3-8-10 Second Round of Prokart Challenge North Returns to Sonoma

March event to set the stage for regional championships and upcoming Superkarts! USA Pro Tour event at Infineon Raceway

 Looking to build upon the momentum of the 2010 opener, the ProKart Challenge North returns this month for the second event of the season at the Jim Russell International Karting Center. Located on the grounds of Infineon Raceway in Sonoma, CA the Superkarts! USA Northern California regional series will attack the 7/10-mile national circuit on March 12-13. With the organizations debut of the new SKUSA Pro Tour just around the corner April 16-18 this regional event will see a host of national contenders from outside the area looking to educate themselves on the facility and the MG Tires utilized in all Superkarts! USA events.

Included in the cast of guests for the second round of the ProKart Challenge North program is veteran karting announcer Rob Howden. The owner/publisher of eKartingNews.com was the official voice of SKUSA during its ProMoto Tour days, and now with the debut of the new Pro Tour, Howden will be in California to warm-up his voice for the April weekend.

The opening round for the PKC North program was good, but we expect round two to be even better, stated ProKart Challenge promoter and Superkarts! USA CEO Tom Kutscher. With our first SKUSA Pro Tour event scheduled for this facility next month, we have a number of outside competitors looking to grab some extra seat time before the April 16-18 weekend. SoCal, Colorado and the Midwest they are all coming here and I couldnt be more excited.

While some will be focused on preparing for the SKUSA Pro Tour event, a number of drivers will continue on as they have put their names in the bid for the season championship. The new S1 division for the Pro Stock Moto drivers is certainly going to see a number of hot contenders throughout the year. Fritz Leesmann was the man in round one as he outran Tommy Thompson an S3 frontrunner last year, as well as Brett Buckwalter the defending TaG Senior champion. A number of others are expected to battle it out in round two.

Everyone in S2 will be gunning for Matt Alcorn, who swept the action back in February. Alcorn will see challenges in the championship from former S4 driver Jared Woolf, as well as from a host of others. The TaG Senior division was the largest at the season opener, with veteran Larry Fraser scoring the feature win to lead the early championship chase. Dylan Lupton was Frasers closest challenge, with David Harwin getting into the mix as well. Jeff Smith and Deven Sanchez were the only other drivers to score maximum points at round one like Alcorn by sweeping their respective class proceedings. Smith, the PKC South S4 defending champion, shined in his 2010 debut while Deven Sanchez was perfect in his ProKart Challenge North debut in the TaG Junior category.

Ethan Wilson has converted from the G1 category to TaG Masters with ease, as he led the division throughout the opener to score the feature win. Peter Workum and defending champion Jeff Deehan will look to battle back at round two. Kathryn Cornell made the most of the first round as she recorded her best weekend in the HPV-2 Junior category, scoring the feature win after showing the way for most of the day. The S3 and S5 divisions made their series debut with Chris Yettito and Daniel Langon scoring the feature wins in their respective classes, with entries projected to grow in both categories as the season progresses.

The second round of the six-race PKC North championship will begin on March 12 with a practice day, with the track hot from 9:00 am to 5:00 pm. A complimentary BBQ dinner will be offered directly following the on-track action. Race pre-registrations are currently being accepted, with racers able to save $35 on their entry fee by submitting an entry prior to midnight on March 10. SKUSA memberships will be mandatory for the event, and the downloadable forms or online registration are available on the new www.superkartsusa.com website. No reserved pit spots are required for this event. Camping and overnight parking of trailers on site will be permitted, starting Friday night at no charge. The EconoLodge in Novato (415.883.2406) is offering special pricing on rooms when mentioning ProKart Challenge at booking.

A live scoring feed as well as blogging will be available Saturday during the racing action. For more information on the round two including the tentative race day schedule or anything related to SKUSA and the ProKart Challenge, visit www.superkartsusa.com or call the SKUSA head office at 951-491-0808.