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Defending series champion Ryan Norberg begins training for his ‘drive for five’ in 2020 (Photo: EKN)
The first major event of the 2020 season is set for this weekend in the sunshine state. The Superkarts! USA will welcome racers to the AMR Motorplex in Homestead, Florida for the opening weekend of the 2020 SKUSA Winter Series. A pre-entry total of 229 drivers in 13 categories are set to tackle the 7/10-mile course outside the Homestead-Miami Speedway for two rounds of competition on the weekend.
Wednesday and Thursday were unofficial practice with Friday hosting five official sessions for testing. Round 1 is set for Saturday, including qualifying, Prefinal and Final. Round 2 is a repeat format on Sunday.
The largest category entering the weekend is the X30 Senior class at 50 drivers. It was a year ago that Ryan Norberg was making his debut with the Rolison Performance Group operation aboard a Kosmic. It eventually led to a SKUSA Winter Series championship off three wins and a fourth-straight SKUSA Pro Tour title with three wins in six rounds. The effort to put ‘one on the thumb’ and complete a five-year streak of Pro Tour titles begins this weekend. The bulls eye has grown even larger on the back of Norberg with 49 others in the field. There are numerous drivers that will be in the hunt. Notable international stars include Brits Taylor Barnard (KSNA / Kart Republic) and Louie Westover (Solo Kart USA). Defending SuperNationals winner Zachary Claman-Demelo (REM / Kosmic) is set to compete. He will not be the only driver with IndyCar experience, as 2019 Indy 500 Rookie of the Year Santino Ferrucci is set to make his return to SKUSA competition. Ferrucci (CRM / Swiss Hutless) raced at the recent WKA Daytona KartWeek and was upfront all weekend. One of the stories to watch is the graduation of Junior drivers making their Senior debuts. Four of the top-six from last year’s SKUSA Winter Series are in the field; Luca Mars (SCR / Redspeed), Diego Contecha (Orsolon / Tony Kart), Luke Lange (SCR / Redspeed), and Branyon Tiner (RPG / Kosmic). Read full story on eKartingNews.com |
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Nitro Kart’s Connor Zilisch is the new X30 Senior championship leader heading into Utah (Photo: On Track Promotions)
The 2021 Superkarts! USA Pro Tour resumes this weekend with the 11th running of the SpringNationals. Competitors will converge on the Utah Motorsports Campus to continue this year’s SKUSA Pro Tour championship program, which began back in March at the NOLA Motorsports facility for the WinterNationals. The May 21-23 event in Grantsville, Utah will host Rounds Three and Four as the 12th season for the longest running national series program continues.
The inaugural SKUSA Pro Tour event was back in 2010 with the first SpringNationals at the Sonoma Raceway facility. The SpringNats was the opening event to the SKUSA Pro Tour until 2017 with the introduction of the WinterNationals. With last year’s program held all at the New Castle Motorsports Park for the Summer Festival, this marks the 11th running of the SpringNationals. The Utah Motorsports Campus opened in 2006, known then as the Miller Motorsports Park. SKUSA has visited twice before, once in 2012 for the SummerNationals and lastly in 2019 for the SpringNationals. The Star Trek layout at 9/10-mile with 18 turns in the clockwise direction is the circuit for the weekend, with temps set to be at the mid 60s all weekend. Read full story on eKartingNews.com |
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One of the original categories of the famed Superkarts! USA SuperNationals has been Master Shifter. It began in 2000 as the G1 division and was the main class for the elder gearbox drivers. The S4 Stock Moto division was introduced in 2006 and, for six years, we had two Master shifter categories at the SuperNationals. S4 became the sole division in 2012 and held that spot until 2018. The introduction of the IAME SSE 175 brought back the G1 name in 2019 before it evolved to Master Shifter in 2021. Let’s not forget the S4 Super Master and G2 divisions, as well, for drivers 45 and older from 2016 to 2019. Now, set as one lone category and enjoying the resurgence in shifterkart racing in 2022, we have seen the field grow from 19 to 40 drivers for this year’s SuperSunday battle. Read full story on eKartingNews.com |
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(Photo: Spencer Russell - photosbysmr)
A full weekend of racing was conducted on June 18-20 as the California ProKart Challenge hosted a double-round event at the CalSpeed Karting facility. Rounds Two and Three of the 2021 Superkarts! USA regional program were conducted at the Fontana, California facility on Saturday and Sunday following a full day of practice on Friday, welcoming over 100 drivers. Four drivers were able to leave the weekend with two victories each in their respective categories.
Jesus Vasquez Jr. dominated the West Coast Motorsports KA100 Junior division both days, earning a perfect score each round. Vasquez cleared the 19-driver field in qualifying on Saturday before leading all laps of the Prefinal. Vasquez then led all 22 laps while posting quick time in the Final for a 13-second advantage toward victory. The fight was for second, with Logan Ainsworth earning the position over G3 Argyros. Christian Cameron and Dane Idelson completed the top-five. It was a duplicate performance on Sunday for Vasquez, never relinquishing the P1 position throughout the day with wire-to-wire wins in the Prefinal and Final. Argyros improved to second with Caden Chrisman in third. Idelson was fourth with Cameron rounding out the top-five.
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Croc Promotion USA's AJ Myers stormed back on Sunday after his Saturday issues to score his third win of the Winter Series
(Photo: OnTrack Promotions)
The final round of the Superkarts! USA Winter Series provided the intensity expected with championships on the line. The drivers had all put in a full day of wheel-to-wheel competition on Saturday running in the clockwise direction around the 12-turn AMR Homestead-Miami Motorplex Presented by MG Tires, and that experience brought more drivers into the mix on Sunday. The racing in X30 Senior boiled over during the final laps, and after the dust cleared and the penalties had been assessed, Rolison Performance Group’s Ryan Norberg emerged with his third win of the year and the Winter Series title. Rain tires were the right call for the Pro Shifter main and, in the tough conditions, Croc Promotion USA’s AJ Myers again emerged as the star, matching Norberg’s total of three wins to earn the title. Luca Mars was a front runner all weekend in X30 Junior and was in the fight for the Sunday victory, which came his way after the on-track winner was assessed a jump start penalty. All in all, the racing was very good to cap off the Winter Series and bodes well for what we’ll see on the 2019 SKUSA Pro Tour, which opens with the WinterNationals at CalSpeed Karting during the first weekend of March.
Weather played a role in Sunday’s storyline as a short burst of hard rain arrived just as the Briggs 206 driver hit the track for their main event. The rain would return later in the day, but it was not near as aggressive and lasted only long enough for National Director of Competition Joe Janowski to kept tires as ‘racers choice’. Read full story on eKartingNews.com |
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