eKartingNews.com is proud to present our Preview Series for the Superkarts! USA SuperNationals 27. Leading up to the on-track action of the 2024 edition of the marquee SKUSA event, EKN will preview each of the nine categories that will compete on the temporary circuit located outside the Las Vegas Motor Speedway in Las Vegas from November 13-17.

Trackside coverage is set to begin on Tuesday, November 12 as the EKN crew sets up our SuperNationals 27 home, roaming the LVMS grounds with Paddock Insider and social media content. Coverage continues into Wednesday as karts hit the track for the first time. EKN Live begins on Thursday, November 14 as qualifying is conducted for both the morning classes and the afternoon divisions. Listen LIVE to the heat races throughout Friday, November 15 and into Situation Saturday, November 16, including the five Last Chance Qualifiers held on the day. That sets everything up for SuperSunday, with the main events for SuperNationals 27 audio streamed live on eKartingNews.com/live and eKartingNews.com/radio.

Complete coverage of the Superkarts! USA SuperNationals 27 can be found at the EKN EVENT PAGE.

Pro Shifter

Reigning KZ world champion Giuseppe Palomba is set for his SuperNationals debut (Photo: FIAkarting.com)

The true headline category for all 27 editions of the Superkarts! USA SuperNationals is the top level shifterkart division. It all began in 1997 on the outskirts of Las Vegas at the Race Kart City USA circuit where the first SuperNationals took place and Alex Barron was the first name etched in the long line of winners. Careers have been launched, defined, and put into legendary status with a victory on SuperSunday. Pro Shifter reached international status in the mid-2000s when the European factories first sent over their official drivers. Since that time, six different nations have claimed a headline victory and the big pay day in Vegas. Another stacked field of both North America’s best and international superstars is set to battle for a 27th time when we arrive this coming week. Who will it be that wins the $10,000 payday?

Defending race winner Daniel Formal will not be in Las Vegas to take a shot at earning a record-setting fifth SuperNationals triumph as the Costa Rican is competing at the Lamborghini Super Trofeo World Finals event in Andalusia, Spain.

The previous two winners of the SuperNationals are in the field with Pedro Hiltbrand (2022) and Matteo Vigano (2021) both confirmed as entries. Hiltbrand (PSL Karting) – the FIA Karting World Champion in 2016 – won in his KZ debut in 2022 after placing third in X30 the year before. The Spainard finished eighth a year ago, and will arrive in Las Vegas with a third-place result at this year’s KZ world title event. Italian Vigano (PSL Karting) has five previous starts at the SuperNationals, winning in 2021 outside the Las Vegas Motor Speedway. He was third in last year’s SuperSunday main event.

2022 FIA Karting KZ world title winner Viktor Gustafsson is also making his first SuperNationals start (Photo: FIAKarting.com)

In total, there are seven former SuperNationals winners in the field. Billy Musgrave (Factory Karts) is part of the four-time win club at the SuperNationals, having won the S1/Pro Shifter division three straight years after earning his first back in 2012 in his Vegas debut. Musgrave is coming off victory at the SummerNationals in July against the largest field of the season. The 32-year-old will be pulling double duty, competing in both Pro and Master Shifter. Last year’s Master Shifter winner and six-time world champion Davide Fore (Italkart Factory Racing Team) returns for a fourth straight start after five previous SuperNationals starts. His best finish in the current era in Pro Shifter was seventh in 2021, and he is ready to compete in both divisions again. 2009 winner Bas Lammers (Italkart Factory Racing Team) is making a return to the SuperNationals for the first time since 2017. The two-time shifterkart world champion will be also pulling double duty with Pro and Master Shifter, and is making a second trip to the USA after racing the opening event for Challenge of the Americas in Tucson in February.

Another former winner from the past making his return to Vegas is Jordon Lennox (PSL Karting). The 2014 SKUSA Pro Tour champion and SuperNationals S1 winner is making his first start since 2015. The 2012 KZ2 world champion has spent the last few years building and operating Lennox Racing Team throughout Europe. Another winner from the past is Brian Keck (GFC Karting). The 2004 S1 winner was third place in Master Shifter last year, and he’s moved back to Pro Shifter in 2024.

A total of 10 world champions from the present and the past are in the field. The most recent world champion in the field is Giuseppe Palomba (Sodi USA by Velocity Racing). In Portugal this October, Palomba claimed his first world title. This will be the Italian’s first start at the SuperNationals. Also winning in Portugal was Cristian Bertuca (PSL Karting). The Italian claimed the KZ2 world title, and is set to make his fourth start at the SuperNationals. He ran X30 Junior in 2019 (11th), X30 Senior in 2021 (DNQ), and eighth in his Pro Shifter debut in 2022 at the Rio.

2024 SKUSA Pro Tour champion Matheus Morgatto is set for his first Pro Shifter start in Vegas (Photo: EKN)

Viktor Gustafsson (CRG Nordam) claimed the 2022 FIA Karting KZ World Championship in France. The Swedish driver, who was the European champion in 2020, is set to make his SuperNationals debut. 2023 KZ2 world title winner Niels Troger made his first visit to the SuperNationals last year but was removed from the event for a scale line infraction in the opening practice session. The German returns to the SuperNationals, this year set to race aboard a Factory Kart machine with National Karting Group.

Two world champions who are no strangers to the USA competition and the SuperNationals are Matheus Morgatto and Marijn Kremers – the two most recent SKUSA Pro Tour champions. Morgatto (PSL Karting) is coming off a championship season in 2024, winning the SKUSA Winter Series, Florida Winter Tour, and SKUSA Pro Tour titles. The Brazilian who won the 2022 FIA Karting OK World Championship finished second at the KZ2 world championship in October. Kremers (Rolison Performance Group) won the SKUSA title in 2022 and 2023, and made the move over to OTK in 2024. He ran a limited schedule here in the USA for 2024, placing 11th at the KZ World Championship. Kremers was runner-up last year, his fourth time in six starts finishing in the second spot at the SuperNationals.

Two-time SKUSA champ and 2019 world KZ title winner Marijn Kremers is vying to claim his first SuperNationals victory (Photo: EKN)

Nine of the top 10 in the SKUSA Pro Tour standings for 2024 are in the field, carrying their respective number for the SuperNationals and in 2025. Jacob Gulick (GFC Karting) finished the season in second, up one spot from the wild 2023 championship chase. The former SKUSA Pro Tour race winner went winless in 2024, and returns to Vegas aimed to end a streak of three straight DNF finishes at the SuperNationals. AJ Myers (Magik Kart USA) – who finished third in the SKUSA standings – is among the most successful drivers at the SuperNationals without a win. Dating back to S5 Junior in 2009, he has seven podium results in 12 shifterkart starts.

The current EKN Shifterkart Driver Rankings presented by Skip Barber Racing School #1 driver is Kyle Wick (GFC Karting). The three-time Challenge of the Americas winner was fourth in the SKUSA standings with two podium results after a DNF at the WinterNationals. The driver from Washington has only two podium results at the SuperNationals, both coming in 2018. He finished just off the steps in sixth last year. Privateer Tahlon Yockel (Sodi Kart) completes the top-five in the SKUSA standings. Yockel is making his third SuperNationals start with a best finish of 22nd in 2022.

Others from the top-10 in the SKUSA standings in 2024 include Kiwi Jay Urwin, Hunter Pickett, and Filip Niemkiewicz. Urwin has been coming to the SuperNationals since his Cadet years, and is ready for a third Pro Shifter start in Vegas. The 16-year-old finished 10th last year. Pickett (GFC Karting) is making his 10th start at the SuperNationals, ranging from S2, S1, and now his sixth in Pro Shifter. His best recent Vegas result was ninth in KZ in 2019. Colorado driver Niemkiewicz (PSL Karting) is making a third Pro Shifter start at the SuperNationals with a best finish of 21st in 2022.

EKN Driver Rankings top pilot Kyle Wick seeking his first podium at SuperNationals since 2018 (Photo: EKN)

Other international drivers with USA experience include Daniel Vasile and Senna Van Walstijn. Vasile (Italkart Factory Racing Team) won at his Challenge of the Americas debut in February and return to claim the ROK Vegas victory the first weekend of November. Van Walstijn (Sodi USA by Velocity Racing) came to the USA and earned a best finish of fifth at the SpringNationals in Utah. He was runner-up at the FIA Karting KZ World Championships.

Rounding out the international drivers to watch include last year’s fifth place driver, Canadian Remo Ruscitti (Catalyst Driver Development), 2022 runner-up Markus Kajak (Maranello USA / National Karting Group), Aussie Sam Dicker (Trinity Karting Group), fourth-place driver at the KZ world championship David Trefilov (Maranello USA / National Karting Group), Luis Spek (Racelab), Stefan Sjoberg (PSL Karting), and Corentin Rousseau (Italkart Factory Racing Team).

Rookie Pro Shifter drivers in the field include Challenge of the Americas champion Michael Avansino (Ron White Racing), COTA vice-champion David Williams (CRG), X30 driver Edward Portz (Rolison Performance Group), and Michell Lowry (Magik Kart USA). Lowry won a SuperNationals scholarship through a social media campaign thanks to the Rock Island Grand Prix and Simpson Motorsports – STL. The driver from Ohio will dawn a special RIGP graphic theme in Vegas.

SuperNats Stats

5 – Pro Shifter / KZ / S1 SuperNationals winners in the field

7 – Former SuperNationals winners in the field

10 – World Karting Champions (Shifter and single-speed)

17 – Different countries represented in the field

38 – Drivers from outside of the USA

Provisional Entry List – Pro Shifter

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