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| June 06, 2012 News |
| US Rotax Max Challenge Series Profile: Northwest Gold Cup Rotax Max Challenge |
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In cooperation with MAXSpeed Group, the administrator of the United States Rotax Max Challenge program, eKartingNews.com is happy to introduce the ‘US Rotax Max Challenge Series Profile’. Each month, EKN will profile one of the many Rotax series in the United States. Included in these regular overviews will be where each series races, who is racing there, and how you can become part of their program. Each US Rotax Max Challenge Series is a qualifying program toward the Rotax Max Challenge Grand Nationals.
Nestled in the upper left section of the United States is the Pacific Northwest area, peaceful and full of nature’s most amazing sites. Within the community are a number of kart tracks, stretching from southern British Columbia down to the Oregon/California border. Providing karters with a traveling regional program is the Northwest Gold Cup, an official United States Rotax Max Challenge series. Currently ranked fourth in number of USRMC members at 47 Rotaxians, the NW Gold Cup continues to provide one of the biggest programs in the country.
The Northwest Gold Cup Rotax Max Challenge officially became a series in 2005 although the series concept began much earlier. Like Southern California, the Pacific Northwest area welcomed the Rotax brand during the beginning years in the United States. Rotax racers would travel around from club to club during its early days when there was just one class, Rotax International (Senior Max), piggybacking off other club events in the area. As Rotax began adding more divisions, the group began to increase. In 2005, the program Bill Hettick had built joined forces with the International Kart Federation (IKF) famous Gold Cup regional series and continue to offer a full roster of categories from Rotax, 2-cycle and 4-cycle.
In 2012, the Northwest Gold Cup Rotax Max Challenge will host six double-round weekend events, offering 12 feature races for the Rotax categories. The series competes at five tracks from Oregon, Washington and British Columbia. The NW Gold Cup welcomes Canadian racers to compete in the series, and compete for year-end championship points from the series but do not count toward any United States Rotax Max Challenge ‘punches’ or points. Each day, coupled with a Friday practice day, follows a qualifying/prefinal/final format. The unique part of the Northwest Gold Cup program is the one set of tires rule, mandating that racers must use the same set of tires for competition on both Saturday and Sunday.
“Before, we were following the one feature a weekend format,” commented series director Bill Hettick. “Our racers spoke up about wanting to compete in two separate rounds on the weekend rather than one. When the majority ruled in favor of the change, we accommodated them. To help with the finances of the race weekend, we implemented the tire rule to make it more affordable for everyone. We did not notice any issues with the extra time on the tires and racers welcomed it with open arms.”
The series has been known to produce some of the top Rotaxians in the country, representing seven Rotax Grand Nationals victories in the past seven years with Stepanova Nekeel, Phillip Arscott, Mike Rolison, Mike Daniel, Alex Raine and David Odenthal twice. The second weekend of events took place over Memorial Weekend at the Horn Rapids Kart Track in Richland, WA. The first event in April was hosted by the Seattle Kart Club with the second by Tri-City Kart Club. While the numbers for the series have been up and down, the 2012 season is certainly up with 62 Rotax drivers competing at race weekend two, including 24 in Senior Max.
 | Northwest Gold Cup program welcomed 24 Senior Max drivers over Memorial Day weekend
(Photo: Teri Janes - US Karting News) |
“We’ve seen some great numbers overall for our series in the first two weekends,” continued Hettick. “We try to make the best program possible and get all the different clubs involved, traveling to each group once a year. Our racers like the idea of going to different tracks each month and our numbers certainly show that. We welcome racers from Washington, Oregon, Idaho, and more Canadians are joining the fun, especially in the Rotax categories. We have great people behind the scenes and great people participating every month. Things are great with the Northwest Gold Cup.”
After two of the schedule six weekend events, the point battles are heating up. Johnny Blair is the current leader in Senior Max, leading by 14 points over Andrew Zimmer. Doug Huggler holds the top spot in Masters Max with Jerry Pitts trailing by only 21 points. Twenty-five points separate the top two in Junior Max as Kyle Wick and Jake Preston fill the top two positions. Sting Ray Robb holds the largest lead (85 points) with Mathew Morgan sitting second.
For more information on the Northwest Gold Cup Rotax Max Challenge, visit http://www.northwestgoldcup.com or contact Bill Hettick via email wghrock@comcast.net . Click over to http://www.GoRotax.com to find a United States Rotax Max Challenge near you. |
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