For the 14th time in the facilities history, the New Castle Motorsports Park is set to host a 200-lap endurance race. It all began in the first full season of the New Castle, Indiana circuit back in 2004 and was reignited last year with the Mark Harrison Memorial 200 after an almost 10 year hiatus. This year’s event will grow in size as NCMP hosts the newly branded MG Tires 200 over the October 3-5 weekend and a prize package of $100,000.

Building off the event in 2024, the updated MG Tires 200 will feature the headline category of KA100 Senior karts competing for 200 laps around the New Castle Motorsports Park for 200 laps. The winning team will have their names added to the Dan Wheldon Cup trophy that resides inside the NCMP main building, along with winning an amazing $25,000 cash prize. Nearly $70,000 in guaranteed cash prizes will be awarded in the MG Tires 200, with the top-10 teams receiving a check from NCMP.

The Brandon Jarsocrak Racing duo of Pauly Massimino and James Overbeck claimed victory and $10,000 at the 2024 event (Photo: Kart Chaser / Kyle Cuthbertson)

The history of endurance events at NCMP goes back to the first year of racing at the facility in 2004. The inaugural 200-lap race drew solid participation and was won by Adam Rovazzini and Mark Dismore Jr. The event grew in attendance and prestige over time, eventually signing the table tennis training system ‘RoboPong’ as the event sponsor, adding the company to the event that still only needs that brand name to fuel enthusiastic conversations of its history. It was in 2007 that the race welcomed a staggering 93 teams to compete in TaG machinery in the main event. At its height, the RoboPong 200 welcomed many big names in the sport, including IndyCar, NASCAR, and IMSA drivers. Dan Wheldon, Ricky Rudd, Ed Carpenter, Jay Howard, and Josef Newgarden are among the famous names to earn their spot on the Dan Wheldon Cup. The last edition of the ‘RoboPong 200’ was held in 2015, won by Jacob Donald and Brandon Jones of KartSport North America.

In 2024, the Mark Harrison Memorial 200 was the rebirth of the 200-lap event, transitioning from the TaG 125cc engine package to the IAME KA100 Senior powerplant. The Brandon Jarsocrak Racing duo of Pauly Massimino and James Overbeck dominated the race last October to win the $10,000 top prize.

The return of the 200-lap classic at New Castle Motorsports Park in 2024 drew 20 teams, including IndyCar drivers Josef Newgarden, Will Power, and Kyffin Simpson, INDY NXT vice-champion Jacob Abel and USF Pro 2000 title winner Lochie Hughes. The remainder of the field included top national two-cycle drivers and several NCMP regulars who were up for the challenge. Many of the same drivers and teams are expected to return along with the field expected to welcome at least 40 teams battling for 200 laps this October.

For 2025, the endurance weekend will feature support events, like the old ‘RoboPong 200’ versions of the event. The focus on Saturday will be the ‘Briggs 206’ 100 race. The event features competitors in the Briggs 206 Senior powered machines racing for 100 laps. A minimum of $5,000 cash prize will be awarded to the winning driver or team of drivers with the over $10,000 cash purse paying back to at least the top five finishers. A full day of practice will be held on Friday with an additional practice session on Saturday morning. Qualifying and the 100-lap main event will be contested Saturday afternoon.

The Briggs 206 100 event will be the headline event on Saturday (Photo: Nate Dean – EKN)

Additional support classes on the weekend include KA100 Junior, Briggs 206 Junior and Mini Swift categories. The three support classes will be part of the full weekend, including practice on Friday and Saturday morning. Qualifying and a 15-lap Prefinal will be held on Saturday afternoon with warm-up and 30-lap Final for all three categories on Sunday morning. Each support class will see a cash purse over $6,000 paying back to the top five finishers as the winner in each division receives $2,500.

Special prizes will be awarded throughout the weekend, including new IAME and Briggs 206 engines across all the different categories competing on the weekend. That combined with all the cash prizes puts the overall prize package above the $100,000 mark.

All categories will compete on the MG Tires SH2 Red compound with support for the event provided by MG Tires, IAME USA East, and Briggs & Stratton Racing.

Details surrounding the MG Tires 200, including rules, schedule and full prize package will be published in the coming weeks on the New Castle Motorsports Park webpage and on the NCMP social media pages.

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