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| July 15, 2008 News |
| EKN Trackside: IKF Road Race Grand Nationals - Preview |
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The Portland Karting Association has put in months of planning for four days of action at the Portland International Raceway for the running of the 2008 International Kart Federation (IKF) Road Race Grand Nationals. Twenty-eight classes - ranging from 4-cycle to Unlimited - are on the docket for an action packed week of racing around the newly-repaved 1.9-mile course.
The event currently has 250 entries heading into the event, more than the total amount of last year’s event in Reno, NV. With the help of IKF dropping the traditional three-punch rule, which is allowing anyone who has a qualified Road Race license the chance to compete. Another deal that has boasted the entry count is the special ‘Thrifty Five-Fifty Racer’ deal. A driver can race as many classes as they can for a flag fee of $550. Many drivers are taking advantage of that special to get as much track time as possible and better their chances at earning a Duffy.
Among the 28 classes will be two ‘pro’ classes set to run Tuesday afternoon following practice. The United States Kart Grand Prix Pro Race will feature the Super Stock CR125 class. USKGP will provide $250 to the winner along with trophies. PKA will add 50% of the entry fee monies to pay back first through 10th. The same will go for the Competition Motor Corporation Pro Race, which will feature TaG Heavy competitors, with $250 from CMC going to the winner.
Another focus throughout the week will be the return of Junior competitors to the IKF Road Race Grand Nationals. Two classes will be offered for the younger pilots - TaG Junior and Rotax Junior - run on separate days will provide the drivers under 15-years of age to claim a prestigious Duffy.
New to the IKF Road Race Grand Nationals will be the ET Racer class -set to run at the end of the event. Open to any kart that meets the current safety standards while utilizing any type of engine under the 220cc limit, drivers will race against the clock rather than each other. The revised ‘Run What Ya Brung’ type class for senior level drivers will award the best drivers who run consistent laps during the 30-minute race. Essentially, the PKA scoring staff will take your best lap in that race and project the number of laps you would complete at that pace in the allotted time. The driver with the best percentage after factoring the actual distance traveled will be the class winner.
Looking to give back to the racers, a couple of contingency sponsors will be offered throughout the event. Azusa Manufacturing is awarding $100 to the winner of each class if they are wearing an Azusa driver’s suit, pants, and or jacket. NGK will be awarding a box of sparkplugs to any driver making the podium using an NGK sparkplug in their engine while running an NGK sticker on their kart. Another award to be presented during the Road Race Grand Nationals will be the annual Troy Ruttman Jr. Memorial Award, given to the person/team with the most innovative and best appearing kart. Other special awards will be handed throughout the event as well.
A change in the original event schedule will move the BRC Engineering BBQ presented by Team SPS from Thursday night to Wednesday night. BRC will sponsor the event while SPS will provide the cooking for everyone to attend. Also on Wednesday, Channel 12 Local News will be on hand to catch some footage for their news broadcast to spread the word about the karting event throughout the Portland area.
For a complete schedule of events this weekend, load the Event Schedule in PDF format. To follow updates throughout the week, watch the Official Discussion Thread along with the Official Event Page (to be uploaded soon). |
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