heat
races quickly became filled with desperate drivers
trying anything to move up. Red Flag pile ups became
normal as each heat race had 40 karts. Unlike a
permanent course were a crash usually makes its way off
onto the dirt and grass, the spins here quickly go from
2 to 4 to 8 to 16 karts. There's just nowhere to go and
no time to stop. Mike fought electrical problems all
weekend and never quite got into a grove, and trust me,
in this class you had no time to experiment, you had to
go fast now. Zach qualified well and raced consistently
through the heats. He made the a main and started in
27th spot. Just making the main in a race like this is
quite an accomplishment. These are some of the best
drivers in the country and some professional names as
well.(some guy named Jamie McMurry (NASCAR) did not make
the main) Zach was moving up the field in the main when
a rookie in front of him lost power and Zach had nowhere
to go but into a barrier ending his day. ~~Oh yea, the
new guy that he was trying not hit, some foreigner named
Dan Weldon (IRL) who won some east coast race called the
Indy 500!
My weekend started OK but faded quickly when I was DQ'd
in qualifying for a broken exhaust header. I started
41st for all 3 heat races. In the first heat I was
passing karts as fast as I could but my pack got blue
flagged off the track as the leaders were coming in
behind us. A humbling experience that I did not want to
let happen again. My second heat I passed 25 karts in a
15 lap race and did not get the Blue. I started the main
20th and worked up to 9th by the finish. I was on the
bumper of 8th and could see 7th but 30 laps wasn't
enough. I've never been happier with a top 10.
I'd like to thank all the help from NNKC that made the
trip down.
Brant Family
Botelho Family
Wamre Family
Derrico Family
DeMent Family
Kay Family
And anyone else I was too busy to see.
NNKC should be proud of the quality of drivers and crew
that comes from our little track in the middle of the
desert. I truly believe that if you can drive and tune
for our track, you have the basics to race anywhere in
the country. If you haven't begun to race other tracks,
I strongly suggest it's time to start getting out there
and mixing it up at Regional races or for some to
National events, but it is a blast.
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11-3-08 SwedeTech Racing
Engines is now a SwedeTech
Racing Engines has been added to the list of certified
service centers and will be a stocking dealer for the Rotax
Max engine packages. The Rotax Max is one of the strongest
spec engine programs available in karting. “I am
pleased to be working with the Rotax Max program. Rotax is
regarded as the premiere spec engine program, and I am very
excited to work with the Rotax customers” stated Reine
Persson, owner of SwedeTech Racing Engines.
Although
SwedeTech Racing is an authorized service center at this
time, our goal is to have our engine program up and running
in time for the Florida Winter Tour. For more
information, contact Jason Berry at (916) 714 – 3980 or
info@swedetechracing.com . SwedeTech Racing Engines
offers parts and service for all two – stroke kart racing
applications. |
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11-19-08 Bordogna heading to SuperNationals XII
This
year at the SKUSA Supernationals in
All
racing aboard the pcr chassis, Bordogna and his drivers
will be looking for wins in three major categories. In
Tag Jr 10 year old
Federico Paoloni
will
be competing. Paoloni resides in
Competing in the most competitive category of Tag Sr is
Argentineans
Eric Lichtenstein as well as All will be vying for wins at Supernationals XII. |
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11-15-08 Emmick Cobra Racing Enters SKUSA Supernationals Emmick Cobra Racing announced today it has entered three drivers in the TAG Masters Class at the 2008 SKUSA Supernationals to be held at the Rio Hotel on November 20-23 in Las Vegas. The drivers are Paul Hohlbein, Wayne Lorenz, and Lance Grimm. Chris Gwinn of Emmick Cobra racing says he is very excited about the opportunity to have his team go to Las Vegas and compete with the best in the TAG Masters class. For more information on Emmick Cobra racing please go to www.emmick.com
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11-17-08 Dan Wheldon to Make First SuperNationals Start with Kartel Motorsports
Kartel Motorsports announced today that it will compete in
this year’s SKUSA SuperNationals in Las Vegas November 20-23
at the Rio Hotel and Casino. The team will feature the most
competitive driver lineup in the Northern California
company’s history. Ten Kartel Top Kart chassis will compete
in S3 and S5 125, TaG Pro, TaG Jr., and Jr. HPV. The event
marks the culmination of Kartel’s breakthrough 2008 season
that included seven championships among five drivers. |
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11-8-08 Northern California Rotax Challenge adds MicroMax and MiniMax junior classes for the 2009 race season.
Following a very successful
2008 season with more than a 20% increase in Rotax members,
the Northern California Rotax Challenge will add both
MicroMax and MiniMax classes in 2009. The series will
now run the full line up Rotax classes having run Junior,
Senior, Masters and DD2 classes in 2008.
The decision to add MicroMax
and MiniMax classes was made after listening to parents in
these age groups who have been frustrated with complicated
engine rules, the need to spend ever increasing amounts of
money on engine maintenance/blueprinting and having to
purchase complete new engine packages as their kids progress
through the age classes in karting.
Rotax addresses all of
these issues.
“The addition of these
junior Rotax classes will change the karting landscape in
Northern California. For the first time, parents can
purchase a reliable motor package and use the same engine
from the time their child turns 8 years old right up into
the adulthood.” said Adrian Szwarcburg, Series Administrator
and owner of Marin Karting. “We attended the 2008 Rotax
Nationals to observe Mini and Micro Max classes first hand.
We wanted to be sure that the addition of these classes was
safe and the right thing to do for the junior racers and
their parents. We discussed this with Jim Russell
Racing and we both agree that we want to provide junior
classes with very clear path into senior classes. This
will appeal to racers and parents of racers alike. Spec
racing classes are the way to go for the future of the
sport.”
The Jim Russell Racing
Drivers School cadet karting program is recommended as the
place for young drivers to try karting for the first time.
Jim Russell offers cadet karting schools and cadet
arrive-and-drive racing. When a cadet driver has had
some experience, the MicroMax and MiniMax Rotax classes will
be the next step forward.
As in all Rotax classes,
engines are sealed ensuring a level playing field where
driver ability matters most.
For more information go to
the official Northern California Rotax Challenge site:
www.norcalrotax.com. |
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11-8-08 mAUI KART CHALLENGE READIES FOR SEASON FINALE
Championships up for grabs at Superkarts! USA Hawaii region
season ender
KAHULUI, HAWAII (November 7, 2008) – The inaugural season of
the Maui Kart Challenge will wrap up this weekend at the
Maui Motorsports Park Puunene Kart Track. Original scheduled
as the penultimate event, the Superkarts! USA Hawaii region
organizers have elected to end the season this coming
weekend to due to a few factors and to allow more focus on
the Hawaiian State Championships as a stand-alone event.
With that, the champions for the Maui Kart Challenge will be
crowned on November 8.
The closest battle heading into the weekend is between
Andres Frate and Troy Goldberg in TaG Senior. Just 81 points
separate the two drivers with over 300 points up for grabs
at the finale. The two teammates have battled one another
all year and will fight it out again on Saturday. Jim
Schubert, last round’s winner, sits third in the standings
and, while unable to challenge for the title, he will be a
factor in the weekend victory.
S3 sees Tom Zaccagnini, fresh off his trip to the Skip
Barber Driving School experience, leading the standings by
106 points over Jed Bahouth. Zaccagnini took the victory in
round five and will hope to repeat that on November to
clinch the class championship.
Jessie Nielson has earned enough points to be crowned the K1
champion before the events of this weekend, however, he will
battle for another victory. Alec Gumpfer has clinched the S5
title as well and will sit out the event in preparation for
the upcoming SKUSA SuperNationals XII in Las Vegas in late
November. Visit the series website - www.mauikartingclub.com |
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11-3-08 BURKARD EARNS FIRST VICTORY AT CENTRAL STATES
CHALLENGE FINALE
Largest event of the season closes out debut of Superkarts!
Already
clinching the S1 championship, Derek Crockett sat out the
final event of the season, allowing a new driver to stand on
top of the podium. The pilot in questions was Eric Burkard,
who swept all of the class sessions. After six years of
karting, beginning in TaG, Burkard earned his first ever
victory with a 25-second triumph in the S1 main event. Kyle
Gnau and Kris Dickson completed the podium.
The
largest class of the season was the S3 division with eight
drivers battling in the season finale. At the front,
however, it was just one man: Matt Zeis. Already a
three-time class winner on the year, Zeis again put in a
dominant performance to earn his fourth victory and the
championship. With the top honors in qualifying, he would
lead all eight laps in the Prefinal to start the main event
from the pole position. At the start, Jack Kloeber may have
got the better jump but he would only lead the opening two
circuits before Zeis assumed the top spot, eventually
cruising to a 21-second victory in the 24-lap race. Kloeber
would finish second ahead of Burkard.
Joe Strum
was a new face at the front of the TaG Masters field, as the
S1 regular swapped his shifter for a TaG machine at the
finale to debut with the pole position in qualifying. The
Prefinal would be highly contested, however, as Strum fell
back to fourth in the eight-lap race with Jim Donahue edging
championship contender Greg Watters and Greg Seep to the
line for the win. In the main event, it came down to a fight
between the ‘Gregs’. Seep was able to earn the checkered
flag to go three-for-three in the races he entered this
year. With his second place, Watters earned the class
championship, while Strum completed the podium in his first
SCSC TaG performance.
Justin
Vancil made his second start in the SCSC TaG Senior class,
performing a perfect sweep in Pevely. After topping the
charts in Qualifying, he would go on for green to checkered
wins in the Prefinal and Final. In the feature race, he
outran Jason Birdsell, a veteran street circuit pilot who
jumped back into the seat after a long break. Sturm ran
double duty for his second-third place finish of the day.
The TaG
Junior field had its highest entry count of the season with
nine drivers in the field, led throughout the event by the
Vogel brothers, Grant and Christian. Both compete regularly
at the national level and ran with SCSC for the first time
this season. Grant Vogel led the way in Qualifying and the
Prefinal with Christian in tow. In the main event, Grant
once again held the point during the first half of the race
before Christian took his turn, edging his brother to the
checkered by 0.103 seconds. Drake Ostrom ran alone in third.
Behind them was a battle for the class championship between
Gregory Gerst, Natalie Fenaroli and Kaylee Granberg. With
her fourth place run, Fenaroli was able to edge Gerst both
on the track for position and for the class championship.
Granberg ran seventh to end third in the title chase
Granberg
would earn her fifth victory in the S5 category, however,
beating Joe Reed for the win. Having already won the
championship, Granberg was moved to the second spot for an
‘unknown’ reason, handing Reed the first place trophy as a
show of sportsmanship. Reed continued to improve each
weekend out and that ‘never give up’ attitude will help him
in the future seasons of his karting career. Kevin Donahue
had engine trouble and finished third. Kaleb Allison earned
the win in the TaG 60 Cadet class, ending Coltan Brooks’ win
streak at three, but a total of four wins was enough for
Brooks as he won the title after finishing fourth behind
Collin Willis and Colt Masewich. In Powder Puff action, Dana
Granberg took her second win of the season to clinch the
class championship ahead of Sheree Kulp. Mandi Carlton ran
second in the main event.
In local
option class action, Brad Brittin won the Yamaha Junior
Sportsman Final, while John Baird earned the checkered in
Yamaha Senior Sportsman with a victory for Grant Sandberg in
Yamaha Rookie. In addition, 15 Kid Karters had the entire
paddock enjoying their wheel-to-wheel action. The 2008 championship awards will be presented to the drivers at a banquet during the opening weekend of the 2009 season. Plans are already in the works for the ’09 opener, set to take place on May 9 inside the Gateway International Raceway. A new modified sprint track is currently being designed within the infield of the facility.
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11-2-08 Jim Russell Sunday Series FinaleThe seven race Jim Russell Sunday Series finished 2008 on a strong note with the second largest turnout of the year. 50 drivers showed up on a great day of weather to race and determine 3 class championships that were still in doubt. This race had a couple of special features. All 80 shifters were invited to join the 80 Grand Masters drivers on the track and for the second race in a row, a TaG Masters/TaG Grand Masters race group was run with the other Sunday Series classes. Junior - Gazelle and HPV1 4 Gazelles and 2 HPV1 drivers lined up for this last race. With Maxx Marian locking up the championship last month, he chose to run in the Comer race. In Qualify, the two HPV1 karts were on the front row with Austin Thomas leading Austin Keller followed by the Gazelles of Benjamin Barudoni and Noah Hermansen. In the Pre-Main, Thomas took the lead from the split class start and lead for the initial part of the race. Keller then got by and led to the checkered flag. In the Gazelle action, Barudoni pulled away from Noah to take the win. In the Main, Keller took the initial lead but Thomas made the pass early on and held it to take the HPV1 win by 3 tenths of a second. In Gazelle, Hermansen made some changes that allowed him to stay close to Barudoni and eventual getting by Ben. Was this going to be Noah’s first class win? Barudoni stayed close and retook the lead and went on to take the class win by 7 tenths of a second followed by Hermansen and KT and Alysa Buckler who finished their first ever kart race. In the championship, Maxx Marian takes 1st, Barudoni 2nd, Hermansen 3rd and Robbie Rodrigues 4th. Junior 1 Comer The largest Comer class of the year showed up for Race #7 with the class championship still in doubt. In Qualify, points leader Doug Braddock Jr. took pole followed by Gazelle Champ Maxx Marian and #2 in Comer points Michael Avansino. In the Pre-Main, Braddock took the lead at the green and held for a slim lead hounded by Marian the whole way. Avansino was 2 seconds back with Garrett Dixon taking the 4th place. In the Main, all Braddock needs to do is finish in the top 5 to win the class championship, but he wanted to also end 2008 on the top of the podium. At the green, Braddock took and early lead and started to pull away. Avansino got by Marian coming out of turn 1 at the green and stayed close. By mid race, Avansino got right up to Braddock’s bumper and looked like he wanted to take the win. But Michael put a wheel off a couple of times late in the race and Braddock went on to take a 2 second win followed by Avansino, Marian, Dixon and Austin Makeev. In the championship, Braddock takes the crown, Avansino 2nd, Trevor Mathis 3rd and Austin Makeev in 4th. Junior HPV2 The HPV2 class has been one of the most exciting classes in 2008 with an average of 10 drivers per race. 11 drivers took the green with Joseph Keaton taking pole over Conner Ford and points leader Kathryn Cornell. In the Pre-Main, Keaton took the early lead and was never headed. Ford stayed close and finished about 2 seconds back with Cornell 3rd, Dain Davirro 4th and Bobby Tifft in 5th. Going into the Main, Tifft is the only driver who could beat Cornell for the class crown, but he will need a win to pull it off. But then disaster struck Tifft’s kart when he threw a chain on the warm up lap. Cornell is the champ. But there is still a race to finish. At the green, Keaton, Ford and Davirro broke away from the pack and had their own battle for the lead early on in the race. Davirro then put a wheel off and fell back a bit at mid race. Keaton and Ford continued to battle but Joseph eventually pulling away to take a 4 second win. Ford took his 4th second place in a row followed by Davirro, Cornell and a strong finish by Daniel Langon to take 5th. In the championship, Cornell takes the class crown without taking any wins but with no finish below 5th all year. Dain Davirro moves up to take 2nd, Keaton 3rd with 4 wins in 4 races, Bobby Tifft 4th and Conner Ford 5th place with 4 second place finishes in 4 races. 80 Grand Masters – Plus Senior 80 and 80 Masters For the last race of the year, the invite went out to allow any 80 karts to run. Thus three Senior 80 and two 80 Masters showed up to run with the eight 80 Grand Masters drivers. This race was a view of what to expect in 2009 when the Jim Russell Series will offer all three 80 classes as part of their program. In the 80 Grand Masters race, Michael John comes into the race with a slim 5 point lead over Tom Nelson. In Qualify, Ron Tamba (Masters) took the pole followed by Steve Peterson (GM), Eddie Veyl (Senior), Marc Stanley (GM) and Tom Nelson (GM) in 5th. Michael John qualified in 7th. In the Pre-Main, Tamba took the win but was pressured the whole way by Veyl. Mark Stanley was 3rd, Steve Peterson 4th and Nelson 5th. Nelson wanted to battle Peterson, but he also knew that as long as he was in front on Michael John he can win the championship. John’s title hopes took a hit when he spun off during the race and had to settle for an 11th overall, 7th in class. In the Main, Tamba set the pace out front, but Marc Stanley and Eddie Veyl hounded Ron all the way and that is how they finished with Tamba the Masters winner, Stanley the Grand Masters winner and Veyl the Senior 80 winner. But the class crown race was still be contested just behind. Again, Nelson had to chase Peterson and chose to stay close but not take any chances. Michael John was up a couple spots from his 11th starting spot, but in the end he had to settle for a 9th overall and 3 places in back of Nelson. In the Grand Masters championship, Tom Nelson takes the crown, Michael John 2nd and Steve Peterson 3rd and Ahmiel Freed 4th. TaG Masters and TaG Grand Masters 6 Grand Masters and 5 Masters drivers showed up to have some fun in this last race of the year. In Qualify, pole went to Larry Fraser (Masters) followed by Last month’s winner Mat Kattanek (GM), Randy Wetmore (Masters), Ray Wetmore (GM) and new comer Cameron Evans (GM). In the Pre-Main, Randy Wetmore used his experience to get into turn 1 first off the standing start and was able to control the race from the front, but just barely. Kattanek took 2nd just 3 tenths of a second back. Joe Ramsauer (Masters) took 3rd overall followed by Evans in 4th and Dave Moody in 5th. Fraser and Ray Wetmore had mechanical DNFs and will have to start the Main from the rear of the grid. In the Main, Randy Wetmore took the initial lead but Kattanek made the pass to take over the lead. From the back of the grid, Fraser and Ray Wetmore come through the field and by mid race they were challenging for the top 5 in the race. Ray Wetmore and Joe Ramsauer first went at it until they came together and Joe was off on the outside of turn 1. Then Randy Wetmore got by Mat . Mat then put a move on Randy and the two ran side by side through the fastest turn on the Infineon coarse with Mat on the inside. But at the exit of the turn, Randy ran out of room and took to the dirt and spun. Randy recovered, but joined the race in 3rd. In the mean time, Larry Fraser made a clean charge through the field to take over 2nd when Wetmore spun off. At the end of this wild race, Kattanek took the overall win and 1st in Grand Masters, Fraser in 2nd and 1st in Masters. Randy Wetmore was 3rd, Ray Wetmore 4th, Cameron Evans 5th. The Sunday Series will return again in 2009, focusing on Junior classes, all the 80 shifter classes and maybe more. But one thing will remain in 2009, lots of morning practice, and a fun club race day atmosphere with lots of good competition. |
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11-3-08 Prairie City Finale Action
I would like to start this report
by saying thank you to the Lovotti's for a great race season
and giving up their weekends and real life for us racers and
families. Thank You for giving us something to do with all
our spare time and money. Also, heart felt thoughts and
prayers to families who are suffering with loved ones in the
hospitals right now. I don?t' want to name anyone in this
report without their permission, to the racer who has a very
ill wife in the hospital.....we are praying for your family
and our hearts go out to you during this painful and scary
time of your life. To the Family who is faced with saying
goodbye to a terminally sick loved one; we love and hold
your family very dearly to our hearts your pain is our pain
we love you.... God Speed to both of these families. |