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Tuesday, 30 March 2010 08:44 |
 The competition continues to heat up in the sixth year of the ProKart Challenge South program, as the third round of the 2010 season completed at the Grange Motor Circuit last weekend. The Apple Valley, California facility saw a number of first time winners, which continues to be the trend on the year, thanks in part to the strong contingent of drivers competing in the series. That trend shows in the headline classes, as the S1 and TaG Senior categories have seen three different winners in each of the three features – this month seeing Peter Abba and Bobby Kelley taking the checkered flag.
The journey to his first PKC S1 victory was a battle for Abba. In qualifying, point leader Tommy Thompson was the quickest – as his 52.126 lap was just 0.028-seconds better than round two winner Clinton Schoombee. Abba was fourth in the order behind Brad Dunford, and they would start the first heat from row two. Schoombee grabbed the holeshot as Thompson fell back to third in the order behind Dunford. Abba, however, would not complete more than a lap as he encountered mechanical issues. Schoombee led most of the way, until a charging Thompson took over the point and led the final two laps for the win in Heat 1. Thompson and Schoombee would again run 1-2 in the second heat, as Thompson stretched out to a five-second advantage – with Jimmy McNeil moving up to the third spot and Abba going off track after a racing incident in lap 2. The field would shuffle up in the opening lap of the feature, as Schoombee had an off-track excursion. His trip dropped him to fifth, while Abba acquired the point ahead of Thompson and Dunford. Abba posted some fast laps early and would gain a solid distance over the fight for second to score the victory. Thompson held off Dunford for second to earn his second straight podium finish, securing his point lead. With Schoombee fourth and McNeil fifth, the fight remains very tight with three rounds down, and three rounds to go. |
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Monday, 29 March 2010 13:39 |
Sonik engines in SKUSA Pro-Tour
Since the 2009 SuperNats, we continue to see very few Sonik engines in SKUSA regional competition. In fact, during the first four races of the ProKart North and South series we have only had one entry with this engine. Due to this continued lack of performance data, we have chosen to not permit the Sonik engine in the Pro-Tour. We encourage all SKUSA competitors to continue to use Sonik’s in our Regional programs to allow us to further evaluate its performance.
Leopard MY09 engines
We also have had almost the same situation with this engine in terms of participation. Initial evaluation indicates a need to retain the option to adjust weights. We will continue to monitor the performance of the MY09 and reserve the option to add weight as needed. As is frequently the case with different engines, it appears to have a slight advantage at some tracks and have comparable performance at others.
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Friday, 19 March 2010 14:04 |
Now just a week away, the third round of the Superkarts! USA ProKart Challenge South program is set for the Grange Motor Circuit in Apple Valley, California. The 8/10-mile course will be the perfect site to continue the championship chases in the six-round championship, mixing in well with the opening round facilities of CalSpeed and Willow Springs. Within the program, the Stock Moto package continues to grow, thanks in part to the new internal ladder system developed by the Superkarts! USA organization – while the TaG competition has certainly earned praises with a diverse group of drivers and engine packages.
To speak volume on the competitiveness of the series, no one driver in the 10 divisions has won back to back features. The headline S1 Pro Stock Moto category has seen Brett Felkins and Clinton Schoombee take the first two feature wins, though it is Tommy Thompson’s early consistency that has him earning the top spot in the standings thus far. The racing in TaG Senior has been like no other class, with stacked fields in the opening rounds. It is a battle of young up-and-comers against karting veterans; Kyle Shriver currently has the early edge over Larry Fraser and Phil Giebler – along with the rest of the field – with two strong podium performances. |
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Tuesday, 16 March 2010 08:22 |
 After rain and wind kept the drivers of the ProKart Challenge North series in their trailers during the Friday’s available practice day, they emerged ready for battle when Saturday dawned sunny and cool at the Jim Russell International Karting Center. As the temperature rose through the day, so did the excitement on the racetrack, as the Infineon Raceway facility provided the perfect venue for some close racing – including two of the races which were decided by less than four hundredths of a second. In the closest race of the day, Phil Giebler (FA Kart) won over a strong TaG Senior class when he nipped Bobby Kelley (Maddox) by a scant 0.008 seconds in a drag race to the line. In the S1 Pro Stock Moto class, Nic LeDuc (GP) scored his first PKC gearbox win by holding off a charging Brett Buckwalter (Italkart) at the end of the 20-lap run.
LeDuc’s emergence in the PKC North program will put his name in the hat for the race win at the upcoming SKUSA SpringNationals, the opening round of the new Pro Tour. STA Racing’s LeDuc wasn’t the primary contender for the win this past weekend, however, as Fritz Leesmann (CRG) was certainly the man to beat. The Aluminos driver qualified on the pole ahead of Buckwalter by three tenths, and proceeded to score wins in both heat races to remain on the front row for the main. After getting off the line slowly and dropping to fourth, Leesmann worked his way back to the lead. It was not to last, however, as a broken shift arm put him on the sidelines, opening the door to the remainder of the field. Cameron Karting’s Buckwalter would assume the point, but LeDuc had worked into the challenge position and eventually took over the top spot before stretching a small advantage. Buckwalter would pick up the pace over the final laps, but came up just short, taking second to LeDuc. Tommy Thompson (Energy) came out of a hard-fought battle for third with the final podium position, finishing ahead of Jason Toft (GP) and Brad Dunford (CRG). |
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Thursday, 11 March 2010 09:31 |
 With the opening round of their new Pro Tour just five weeks away, Superkarts! USA officials have put the finishing touches on the prize package that they have assembled for the series. With a prize payout total worth more than $80,000, the cash segment of the program features both event purse money for all three races and a year-end championship prize fund for the top drivers in S1 and TaG Senior. SKUSA is also offering supported entry into this year’s SuperNationals for the mid-season point leaders in TaG Junior and TaG Master, and paid entry into the entire 2011 Pro Tour for all nine class champions. SKUSA will also bring back the popular national number plates, and will offer up a very lucrative prize in the shape of guaranteed SuperNationals main event starting positions for the top-five in points heading into the biggest race of the year. The new TaG Cadet class is also in the prize mix with new Mini Rok engines being offered up to weekend event winners, leading up to a fully supported trip to the Rok International Finale for the category champion. The chase for these exciting offerings will begin at the SpringNationals at Infineon Raceway in mid-April, and as such, SKUSA is also pleased to release the host hotel information, which will no doubt be the epicenter of off-track action during the opener.
The Pro classes on SKUSA’s new national tour – S1 and TaG Senior – will run for a weekend total of $3,500 in prize money at all three events. Each class will be awarded $1750 to the top three drivers in the overall cumulative point standings for the weekend. SKUSA President Tom Kutscher will present $1000, in cash, to the overall point winner in each class during the Sunday afternoon podium presentations. Second and third will receive $500 and $250, respectively. A championship point fund will be accumulated from race-to-race, and cash awards will be distributed to the top-three in the point standings for both S1 and TaG Senior. A driver’s accumulated points from all five Pro Tour events will determine the final standings. The champion will receive $5000, while second and third will be awarded $2000 and $1000, respectively. |
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