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| July 21, 2005 News |
| EKN Trackside: Stars of Karting - USA Int'l Raceway - Preview |
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The next stop for the Snap-on Stars of Karting Eastern Division will be the new USA International Raceway in Shawano, WI. Built just over a year ago, the track already has an impressive line-up of big events as along with Stars, the facility will also play host the to final round of the WKA Manufacturer’s Cup. Designed by WKA Vice President Kenny Venberg, the track is a very unique layout. Coming in at 1.1 miles long, it is the longest track that the series will visit all season long. Not many people have a lot of laps at the track and that will give a good indication of what driver/tuner combinations are working well together as they adapt to the changing conditions.
Like in Jacksonville, weather will likely play a big role in the weekend as forecasts call for high temperatures and high humidity. The weekend in north-central Wisconsin will test the driver’s ability to recover from the stress of on-track action.
 | Kyle Wiegand
(Photo: Super Kart Illustrated) |
Heading into the event, many of the championships have clear front-runners who will need to be cautious of not giving away points from the weekend. In ICC, Kyle Wiegand (GP), the double-winner at Jacksonville has a solid lead in the championship but he needs a good weekend to keep pace with Western Division leader Alex Speed to have a hope of winning the National Championship. Wiegand heads into this weekend knowing that Speed had an off weekend in Chilliwack and with a couple more wins, the race will be a virtual dead heat. In second place, 85 points behind Wiegand, is DL Racing’s rookie Keith Spicer (Tony Kart). He’s had a good season and with a good weekend could put the rookie of the year battle out of reach of everyone else. Hometown Wisconsin boy Bobby Wilson will make his second appearance of the year for the First Kart squad in the ICC class. The defending Formula Ford 2000 champ and 2003 Snap-on Stars of Karting champion made an impressive return to karts in Reno where he swept both poles on the weekend.
The ICA class is one of the few championships still up for grabs. Right now, Chris Wehrheim (PCR) leads the way but lurking close behind is Phil Giebler (Intrepid). This fight goes beyond just the top two as only 53 points separate the top five. Interestingly, only one driver in this group has won a race – Johnny Johnson (Kosmic), Saturday’s winner at Jacksonville. If this trend continues, the title will be decided by consistent finishes as opposed to winning a few and showing well in the rest. Adding flavor to the fight will be Italian Motor’s David Jurca and Tyler Dueck. Jurca, who will only be competing in the ICA division, is coming off a double win weekend at CARTBC while Dueck also had a double podium weekend.
 | Chris Wehrheim
(Photo: Sean Buur) |
USA International Raceway has lined up an array of activities as well for the teams. At the conclusion of on-track action on Saturday, the teams will be treated to a brat fry courtesy of Menominee Casino-Bingo Hotel. The brat fry is open to all teams, racers, participants, and their families. The action doesn’t stop there however, from 6 to 10 pm on Saturday, one of Milwaukee’s premier bands, the Boogie Men, who recently played in front of 30,000 at Milwaukee’s Summerfest, will perform. Car lovers can wander over to the auto show that will take place on Saturday evening on the grounds of USA International Raceway. The show, presented by Street Scenes, will feature divisions for some of the best sport compact and hot rod masterpieces in the Midwest. Any spare time can be spent on one of USA International Raceway’s five concession go-kart tracks, its bumper boat pool, or mini-golf course.
The on-track action will all be captured by the camera crews that will be there filming footage for tape-delayed broadcasts on Speed Channel’s Lucas Oil on the Edge Show and one-hour broadcasts on The Outdoor Channel, which will be presented by Bridgestone and Snap-on.
The EKN team will be on hand at the track starting Friday with regular updates. If everything goes as we expect, we’ll be on-line at USA International and able to bring regular updates as each session ends. Stay tuned.
Tentative ICC Entrant List – as of Tuesday, July 19
| No. | Name | Team | Chassis/Engine| 02E | Bobby Wilson | Firstkart.com | First Kart/SRA TM | | 08E | Ryan Kinnear | SpeedWerx | Birel/SRA TM | | 10F | Jan Velez-Walter | PSL Karting | CRG/PSL Maxter | | 12E | BJ Anderson | NA | GP/CRS | | 13E | Ashley Betts | 3S Go Karts | Birel/TM | | 14F | Tom Cadieux | PSL Karting | CRG/PSL Maxter | | 15E | Keith Spicer | DL Racing | Tony Kart/Vortex | | 16E | Alexander Rose | SpeedWerx | Birel/SwedeTech Pavesi | | 23E | Logan Gomez | MRP Motorsport | Birel/SRA TM | | 27E | Josh Schrieber | J3 Competition | Kosmic/Vortex | | 30E | Sean Meier | SSC/Kimball Williams Racing | CRG/DDR TM | | 32F | Adam Kretschmer | 3S Go Karts | Birel/Poole TM | | 33E | Collin Lynn | Speed Lab | Birel/SwedeTech Pavesi | | 35E | Mark Jensen | NA | First Kart/TM | | 35F | Miguel Pajon | NA | PCR/TM | | 45F | Nick Maddison | Firstkart.com | First Kart/SRA TM | | 48E | Alex Tollefsen | PSL Karting | CRG/PSL Maxter | | 52E | Cole Mathewson | SSC Northeast | CRG/SRA TM | | 55E | Jeff Oleen | NA | NA/NA | | 57E | Sean Noonan | C-G Racing | Top Kart/C-G Pavesi | | 60E | Shane Terrel | Champion Racing | Intrepid/Champion TM | | 70E | Chance Terrel | Champion Racing | Intrepid/Champion TM | | 70F | Daniel Morad | Firstkart.com | First Kart/SRA TM | | 77W | Colin Snyder | Team CSR | CRG/Pavesi | | 82E | Troy Hottmann | C-G Racing | Merlin/C-G Pavesi | | 84W | Wesley Boswell | MRP Motorsport | Birel/SRA TM | | 85E | Christopher Miller | PSL Karting | CRG/PSL Maxter | | 86E | Kyle Weigand | KLS Racing | GP/SwedeTech Pavesi | | 87F | Marc Flood | PSL Karting | CRG/PSL Maxter | | 99E | Chris Kuenning | MCM Racing | Birel/TM | | John Koorsen | NA | NA/NA | |
Tentative ICA Entrant List – as of Tuesday, July 19
| No. | Name | Team | Chassis/Engine| 2E | Johnny Johnson | J3 Competition | Kosmic/Vortex | | 5E | Chris Wehrheim | Dreamworks/Franklin Motorsports | PCR/PCR | | 7E | Chris Stage | Prime Motorsports | Gillard/Parilla | | 10E | Chris Chidgey | DL Racing | Tony Kart/Vortex | | 11E | Chris Keller | J&J Racing | Biesse/ATK | | 11F | Antoine Genest | Tecno Kart | Tecno/Maxter | | 12E | Caleb Loniewski | NA | Margay/TM | | 16E | Garrett Napier | Nevoso Kart | Birel/TM | | 18E | Chris Friel | Firstkart.com | First Kart/PCR | | 26E | Christopher Larson | Prime Motorsports | Gillard/Parilla | | 26W | Philip Giebler | Champion Racing/TNR Kart Sports | Intrepid/TM | | 27E | Chris Livengood | J&J Racing | Biesse/ATK | | 29E | Joey King | Cook Racing | Margay/TM | | 36E | Thomas Hartensveld | Nevoso Kart | Maranello/Maxter | | 43E | Richard Campollo | NA | CRG/Maxter | | 44F | Joseph Genest | Tecno Kart | Tecno/TM | | 57E | Steve Welk | C-G Racing | Merlin/ATK | | 77E | Dominic Scheer | Montoya Race Team | Birel/TM | | 87F | Camille Hamel | NA | NA/NA | | 91W | Tyler Dueck | Italian Motors | Italkart/Parilla | | 92W | David Jurca | Italian Motors | Italkart/TM | | 97E | Mark Vielgut | TCT | Haase/PCR | | 99E | Jennifer Williams | NA | Biesse/Maxter | | Steve Krock | Dreamworks/Franklin Motorsports | PCR/PCR | |
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