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Supernationals
EKN Trackside: Superkarts! USA SuperNationals 28 – SuperSunday Report
Monday, 17 November 2025 00:00

Senna Van Walstijn celebrates his Pro Shifter victory inside the Las Vegas Motor Speedway (Photo: Cody Schindel - CKN)

It was a historic SuperSunday to close out Superkarts! USA SuperNationals 28. For the first time in event history, postponed heat races and Last Chance Qualifiers were moved onto the final day of action due to the rain that continued to fall at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway on Saturday evening. A revised schedule for SuperSunday added in the final Pro class heat races, the opening ceremonies, and three LCQ races before the paddock rolled into the nine main events for the day. The weather was sunny, but it was certainly the coldest of the week and the added events pushed the action went to almost 7:00 pm local time, making for a fast-paced 12-hour day for officials and competitors. – Complete Coverage at the EKN Event Page.

The final races of the day took place under the lights around the temporary circuit outside Las Vegas Motor Speedway and featured 42 drivers taking the green flag. On the front row was former FIA Karting World Champion Viktor Gustafsson (Kart CRG USA) and Markus Kajak (Goodwood / Formula K), who saw his race end last year with contact in turn one while leading. At the drop of the green, Kajak grabbed the holeshot while Gustafsson struggled going into turn one, pushing wide while trying to make the turn. This collected Ricardo Longhi (PSL / Birelart) as the rest of the field powered around on the inside. Two drivers in contention were pushed wide in turn four as they tried to go three wide. Velocity Racing / Sodi Kart teammates Matheus Morgatto and Matteo Spirgel – starting fifth and seventh – saw their SuperSunday end after just four corners.

Senna Van Walstijn drove from 16th to first in Pro Shifter to claim his first SuperNationals victory (Photo: Cody Schindel – CKN)

All of this left Kajak with a big lead while last year’s FIA Karting World Champion Giuseppe Palomba (Maranello USA) ran second as 2022 winner Pedro Hiltbrand (PSL / Birelart) advanced up to third from ninth. Palomba and Hiltbrand led a group that included Jay Urwin (PSL / Birelart) and Kyle Wick (GFC Karting). Eventually, top qualifier and current FIA Karting World Champion Senna Van Walstijn (Velocity / Sodi Kart) was right there after starting back in 16th. Once Hiltbrand worked by Kajak on lap eight, he was able to build a gap while the rest of the group looked for a way past Kajak. On lap 11, while fighting for position, there was contact between Palomba and Urwin, sending the Kiwi into the wall on the exit of turn 12. Laps later, Palomba was black flagged off the track for the intentional contact with Urwin. Van Walstijn took advantage to move up to third and the following lap move past Kajak for second.

Now at the halfway point, Hiltbrand held a two-second advantage over Van Walstijn. Running laps close to his quickest of the race, on lap seven while running fifth, Senna cut into the gap that Hiltbrand had established. It took just seven laps for Walstijn to catch Hiltbrand and just one lap to work by for the lead. From there, the Dutch driver continued his quick pace and pulled away to a seventh tenths advantage at the end of 25 laps to claim his first SuperNationals victory. Senna made history by becoming the first driver to come from 16th on the grid to win, the furthest back anyone has won from in Pro Shifter history. It was the third SuperNationals victory for Sodi Kart in the category, joining the two wins by Anthony Abbasse in 2011 and 2013.

Hiltbrand settled for the second spot for a second straight year with Wick crossing the line in third. Kajak was fourth with former SKUSA Pro Tour champion AJ Myers (Magik Kart USA) making an amazing run to fifth from 21st on the grid. That was the provisional podium after the race but it changed following tech as Wick would be removed for an issue with the ‘exhaust ubend tube’. This promoted Kajak to third, Myers to fourth and resulted in an impressive top-five finish for Massimo Valiante (IM / Italkart) – son of three-time winner Michael Valiante – after not qualifying for the main event over the last two years. Cristian Bertuca (PSL / Birelart) improved 17 spots to sixth, Adrien Renaudin (Velocity / Sodi Kart) moved up from 20th to seventh, Canadian Remo Ruscitti (IM / Italkart) placed eighth, Corentin Rousseau (IM / Italkart) ninth and Gustafsson was 10th after slipping back throughout the race.

Gus Lawrence was named the winner in Pro X30, becoming the 22nd different winner in the category (Photo: EKN)

The penultimate race in the SuperSunday order was Pro X30, and it provided a great deal of drama both during and after the 25-lap race for the 40 drivers who took the green flag. Alessandro de Tullio (RRC / LN Racing Kart) and Italian driver Iacopo Martinese (MPG / Kart Republic) led the field to the green flag with a clean start throughout the opening corners. ADT pushed wide on the exit of the opening corner, bogging down the outside lane as Senior rookie Alexander Vanchev (RPG / Kosmic) slipped by for the lead with defending race winner Joe Turney (MPG / Kart Republic) up to second by the end of lap one. The lead group was just six drivers over the opening laps until lap six when the charging Ruben Moya (FDM / Kart Republic) made his way to the point. It lasted for just one straightaway as into turn one, Vanchev made a halfway attempt at a pass, pushing wide and into Moya’s left rear, resulting in Moya making contact with the wall. He continued on but fell back to 12th by the time he got out of the barriers. This triggered the busy action that saw Turney into the lead and followed by de Tullio back at the front.

All that action allowed more and more drivers to join the long lead pack that stretched down the long front straight with ADT and Turney at the front. Eventually, things settled down until those pulling away through the halfway mark began the fight for P1. Turney took over the spot on lap 15 before de Tullio took back the position on lap 17. This allowed Blake Nash (Nash / EOS) to close in with Aussie driver Mika Lemasurier (BJR / LN Racing Kart) up from 23rd to now fourth. On lap 18, Turney responded in turn four and as they went through turn five, Nash tried to make it three wide, making contact with the curb and shooting straight into de Tullio. That sent them both into the wall, and out of the race.

Lemasurier slid past for the second spot and was quickly on the bumper of Turney with Diego Ramos (PSL / Birelart) and Caden McQueen (Velocity / Sodi Kart) trailing, having arrived on the scene. With five laps remaining, they began fighting and this allowed the RPG trio of Gus Lawrence, Vanchev and Hannah Greenemeier to close with Moya at the end of the line in his drive back after the turn one contact with Vanchev. Turney, Lemasurier and McQueen battled for the lead, allowing even more drivers to close up to the lead pack that included over 12 karts. On lap 23, Moya made contact on the exit of turn seven, resulting in a bent axle that ended his comeback effort. Up front, McQueen was into the lead with Ramos now second and Turney in third. The top two battle for the top spot with Ramos taking the white flag as the leader and the train right there. Ramos covered the bottom into turn one, pushing him wide to give McQueen the over/under. As they entered turn four, Turney made slight contact with the bumper of McQueen. This pushed both he and Ramos wide, as Turney slipped under for the lead bringing Gus Lawrence with him. Lawrence was unable to make a move in the final corners, as the UK drivers went across the line 1-2-3 with Turney taking the provisional victory over Gus and McQueen in third.

As they came into the scale line, it appeared that McQueen made side-by-side contact with Turney, who was pushed into the outside wall and continued to the scales. There, it was clearly visible that Turney made hard contact on the right side of his front bumper, and he would eventually receive a three-second pushback bumper penalty. At the podium, Turney celebrated as the provisional winner over Lawrence and McQueen. Ramos and Martinese completed the unofficial top-five. Following the podium, Turney was handed a five-second penalty for the contact with McQueen, taking away the win and promoting Lawrence to first.

Lawrence became the second straight driver from the UK to win the category, and the 22nd different winner in the 22 editions of the class at the SuperNationals. McQueen moved to second with Ramos out of the top-five due to a blocking penalty of three seconds. This moved Martinese into third, promoted Olin Galli (Kart CRG USA) to fourth after crossing the line in eighth, and Austin Garrison (SCR / CS55) from ninth to fifth. Alexander Vanchev (RPG / Kosmic) and Frankie Mossman (SCR / CS55) were sixth and seventh across the line, but penalties for ‘incident responsibility’ and ‘passing under yellow’ dropped them to 13th and 30th respectively. The final results show Lemasurier sixth in his SuperNationals debut with Collin Lloyd (Velocity / Sodi Kart) seventh, 2023 winner Donovan Bonilla (RPG / Kosmic) eighth, Eli Warren (HDD / Tony Kart) ninth and Greenemeier (RPG / Kosmic) in 10th. Turney was classified 11th.

Diego Ramos edged out Joe Turney for the victory in KA100 Senior, separated by a class record-setting 22 thousandths (Photo: Cody Schindel – CKN)

The KA100 Senior main event had its own drama on and off the track for the SuperSunday main event. Pole sitter Jake Drew (FW / GFC) was able to get away early as a group of drivers battled for the second spot. By the time they got to lap six, Pauly Massimino (BJR / LN Racing Kart) was into the second spot but the group had closed up to Drew during all their fighting. Massimino took over the lead on lap eight as Drew slotted into second. Defending race winner Joe Turney (MPG / Kart Republic) was back in fifth on lap 12, when Massimino went defensive with Drew looking for a way past. Going into turn four, Turney was able to go from fifth to second with the drivers pushing wide on the exit. Massimino continued the defensive line, bunching up the group and allowing more and more drivers to join the tail end of the lead pack.

Turney took advantage of the first time Massimino went to the regular racing line into turn six and Ramos followed him through for second. Turney then went on the defensive line with Ramos on this bumper. As they did that, there were several drivers fighting for the third spot which allowed the top two to get away from them as they went to the normal racing line. On the final lap, Ramos was able to hold the outside line around turn six and seven to be able to have a slight edge on Turney entering turn eight. As they made the exit, Ramos held the lead and went defensive into the final turn. Turney set up the over / under as Ramos clipped the curb to hug the inside line. Turney hit the slingshot to drive inside as they ran to the checkered flag. At the line, Ramos took the victory by a mere 22 thousandths of a second, the closest finish in the seven-edition history of KA100 Senior. Turney settled for second across the line with Marijn Kremers (RPG / Kosmic) – who started 20th – emerging from the last lap battle to end up third ahead of Race Liberante (FDM / Pantano), up 14 spots from 18th. Massimino crossed the line fifth with Drew back in sixth and Ruben Moya (FDM / Pantano) advancing 10 spots to seventh after making contact with the outside barriers coming to the line.

Post-race, Ramos was handed a three-second pushback bumper penalty to provisionally hand the win over to Turney. A protest by Ramos was heard, and the penalty was overturned, reestablishing him as the race winner. Turney was moved back to second in his win defense. Kremers and Liberante were both given penalties to move them off the podium. Kremers received a five-second penalty for contact with Moya, dropping him to 10th in the final result while Liberante was handed a three-second penalty for ‘scrubbing tires after commitment cone’ to place him ninth. This promoted Massimino to third, Moya to fourth and Chase Hand (GFC Karting) to fifth as Drew was given a five-second penalty for contact with Moya.

Billy Musgrave extended his all-time win total to six with a second straight victory in Master Shifter (Photo: Cody Schindel – CKN)

The Master Shifter field of 42 drivers launched off the grid for their main event – which was fourth in the order with polesitter and defending race winner Billy Musgrave (Factory Karts) grabbing the holeshot. In a dominant performance, he would not be challenged enroute to the victory, leading all 22 laps. As the field hit turn one, Alan Sciuto (GFC Karting), Davide Fore (Goodwood / Praga) and Jordon Musser (PSL / Birelart) made contact to bog them down. Fore came away with the second spot with Musser to third and Sciuto into fourth. As they completed the opening lap, Fore had his engine seize while closing into turn one. This moved Musser to second with Sciuto into third. Sciuto tried all race long but was unable to hold the second spot. At the line, Musgrave had drivend away to a 3.899-second margin of victory, adding a record-setting sixth SuperNationals victory to his record, now two more than any other driver. Musser held off Sciuto at the line for second with Dutch driver Sam Claes (Velocity / Sodi Kart) winning the battle for fourth over Jonathan Vitolo (GFC Karting). Scott ‘Skitchy’ Barnes (Maranello USA) had the Hard Charger nod, moving up from 29th to 12th.

Two straight for Ben Cooper in KA100 Master puts him in the four-win club at the SuperNationals (Photo: Cody Schindel – CKN)

Ben Cooper (RPG / Kosmic) was able to join the four-win club at the SKUSA SuperNationals with a second straight victory in KA100 Master. The Canadian got a great jump at the drop of the green flag to establish an early lead. Outside front row starter Chris Wehrheim (RPG / Kosmic) was slow at the start and fell back to fifth behind John Bonanno (CompKart), Renato Jader David (Orsolon / Tony Kart) and four-time class winner Kip Foster (BJR / LN Racing Kart). Wehrheim only needed lap two and the early start of lap three to move by all three to get into second. After lap three, Cooper’s advantage was 1.5 seconds. Wehrheim inched closer and closer, and was able to reach the rear bumper of Cooper within the final few laps. Wehrheim made his move in turn 10 coming to the white flag, however, Cooper was able to over / under to get back the lead on the exit of the final corner. Cooper went defensive on the final lap with Wehrheim trying the over / under multiple times. In a drag race to the line, Cooper took the victory by 52 thousandths for the closest finish in the four-year history of the category. The battle for third raged on through the final corners as Foster earned the spot over RJD while Carlos Calderon (SCR / CS55) went from ninth to fifth in the final lap. Laurentiu Mardan (Tecno Kart USA) was the Hard Charger of the race, recording fast lap after starting 43rd. He drove up to finish ninth at the line but was penalized three seconds for a tram line violation. This put him official in 11th, a 32-position gain over the 22 laps.

FIA Karting OK Junior champion Noah Baglin earned his first SuperNationals win in KA100 Junior (Photo: Cody Schindel – CKN)

The KA100 Junior main event was the first in the order on SuperSunday with former Mini Swift winner Michael McGaughy (RPM / Kart Republic) and European driver Dean Hoogendoorn (Prema-MPG / Kart Republic) leading the field to the green flag. McGaughy jumped out to the lead as they battled for second behind him. Noah Baglin (Prema-MPG / Kart Republic) made his way into the second spot on lap two. Baglin never left his wingman, staying on the bumper of McGaughy, setting up a clean getaway. They pushed away to a sizable six-second advantage over the fight for third by three to go. Baglin made his first move for the lead and McGaughy returned the favor to retake the position. Baglin responded by taking the lead on lap 21 with an over-under, only to have McGaughy do the same in turn four. McGaughy went defensive into turn six and Baglin ran the outside line to beat him to the exit point. That slowed McGaughy down, as he lost speed through the exit. That was the winning move with Baglin taking the victory by four tenths for his first SuperNationals triumph. McGaughy settled for second with John Antonino (MPG / Kart Republic) beating out Hoogendoorn for the third spot across the line with Travis Pettit (RPG / Kosmic) in fifth. Antonino was removed from the results following post-race tech, thus promoting Hoogendoorn to third, Pettit to fourth and moving Luca Popescu (RPG / Kosmic) onto the podium in fifth.

Dean Hoogendoorn won the X30 Junior main event in his first career SuperNationals start (Photo: Cody Schindel – CKN)

It was a two-driver battle as well for the victory in the X30 Junior division later in the day. Hoogendoorn (Prema-MPG / Kart Republic) and Pettit (RPG / Kosmic) were the drivers that led the field to the green flag. After Hoogendoorn led the opening lap, McGaughy (RPM / Kart Republic) took over the lead, bringing Pettit with him. Max Yuill (RPG / Kosmic) and Theo Salomao (Orsolon / Tony Kart) worked past McGaughy just after, and their fighting allowed Hoogendoorn and Pettit to pull away quickly. Pettit took over the point on lap nine, still holding a 1.8-second advantage. With Pettit at the point, they continued to extend their lead. With three laps remaining, Pettit began running the defensive line. Lap 21, Hoogendoorn was able to run on the outside of Pettit through the turn four-five combination to take over the lead. Over the final lap, Hoogendoorn was able to fend off the challenges by Pettit, reaching the line first by just over a tenth of a second to claim victory in his first SuperNationals start. Pettit settled for second, recording the fast lap of the race with Yuill winning the battle for third ahead of a charging Jaxon Porter (SCR / CS55) and Ashton Woon (SCR / CS55). Porter, who came up from 20th to fourth in the 22 laps, suffered a six-second pushback bumper penalty, dropping him to eighth in the order, moving Woon to fourth and McGaughy to fifth.

Maxwell Macha is the ninth different winner in Mini Swift at the SuperNationals (Photo: Cody Schindel – CKN)

History was also made by the winner in the Mini Swift category. Maxwell Macha (Parolin Motorsport USA) was perfect through qualifying and the three heat races to start from the pole position as Santiago Orioli (Velocity / Sodi Kart) started from the outside of row one. At the drop of the green flag, Orioli got the jump on Macha into the opening corner and led through the opening lap. Macha was able to draft past Orioli down the front straight to begin lap two as Orioli was shuffled on the outside, dropping back to seventh by the end of the lap. Lap three, Liam Nachawati (JHDD / Kart Republic) made a bid for the lead but Macha responded. This dropped Nachawati to third with last year’s Micro Swift winner Zayne Burgess (Parolin Motorsport USA) moving into second. Nachawati took back the second spot on lap eight as the top five had pulled away from the rest of the field. Toward the end, Macha and Nachawati held a good advantage over the trio of Oliver Williamson (JHDD / Kart Republic), Burgess, and Jayden Francisco (RPM / Nitro Kart), who ran down the fight for P3 after starting 19th by setting the fast laps of the race. With two to go, Nachawati made his move for the lead and that brought the other three together. On the final lap, Nachawati left just enough room for Macha to slip inside at turn 10. Burgess went with him and on the exit, Francisco and Nachawati made slight contact. Through the final corners, Macha held on to take the checkered flags, becoming the first driver to win both Micro Swift and Mini Swift in SuperNationals history. Burgess was second with Williamson in third. Nachawati was able to survive the contact to cross the line in fourth while Tanner Barsch (Kart CRG USA) took advantage to slip past Francisco for fifth. Nachawati, however, was penalized three-seconds for blocking. That put him sixth overall and promoted Barsch to fourth and Francisco to fifth.

Dutch Westbrook was named winner in Micro Swift after provisional winner Aidan Go was penalized (Photo: EKN)

A great 20-lap battle was put in by the Micro Swift division, featuring 45 drivers from all parts of the world. Jack Kotowski (TKG Birelart USA) and Aidan Go (Parolin Motorsport USA) led the field to the green flag, neither having won a heat race but their consistent results put them on the front row. Kotowski was able to lead the field over the first four circuits until Go, who was pushed back for fourth at the start, worked up to the lead on lap five. He led two laps until Hudson Howard (JHDD / Kart Republic) came up from sixth on the grid to lead the field. Go took the lead for a lap but Howard returned to the point. That was until Dutch Westbrook (Team Benik) put in his bid for the victory, grabbing the top spot on lap 15. As they ran the final few laps, the lead group was roughly seven drivers. As they received the signal of two laps remaining, Go was running second and Westbrook left enough room for Aidan to dive into the inside heading into turn four. Hudson followed Go through as did Amine Pantoli (Velocity / Sodi Kart). Westbrook was able to get himself back into the second spot by the time they reached turn one on the final lap. Go ran a defensive line, even driving down really low into turn eight. As the group went through turn 10, contact ended the race for Pantoli and Lenox Lockhart (Velocity / Sodi Kart). Despite the pressure, Go was able to hold on through the final corners, crossing the line first by 67 thousandths over Westbrook. Samuel Chaverri (PSL / Birelart) advanced from ninth to crossing in third ahead of top qualifier Zev Godschalk (Team Benik), up from 12th on the gird while Alvaro Medeiros (Orsolon / Tony Kart) completed the provisional top-five. Following the race, Go was handed a questionable three-second penalty for blocking with Pantoli. This promoted Westbrook to the victory, becoming the ninth different winner in the division and the third for Benik in the class. Chaverri, Godschalk, and Medeiros all were promoted up one spot to bring Howard into the top-five as well.

The 578 total entries made this the third largest in SuperNationals history, besting last year by 26 and short of number two overall by 10. The 2013 edition with 12 classes is still the only SuperNationals to break the 600 mark at 602 entries. Now the attention turns to the 2026 season. Superkarts! USA will bring in a new era for the SKUSA Winter Series, moving the program to Texas at the Speedsportz Racing Park outside Houston. The 17th season of the SKUSA Pro Tour begins in March and ends in July before the focus becomes the 29th running of the SKUSA SuperNationals.