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| March 15, 2006 News |
| EKN Trackside: Stars Race of the Americas Preview – ICA |
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 | Tony Kart USA's Joel Miller will look for the ICA crown in 2006
(Photo: Bill Kistler - racepixs.com) |
The Intercontinental A (ICA) division in last year’s Snap-on Stars of Karting series was very unpredictable throughout the year. Whether it was a great performance or massive attrition, the Finals were always decided during the last few laps. There is no question that the same could be said about the championship, as it came down to wire as whoever won the National Finals in Austin would take the crown. Champion Racing’s Phil Giebler built momentum throughout the year and performed his best when it counted, winning the final Eastern event to claim the Eastern title and charging to victory at Iron Rock to earn the national title. With Giebler stepping out of the kart seat for most of the 2006 season, the ICA championship is now totally up for grabs.
Returning this year with momentum on his side is the Jim Trueman Award winner and defending ICA Western Division champion Joel Miller. The Californian will be returning with the new Tony Kart USA squad alongside SKI Mechanic of the Year nominee Seth Nash. Though he did not win a race in ‘05, Miller was consistently fast every weekend and had an impressive run at the National Finals, that is, before Giebler captured the win. With a full year in the Tony Kart/Vortex package behind him, Miller will be in the hunt for both victories and the national title.
Two drivers who finished in the top-five standings last year were Johnny Johnson and Grant Hebner. They are both back in '06. Johnson has made the switch from J3 Competition to Team OVRP.com over the winter, while Hebner made the move to the TopKart at the end of 2005. Johnson had two wins last year in the Eastern schedule and is looking to add more in 2006. Hebner had an up-and-down season last year, but managed to finish fifth in the standings. Joining them under the OVRP tent is Pat Iannucci and Junior ICA national champion Gustavo Yacaman. Iannucci finished third in Stars Easykart championship last season while Yacaman will be making his Senior debut with the TopKart team. The rookie will be looking to be at the front from the get-go. New to ICA, it will be interesting to see how Team OVRP.com’s program develops throughout this season.
 | Brit Alexander Sims is looking to bring home a victory from Norman
(Photo: Todd McCall - otp.ca) |
The PSLKarting.com has stacked its ICA line-up with two British drivers this year. Jake Rosenzweig and Alexander Sims will carry the PSL/CRG flag this weekend, just as they did during the Winter Tour in Florida. Sims went four-for-four in Finals during the Florida Winter Tour, but he was forced to miss the second round because of CIK license regulations. Though Sims won’t be able to follow the entire Stars of Karting schedule, watch for his name toward the front of the lap charts in Norman. Rosenzweig earned a victory last year in only five Stars events, including a third in Austin. He also had an impressive set of Florida Winter Tour outings. Watch for him this weekend, as well as throughout the year.
The newly-named MRP-Birel AMERICA squad was left with a void last year in ICA after Michael Giessen went on to concentrate on his stock car racing career. This year, they’ve added a few up-and-coming drivers to their line-up. Sophomore Dominic Scheer will be the veteran for the team, as he has North American and European ICA experience aboard the Birel line. Stars Easykart champion Cory Pollock and Rotax Max Challenge Junior Grand National champion James Kennedy will both move up to the ICA division for 2006 with MRP.
Another stacked line-up of ICA drivers is under the Prime Motorsports tent, with the four Chris’ all aboard Gillards. Leading the team is Chris Larson, who gave Gillard its first Stars victory last year at Jacksonville. Returning from for a second year of competition is Chris Stage and Chris Grektorp. Stage finished 11th in the ICA standings last year and Grektorp joined the squad briefly during ’05. Joining them for 2006 is former Biesse pilot Chris Keller. Keller joined the team before the WKA Daytona KartWeek and had an impressive run up through the field that week to finish fourth.
Other drivers to watch this year include Champion Racing’s Tyler Dueck, Colby Jenn (Dueck’s former teammate at Italian Motors) and Lorenzo Mandarino, who will be doing double duty for KLS Racing running both ICC and ICA in Norman. Drivers making their Senior debut in Norman to watch include Margay’s Eric Morrow, J3 Competition’s Brandon Bealer and Anthony Llopiz, Phillip Arscott with Eurokart International, RBI Racing’s Mitch Cobb, and SH Karting’s Xavier Coupal.
ICA - Unofficial Entry List - as of March 14
| No. | Driver | Team | Chassis | Engine| 4 | Johnny Johnson | Team OVRP.com | TopKart | DDR Maxter | | 5 | Grant Hebner | Team OVRP.com | TopKart | NA | | 7 | Tyler Dueck | Champion Racing | Intrepid | Champion TM | | 200 | Tales Dias | Kart Racing Technologies | KRT | NA | | 201 | Cory Pollock | MRP-Birel AMERICA | Birel | NA | | 202 | Eric Morrow | Margay Racing Products | Margay | Parilla | | 204 | Gustavo Yacaman | Team OVRP.com | TopKart | NA | | 208 | Taylor Harris | NA | Intrepid | Parilla | | 210 | James Kennedy | MRP-Birel AMERICA | Birel | SRA TM | | 211 | Chris Keller | PDB Prime Motorsport | Gillard | Parilla | | 212 | Cody Jolly | NA | NA | NA | | 214 | Garrett Napier | NA | NA | TM | | 216 | Wesley Phillips | Champion Racing | Intrepid | TM | | 218 | Pat Iannucci | Team OVRP.com | TopKart | Vortex | | 221 | Brandon Bealer | J3 Competition | Kosmic | Vortex | | 222 | Anthony Llopiz | J3 Competition | Kosmic | Vortex | | 223 | Lorenzo Mandarino | KLS Racing | GP | High-Rev Vortex | | 224 | Kyle Heckman | GT Karts | GT Kart | TM | | 225 | Alexander Sims | PSLKarting.com | CRG | Maxter | | 226 | Christopher Larson | PDB Prime Motorsport | Gillard | Parilla | | 227 | Caleb Loniewski | Margay Racing Products | Margay | Parilla | | 228 | Nicholas Johnston | Nevoso Karts | Maranello | NA | | 229 | Cy Schumacher | J3 Competition | Kosmic | Vortex | | 232 | Dion VonMoltke | NA | NA | NA | | 233 | Phillip Arscott | Eurokart International | Swiss Hutless | Blanken-CMC Vortex | | 235 | Jake Rosenzweig | PSLKarting.com | CRG | Maxter | | 237 | Ben Searcy | BTK Motorsports | Arrow | SRA TM | | 238 | Chris Friel | Ocala Gran Prix | NA | NA | | 244 | Joel Miller | Tony Kart USA | Tony Kart | Vortex | | 249 | Xavier Coupal | SH Karting | Tony Kart | Vortex | | 250 | Jeremy Nelson | J3 Competition | Kosmic | Vortex | | 255 | Jess Peterson | Champion Racing | Intrepid | Parilla | | 258 | Kyle Longmore | NA | NA | NA | | 260 | Sebastien Fauque | GT Karts | GT Kart | EFM TM | | 261 | Sean Burstyn | NA | Gillard | Parilla | | 264 | Hunter Short | DL Racing | Kosmic | Marechal Vortex | | 267 | John Mossey | DL Racing | NA | Vortex | | 271 | Don McGregor | GT Karts | GT Kart | EFM TM | | 272 | Ricky Taylor | NA | Kart Mini | Italian Motors Parilla | | 277 | Dominic Scheer | MRP-Birel AMERICA | Birel | Haddock Parilla | | 278 | Eddie Coffin, Jr. | BTK Motorsports/SRA Karting | Arrow | SRA TM | | 279 | Christopher Grektorp | PDB Prime Motorsport | Gillard | Parilla | | 284 | Juan Ignacia Sanso | SSC-PCH Motorsports | CRG | NA | | 287 | Camille Hamel | NA | Tony Kart | Vortex | | 288 | Chris Livengood | Mach 1 USA | Mach 1 | ATK | | 289 | Nicholas Tonkin | MRP-Birel AMERICA | Birel | TM | | 292 | Christophe Boisclair | MRP/SRA | Arrow | SRA TM | | 293 | Colby Jenn | Italian Motors | Italkart | TM | | 294 | Brody Goble | Italian Motors | Italkart | Italian Motors TM | | 298 | Mitch Cobb | RBI Racing | RBI | SRA TM | | 299 | Jennifer Williams | NA | Kosmic | Maxter | | Joe Patterson | DL Racing | NA | NA | | Macie Wyly | DL Racing | Kosmic | Marechal Vortex | | Nicholas Silva | NA | NA | NA | | Nick Boulle | DL Racing | Kosmic | Marechal Vortex | | Roberto Merhi | NA | NA | NA | | Victor Garcia | NA | NA | NA | |
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