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| November 09, 2005 News |
| EKN Trackside: SKUSA SuperNationals IX – Event Preview |
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 | | SKUSA SuperNationals IX Track Design |
The karting community is descending on Sam Boyd Stadium for the ninth annual Superkarts! USA SuperNationals. This is the second year the organization’s premier event has been held in the parking lot of the football stadium located about 20 minutes east of the famed Las Vegas Strip.
This year will see a few changes to the program, most notably, a return to the multiple heat format, replacing the simple Qualifying, Prefinal, Final format used for the past few years. This year, nine classes will hit the track with the CIK Intercontinental A-Junior being added to the program after the main agenda had been set. Also different from last year is the track design. SuperPro and shifterkart veteran Alan Rudolph used his expertise and knowledge to design this year’s circuit, which will not use the portion of the parking lot that wrapped around the stadium.
The headline class of the weekend is the SuperPro which will see both motos and ICC motors competing on track at the same time for the first time in the event’s storied history. SKUSA tipped its hand in its desire for a moto-powered driver to claim it’s crowned jewel when it offered a generous 10 pound weight break and threw an extra $1,500 dollars onto the already impressive $5,000 winner’s share as a “bounty.” Thus far it seems only two drivers have taken the bait. Both Phil Carlson and Matt Jaskol have entered with the intent of racing their DDR Hondas on Sunday afternoon.
One driver who was thought to be a likely candidate to dust off the moto package was Mirage Motorsports’ owner Ron White. While had has run his TopKart with SwedeTech Pavesi power all season, White has in his inventory one of the very potent SwedeTech Hondas but told us earlier that he would be in town with his Pavesi.
Most of the major players at the top of the sport are in attendance with the winners of the last three SuperNationals – Jason Bowles (Tony Kart), Wesley Boswell (Birel) and David Jurca (Italkart) – all on the entry list. Jurca is coming into Vegas with a full head of steam having won the Stars of Karting National Finals in Austin a few weeks ago. Jurca recently returned from a trip to Italy where along with team boss Claudio Valiante, he helped out the finishing touches on the 2006 homologation of the Italkart chassis.
Boswell is arriving here after a decent but not remarkable season. While he was regularly at the front of the ICC fields in Stars competition, the Californian did not post the results he showed last season.
 | The thrill of victory
(Photo: Blaney - SKI) |
With last year’s big win still in his mind, Bowles is hoping to give Tony Kart a lift with a second straight victory – a feat only Red Bull Formula 1 driver Scott Speed has accomplished. A few weeks ago, Judy Huber announced that she had ended the company’s relationship with Tony Kart and that CompCor was getting out of the karting business all together. While the team no longer carries the CompCor name, many of the key players are still in place with team manager Cliff Kujala leading the team again this year.
Missing from the line-up for the first time in the event’s history is Darren Elliott who announced days ago that he was retiring from the sport. Elliott was the winner in 1998 and until 2003, had stood on the podium every year in the premier class of the SuperNationals. A streak that is unlikely to be duplicated.
Other notables in the field include last year’s pole sitter Tad Funakoshi who is driving for Greg Bell’s Leading Edge Motorsports aboard an Intrepid. Texan Kyle Martin is making his return to competition after a year away with the PTK squad aboard a Tony Kart. This will be the first time Martin has driven the SuperNationals aboard anything but a Trackmagic.
Other leading classes are the Shifter Masters class with PTK’s Bonnier Moulton leading the entry list. The winner here last year, he also won the Rock Island Grand Prix this year and is again looking to sweep the categories to most important races.
The TaG Senior class is looking to be huge with as many as 60 drivers on hand. With that many entries, making the Final will be a significant achievement – a hallmark of the SuperNationals. Last year’s winner, Toby Scheckter is not expected to return to defend of win.
EKN will have full trackside coverage of the SuperNationals all week with regular updates from the track daily. Saturday, be sure to tune in for ‘Happy Hour with Howden’. SKUSA’s Joe Janowski and Darren Elliott are scheduled to be in the hot seat with SKI Publisher Rob Howden, SKI Editor Tim Blaney and EKN Manager David Cole. |
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