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| November 02, 2010 News |
| Rotax Grand Finals 2010 – Team USA Profile – Senior |
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A total of 21 drivers from the United States will represent the ‘Red, White, and Blue’ at the Rotax Grand Finals 2010, which will be run at the La Conca International Circuit in Muro Leccese, Italy. Team USA will take on the rest of the world at the ‘Olympics of Karting’ on November 14-21, 2010 and they will be looking for their best national performance ever. This week, eKartingNews.com will profile the roster for all four categories that will compete at the Grand Finals – DD2, Senior, Junior and the new DD2 Masters.
Today’s focus features a look at the five drivers competing for Team USA in the Senior division. Three will be making a return trip to the Finals, while the two ‘rookies’ come with solid resumes to make this one of the best Senior rosters ever for America. To back up that claim, the five drivers are current positioned inside the top-eight of the eKartingNews.com TaG Driver Rankings. With no podium finish in the Senior ranks in the event’s history, this could be the year for Team USA.
For complete coverage of Team USA at the Rotax Grand Finals, visit the Event Page.
 | Stepanova Nekeel
(Photo: On Track Promotions - otp.ca) |
Stepanova Nekeel
Age: 18
Hometown: Seattle, Washington
Years Racing: 7
Rotax Max Series: Gatorz Karting Cup
Ticket to Grand Finals: 1st – US Rotax Max Challenge Grand Nationals
Nekeel’s story at this year’s Grand Nationals was one for the ages. After struggling with his original chassis, Nekeel bought a used Tony Kart at the track, worked on it the entire week and came away with the national championship. Returning to the Grand Finals for a second straight year, Nekeel will attempt to redeem himself after a tough ’09 edition that saw him collected in incidents in all three of his heat races. Nekeel is currently ranked seventh in the EKN TaG Driver Rankings, thanks to his two wins recently at the Rotax Pan American Challenge finale at CalSpeed.
 | Jesus Rios Jr.
(Photo: rotaxmaxchallenge.com) |
Jesus Rios Jr.
Age: 16 (November 14)
Hometown: Miami Beach, FL
Years Racing: 6
Rotax Max Series: South Florida Rotax Challenge
Ticket to Grand Finals: 1st – Rotax Pan American Challenge
PSL Karting driver Jesus Rios Jr. will also be making a return trip to the Grand Finals. A Team USA member in 2008, the Florida driver finished 20th in the Junior division. Rios was a contender in 2009, but came up just short at the Grand Nationals. This season in his first year competing at the Senior level, Rios continued his charge at the front of the field and sits eighth in the EKN TaG Driver Rankings. In the Pan Am program, Rios won twice while recording a total of five podiums and placed fifth at the Grand Nationals. Rios will turn 16 while in Italy, and he would like nothing more than to celebrate his birthday on the podium.
 | Sam Beasley
(Photo: On Track Promotions - otp.ca) |
Sam Beasley
Age: 16
Hometown: Leroy, Ohio
Years Racing: 5
Rotax Max Series: BTK Rotax Challenge
Ticket to Grand Finals: 2nd – US Rotax Max Challenge Grand Nationals
Making his first trip to the Grand Finals, Sam Beasley is a rising star in American motorsports. The 2009 and 2010 WKA Triple Crown winner in the Junior ranks, Beasley also ran at the Senior level for Rotax competition. In addition to the victories in the WKA Manufacturer’s Cup Series in the Junior categories, the Arrow driver has wins in Senior competition at the Florida Winter Tour, Pan Am Challenge, and the Rock Island Grand Prix to help him sit second in the EKN TaG Driver Rankings. His drive at the Rotax Grand Nationals in July was phenomenal, coming from 33rd on the grid to end up second in the main event.
 | Daniel Formal
(Photo: On Track Promotions - otp.ca) |
Daniel Formal
Age: 15 (December 24)
Hometown: Palm Beach Gardens, Florida
Years Racing: 9
Rotax Max Series: South Florida Rotax Challenge
Ticket to Grand Finals: 3rd – US Rotax Max Challenge Grand Nationals
The 2008 Junior Grand National Champion will be making his first trip to the Grand Finals, with an age criteria holding him back from being part of Team USA that year. This time around, Formal is able to attend as a podium finisher from the 2010 Grand Nationals. The #1 driver in the EKN TaG Driver Rankings has been racing in the Senior ranks for two years now in Florida, nationally for one year. A vice-champion in the Florida Winter Tour Rotax program, two-time Pan Am winner, the now Kosmic driver is sure to make a splash in Italy.
 | Victor Pedrosa
(Photo: rotaxmaxchallenge.com) |
Victor Pedrosa
Age: 22
Hometown: Fort Lauderdale, Florida
Years Racing: 6
Rotax Max Series: North Florida Rotax Challenge
Ticket to Grand Finals: 2nd – Rotax Pan American Challenge
The elder statesman of the Team USA Senior roster, Pedrosa heads to the Grand Finals for a second straight year. After placing second at the Grand Nationals last year in Norman, Oklahoma, Pedrosa moved to the Arrow brand in 2010 – not missing a beat. Contesting the Pan American Challenge, Pedrosa finished second in the standings with five podium finishes in eight races. At the Grand Nationals, Pedrosa was in the hunt all weekend and ended up placing eighth. The native Brazilian - now residing in Florida - will be proud to represent the USA once again, finishing 14th one year ago after placing sixth in the event’s Prefinal. |
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