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Wednesday, 26 May 2021 17:10 |
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Hannah Greenemeier became the first female winner on the SKUSA Pro Tour with victory in X30 Senior (Photo: EKN)
The 2021 edition of the Superkarts! USA Pro Tour SpringNationals came to close on Sunday at the Utah Motorsports Campus. It was a weekend of battling tough weather conditions and fierce fields in Grantsville, Utah with the threat of rain added into the mix on Sunday. A brief sprinkle is all that presented itself, as the winds continued throughout the day. As you would expect on the final day of action, the racing amped up with drivers taking a few extra chances in certain moments, with the results not equating to success. Nine drivers did come away with triumph at the end of the main events, including four more first-time winners on the day – including Colorado driver Hannah Greenemeier who became the first female driver to win at the SKUSA Pro Tour in its 12-year history.
The Rolison Performance Group X30 Senior class saw a lot of drama unfold from start to finish. Saturday winner Ryan Norberg was able to edge out RPG / Kosmic teammate Hannah Greenemeier for the pole position by a mere 32 thousandths of a second. At the start of the Prefinal, Norberg was shuffled back with Greenemeier and Trey Brown (RPM / Tony Kart) able to get away. It took five laps to catch back up to the top-two and when there, Norberg made a slight mistake, making contact with Brown as Greenemeier slipped past at turn one. Norberg and Brown went off at the exit, out of the race. That allowed Greenemeier to cruise to the Prefinal win. Norberg, starting at the back, was involved in contact on the opening circuit of the main event and recorded a rare DNF on the day. Up front, Greenemeier and Cole Morgan (RPM / Tony Kart) were shuffling for the top position nearly every lap. This allowed for a seven driver lead group for much of the race. On lap 17, Hannah was able to secure the top spot with RPG / Kosmic teammate Branyon Tiner coming through in second. Morgan came under pressure for the third position with Thomas Nepveu (PSL / Birel ART) on the attack. Nepveu worked past Morgan at turn 10, and at turn 11, Morgan drove over the back of Nepveu, pushing both off the course and out of the race. Following the contact, some extra-curricular activities commenced resulting in a DQ for both drivers. Up front, Greenemeier was able to put in solid final laps with Tiner on her bumper to the checkered flag for the victory. Round Two winner Connor Zilisch (Nitro / Redspeed) crossed the line third ahead of Jake Drew (RPM / Tony Kart), but both suffered penalties. Zilisch a three-second for pushback bumper and Drew a disqualification for pushback bumper manipulation post-race. That promoted Nathaniel Cicero to third, making it an all Rolison Performance Group / Kosmic podium. Zilisch was classified fourth, bouncing back from qualifying 12th. Rounding out the top-five was Oliver Calvo (LEM / Exprit), up three positions to fifth.
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Sunday, 23 May 2021 12:45 |
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Ryan Norberg became the third different winner on the season in X30 Senior (Photo: EKN)
The Superkarts! USA Pro Tour has invaded the Utah Motorsports Campus for the weekend, and the 0.9-mile, 18-turn Alan Wilson designed track provided the stage for some tremendous racing during the opening day of competition on Saturday. The 11th running of the organization’s SpringNationals began in extremely cool temperatures, but as the day heated up, so did the action. With the temps rising to the mid-60s by the early afternoon, the main events featured some tremendously close racing and tons of wheel-to-wheel dicing – with non of the nine categories seeing one driver sweep the action on the day. Four-time SKUSA Pro Tour champion Ryan Norberg dominated the X30 Senior main event for Rolison Performance, leading an impressive 1-2 finish with teammate Branyon Tiner, while AJ Myers scored his third straight Pro Shifter win of the 2021 season to put Magik Kart USA back on top of the podium. With nine classes running in eight race groups, the action did not stop all day.
The Ryan Norberg was a similar ‘Ryan Norberg’ to who we saw in 2019 here in Utah for the SpringNationals. A dominating performance in the Rolison Performance Group X30 Senior class, but not a complete perfect day. Rolison Performance Group / Kosmic teammate Hannah Greenemeier edge Norberg for fast time in qualifying by 15 thousandths of a second with a 57.663-lap. Contact in the opening lap with Greenemeier and Cole Morgan (RPM / Tony Kart) sent them to the back of the field. That allowed Norberg to lead all 12 laps of the Prefinal unchallenged with Branyon Tiner (RPG / Kosmic) driving to second. That was how they would start the Final, and finish the main event with Norberg leading all 20 laps, recording the fast lap of race, winning by over four seconds. Tiner was able to get away in second, giving RPG a 1-2 finish. The fight was for third with Dante Yu (PGR / Ricciardo) moving up two spots to the third step on the podium. Greenemeier put in a great drive in both the Prefinal and Final. Moving up to 16th in the Prefinal, she powered her way to fourth by the end of the Final, but a pushback bumper penalty dropped her to sixth. That moved Canadian Thomas Nepveu (PSL / Birel ART) to fourth and Thomas Annunziata (MDR / Tony Kart) to fifth.
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Thursday, 20 May 2021 07:31 |
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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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Thursday, 29 April 2021 14:31 |
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The 17th season of the California ProKart Challenge hosted the opening event of the season at the Buttonwillow Raceway Park. Round One of the five-event, six-round championship took place on April 24-25 at the Buttonwillow, California facility. Ideal racing weather welcomed more than 120 entries in 11 categories, as racers began their bid for a victory and endeavor toward the 2021 championship. The two-day event saw the racers take the track on Saturday for practice and qualifying, with the Prefinal and Final events held on Sunday.
The largest category of the weekend was the Nash Motorsportz KA100 Senior with 33 drivers. Qualifying saw seven drivers clock in a time within one tenth of the fastest lap, set by Dante Yu. He led the opening five laps of the Prefinal until he was eventually shuffled back to the sixth position. Colorado driver Macy Williams took over the lead and led the remainder of the 12-lap race for the win and pole position in the main event. After leading the first circuit, however, Williams lost the advantage on lap four. Blake Nash then established himself into the lead until just before the halfway point, when he was relegated back to third by Yu and Oliver Calvo. Yu led first and then Calvo, before Nash returned to the point on the penultimate lap. The three battled hard on the final circuit, with Nash able to make an exciting move from third to first in the final two corners, reaching the checkered flag for his first victory in the category. Calvo ended up second, with Yu rounding out the podium. Senior rookie Kyriakos Sioukas and Luis Perez finished fourth and fifth.
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Saturday, 24 April 2021 22:39 |
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After a disappointing 2020 which saw SKUSA forced to postpone the SuperNationals due to COVID-19, the Temecula based series is proud to announce more confirmed details for the 24th running of the event in 2021.
First and foremost, the race is 100% a go. However, to accommodate the Rio Hotel’s pandemic reopening schedule, the dates for the 24th SuperNationals will be moved to December 1-5, 2021. The Rio’s contractual commitment to the World Series of Poker forced the schedule change and necessitated SKUSA moving to a different weekend in order to secure the parking lot.
The SKUSA SuperNationals will be the sole karting event at the Rio All-Suites Hotel and Casino in 2021. We expect a capacity crowd thanks to pent up demand and a year hiatus. We are looking to open pre-entry as early as June and encourage teams and drivers to plan accordingly. Customers will be able to play fast payout online casino in roulette or poker.
Hotel accommodations and the parking area will see space in short supply. In addition to the race commencing in the parking lot, the Rio will also be hosting a country festival in the convention areas. More details to be announced, pitting will be limited.
The entire Superkarts! USA Team is eager to get back to Las Vegas and is counting down the days until December.
For our SKUSA Mexico racers to the south, please be advised – the 6th round of the championship will be moved to the weekend previously held by the SuperNationals. So, the December 3-5 dates for SKUSA Mexico will be moved to November 19-21, 2021. We have announced a prize package for SKUSA Mexico that includes entries at the 2021 SuperNationals. |
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