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| April 30, 2010 News |
| EKN Trackside: WKA Manufacturer’s Cup Series - MKP Nationals Preview |
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The second round of the George Kugler/Bridgestone Manufacturer’s Cup Series Driven by Mazda will take place this weekend at the Michiana Raceway Park in South Bend, Indiana. The MKP Nationals will be the second event of the five-race program for the 2010 season with the series making its return to action since Daytona KartWeek back in late December 2009. The weather for this weekend’s events is questionable, with Saturday improving while a chance of rain stands for Sunday. The series went all 2009 with no precipitation, with the last rain racing taking place back at the 2008 Grand Nationals in June 2008 at Badger Raceway.
The 0.74-mile Michiana Raceway Park national circuit hosted two regional events to begin its 2010 season. Both the Great Lakes Sprint Series and the Midwest Sprint Series opened up their year in the last two weeks in South Bend, giving the Man Cup competitors plenty of early testing for this weekend. With the numbers achieved in the past two weekends, the numbers look promising for this weekend. Continuing to improve the facility each year, the Michiana Raceway Park added a safety net at the exit of turn one to keep any debris from accessing spectator areas, expanded the grid to make traffic in the hot pit lane safer and more convenient as well as creating a new track entrance from the pits to improve safety for karts entering the track.
The opening round at Daytona International Raceway during annual WKA Daytona KartWeek saw just over 500 entries compete on the sprint track inside the famed oval. Despite the large numbers and solid competition, a number of drivers scored multiple victories. On day one, TJ Koyen (Merlin) took the victory in the Komet Heavy and Yamaha SuperCan Lite categories. Sage Karam (Birel) swept the Junior classes (Komet Jr. Heavy and Yamaha Jr. Lite) while Austin Osborne (Birel) doubled up with wins in Komet Sportsman and Cadet Sportsman. Day two was Nick Neri as he scored victory in Komet Jr. Lite and Yamaha Jr. Heavy.
 | The MKP Nationals will be held at Michiana Raceway Park in South Bend, IN
(Photo: michianaracewaypark.com) |
The TaG categories were very competitive in Daytona with Jacob Sekey (Arrow) scoring the big win in day one’s big class. WKA Triple Crown Club member Mike Giessen (Haase) prevailed in the new Parilla Leopard division as did John Dixon - who is moving from Birel to Tony Kart this weekend - in TaG Masters, both expected to defend their points lead in South Bend. Not returning for round two are Arrow drivers Dan Wheldon and Kenneth Hildebrand, who were victorious in the new TaG Heavy and Rotax classes. A change in the minimum weight will be instituted in South Bend as the Vortex Rok TT engine will be reduced by 10 pounds to 370 pounds and the flex length increased to the same length as the Parilla Leopard.
Other drivers who won in Daytona and will look to return back on top at the MKP Nationals will be Zane Smith (Cadet Sportsman), Austin Osborne (Komet Sportsman), Patrick Olsen (Komet Lite), Kyle Tilley (Yamaha Sportsman Lite), Gresham Wagner (Yamaha Sportsman Heavy), Ryan Stewart (Yamaha SuperCan Heavy), Kevin Nelson (Yamaha Pipe) and Jeff Jewell (Yamaha Masters).
Leaving Daytona, Birel established a solid lead in their defense of the Manufacturer’s Championship Trophy with 8 victories in the two days. Arrow is slotted in second with 4 wins while Haase, Merlin and Tony Kart are tied with 2 wins a piece.
eKartingNews.com will be trackside all weekend long, providing full coverage of the event. Readers can watch updates throughout the weekend in the Official Discussion Thread, which will include the popular Top-10 from each on-track session Saturday and Sunday. Daily reports along with photos and results will be posted each night following the racing action as well. |
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