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| October 27, 2004 News |
| EKN Trackside - SKUSA SuperNationals 8 - Wednesday Evening Report |
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After landing here in Las Vegas last night, we have now set-up shop here in Nevada to begin our Trackside coverage of this year’s Superkarts! USA SuperNationals. We will be bringing the EKN readership daily report from the track as well as nightly wrap-ups of the day’s events. Heading into SuperSunday, we’ll present our predications for the main events.
Now it's time to get down to business. The 2004 SKUSA SuperNationals are on…
It may be a new location, but the ‘buzz’ that was absent all year on the ProMoto Tour has returned for this year’s SuperNationals. An ICC field that features the best of the best and guest entries from a handful of big names for the car racing world will do that for a program. Preparations are now underway for the eighth edition of this event – often dubbed the ‘U.S. Open of Shifter Kart Racing. Teams are now busy preparing their entries in the ‘tent city’ that has taken over the parking lot here at Las Vegas’ Sam Boyd Stadium, the home of the ULNV football team. There is a wave of excitement in the paddock and many people are talking about the ICC field, which could be the best ever. In fact, all of the classes are primed to be stacked with an expected final entry tally closing in on 300.
WEATHER
Rain hit the area last night, soaking down the stadium grounds and the storm clouds that dumped their contents hung around all day with only intermittent relief and sun. It was a cool day with temps in the low 60s. Another quick rain shower dampened the track late in the afternoon but reports of clear but cool temperatures.
THE TRACK
The initial layout of the track has caused considerable negative feedback from the paddock. About 80% of the track is visible from the pit area with a small segment of the layout slipping around behind the stadium. The only real questionable segment involves the first half of the back straightaway, which runs through a fairly narrow section. Although it is over 30’ wide, there is no runoff on either side, running between a fence line and a parking lot picnic area that is shielded by a hay bale wall. The SKUSA staff is working to straighten the run into this section and has also adjusted the corner leading to the backshute, slowing down the speed to make it a first or second gear launch onto the straight. The initial layout would have allowed for a third gear entry onto this fast section of the track. The remaining section of the track after the straightaway looking exciting, offering a number of tighter corners that should open up a number of passing opportunities. We’ll come back tomorrow with actual on-track feedback from the drivers, as well as some photos of the layout itself.
PIT NOTES
There are a number of drivers ready to debut on new rides this weekend, many of which have been detailed on EKN this past week. We’ll be updating the website all weekend from our trackside location in the DeCal Works motorcoach so we’ll start with the owner of the rig, ICC pilot Ron Joynt. A top competitor in the Formula S1 class this summer, Joynt will debut on a CRG in the Pro IC category as he is now running as part of Ron White’s RC20 operation. As reported in the recent issue of Super Kart Illustrated, Ron’s brother Joe White will be back aboard a CRG as well, to run alongside his sibling. Alex Speed and Darin Marcus will be piloting Birel chassis this weekend after running blue karts for the past year. Speed has been running a GP this season while Marcus has been with First Kart for the last two campaigns. Lastly, NorCal hotshoe Tom Dyer is expected to put his new Leading Edge Intrepid on-track this weekend with Greg Bell tuning the Italian machine.
 | | CompCor and Tony Kart are in Vegas in a big way |
The Tony Kart tent is packed with drivers this weekend, harkening back to the day when the marquee was a major player here in North America. Backed by a concerted effort from the new importer – CompCor – Tony Kart will be represented by a number of teams and shops including PTK Racing and Msquared Karting. CompCor is using this event to signify their emergence back onto the U.S. scene after a season of supporting Tony Kart privateers across the country. Big news is the fact that the PTK chassis will now be manufactured by Tony Kart and is expected to by branded as a Paul Tracy signature model. This new relationship will put top Pro IC driver Nick Green on a kart more suited to his name, along with Super G frontrunner Bonnier Moulton and S1 flyer Mike Beeny. Veteran frontrunner Jason Bowles will also be under the tent, running in the ICC category alongside former SuperNats Formula S2 winner Michael Abbate. Last but not least, it will be interesting to see how IRL driver Tomas Scheckter stacks up against the sport’s top pilots as he will pit in the Tony Kart tent to run in the ICC class. We’ll have more on this tomorrow when EKN sits down with CompCor’s Cliff Kujula to discuss Tony Kart’s program.
Former Moto World Champion Phil Carlson will reunite with tuner Mike Robbins this weekend, back under the JAF Racing banner with which he won the 2002 SKUSA crown. Carlson has run a limited schedule in Mexico this year and will be aboard a new Danilo Rossi signature CRG with Darcy DeCoste power.
 | | Extreme Karting's Shayne Shipley will make his Super G debut this weekend and will also run TaG |
The This year’s Super G category will be exciting this weekend with the first-time SuperNats addition of former Msquared banner while Shipley will suit up in his Extreme Karting livery to run a GP with SwedeTech Pavesi power. Shipley is also going to enter the TaG class on a GP/Parilla combination. The duo will take it to the current Super G establishment, which included new national champ Howie Idelson (First Kart), Chris Farrell (PTK), Tom Kutscher (GP) and Jeff Carter (Intrepid).
The return of Bobby Wilson has certainly upped the ante in the ICC class.
It’s not only new drivers and new combinations that will be making their debuts this weekend. The factory Trackmagic team is in the house with their first ‘new’ chassis in a number of years. After developing the Diablo through four models, new factory driver Gary Carlton has worked in R&D to come up with the new Trackmagic FTR. Carlton’s experience with European chassis has resulted in a car that likes a laid-back driver position, with the pilot’s arms fully extended. This profile will be in stark contrast to the more compact seating position made famous by Jason LaPoint and Kyle Martin. It will be interesting to see how the new chassis stacks up.
We’ll touch on the favorites in the other classes tomorrow once everyone has had a chance to get on the racetrack. Controlled practice begins tomorrow morning.
Once again, the countdown is over….the ’04 SuperNats have begun.
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