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| October 14, 2004 News |
| EKN Trackside Plans Busy Weekend |
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The eyes of the karting community in the United States will be split this weekend between two major year-ending events. For the Rotax faithful, the venue is the X-Plex Las Vegas where the third annual Rotax Max Grand Nationals are taking place. A few hundred miles to the northwest, the 250s will be tearing things up at Laguna Seca for the World Superkart Challenge.
With trips to the Canary Islands on the line, Rotax racers are coming from all corners of the U.S. to race in Las Vegas. At last count, SSC Racing, the organizers of the domestic version of the Rotax Max Challenge, had over 240 entries for the event. Those entries are spread over five classes with the largest contingent being found in the International category. Not coincidentally, this class has two trips to the World Championships on the line.
As the two-time defending champion, Texan Jordon Musser has to be considered one of the favorites, but this season has not been kind to the Texas A&M engineering student as he has struggled to post top results in the major races. Another driver to watch is Jim Cassi, the winner of the Rock Island Grand Prix TaG Senior class this year. Careful observers will also be watching Robbie Mott, who has been tearing up the Rotax scene in Southern California.
Things kick off today with a full day of practice and then move into Sin City for the Driver’s Party at the Las Vegas Events Center. After a night of relaxation, drivers get back to it on Friday with qualifying. Action continues into the weekend with heat races on Saturday and Finals highlighting the schedule on Sunday.
Not to be out done, the United States Superkart Championship concludes its first season at the fourth World Superkart Challenge at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca. The event is always a big draw for the 250 drivers from across the world as they come to race this famed road circuit.
Last year saw the emergence of a new group of frontrunners in the category as the pro-level drivers from the 125cc sprint ranks came in force to the race. This pack of young guns was joined by longtime superkart drivers like Eddie Lawson, Wayne Rainey, Johnny West and JR Osborne to put on a thrilling race in front of the enthusiastic American Le Mans Series crowd.
This year, the added twist of an actual 250cc national championship series adds to the race’s intrigue. Colorado’s Osborne comes into the event leading the points chase in the Formula E class after a solid weekend at Road America way back in June. A good run is all he needs to clinch the title. There will be another group of party crashers, as Joe White, Kyle Martin and Tom Dyer will be teamed up with Riley Will for the weekend. This race will be wide open to any number of Superkart pilots. In the ICE 250cc Single group, championship leader Andy Kiker and his Anderson are expected to set the pace
EKN has Super Kart Illustrated’s Tim Blaney and Rob Howden on site this weekend with Blaney handling daily updates from X-Plex while Howden pairs announcing chores with regular site updates from Laguna. Look for full coverage of both events in the December issue of SKI.
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