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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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Aiden Kempf was able to outrun the KA100 Senior field in wet and dry conditions for the victory
(Photo: Spencer Russell - PhotosBySMR)
The Superkarts! USA California ProKart Challenge kicked off the second half of the season at the Santa Maria Karting Association facility last weekend. The Santa Maria, California facility hosted Round Four of the six-round championship program on the July 17-18 weekend, where coastal California weather greeted the competitors of the nine categories and a brief rain shower made things extra interesting for one category during the main events. The championships in each of the divisions are taking shape, with drivers picking up key victories toward their goal of winning a California ProKart Challenge championship.
One of the most exciting main events on the weekend was the Nash Motorsportz KA100 Senior class. Welcoming 29 drivers as the largest class on the weekend, competitors had to also battle a brief change in the weather conditions. Ethan Lampe began the event with fast time in qualifying, posting a 49.598-lap to edge out four other drivers by a mere four hundredths of a second. Among those was Logan Toke finishing in the second spot after the timed session. Lampe was out of the race on the opening circuit of the 14-lap Prefinal, allowing Toke to control much of the race. Aiden Kempf reached the line first at the end. However, a three-second penalty for contact dropped him to second, moving Toke to the pole position for the main event. As the green flag waved with all drivers on dry Evinco tires, rain suddenly covered the track. It made for some exciting opening laps before the track eventually dried up and lap times fell to standard pace. Out front, Kempf controlled the field in the wet and the dry, leading all 24 laps for the victory to become the fourth different winner in four rounds. Toke was able to fight back to second after slipping down the order early in the race. Hard charger was top qualifier Lampe, coming from 28th to third. Fast lap of the race went to Kyriakos Sioukas in fourth, with Round Two winner and championship leader Dante Yu finishing fifth.
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What was a quiet addition to the SKUSA SuperNationals class roster quickly became a focal point for the silver anniversary edition. The KA100 Master class is not new to SKUSA, as it was introduced in 2020 during the ‘Summer Festival’ two-weekend COVID-year format of the organization’s Pro Tour. Low numbers caused the category to be dropped for the 2021 season and the class has truly not yet reached the national level until this year’s SuperNationals. The class has seen growth throughout the regional programs of the country, including the California ProKart Challenge and record numbers at the Texas Sprint Racing Series program. Add to that the ‘Drive to 25’ program by EKN’s own Rob Howden, the category will enjoy a sold-out 44 driver field at SuperNationals 25. Read full story on eKartingNews.com |
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Former SKUSA Pro Tour champion Jake French landed on top of the podium in Pro Shifter (Photo: EKN)
The fifth round of the Superkarts! USA Pro Tour at New Castle Motorsports Park was highlighted by some incredible racing action and more than one drag race out of the I-70 hairpin to the checkered flag. The 11th running of the SummerNationals will provide the cap to the 2021 national championship, and Saturday’s racing only served to set the stage for Sunday’s finale and the crowning of this year’s national champions. In the Pro Shifter class, which boasted a stunning grid of 30 karts including 16 of the top-20 from the EKN Driver Rankings, PSL Karting’s Jake French renewed his title hopes after holding back Andrew Bujdoso for the victory. An uncharacteristic mechanical DNF put point leader AJ Myers on the sidelines during the opening lap, which has blown the championship wide open. The X30 Senior title fight remains in the hands of the Rolison Performance Group, and while the team has three drivers vying for the championship, it was one of their drivers not in the title chase Nate Cicero who pulled steadily away from the stacked field to score his first SKUSA Pro Tour victory. Read full story on eKartingNews.com |
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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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