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| December 26, 2008 News |
| World Karting Association Daytona KartWeek Preview |
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For those who have been involved in karting for many years, the month of December has become quite a family tradition. In between shopping for gifts and supplies for the big dinner, it’s out in the garage working on the kart. When Christmas Day hits, there is a sense of urgency with very little time to open gifts and feast as you need to hit the road to head south to Daytona Beach, the site of the World Karting Association Daytona KartWeek presented by Cometic Gasket. Inside the famed Daytona International Speedway on December 27-30, the George Kugler/Bridgestone Manufacturer’s Cups Series and Dunlop Tire Road Racing Series - both driven by Mazda - will take over the facility to contend the opening rounds of the 2009 championship seasons.
Keeping with that tradition that began some 34 years ago, the holiday classic will begin with load-in on December 27 for both the Manufacturer’s Cup Series and Road Racing competitors. That same night, a ‘Welcome Back to Daytona Party’ will take place that evening with complimentary food and beverages, as well as music in the Sprint FANZONE, and Chevy Hot Lap rides around the famous 2.5-mile Superspeedway, are on the agenda.
On Sunday, December 28, the on-track action begins with a full day of practice on the 7/10-mile sprint course on the infield near NASCAR turn 3 and 4 for the Margay Sprint Championships, while the Daytona Championships will be buzzing around the 3.56-mile circuit that incorporates the high-banks and infield course. That night, the Manufacturer’s Cup Series will honor the champions from the 2008 season at the year-end awards banquet at the Daytona 500 Club, located adjacent with the Gatorade Victory Lane inside the Speedway. The Road Racing program to honor their 2008 season champions will take place at the same location, on December 29, following the day’s action on the track.
Monday and Tuesday will be filled with wheel-to-wheel action. On the sprint track, eight classes are set to run Qualifying, Last Chance Qualifiers if needed, Prefinals and Finals on Saturday with seven categories slated for Sunday. New to the Manufacturer’s Cup Series is the TaG Masters category, which will run Monday. Pre-entries for the class have already shown that it will be a popular addition to the line-up. With the addition of the Masters class, Yamaha Pipe was condensed into one class rather than a Lite and Heavy, which was formerly run on separate days. The Yamaha Pipe class will run Monday as well, moving Yamaha Masters to Tuesday - or day 2 on the daily schedule. The popular Kid Kart exhibitions will run during the break times.
 | The Manufacturer's Cup Series will compete inside the NASCAR turn 3-4 section
(Photo: Go Racing Magazine) |
Seven different race groups will make up the road racing action each day, ranging from Briggs Jr. Sprint to 250cc twin-cylinder powered Superkarts reaching 150mph. The classes offered for the 2009 season matches the ’08 lineup with the exception of a change in Piston Port Can Sprint. Three classes were presented in 2008 (340/360/380lbs.) with only two (360/380lbs.) to run in 2009 with the 360 class to run once each day. Also, a Stock Leopard class has been added to the national program, running once both days.
Stories to watch in Daytona and throughout the year in the Manufacturer’s Cup Series include the big award for the chassis manufacturers. Will Birel, supported the MRP Motorsport stable, repeat as the Manufacturers Trophy winner again in 2009 after earning their first-ever last year. Margay and Merlin - with Franklin Motorsports and Mike Doty Racing - will be battling them all season long, while Arrow and others look to contend as well thanks to growing participation by their customers. The TaG division will most likely be the largest Senior class all year, with top-notch names like defending class champion Chris Larson, Caleb Loniewski, Travis Firing, and many others. Additional stories can ben found in the drivers transitioning from Junior to Senior racing, and those going from Cadet to Junior level racing.
Meanwhile, while road racing is considered to be ‘laid-back’ style of racing, Bret Spaude is taking exception to that statement. The former WKA Triple Crown winner and reigning SCCA Runoffs T3 national champion will return back to the kart seat, running nine classes in the two days. Spaude will be racing in both Spec 125 Sprint (TaG) classes, Yamaha Sportsman Medium, Heavy, Yamaha Medium, Heavy in his laydown machine, B Stock and Unlimited aboard the twin-engine laydown rocket, and Briggs Animal 385. No doubt a difference in speed and driving styles.
 | | Yamaha Sportsman Heavy lay-downs on the Daytona high banks |
While eKartingNews.com will not be trackside this year, there will be plenty of joint-coverage from all different angles. For those interested in hearing the Manufacturer’s Cup Series action live, RaceFanRadio.com will be trackside to bring you the action live via their web broadcast. Details on their online schedule will be released at a later time.
eKartingNews.com will be working with a few drivers that will be in action during the event who will provide their own ‘WKA Daytona KartWeek Blog’. On the Manufacturer’s Cup Series side, EKN will have Rock Island Grand Prix TaG winner and future Firestone Indy Lights driver Michele Bumgarner, veteran Chris Wehrheim, and reigning Cadet national champion Trent Hindman posting diaries from the track.
There are many interesting stories in the Road Racing camp that we'll be following. The Fry family is back in Daytona again as father Jim will be joined his sons Brandon and Lance. All three will be running in Daytona, as they do every year. Jim is a karting veteran who has attended nearly every Daytona KartWeek event. His sons Lance and Brandon will be racing alongside him - Lance a laydown ace with multiple championships and victories and Brandon, who will be returning to his karting roots. Brandon serves as a race engineer on the Conquest Racing Indy Car team and is well respected in the paddock.
The WKA will also be providing eKartingNews.com with full results, daily reports, and human interest pieces to publish on the event. To discuss the event and to find the links to the KartWeek Blogs, visit the Official Discussion Thread. |
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