For the second time on the season, the Great Lakes Pro Series and Superkarts! USA Central States Challenge programs joined forces at one location for another exciting weekend of racing. Over the July 23-24 weekend at the New Castle Motorsports Park in Indiana, both series co-hosted a double-header weekend to include two rounds of racing towards each series championship. Renewing the friendships made in May at the Anderson Mayor’s Cup Grand Prix, the competitors from both series joined again to provide some great shifterkart and TaG racing.

 

Leading the way in the Stock Moto category on day one was Illinois driver Josh Lane. Scoring the pole position over 12 other drivers, he and second qualifier Kyle Ludwick battled for the Prefinal victory. Local driver Ludwick came away with the win and the pole position for the main event. Lane got the jump from the outside row one grid position and led all 15 laps to the victory. Ludwick kept close, crossing the line just four-tenths back. Winning a great battle for third was Eric Batt as he edged out fellow Indiana drivers Joe Ruch and Evan Batt. The next day, Eric Batt shined above the others with Ludwick not competing and Lane having issues throughout the day. Batt posted the fast lap in qualifying and had a race long battle with Tennessee driver Brian Fisher for the entire 15 laps. At the checkered, Batt took the victory by seven-tenths over Fisher with Kelly Johnson scoring the third spot over Ruch and Nicholas Lougee.

The Superkarts! USA Central States Challenge regional got back to action over the June 11-12 weekend with the second round of the 2011 season. TNT Kartways in West Quincy, MO was the location of the event, with the facility celebrating it 50th season hosting kart races. The historic and challenging course set up for another weekend of great racing for the regional program feature TAG and shifterkarts. Current SKUSA Pro Tour S1 Pro championship contender Lukas Johnson earned his first regional victory of the season while Joe Roch scored his second straight in the competitive S2 Semi-Pro category.

 

The S1 Pro Stock Moto category, sponsored by Crockett Motorsports, held three of the top shifterkart drivers with defending SKUSA Pro Tour S2 champion Derek Crockett posting the fast lap in qualifying. He edged out fellow S2 graduate Lukas Johnson by just 0.006-seconds with a 27.628-lap in the session. Californian Nic LeDuc, a former top-10 in the eKartingNews.com Driver Rankings now living in Indiana, was unable to record a lap due to engine issues. Johnson grabbed the holeshot and led all of the 15 laps of heat one with Crockett trailing, matching the same results in heat two. LeDuc continued to have engine issues and was unable to make a lap until the main event. Able to get rid of the gremlins, LeDuc shot off the line and was into the lead by the completion of lap one with Crockett and Johnson right behind. LeDuc led until lap eight when Johnson was able to work by for position. The top two ran nose to tail with Johnson prevailing with the victory. LeDuc was a close second as Crockett had to settle for third.

Round two of the 2011 Superkarts! USA Central States Challenge (SCSC) season is just around the corner as the program returns to the historic TNT Kartways in West Quincy, Missouri. The June 11-12 event marks the last series race before the second round of the SKUSA Pro Tour - the SummerNationals - in Colorado with a number of SCSC regulars using the weekend in Quincy to prepare for that trip while also shaping the championship hunt for the regional titles.

 

Built in 1961, TNT Kartways is one of the oldest karting circuits in North America with a rich history of the sports legends competing on its grounds. Just across the bridge over the Mississippi River sits Quincy, Illinois, the city that was host to the famous Grand Prix of Karting in South Park. The current track at TNT is at 4/10-mile, providing a challenging circuit for competitors. Friday, June 10 will be an optional practice day for competitors with the official event practice starting Saturday morning. Qualifying and the Prefinal will take place Saturday afternoon with warm-up and the Main Events scheduled for Sunday.

 

“The TNT Kartways is one of the storied facilities our series will visit in 2011,” commented Pam Freund of the SKUSA Central States Challenge. “The people and competitors in Quincy are the grassroots of our sport and we will welcome anyone looking to get a sample of racing with the Central States Challenge. The first event of the season was great. We made some new friends and reacquainted with old ones. In addition to providing the best shifterkart and TaG racing here in the area, that is our purpose and goal.”