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Friday, 03 March 2023 09:29 |
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2023 season for the California ProKart Challenge begins on the March 11-12 weekend in Buttonwillow
The 2023 California ProKart Challenge will begin on the March 11-12 weekend at Buttonwillow Raceway Park. The 19th season of the Superkarts! USA regional program visits the California facility for the first round of the six-round championship series. The race will be the first major event within the state on the season, with big numbers anticipated for the two-day event.
Buttonwillow has been a popular and consistent destination for the series, with its centralized location between northern and southern California. The opening round is slated for the national circuit in the counter-clockwise direction, including the popular ‘Spa’ and ‘Le Mans’ section that produce exciting finishes.
The 2023 California ProKart Challenge schedule has been revised from what was originally slated heading into the calendar year, due mostly to weather delaying the completion of the new K1 Circuit in Winchester, California.
“Weather has not been friendly to us here in the southern California region over the last few months, including this past week,” stated Superkarts! USA CEO Tom Kutscher. “The new K1 Circuit has had delays in completing their final phase of construction before opening their doors, which we anticipate will be later this Spring. The facility will be a key partner to SKUSA and the California ProKart Challenge now and in the future, and we look forward to hosting our first ever event there in August.”
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Monday, 13 February 2023 06:57 |
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A big X30 Senior win on Championship Sunday gave Brit Joe Turney the SKUSA Winter Series title (Photo: OTP)
The final round of the Superkarts! USA Winter Series offered up a day full of ultra-competitive racing and the championship battles, as everyone headed into the main events at the AMR Homestead-Miami Motorplex with different goals. The weather has cooled off a little from Saturday, but while the rain clouds loomed late in the day, it was dry racing from start to finish. Taking ‘Championship Sunday’ quite seriously, British talent Joe Turney scored the main event win in X30 Senior to clinch the title, as did AJ Myers in Pro Shifter. Collin Lloyd emerged with the victory in KA100 Senior and while it did not translate into a Winter Series title, it was his second win of the year and certainly put his name in the national spotlight.
Factory Kart Republic driver Joe Turney (Chad Dokken Racing / DAP) delivered a virtually flawless performance in the Speed Concepts X30 Senior category, beginning the day by topping qualifying over Ryan Norberg (Rolison Performance Group / Kosmic). Turney led from the green in the Prefinal, but both Norberg and Saturday winner Austin Garrison (Speed Concepts Racing / Redspeed) also took turns up front before Turney eventually went back to the lead to lock down the pole for the 22-lap main event. Heading into the final, with his pole position and Prefinal points in hand, Turney was in the driver’s seat for the championship, as Norberg and Garrison needed to win to force his hand.
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Sunday, 12 February 2023 08:51 |
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Austin Garrison ran away from the X30 Senior pack to score a popular win (Photo: OTP)
The third round of the Superkarts! USA Winter Tour was contested on Saturday in comfortable mid-80s weather and the previously forecasted rain held off all day. Throughout the Prefinals and Finals, the intensity of the racing felt like it was kicked up a notch from the opening weekend in January, and the fight for the championship titles was certainly on the mind of many drivers. When the dust has settled from some incredibly competitive main events, Speed Concepts Racing’s Austin Garrison (Redspeed) scored a popular win in X30 Senior while Peyton Phillips (RPM / Tony Kart) earned his first national series win with an impressive run in KA100 Senior. AJ Myers (Magik Kart USA / Magik Kart) was the class of a short field in Pro Shifter and was focused on using the weekend for warm weather seat time ahead of the start of the SKUSA Pro Tour.
We couldn’t have asked for a much more intense Speed Concepts Racing X30 Senior main event. Fast qualifier Austin Garrison (SCR / Redspeed) fell back to sixth in the Prefinal, which was won by Joe Turney (DAP), but he’d be back in the fight before it was all said and done. Turney moved from a tough qualifying performance (ninth) to fifth after the opening circuit of the 12-lap Prefinal, and then steadily powered forward to score the win and the pole for the final. Turney led the opening laps of the main, but Garrison was on the move and he took over the top spot on lap three, holding it to lap 10 when he was dropped to second. Garrison mentioned in a pre-race interview that he knew that he’d have late race speed, and that was certainly the case, retaking the lead from Turney on lap 15. Garrison was able to pull away as the fight behind him got heated and, over the final laps, he pulled out to a 2.980-second advantage at the checkered. Garrison’s win made it three different winners over the first three races.
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Friday, 10 February 2023 11:58 |
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Joe Turney looks to add a SKUSA Winter Series championship to his CV (Photo: OTP)
The second and finale event of the 2023 Superkarts! USA Winter Series championship will take place at the AMR Homestead-Miami Motorplex presented by MG Tires facility in Homestead, Florida. The sixth season of the two-event program will conclude on the February 10-12 weekend with Round Three and Four contested over Saturday and Sunday, following a full day of official practice on Friday. The 7/10-mile circuit will be utilized in the clockwise direction, opposite of the opening weekend last month.
Two new SKUSA winners set the tone in X30 Senior presented by Speed Concepts Racing. Former European champion Joe Turney stamped his debut with Kart Republic, winning the opening round with Rolison Performance Group / Kosmic driver Donovan Bonilla picking up his first major victory. Turney leads the championship after two rounds by 40 points over 2022 race winner Alessandro de Tullio (Parolin USA) – who is not pre-registered. Five-time SKUSA Pro Tour champion Ryan Norberg (RPG / Kosmic) is third with fellow Floridian Austin Garrison (SCR / Redspeed) fourth while Bonilla finds himself back in fifth, 82 points out of first. Read full story on eKartingNews.com
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Thursday, 26 January 2023 11:17 |
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Orlando Kart Center will host the 2023 SKUSA Pro Tour WinterNationals
After being announced in August of 2022, the schedule for this year’s Superkarts! USA Pro Tour has been altered significantly over the last two weeks due to circumstances outside of the organization’s control.
As confirmed during the SKUSA Winter Series opener in Homestead, FL, this year’s Pro Tour WinterNationals will be moving from NOLA Motorsports Park to the Orlando Kart Center after recent contract negotiations with the facility went in a negative direction. Despite this unforeseen disappointment, SKUSA is thrilled to have the opportunity to make its debut at OKC, and the event dates will remain the same on the March 31 – April 2 weekend. Immediate feedback from the teams that support the Pro Tour was unanimously positive, as the venue change will decrease their travel costs. Input from many drivers and their parents was also positive.
“To be honest, I’m still pretty floored with how everything went down with NOLA Motorsports Park over the last six weeks, but we were put in a position where we truly had no choice but to look for an alternate facility,” offered SKUSA CEO Tom Kutscher. “An unreasonable increase in what they expected us to pay for the track rental forced us to seek another option, and I want to thank Andre Martins from the Orlando Kart Center for welcoming us to his facility for the WinterNationals.”
Unfortunately, the WinterNationals location is not the only change in the 2023 national racing schedule. SKUSA was extremely excited about debuting at the new K1 Circuit in Winchester, CA, but while the track construction continues, it has become apparent that the facility will not be prepared to host an event of the magnitude of the SpringNationals by the June 9-11 event date. In its place, SKUSA has completed an agreement to head back to the Utah Motorsports Campus for this year’s midway point in the Pro Tour. SKUSA has a long history of major events at UMC, and the racing has always been competitive.
“Like everyone in California, we’re anxious to take to the track at our region’s newest facility, which will no doubt be an immediate crown jewel for karting on the west coast,” Kutscher continued. “But while the track is working diligently on its construction, we simply cannot commit to it being ready for the SpringNationals. We’re thrilled to be working closely with the track’s new General Manager – Mike Smith – and we look forward to holding a few California ProKart Challenge races there this year, and very likely the SpringNationals in 2024. Stay tuned for more updates to the California PKC schedule in the very near future, as well.”
The Pro Tour season finale, the SummerNationals, remains confirmed at New Castle Motorsports Park on the July 28-30 weekend to cap the championship series. |
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