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| October 12, 2007 News |
| EKN Trackside: Mazda RoboPong 200 presented by Bridgestone - Preview |
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 | The start of the 2006 RoboPong.com 200 with hundreds of fans lining the fence line
(Photo: DavidLeePhoto.com) |
This weekend will mark the third running of New Castle Motorsports Park’s 200 lap event dubbed the Mazda RoboPong 200 presented by Bridgestone. Nearly 100 teams made up of two-four drivers will try to make Sunday’s 200 mile race, set to run 70 teams. Over 1000 spectators converged to the facility last year to watch their favorite IRL, NASCAR, and USAC drivers compete among some of the best in karting. More are anticipated to visit the New Castle, IN facility this weekend along with tuning into the one-hour broadcast to be televised on SpeedTV at a later date.
The first event in 2005 was originally scheduled to take place in July, but with just 16 teams entered, the NCMP staff chose to push it to October. The move brought the event up to 40 teams that saw IndyCar driver Dan Wheldon and Mark Dismore Jr. take home $2000 for the victory by a four lap margin. Last year, 80 teams entered for 56 starting spots with NASCAR legend Ricky Rudd and rising stock car star and former karting champion Paulie Harraka taking the checkered flag and the $5k first place prize. The event was also taped for a 30-minute SpeedTV broadcast thanks in part to title sponsor RoboPong.com and a host of other supporters of the event. This year, the event is growing even bigger thanks in part to track owner Mark Dismore bringing in Mazda, RoboPong and Bridgestone as event sponsors.
This year’s race will payout at least $25,000 in cash with the winning team taking in a minimum of $5,000 and will payback through to the 20th position with a minimum of $300. Chuck Tate and Racersites.com has stepped up to offer an additional $500 for the pole position winner, $250 for the team with the fastest race lap and $250 for the most laps led in the race. A new addition to the event will be an exhibition vintage race with karts from the 1960s and 70s which will include some of karting’s all-time great drivers and former NASCAR driver Lake Speed. A 12-lap MOTOSTRANO Supermoto Exhibition race will also run prior to the main event.
 | 2006 winners Paulie Harraka and Ricky Rudd will not be able to return to defend their title
(Photo: DavidLeePhoto.com) |
The race weekend begins Saturday officially with four hours of morning practice followed by qualifying, which will see the top 50 teams transfer on. The last 20 karts will have to race into the field in a 75 lap Last Chance Qualifier which will see at least one pit stop and driver change per team. Following the opening ceremonies, the teams of two-four drivers will attempt to run 200 miles (200 laps) - rain or shine - in the quickest time with a minimum of three pit stops per team. Once the race begins, teams may pit anytime at their choice for either a driver change, add fuel, or repair work. NCMP will issue refueling jugs to all teams for safety concerns with the flammable race gas. Weight will be determined by the type of engine the team will use, ranging from Rotax Max to the Motori Seven.
Many celebrity drivers will be competing in the event with a good handful from the IRL, NASCAR, and USAC drivers signed up on teams. IndyCar driver Dan Wheldon has supported the event since the beginning and will again return this year, looking to add to the 2005 victory with Comet Kart Sales’ Mark Dismore Jr. They will try to become the first team to repeat as the 2006 winning entry of Paulie Harraka and NASCAR’s Ricky Rudd will be unable to defend their title this year. Rudd is returning to the driver’s seat of his NASCAR Nextel Cup machine this weekend in Charlotte after injuring his shoulder and Harraka is committed to a NASCAR development combine.
Four other IndyCar Series drivers are scheduled to compete this year (Scott Dixon, Vitor Meira, AJ Foyt IV, and Robby McGehee) along with three other Indy Pro Series pilots including 2006 series champion and Screaming Talent kart shop owner Jay Howard, former 2003 ICA national champion Robbie Pecorari, and Travis Gregg. USAC drivers Lynsey Tilton, Chuck Gurney Jr., Brian Gerster, and Michael Lewis are also scheduled to race along with many former karters and current karting stars listed below in the entry list. Also joining the fun will be ABC/ESPN IndyCar Series driver analyst Scott Goodyear.
EKN will be providing their Trackside Live coverage beginning with some updates in the Official Discussion Thread Friday night along with updates during Saturday’s Qualifying session and LCQ. Sunday will be updates roughly every 20 laps with the current top ten. EKN will also be working in part with RaceFanRadio.com and their live internet radio broadcast to provide them any inside news from pit lane and around the paddock.
Mazda RoboPong 200 presented by Bridgestone Entry List
| No | Team | Driver 1 | Driver 2 | Driver 3 | Driver 4| 0 | Screaming Talent/Gillard | Nicholas Boulle | Jay Howard | | | | 1 | Screaming Talent/H-Power | John Mossey | Vitor Meira | | | | 2 | Racer of Tomorrow | Josef Newgarden | Timmy Megenbier | | | | 3 | Part Time Racers | Leonard Bailey | Chris Tatman | Chris Carman | | | 4 | CometKartSales.com | Mark Dismore Jr. | Dan Wheldon | | | | 5 | Clark Motorsports | Ned Clark | Andy Clark | | | | 6 | LBJ Racing | Levon Bates Jr. | Dylan Brock | Levon Bates | | | 7 | Screaming Talent/Gillard | David Sutton | John Mossey | | | | 8 | Hyperco/Carbontech/Burris Racing | Kelly Falls | Kurt Burris | | | | 9 | International Motorsports Group | Carlos Crespo | Sandro Soares | | | | 11 | Evolution Karting/CRG | Kurt Mathewson | Cole Mathewson | Scott Goodyear | | | 12 | TKM Motorsports | Adam Rovazzini | Scott Dixon | | | | 13 | Franklin Motorsports 2 | Voytek Burdzy | Tommy Mayr | | | | 14 | Conlin SpeedSports Y | Eric Creech | Barry Hatcher | Ross Ricart | | | 15 | Industrial Anodizing/Call-CPA.com | Josh Call | Jeff Wimmenauer | | | | 16 | Franklin One - Merlin USA | Jamie Sieracki | Nick Wagner | | | | 19 | Dominican Kart Team | Antonio Imbert | Ludovino Fernandez | | | | 20 | Ballinger Motorsports | Randy Ballinger | Brian Gerster | | | | 21 | The Old Guys | Dan Taylor | Monte Wilson | | | | 22 | Team Cytomax Top Kart | Conor Daly | Matt Jaskol | | | | 23 | Tuffy Auto Service | David Scott | Michael Burton | | | | 24 | Coyote Motorsports | Jim Lipari | Sean Meiers | | | | 25 | FoxCabinets.com | Dan Newell | Lonnie Pechnik | Bennie Moon | | | 26 | Ex-CIKA Drivers | Dick Margison | Rob Smith | Nathan O'Rourke | | | 27 | DB Motorsports | Brian McHattie | Robbie Pecorari | Caleb Loniewski | Jim Giacomelli | | 31 | Crash or Win Racing | Tim Hollowell | Joseph Jacks | | | | 32 | Conlin SpeedSports X | Dana Conlin-Mees | Tracy Conlin | Lynsey Tilton | | | 33 | Skip Barber Racing | Jimmy Tennill | Greg Boyce | | | | 34 | EnduranceKarting.com | Chris Rogers | James Massey | | | | 37 | RACERSITES.com | Chuck Tate | Cale Wyse | | | | 38 | M&M Racing | Mike Melott | Jeff Morone | | | | 40 | CKS/Lewis Racing 2 | Michael Lewis | Michael Busse | | | | 41 | Circleville Raceway | Bo Strawser | Eric Fagan | | | | 42 | JDY/RBE Racing | Jonathan Evans | Brian Zirves | David Yourd | | | 43 | So-Cal PlayerZ | John Zartarian | Derek Zimmermann | | | | 46 | Team Appco Racing | Dan Stempfley | Cody Gardner | | | | 50 | CKS/Lewis Racing | Billy Lewis | Mark Dismore Sr. | | | | 51 | Team JtB/NKN | F. Pierce Williams | Ameya Phatak | JW Myers | Kris Shepard | | 54 | Team Stoopid | Palmer Eicher | Dustin Tomlinson | | | | 56 | Motor-Pasion Team | Antonio Giraldi | Alain Giraldi | Freddy Zebede | Tomas Quiroz | | 57 | MKP Tuners 2 | Blake Deister | Jamie Ferrell | Gary Monnett | Tyler Spitler | | 58 | 2Js Engineering/Motorama 2 | Mike Burrell | John Dixon | Jason Lee | Marshall Vortriede | | 60 | Mudd Turtles Racers | Rob Lehmann | Don Bowles | Shawn Slattery | | | 63 | Mad Blue Max/OVKA | Max Viney | Travis Gregg | Steve Rumsey | | | 65 | Scuderia Dominicana | Nicolas Munne | Fernandao Arredondo | Cristian Maluff | | | 69 | E&H Racing | Josh Etter | John Horn | | | | 76 | Codalata Racing | Matt Codalata | Tommy Knight | | | | 77 | 2Js Eng./Motorama 1 | Mike Burrell | Jason Lee | John Dixon | Marshall Vortriede | | 84 | Eric Jones Karting | Brandon Jones | Edward Fortier | | | | 85 | Team Arbs | Vincent Schneider | Chris Arbuckle | Michael Burrell | BJ Anderson | | 86 | Team Top Kart USA | Kyle Wiegand | Chris Wehrheim | | | | 88 | Wynnefield Properties & Waiora | Eddie Stone | Craig Stone | | | | 93 | DB Motorsports | Brian McHattie | Bryan Dudiwka | John Giacomelli | | | 99 | JD Byrider | Ron Petersen | John Ewing | | | | 121 | Elite Racing | TJ Flynn | Matt O'Leary | | | | 163 | R. Norris Racing | Rex Norris III | TBA | | | | 199 | Rapid Racing Top Kart | Kevin Martz | Dustin Kessinger | | | | 222 | FirstKart USA | Tony Loniewski | Chris Larson | | | | 300 | Shake & Bake Racing/Barnes & Thornburg | Jimmy Simpson | CJ Lintner | | | | 307 | FirstKart.com | Spencer Pigot | Phil DeLaO | | | | 401 | Team Last Minute | Robert Stout | Steven Arens | AJ Codalata | | | 404 | Nesbitt-Zachary Racing | Jim Zachary | Brad Nesbitt | | | | 435 | Crystal Flash E2 | Evan Batt | Eric Morrow | | | | 439 | Wagner Race Products | Derek Wagner | Brett Smrz | | | | 448 | OMG Margay Laukaitis | Taylor Keil | Mike Otte | | | | 469 | OMG Rockstar Energy Drink | CR Crews | Logan Gomez | John Spickelmier | Robert Sollenskog | | 711 | Nesbitt Knight Weber Racing | Steve Knight | Nick Weber | | | | 999 | Italian Job | Frank Runco | Mimmo Ferrara | Klinton Cabral Jr. | | | 14O | Abel & Obermeyer Racing | Doug Obermeyer | Drew Abel | | | | 14T | T-Bann/Garrity Karting | Tim Bannon | Tyler Garrity | | | | 19J | Detroit Anarchy | Jim Kasprzak | Tri Gaffney | Tom Birchard | Frank Aiello | | 1x | PDB America | Reid Jeffries | Remy Brundage | Robin Brundage | | | 22F | MKP Tuners 1 | Mike Larrison | Bill McLaughlin Jr. | | | | 31x | Energy Corse Racing | David Neal | Casey Neal | Chris Keller | | | 33x | L&T Racing | Cody Robinson | Shinya Michimi | | | | 37X | Friddle Racing | Bill Friddle | Nevil Algie | Mike Spence | | | 51B | Indywolves Motorsports | Heather Bloyd | Robby McGehee | Tony Howell | Shane Edwards | | 51F | Free Spirit Racing Team | Bill Boxell | Brian Seward | Tracey Stegemoller | | | 51G | Nearly Famous | Rich Ludolph | Chuck Gurney Jr. | Chet Gerhke | | | 5X | National Transportation Consultants | Eric Batt | Erik Bennett | | | | 69X | Ecurie Escargot | Paddy O'Brien | Michael Baden | | | | 6B | Nollman Racing/NKN | Mike Piel | Bud Nollman | | | | 71F | Floor Racing | John Floor | Zach Lindsell | | | | 7m | CKT/Motori | Adam Schatz | Josh Lane | | | | 8S | HS Racing | Jim Shirey | Tim Hans | | | | O1 | Laski Racing | Jon Laski | Nick Buschmann | | | | O2 | Racer of Tomorrow Too | Gerardo Bonilla | Brandon Taylor | Josef Newgarden | | | O3 | MKP/Crow Safety Wear | Clay Maddox | John Crow | | | | O7 | Newtyp.com/RyuZen/Fastech/NewHorizons | Ken Ichikawa | William Sandoval | Jason Lugue | Jared Krinsky | | OO | National Kart News | Andy Castleman | Renato Lopez | | | | OO7 | National Kart News | Shawn Baliff | Kyle Konzer | | | |
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