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| Features |
| Bobby Wilson and MRP Honored as Driver and Team of the Year |
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 | | Bobby Wilson accepts Driver of the Year |
Shifter Kart Illustrated’s 2003 Excellence Awards was both a celebration honoring the season’s best and the fifth anniversary of the first publication dedicated to shifter kart racing. The gala, held in the New Orleans Ballroom Saturday night, had an excellent turn out showcasing the shifter kart division to many on hand at the Kart Expo International in St. Charles, Ill. Throughout the ceremony, many enjoyed brief slide show glimpses of the magazines history showing photos of drivers over the past five years. It was fun to see how the drivers, the shifter kart division and SKI has grown in a relatively short span.
First Kart’s Bobby Wilson was thrilled to be named as the 2003 Driver of the Year as MRP Motorsport was surprised and honored asTeam of the Year. Wesley Boswell was awarded Rising Star, Cole Whitt was named Junior Driver of the Year. For the third year in a row, Reine Persson of SwedeTech received Engine Builder of the Year, Chad Dokken as Road Racer of the Year and Italian Motors David Carpentier was named Tuner of the Year and his award was graciously accepted by driver David Jurca.
With the exception of Darren Elliott and Carpentier, all of the nominees were able to attend and while the eventual winners returned home with some hefty bragging rights, each of those nominated considered it a great honor to be among the list celebrating the season’s best. The initial process that brings the opportunity is derived through the publication’s subscribers who cast votes for two of their favorites in each category. From the most populated list of candidates, the nominees are born and then scrutinized based on a series of criteria developed and determined by the SKI staff.
 | | Some of the MRP Team on hand |
According to SKI publisher Rob Howden, drivers are evaluated on the “whole package,” not just their performance records of the past season. It’s how a driver restrains control after being crashed out while in the lead, how they speak on the podium, communicate with their tuners, promote their sponsor’s products and relate to the media that puts him (or her) on top. “It’s an all around professional image that we’re looking for,” Howden explained.
With Team of the Year, the whole package is considered as well, not just their number one headline class driver, but all of the team driver’s as well. SKI evaluates how a team works with all of its customers in providing multiple levels of service from tuning to promotion to success with product selection. Joining winner MRP Motorsport Birel team on the nomination list were First Kart North America, Italian Motors, KLS Racing and last year’s winner, Team Extreme. These are the high profile major players who’ve consistently delivered to a slew of drivers seen under their team canopy throughout the year. They are the teams who have stood out in their marketing efforts to provide a uniformed team look and through their efforts to position their drivers in the winner’s circle.
While both of these top two categories are based on the “whole package” it’s interesting to see the performance statistics that play a major role in determining the winner.
Listed below is the season in review for the Driver of the Year category nominees and winner with Team of the Year winner and nominees to follow in a future story. A complete photo gallery of the celebration is also available for your viewing enjoyment. Click on the photos link at the top of the EKN navigation bar and then select SKI Excellence Awards once inside the gallery.
Driver of the Year – Bobby Wilson
Hometown: Dousman, Wisc.
Age 22
Team: First Kart North America
Power: HiTech Pavesi
Tuner: Terry Ventresca
Series: CART Stars of Tomorrow, SKUSA ProMoto Tour and special events, SuperNationals and Dodge Freedom Windsor Grand Prix.
 | The one and only Bobby Wilson
(Photo by Jeff Deskins) |
It’s been a long time coming for Bobby Wilson but he closes out his karting career taking with him one of the most prestigious titles as SKI’s 2003 Driver of the Year. Wilson was seen everywhere as a front runner in Stars of Tomorrow and SKUSA PMT competition logging in 16 feature races from coast to coast. Although his season had its ups and downs with three DNFs, he scored seven dynamic wins, three seconds, a fifth and ninth. For a while, he was unstoppable with a streak of five in a row in Stars competition between Road America and Jacksonville. At the SKUSA World Finals, he qualified third, took the pre-final win and heartbreak followed when his sizeable lead was sidelined after a collision with a backmarker in turn one.
It was back to the winner’s circle at the Rock Island Grand Prix where his rain dance was in a class of his own, earning him King of the Streets title. He was well poised at Moran Raceway for the Stars finale qualifying in outside pole, taking three heat wins, a second in the main and the overall championship title. His closure at the SuperNats brought in a 12th in qualifying, fourth in the pre-final and a rare DNF in the main. He also shined mid-summer with the inaugural Windsor Grand Prix on Canadian soil in front of thousands of spectators on hand for the historical Freedom Festival.
The sport of karting isn’t losing one of its most dynamic players as he moves into FF2000 competition for Cape Motorsports, the world is gaining one of its biggest advocates and we wish him the best of luck.
Bobby Wilson - First Kart North America| Organization/Event | Circuit/State | QP | PF | Final | Fast Laps | | Stars-East - R1 | Beave Run-PA | 3 | 33/DNF | 3 | 1 | | | Stars-East - R2 | Beave Run-PA | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 | ` | | SKUSA PMT - E/W | Texas R3 | 4 | 34/DNF | 39/DNF | | | | SKUSA PMT - E/W | Texas R4 | 4 | 4 | 2 | 1 | | | SKUSA PMT West R5 | Pats Acres-OR | 21 | 17 | 9 | | | | SKUSA PMT West R6 | Pats Acres-OR | 8 | 25 | DNS | | | | Stars -East R3 | Rd. Amer-WI | 1 | 1 | 5 | 1 | | | Stars -East R4 | Rd. Amer-WI | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | | | Stars - East R5 | Trane-IL | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | | | Stars - Easst R6 | Trane-IL | 2 | 1 | 1 | 2 | | | Stars - East R7 | 103rd St-FL | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | | | Stars - East R8 | 103rd St-FL | 1 | NA | 1 | 1 | | | SKUSA World Finals E/W | OMC-OK | 3 | 1 | 23/DNF | 2 | Crashed out while leading | | SKUSA Super Nats | Rio-NV | 12 | 4 | 35 DNF | | | | Stars Nat'l Champs | Moran-CA | 2 | 1,1,1 | 2 | 1 | | | Rock Island Grand Prix | Rock Island, IL | 3 | NA | 1 | | | | Stars -Special | Windsor, CN | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | | |
DRIVER of the YEAR NOMINEES
Darren Elliott
Number: 71y – N2
Hometown: Canyon Country, California
Age: Mid to late thirties – actually, it’s one of karting’s best kept secrets
Team: Paul Tracy Karting and then SSC Racing
Chassis: PTK and then to CRG
Series: SKUSA ProMoto Tour (PMT) and select Stars of Tomorrow events.
Season Highs: Stars’s National race winner, Pro IC Runner up in SKUSA’s PMT
Season Lows: SKUSA Super Nationals
 | Darren Elliott
(photo by Bill Kistler) |
Considered by many as one of the sport’s most talented, popular and charismatic veterans, Elliott’s return to karting after a year-long hiatus has had its ups and downs. The driver who came back because “he’s still got much to prove” had a major delivery with the headline class win in one of the most prominent races of the year - the Stars National Championship Pro ICC win at Moran Raceway last fall. This win brought Elliott back into the limelight through multiple airings on the SPEED Channel late last year. And, as the points package was tallied at the World Finals, Elliott ranked a prestigious PMT N2 coming home as SKUSA’s runner up in Pro IC despite no feature race wins, but a second at Texas Motor Speedway, a fourth at the World Finals and two sixth place finishes at the season’s opener at Infineon Raceway in Sonoma, Calif.
Shortly after earning top dog honors, the veteran held his head high at the season’s ultimate SuperNationals event where he made the feature race only after SKUSA’s decision to add a few rows to the field for the sake of recovery for a television production that centered much around the high profile driver. The feeling of going from champ to chump a few weeks after his major Stars win is certainly a feeling of disappointment that many of karting’s best can identify with. How he maintained his dignity is part of what makes him stand out when all eyes are watching.
Elliottt is a champion throughout. Both his career resume that includes four PMT wins in 1999 and 2000 and his reputation have been worthy of recognition as one of the sport’s most talented riders.
Darren Elliott - SSC Racing| Organization/Event | Circuit/State | QP | PF | Final | Fast Laps | | SKUSA PMT West R1 | Infineon-CA R1 | 2 | NA | 1 | 1 | | | SKUSA PMT West R2 | Infineon-CA R2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 2 | ` | | SKUSA PMT - E/W R3 | TMS-TX | 1 | 3 | 1 | | | | SKUSA PMT - E/W R4 | TMS-TX | 8 | 2 | 2 | | | | SKUSA PMT West R5 | Pats Acres-OR | 1 | DNS | 1 | | | | SKUSA PMT West R6 | Pats Acres-OR | DNQ | DNS | 6/DNF | | | | SKUSA World Finals E/W | OMC-OK | 1 | 1 | 1 | | | | SKUSA Super Nats | Las Vegas | X | X | X | | Class not offered | | Stars Nat'l Champs | Moran-CA | X | X | X | | | | Rock Island Grand Prix | Rock Island, IL | 2 | NA | 17/DNF | | | |
David Jurca
Hometown: Seattle, Washington
Age: 18
Team: Italian Motors
Chassis/Engine: Italkart # 92z – TM
Season Highs: Three PMT wins at Infineon, Texas Motor Speedway and Pat’s Acres; Western Zone Points Champion, top five at SuperNationals and Stars National Championships
Season Lows: No show at World Finals
 | David Jurca
(Photo by Bill Kistler) |
Up to the SKUSA World Finals, David Jurca was positioned well to attain their ultimate title as series champion. Shortly prior to the big event, Jurca’s Italian Motors team announced they would not be able to make the Oklahoma event because their work load at home with other customer commitments was too great at the time to handle it all. This move sent him from first to sixth in the season’s outcome. On first thoughts it would be easy to question the judgments of a team who makes a call to practically give away such a title. On second thoughts; however, the team fulfillment of customer obligations is what a true team is all about. The decision was about more than one single driver despite the loss. In reality, it was a selfless decision all about their entire customer base. When asked if he had any regrets about not going, David commented with the honesty and wisdom of a veteran. “I wouldn’t even consider going without the team. Our customer base is what allows me the opportunity to race,” he said.
Despite not being able to deliver the championship title, Jurca was a force to contend with everywhere they did travel with immaculate preparation by tuner David Carpentier who was praised highly by Jurca in the awards ceremony. Consistency is key and three wins, three podiums and three top fives from a 10 race year was phenomenal for both Jurca and the team. He’s always been in the hunt and that won’t disappear anytime soon.
Jurca has 10 years of karting on his resume. His 2003 season was a busy one with multiple tasks as a driver. In addition to the PMT schedule and two Stars events, he contested in Formula Dodge as a Skip Barber scholarship winner and made the final six cut for the Red Bull Driver’s search sending the driver to Portugal’s test to select the final three. In the end, it was a big surprise to many to not see his name on the final cut, but things often happen for a specific reason that is yet but assured to unfold in his career.
David Jurca - Italian Motors| Organization/Event | Circuit/Location | QP | PF | Final | Fast Laps | | SKUSA PMT West R1 | Infineon-CA R1 | 8 | NA | 5 | | | | SKUSA PMT West R2 | Infineon-CA R2 | 4 | 5 | 1 | | | | SKUSA PMT - E/W R3 | TMS-TX | 9 | 4 | 4 | | | | SKUSA PMT - E/W R4 | TMS-TX | 12 | 2 | 1 | | | | SKUSA PMT West R5 | Pats Acres-OR | 8 | 3 | 3 | | | | SKUSA PMT West R6 | Pats Acres-OR | 3 | 2 | 1 | | | | Stars-West | B.C. R7 | 1 | 1 | 2 | | | | Stars-West | B.C. R8 | 4 | 26 DNF | 3 | | | | SKUSA World Finals E/W | OMC-OK | X | X | X | | Did Not Contest | | SKUSA Super Nats | Rio-NV | 17 | 4 | 5 | | | | Stars Nat'l Championships | Moran-CA | 9 | 6,4,12 | 5 | | | | Rock Island Grand Prix | Rock Island, IL | | | | | Did Not Contest | |
Alex Speed
Hometown: Manteca, California
Team: KLS Racing
Tuner: Mike Speed
Chassis’: Varied – MBA, Tony Kart, GP
Primary Series: SKUSA ProMoto Tour, special events, Stars regionals and championship.
 | Alex Speed
(Photo by Bill Kistler) |
Many never saw the third nominee coming with so many focused on Bobby Wilson’s roll of wins and Jurca’s consistency. The season started out well with a first and second at Infineon’s PMT season opener followed by a disappointing show at Texas Motor Speedway with two DNFs. The win streak returned for Saturday’s Canby, Ore., Pat’s Acres event and a solid fifth kept the KLS team in contention. With Jurca opening the door, the final showdown in Oklahoma with a new Tony Kart effort emerged to assist them with a fifth place qualifying spot, but an 11th in the pre-final refocused many eyes on Wilson, White and pole sitter, Kyle Martin.
As the feature played out, he quietly carved his way up as other points contenders fell out. In the end, his second to Ron White sent promoters rushing to their calculators to determine who took the championship. The Speed’s knew what had to be done to take the title and it was materialized with a season of hard work for the team and father, Mike. The mild mannered driver was clearly full of emotion and relief as he hugged his dad after the win.
As with any good team, they go where the challenge lies and next up was the Stars National Championship at Moran Raceway in Beaumont. He continued to impress many with pole followed by excellent heat runs with a second, third and win. Again, he finished with an impressive fourth place in the feature race of one of the most competitive gatherings of the year. For the Super Nationals, he qualified eighth, stayed out of trouble in the heats, locked in a second for the pre-final and a very respectable fourth in Vegas.
Speed cut his teeth in karting and intends on being a kart racer for many years to come. Beginning with Yamaha junior competition, he moved into 80cc Shifter competition where he dominated the 1999 Formula Junior Championship.
Alex Speed - KLS Racing| Organization/Event | Circuit/Location | QP | PF | Final | Fast Laps | | SKUSA PMT West R1 | Infineon-CA | 1 | NA | 1 | 1 | | | SKUSA PMT West R2 | Infineon-CA | 1 | 3 | 2 | | | | SKUSA PMT - E/W R3 | TMS-TX | 14 | 38 DNF | 26 DNF | | | | SKUSA PMT - E/W R4 | TMS-TX | 26 | 17 | 24 DNF | | | | SKUSA PMT West R5 | Pats Acres-OR | 3 | 2 | 1 | 1 | | | SKUSA PMT West R6 | Pats Acres-OR | 10 | 7 | 5 | | | | SKUSA World Finals E/W | OMC-OK | 3 | 15 | 9 | | | | SKUSA Super Nats | Las Vegas | 1 | 1 | 1 | | | | SKUSA World Finals E/W | Norman | 5 | 11 | 2 | | | | SKUSA Super Nats | Rio-NV | 8 | 2 | 4 | | | | Stars Nat'l Championships | Moran-CA | 1 | 2,3,1 | 4 | | | | Rock Island Grand Prix | Rock Island, IL | X | X | X | | Did Not Contest | |
Ron White #71y
Hometown: San Jose, Calif.
Team: RC 20/Premier Performance
Tuner: Scott Hotfelter
Chassis: CRG for SSC Racing
Power: SwedeTech Pavesi and Honda
Classes: Pro IC; SuperPro
Series: SKUSA Pro-Moto Tour, CART Stars National Championship Finale
 | Ron White
(RMB Photo) |
Last year’s Driver of the Year was well deserving of a second nomination by virtue of a fabulous season contesting in two classes during the ProMoto Tour through a new team effort established as a joint venture between himself and tuner, Scott Hotfelter.
Sixteen feature races delivered six wins and four podiums during the season that included a prominent two feature race wins at the World Finals, a second at the SuperNats and a championship title in Super Pro and third place ranking in Pro IC after a delayed season start putting together the Pro IC effort. His one-off performance at the Stars of Tomorrow finale was quite impressive as well for the former series champion. With a 13th qualifying position, he rebounded in the heat races locking in two seconds, a fifth and his luck for a win went south with a crash in the feature. Only two DNFs in the season took place with neither were due to mechanical failures.
Ron was upbeat at the ceremony, moving forward after his mother’s untimely death and burial earlier in the week and accompanied by both his dad Joe and tuner, Scott.
For 2004, Ron’s talents will be showcased in European World Cup CIK competition with a collaborative SSC Racing and CRG Factory Team effort beginning mid March in Italy. He spent a great deal of time visiting with multi time World Champion Danillo Rossi at the SSC exhibit at the Expo and learning more about this exciting new adventure. Many from the US will be rooting for and eager to see how he will stack up on a World level in a totally new environment.
Ron White - Pro IC - RC 20/Premier Performance| Organization/Event | Circuit/State | QP | PF | Final | Fast Laps | | SKUSA PMT West R1 | Infineon-CA R1 | | | | | Did not contest Pro IC | | SKUSA PMT West R2 | Infineon-CA R2 | | | | | ` | | SKUSA PMT - E/W R3 | TMS-TX | 13 | 11 | 12 | | | | SKUSA PMT - E/W R4 | TMS-TX | 2 | 33 | 7 | | | | SKUSA PMT West R5 | Pats Acres-OR | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 | | | SKUSA PMT West R6 | Pats Acres-OR | 2 | 1 | 3 | 1 | | | SKUSA World Finals E/W | OMC-OK | 2 | 2 | 1 | | | | SKUSA Super Nats | Rio-NV | 3 | 2 | 2 | | | | Stars Moran Nats | | 13 | 2,2,5 | DQ | 1 | | | Rock Island Grand Prix | Rock Island, IL | 1 | NA | 17 DNF | | | |
Ron White - SuperPro - RDC20/Premier Performance| Organization/Event | Circuit/State | QP | PF | Final | Fast Laps | | SKUSA PMT West R1 | Infineon-CA R1 | 2 | NA | 1 | 1 | | | SKUSA PMT West R2 | Infineon-CA R2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 2 | ` | | SKUSA PMT - E/W R3 | TMS-TX | 1 | 3 | 1 | | | | SKUSA PMT - E/W R4 | TMS-TX | 8 | 2 | 2 | | | | SKUSA PMT West R5 | Pats Acres-OR | 1 | DNS | 1 | | | | SKUSA PMT West R6 | Pats Acres-OR | DNQ | DNS | 6/DNF | | | | SKUSA World Finals E/W | OMC-OK | 1 | 1 | 1 | | | | SKUSA Super Nats | Las Vegas | X | X | X | | Class not offered | | Stars Nat'l Champs | Moran-CA | X | X | X | | | | Rock Island Grand Prix | Rock Island, IL | 2 | NA | 17/DNF | | | |
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