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Thursday, 19 February 2026 13:27 |
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Jay Urwin celebrated his Pro Shifter championship with victory in Round Four (Photo: EKN)
The 2026 Superkarts! USA Winter Series came to an end on Sunday at the Speedsportz Racing Park. The New Caney, Texas facility has been busy with activity over the last month, including two weekends and four rounds of racing for the SKUSA organization. Weather for the final day of action was comfortable, opening up with a drying track after the heavy storms rolled through the area Saturday evening. One area at the end of the front straight, going into turn one stayed wet through qualifying and dissipated by the time racing began. Sunday was the fourth and final round of the championship program to help kick start the new year, and eight drivers secured the first titles of the season. Among them was Kiwi Jay Urwin as the PSL Karting driver used a string of podium finishes, including two wins to become the new Pro Shifter champion.
The drying track and wet spot in qualifying for the PSL Karting Pro Shifter did not allow for a new track record. However, Factory Karts driver Billy Musgrave put down the only sub 50-second lap time to secure the pole position by over two tenths on Urwin (PSL / Birelart). It was a holeshot win for Musgrave in the Prefinal winning by just over two tenths to Urwin, who put in the fast lap of the race. The Final flipped around as Urwin got the jump at the wave of the green flag and never looked back. Urwin had the quicker pace once again and was the only driver into the sub 50-second lap times over the course of the 20-lap main event. The driver from New Zealand stretched away to a four-second advantage by the checkered flag to celebrate his first SKUSA Winer Series title. Musgrave rolled across in second with Saturday winner Matheus Morgatto (Velocity / Sodi Kart) recovering to third after getting shuffled back in the Prefinal ahead of Justin White (Maranello USA) in fourth. Round Two winner Gavin Bayliff (TKG Birelart USA) retired after working his way back up to fifth after a botched start, that was until his exhaust came loose and he was forced to retire. This promoted Ashton Henckel (PSL / Birelart) to fifth. Urwin took the championship by 86 points over Musgrave with Bayliff finishing third.
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Thursday, 19 February 2026 13:21 |
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Alexander Vanchev claimed his first Pro X30 victory (Photo: EKN)
The penultimate round of the 2026 Superkarts! USA Winter Series was completed on Saturday at the Speedsportz Racing Park in New Caney, Texas. The day was full of changing weather conditions, with a wet track to start before it dried by the second Prefinal on the day. The same KA100 Senior category then experienced the return of rain, which kept the track dry for the remainder of the main events. Two drivers were able to double up on the day, featuring Alexander Vanchev grabbing both single speed Senior category victories while Nico Kotowski swept the Junior main events on the day.
The Pro X30 presented by Kart CRG USA began on a wet track for qualifying with Brazilian Diego Ramos (PSL / Birelart) the only driver to dip into the 1:03 lap time mark. He edged out Round One winner Oliver Hodgson (Factory Karts) – who rebuilt his machine after a Happy Hour wreck Friday afternoon. Canadian Ayden Ingratta (REM / Kosmic) – who was quickest in Happy Hour – was third with Alexander Vanchev (RPG / Kosmic) in fourth. At the start of the 10-lap Prefinal on a dry track and new dry Evinco Tires, Ingratta was spun around and suffered front end damage to retire, forced to start the Final from 26th. Up front, Ramos was able to get away to a comfortable win ahead of Hodgson with Gus Lawrence (RPG / Kosmic) up to third over Vanchev. Ramos and Hodgson were the first two leaders in the early portion of the Final until Vanchev took over the top spot on lap seven. From there, the Senior rookie established over a two second advantage on the west track to claim his first career Pro X30 victory. Hodgson ran second with Ramos completing the podium in third. Ingratta had an amazing drive from the tail of the field on wet tires, knifing his way up to the fourth spot on track but suffered a cut track penalty, docking him five seconds and moving Lawrence above him to fourth. Hodgson remains the championship leader, holding a 70-point advantage now over Vanchev with Lawrence sitting third, 80 points back.
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Thursday, 12 February 2026 13:35 |
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Jay Urwin leads the Pro Shifter standings after Round One victory (Photo: EKN)
The final two rounds of the 2026 Superkarts! USA Winter Series is set to be contested this weekend – February 13-15 – at the Speedsportz Racing Park. The New Caney, Texas facility welcomed the program for the first time in January, with the first two rounds of the championship completed. Now, the chase for the eight titles concludes with Round Three and Round Four wrapping up the first year of the SKUSA Winter Series in the Lone Star State.
The format for the final weekend of the 2026 SKUSA Winter Series features unofficial practice on Wednesday and Thursday with Friday hosting five official sessions for testing. Round Three is set for Saturday, including qualifying, Prefinal and Final. Round Four is a repeat format on Sunday with the championship a best three of four scenario to crown the eight champions of the 2026 SKUSA Winter Series. Read full story on eKartingNews.com |
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Wednesday, 14 January 2026 13:47 |
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Pauly Massimino drove his way to a career first SKUSA Winter Series victory in Pro X30 (Photo: EKN)
The final day of action for the opening weekend to the 2026 Superkarts! USA Winter Series program was contested on Sunday at the Speedsportz Racing Park with the over 230 entries taking part in Round Two action. The New Caney, Texas facility saw colder weather to begin the day, but the skies were clear with sunshine, bringing up the temperature as the day went on for a picture perfect backdrop to the qualifying, Prefinal and Final action for the second day of racing. Nearly every category had a battle to the very end, including the Pro X30 main event where Pauly Massimino was able to put his Brandon Jarsocrak Racing LN Kart to the checkered flag first while TKG Birelart USA driver Gavin Bayliff won for a second time in three Pro Shifter main events here at Speedsportz.
The day in Kart CRG USA Pro X30 began with Senior rookie Alexander Vanchev (RPG / Kosmic) carrying over the speed from Saturday to set fast time in qualifying with a 52.525, edging out teammate and SuperNationals 28 winner Gus Lawrence (RPG / Kosmic) by one thousandths of a second. Saturday top qualifier Blake Nash (Nash / EOS) was third with Pauly Massimino (BJR / LN Kart) within a tenth as well. The 10-lap Prefinal was a solid battle with the top six swapping positions every lap. Lawrence was able to come away with the win over Massimino with Saturday winner Oliver Hodgson (Factory Karts) moving up to third over Vanchev. The top four of Lawrence, Massimino, Hodgson and Ayden Ingratta (REM / Kosmic) broke away from the field early on in the 20-lap Final. Their constant battle for the top spot allowed the second group to come in late, including a charging Nash who started back in 15th after contact in the Prefinal bent the front end of his machine. With Massimino leading, Nash took over the point on lap 17, only to have Massimino retake the position the following lap. Coming to the white flag, Nash took a run at Massimino on the inside of turn one. Massimino barely gave him room to hold the outside, and set up for the inside of turn two. It prevailed and the attempt for Nash, who kept it off Massimino to avoid contact, slipped backwards. This started the battle for second and allowed Massimino to inch away, taking the checkered flag for his first career SKUSA Winter Series victory. Hodgson came away with the second spot over Lawrence with Ingratta fourth and Vanchev fifth. Nash fell back from second to sixth on the final lap.
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Wednesday, 14 January 2026 13:42 |
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Oliver Hodgson scored the Pro X30 victory in his Factory Karts debut (Photo: EKN)
The first round of the 2026 Superkarts! USA Winter Series was completed on Saturday at the Speedsportz Racing Park. The New Caney, Texas facility saw colder weather on the day after a warm, humid and wet day on Friday for practice. The sun was shining on and off throughout the qualifying, Prefinal and Final action for the eight categories and the over 230 entries. Eight drivers celebrated opening up the 2026 season with victories, including Oliver Hodgson in Pro X30 in his debut with Factory Karts while Kiwi Jay Urwin won in his first SKUSA main event in Pro Shifter.
The Kart CRG USA Pro X30 category began with Blake Nash (Nash / EOS) edging out the 30 driver field in qualifying with a 52.897 lap time. The Californian beat out the British contingent of Gus Lawrence (RPG / Kosmic) and Oliver Hodgson, making his debut with Factory Karts. Lawrence jumped out to the lead in the 10-lap Prefinal with Nash back to third early. Hodgson and Nash both worked past Lawrence after the halfway point and with two laps to go, Nash reclaimed the top spot, going on to take the win. Nash maintained the lead at the start of the 20-lap Final before Hodgson claimed the position on lap four. The two were able to breakaway from the field as Lawrence was eventually joined by another group and battled throughout the race for the third position. Nash made a late charge at Hodgson, however, the now USA resident was able to hold on, giving Factory Karts its first victory in the single-speed category in SKUSA competition. Nash ended up second with Davin Roberts (RPM / Tony Kart) emerging from the battle to cross the line in third. Tech inspection, however removed both from the results, reeds for Nash and cylinder for Roberts. This promoted Canadian Ayden Ingratta to runner-up in his debut with Racing Edge Motorsports / Kosmic while Senior rookie Alexander Vanchev (RPG / Kosmic) ended up on the podium in third. His race began caught up in incident at the start, falling to 23rd after starting inside the top eight. Fast laps of the race put him on the podium ahead of Lawrence with Diego Ramos (PSL / Birelart) classified fifth. *Nash was reinstated to second place on Sunday.
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