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| Features |
| EKN One-on-One: Dave Davies - CRG America |
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 | CRG America's Dave Davies
(Photo: CRG America) |
The CRG brand is synonymous with the sport of karting, guiding many drivers to a world championships before moving on to the premier levels of motorsports. A number of American drivers have also had the opportunity to compete at the top level of the sport as part of the CRG family, including Patrick Long, Darren Elliott, Ron White, and of course, Gary Carlton. While past years has been successful, the brand is now entering a new era in the United States. Helping to lead the charge is CRG America, the re-badged company formally known as SSC East.
The rebranded company is based out of Braintree, MA and is the Eastern United States distributor for a number of products, including the CRG chassis brand. Owner and CEO RJ Valentine is a successful businessman in the New England area with a passion for motorsports. In 2003, Valentine established SSC East he immediately put the technical operations in the hands of his Vice President and General Manager of CRG America - Dave Davies.
Davies comes from a deep history in mechanics. With over 30 years of experience in the automotive prototype and karting experience, Davies is the technical foundation of CRG America. Since joining the company, he has become a leading expert in CRG chassis, as well as Rotax and Maxter engines, while managing the operation’s race team and trackside support for drivers and dealers.
With the latest shuffling around of the CRG distribution in the United States, CRG America has become the longest standing chassis distributor for the brand. As such, EKN felt it was time to speak directly with Davies to find out where the company is at right now and what their plans are for the future.
eKartingNews.com: The 2011 season marked a visible change to the CRG distribution network here in the United States, including the rebranding of your company from SSC East to CRG America. Was this move primarily done in-house or was their encouragement from the CRG factory?
Dave Davies: We actually wanted to change the name of our company several years ago to help establish our own identity. When we were told that Joe Ramos and his business partner Jim Boltz were going to sell SSC Racing, who we had a good relationship with, we did not want people to get confused thinking that we were part of that deal and closing up shop as well. We still had a lot of people calling us asking if that was the case, but we had to explain that we were a separate entity. So the timing was right and for sure it is helping us establish ourselves further in the industry.
 | CRG's Mattia Madami, longtime CRG tuner DJ Silva, Davies and Gary Carlton at SKUSA SuperNationals last year
(Photo: CRG America) |
EKN: With a direct relationship with the CRG factory, what type of involvement has CRG America translated back to Italy to help in the development of the chassis product line here in the United States?
DD: We knew that CRG provides a great product, but we knew there could be an improvement. With our involvement and support of the WKA Manufacturer’s Cup, we knew we had some product that needed to be developed to help penetrate the small, lower horsepower Junior class market. We were not hitting that market as well as we should have in the past. So I think that being involved in Man Cup and knowing what the requirements are for the chassis, it was very important to us. And also to help grow at the local level so our customers were satisfied there. We’ve already seen some of that in the new products we have coming and there is more in the planning stages. That is the type of relationship we have with the factory.
EKN: Prior to this year, CRG America was a distributor for the Rotax engine. In reality, you are more than just a Rotax service center, you work with all types of karting engines, correct?
DD: Yes, we do and we always have. That is what I did before I came over to work with RJ. I had my normal day-to-day job, but what I did was work on Yamaha, Komet, ICAs, all those type of engines. So now, we are refocusing on being a front-line engine shop. Here on the East Coast, a company like that is lacking. All the shops with notoriety are based on the West Coast. There is a lot of business in this area and we are more than happy to support racers throughout the East Coast. The equipment we have in our machining area already is the latest and state of the art equipment , and we have a new dyno on its way by the end of the year that will set us apart from the others.
EKN: CRG America is importing the new Sonik Sport kart racing engine, developed by the Maxter Engine Group. Five different models aimed at different age levels, including a TaG ICC engine. What are the future plans for the Sonik engine for CRG America and in the karting market for the United States?
DD: The Sonik Sport line is a Touch and Go type of engine. The Senior model is a 125cc power valve engine. The Junior model has a different cylinder with no power valve. Then we de-tune the engine to create the Sonik Mini and Sonik Micro engines. The one engine that we have been the most excited about is the Sonik Shifter engine that is a TaG ICC style powerplant based off the Maxter MXO with electric start and a power valve cylinder. Everyone that drives it loves it because of the such-broader power band and it’s a lot easier to drive. The internal engine components are different than the top-of-the line KZ engine because they are built for greater longevity. It can handle a lot more operating hours and they’ve done a lot of things to ‘beef’ the engine up. All the Sonik engines, instead of having a main ball bearing, have main roller bearings to last 3-4 times longer. They also are equipped with an internal water pump. They are certainly more user-friendly and require less maintenance.
 | The Sonik Sport engine is the new line developed by Maxter available through CRG America
(Photo: CRG America) |
The engine line is going to be more focused at the club level, as we are trying to get the engine approved by WKA right now. We are also going to test with another organization in the coming weeks and hope to have it approved there as well. Depending on how it grows, we hope that it could one day become a stand-alone program. Right now, we are not interested in creating another series or program. We’d like to have the engines implemented into series and programs that already exist.
EKN: With CRG America located in the Northeastern section of the country, what is your take on the current status of the sport in that area?
DD: It’s definitely on the rise again. We’ve had a lot regional programs increase, especially at the Rotax program. At the local track, we’ve seen an increase level of entries. I think OVRP (Oakland Valley) is seeing an upsurge in his area. Last year was really slow and this year is certainly better.
EKN: Do you feel there are enough tracks in the area to support growth or do you feel there needs to be more facilities in order for there to be any significant growth in the industry?
DD: The issue is we have long distances between tracks. From our track (F1 Outdoors) to OVRP is about 220 miles and to F1 New Jersey is 375 miles. And Englistown, New Jersey has a good following as well, which is still about 300 miles away. That’s about it for real karting facilities. I’m just not sure if that discourages people from joining the sport, because there are not enough tracks closer together or if we already have enough tracks to support the people who are interested in motorsports. Up where we are, it’s not an area thriving for motorsports, not like the Midwest area where you travel less to compete at different facilities. But that’s something we hope to change somehow as we are moving in the right direction.
EKN: CRG America has a presence on the national scene and, of course, throughout the Northeast. What are the plans for the team operation as the 2011 season closes out and you look forward to 2012?
DD: We just finished up the Manufacturer’s Cup Series for the season. We are going to have a host of drivers for the upcoming SKUSA SuperNationals in Las Vegas. Beyond that, we will continue to follow the Man Cup that kicks off in Daytona over Christmas break and follow that up with the Florida Winter Tour.
EKN: Thank you, Dave, for your time and we’ll see you at the track.
DD: Thank you. |
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