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| EKN Trackside: 2026 Superkarts! USA Pro Tour SummerNationals – Saturday Report |
| Sunday, 26 July 2026 00:00 |
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Gus Lawrence claimed his second victory on the season in Pro X30 (Photo: EKN) The 17th running of the Superkarts! USA SummerNationals returned to its spiritual home at New Castle Motorsports Park this weekend and the SKUSA Pro Tour’s fifth round had no shortage of fireworks as two championships were secured and others tightened while welcoming five new winners on the season in the seven main events on the day. The weather began with ideal conditions, although light rain arrived during the KA100 Master finale only to fade away for the remainder of the main events. Rolison Performance Group’s Gus Lawrence (Kosmic) emerged as the victor in the Pro X30 class, optimizing his chances to battle Joe Turney (MPG / Kart Republic) for the title with wins in both the Prefinal and Final. In the Pro Shifter class, point leader Matheus Morgatto (Velocity / Sodikart) scored the opening heat race win, while Daniel Formal (GFC Karting and Kyle Wick (GFC Karting) recovered from Heat 1 DNFs to finish 1-2 in the second moto. Lots of work remains to be done on Championship Sunday.It was a near perfect day for Gus Lawrence in the Nash Motorsportz Pro X30 category on the day. He was only nine thousandths from earning the fast time in qualifying with Spanish driver Ruben Moya (FDM / Pantano) stealing the honor with a 1:07.592. Lawrence led all eight laps of the Prefinal, stretching out to an over three-second advantage with Pauly Massimino (BJR / LN Kart) up to second over Moya. The main event was all Lawrence, away from the field early, he continued with consistent laps over the course of the 16-lap distance, pulling away to a four-second wire-to-wire victory for his second on the season. The fight was for second which including six drivers but was eventually in control in the closing laps by Oliver Hodgson (Factory Karts). Jake Drew, making his SKUSA debut on the RPG / Kosmic machine, was back in 10th early on in the race but clawed his way up to third to relegate Moya to fourth and Massimino to fifth.
Two-time winner Matheus Morgatto starts the Pro Shifter Prefinal from pole position (Photo: EKN) In the PSL Karting Pro Shifter class, AJ Myers (Magik Kart USA / Magik Kart) topped his qualifying group and then aced the two-lap SuperPole qualifying session to take the pole ahead of Morgatto. In the open heat race, Morgatto took the early lead, but the key moment was an incident that collected both Formal and Wick on lap 3. Formal made a lunge at the end of the straightaway to get past Marijn Kremers (Carblos / Maranello), but made right front to left rear content with Myers at the corner exit, sending him into a spin than Wick could not avoid, Gavin Bayliff (TKG / Birelart) also took a hit, having to bail out to the right and into the grass, falling well down the order. Wick and Formal finished 35th and 36th, respectively, while Bayliff fell to 12th. In front of the chaos, Morgatto sped away to the win ahead of Myers and Kremers.Heat Two belonged to Formal and Wick, and they leveraged their newer tires to run away to a 1-2 finish. Morgatto finished third to lock out the pole for the Prefinal, but he was challenged all race long by Myers and Jay Urwin (PSL Karting / Birelart). The Hard Charger in both Pro Shifter heats was Josh Conquer (Carblos / Maranello). After a tire issue in qualifying, the Canadian drove from 20th to ninth in both races to drastically improve his Prefinal grid position.
Donovan Bonilla earned victory in his first season start in KA100 Senior (Photo: EKN) The Pro drivers continued their domination of the Kart CRG USA KA100 Senior division with Donovan Bonilla (RPG / Kosmic) taking the victory on the day in his 2026 class debut. Eli Warren (Hotz / Exprit) was able to come out of qualifying with the fast lap of the session – 1:10.545 – to edge out Bonilla and Round Two winner Ruben Moya (FDM / Pantano). Championship leader Pauly Massimino (BJR / LN Kart) found himself back in 13th on the session but drove forward in the eight lap Prefinal to end up second behind Moya with Warren back in third. Bonilla was fourth and moved up into the lead on lap two of the Final. He and Moya exchanged the lead before Massimino took the lead for the first time on lap 11. He and Bonilla exchanged the lead until lap 12 when Massimino secured the spot. On the final lap, Bonilla was able to grab the lead prior to the final corner. As they came down the ‘Long Pond Straight’, Massimino and Chase Hand (GFC Karting) made it three-wide with Bonilla in the middle. At the line, it was Bonilla by 12 thousandths of a second for the victory. Massimino was second with Hand in third. Matthew Cagle (FW / GFC) was seventh at the line after running second at one point in the race. Penalties to Austin Garrison (SCR / Birelart), Caden McQueen (Velocity / Sodikart), Warren, and contact between Moya, Isaac Malcuit (MDR / LN Kart) and Landon Buher (GFC Karting) promoted Cagle back up to fourth in the order and Spencer Smith (FDM / Pantano) into the fifth spot. On the championship front, Massimino was able to provisionally clinch the series championship, becoming the eighth different title winner in the eight years of the category.
First SKUSA Pro Tour victory in KA100 Junior for Colton Schniegenberg (Photo: EKN) As expected, the TKG Birelart USA KA100 Junior class was a battle to the very end. Tristan Murphy (RPM / Tony Kart) was quickest in the qualifying session to edge out the top four by only 39 thousandths over two-time winner Marco Sammut (BJR / LN Kart), Colton Schniegenberg (RPM / Tony Kart) and Travis Pettit (BJR / LN Kart). Eighth in the session was Round Two winner Ashton Woon (SCR / CS55), knifing his way forward to reach the lead by the white flag and take the Prefinal win over Pettit and Schniegenberg. A group of six drivers formed the lead pack until the halfway point when contact involving Woon and Cameron Johnson (RPG / Kosmic) shuffled up the order. The top three of Pettit, Murphy and Schniegenberg were able to break away. Pettit led before Murphy was able to take the lead, only for one lap before Schniegenberg grabbed the spot coming to the white flag. It was another drag race to the line with Schniegenberg holding off both Murphy and Pettit by 33 thousandths to claim his first SKUSA Pro Tour victory in the category. Sammut was fourth across the line but was removed from tech for a carb issue, promoting Clayton Stiles (IRM / Tony Kart) to fourth and Nathan Golseth (SCR / CS55) to fifth. The title chase is now five drivers in the hunt, including Murphy, Pettit, Schniegenberg, Woon and Golseth all range for the championship.
Tristan Murphy secured his first SKUSA Pro Tour triumph in X30 Junior (Photo: EKN) The Rolison Performance Group X30 Junior welcomed a first-time winner on the day. Two-time winner Travis Pettit (BJR / LN Kart) set the pace in qualifying with a 1:08.869 lap but was beat out by two-time winner Ashton Woon (SCR / CS55) in the Prefinal. Woon set the pace in the Final after Pettit led the opening lap. Eventually Woon and Pettit were away from the field until Maxwell Macha (Parolin Motorsport USA) and Tristan Murphy (RPM / Tony Kart) were able to run them down. Macha went from third to first on lap 14 and showed the way until taking the white flag. Murphy was able to slip by for the top spot and they continued fighting for the second spot. This allowed Murphy to escape with the lead and score his first class victory by 1.3 seconds. Macha was second at the line but penalized for contact with Pettit, dropping him to 10th in the order. This promoted Woon to second and Pettit – who had fast lap of the race – into third. Nathan Golseth (SCR / CS55) and Grayson Walcott (RPG / Kosmic) completed the top five. The championship is down to just two with Pettit leading by 12 points over Woon, however, the lead grows to 50 factoring in the drop. Every session on Sunday will matter between the two for the championship.
Victory and championship locked for Mario Barrios in KA100 Master on Saturday (Photo: EKN) Mario Barrios (RPG / Kosmic) emerged as the winner of the Mini Motorsports KA100 Master battle, after an entertaining four-driver race-long battle between his fellow RPG drivers Mingnan Xu and Mike Rolison, and Trevor Prestel (AFK / Kosmic). The quartet battled through the entire 16-lap distance, including a stint of rain over the course of the first few laps, never separated by more than a half-second. Barrios was able to take the checkered flag by just 0.110 seconds ahead of Xu. Prestel won the drag-race to the line with Rolison for third, sending it across the line to take the spot by just 0.036 seconds. Cristian Smith (PSL / Birelart) trailed the group in the fifth position. For Barrios, it’s a third straight win and lock of the series championship, his third career SKUSA title.
Wire-to-wire day for Dutch Westbrook in Mini Swift (Photo: EKN) It was a championship-like performance by Dutch Westbrook (Team Benik) in the Mega Power Engines Mini Swift division. Westbrook was able to clear the field by two tenths in qualifying to grab the 10 bonus points coming in as the championship leader. He led all seven laps of the Prefinal to beat out Aidan Go (Parolin Motorsport USA) by only 69 thousandths at the line. The Final was Westbrook leading two-time winner Mason Brody (SCR / Nitro Kart) and Go for the entire 14-lap distance. Go took the second spot by lap 10 but Westbrook was able to get away from them in the closing laps, reaching the line first by over two seconds to claim his first SKUSA Pro Tour victory on the category. Go ended up second with SKUSA Winter Series champion Jake Manalio (RPM / Nitro Kart) coming up from 13th to steal third from Brody at the line. Slate Harrell (MPG / Alonso Kart) was right there in fifth. Westbrook and Brody are now the only two drivers who can claim the championship going into Sunday with the gap 109. Factoring in the drop, the difference is only 15 points between Westbrook and Brody with each session on track key to their run at the title.
First career Micro Swift victory for Liam Compitiello (Photo: EKN) The Grupo Santana Vega Micro Swift welcomed its fifth different winner over the five round of the SKUSA Pro Tour. Round Two winner Tre Sanders (RPM / Nitro Kart) came out of qualifying with the fast time in 10 bonus points in the championship, edged out Liam Compitiello (RPM / Nitro Kart). The Prefinal saw Round One winner Tristan Francisco (RPM / Nitro Kart) come from fourth on the grid to the lead and the win, only to be penalized 10 seconds for ‘driving down’. This gave Compitiello the win over Sanders with Round Three winner Beau Wyatt (Team Benik) in third. Sanders led the opening lap of the main event before Wyatt took control on lap two. Wyatt and Compitiello were able to break away and ended the Final in a drag race to the checkered flag. At the line, Compitiello edged out Wyatt by 41 thousandths of a second to claim his first SKUSA Pro Tour victory. Sanders won the battle for third over Dusty Strayer (SCR / Nitro Kart) with Francisco up to fifth from ninth. The top three of Wyatt, Sanders and Francisco have a shot at the title going into Sunday.The drivers and teams will head back to the track for Championship Sunday and the forecast promises another great day with temps in the mid-80s. The Pro Shifter category will run its Prefinal to set the grid for the afternoon main event, while Lawrence will lead the rest of the Pro X30 grid in their attempt to thwart Turney’s target of a second SKUSA Pro Tour title. EKN coverage will begin with qualifying and will continue throughout the day. EKN’s Rob Howden will once again join Xander Clements and Kaleb Viesca on the live Kart Chaser broadcast. |
