The Florida Winter Tour is among the longest running championships in the United States, spanning four decades of competition with a vast amount of history and notable performances. ROK Cup USA has been part of the FWT since 2015 and will enter the 12th season offering a platform of categories that are contested around the world.

The 2025 season of the Florida Winter Tour its first-ever event hosted outside the Sunshine State, as the program held its series finale in Texas at Speedsportz. Heading into 2026, the FWT is back full time in the state of Florida, and it’s expanded the program with additional categories ad will also welcome in a new facility.

EKN connected with Mike Burrell of ROK Cup USA to set the stage for the 2026 ROK Cup USA Florida Winter Tour.

eKartingNews.com: Mike, thank you for joining us as we head into the 2026 Florida Winter Tour. This year’s program is a full return to the Sunshine States with all three events taking place in Florida. This includes two weekends at Orlando Kart Center along with the series’ debut at the T4 KartPlex in Palmetto. What led to adding the Gulf Coast facility to the 2026 schedule?

Mike Burrell: We are 100% committed to the Florida Winter Tour being in Florida, and that means branching out to support any and all tracks we can in Florida. Jake Mottaz and his staff have been doing an incredible job updating and growing karting in the Palmetto area at the T4 KartPlex, and the track has a great history in both karting and car testing under Dan Andersen and Primus in the past. T4 is also about 20 minutes from some pretty good beaches to be on in March, and nothing is more ‘Florida’ than a warm beach in March. I think it will be a cool event! Ideally, we are looking to get back to three unique tracks for the FWT; the way Bill Wright envisioned and executed it for years. People want variety, the real FWT experience, and they want winter in Florida.

T4 KartPlex will be the FWT finale location for 2026

EKN: In addition to a new facility, the Florida Winter Tour is adding categories to the program with the new ROK SV Senior division, while also adding a KZ class and Super Masters divisions for both ROK Shifter and ROK VLR. What led to bringing on these categories for 2026?

MB: The ROK SV class at ROK Vegas was a huge success so we are just continuing to ride that wave. We ‘broke the rules’ for the USA with SV in Vegas having equally prepared engines, included in the entry price, and distributed via a lottery system. People liked it, so we are continuing with that format going into the 2026 FWT.

The change to KZ is just following the market at this moment. We are not abandoning the idea of the ROK Shifter class. I, along with a lot of people, still believe it is the best shifter class anywhere. It is exceptionally stable and still the most affordable shifter format available. Right now, KZs are the ‘flavor of the week’. We’ll see how it goes.

The Super Masters additions to ROK VLR and ROK Shifter in ROK Vegas were also successful, so we added it to this year’s Florida Winter Tour. We want to provide that same opportunity at the FWT to see if it can be as successful as it was in Vegas. But we won’t know unless we offer it. If it is successful, great! I like offering my peers a class of their own (laughing). If it is not, we’ll save it for Vegas. We’re just trying to offer everyone a place to race this winter in the Sunshine State!

EKN: A total of 49 drivers battled in the new ROK SV category at ROK Vegas. What feedback specifically did you have from the teams and competitors in the ROK SV category?

MB: The vast majority of drivers loved it! Many told us they felt it put them on ‘equal terms’ as the normal frontrunners. Maybe that was true, maybe that was just psychology. Either way, it was a hit! Competitors in other classes came and asked if we can do it for their class next year. The teams didn’t seem to mind this new format for at least for one class. And we do have to give a shout out to the mechanics. They were all patient and professional picking up and returning the engines each day.

The ROK SV Senior category will be offered at the 2026 Florida Winter Tour after its debut at ROK Vegas this November (Photo: Canadian Karting News)

EKN: The first offering of prize package details was just released, highlighting the many tickets up for grabs through the championship program, including ROK Cup Superfinal or ROK Vegas and other prizes across the board. Additional prizes will be announced in the coming days leading to the opening event. What factors did you consider when putting together this year’s prize package, as tickets and products seem to be the biggest request by competitors?

MB: We consider exactly that; what the competitors want. I did a competitors’ survey after ROK Vegas and usually do one after FWT. The resounding answer is they want status, recognition, and a chance to race the best competition. This is why tickets to high profile races such as ROK Vegas or the ROK Cup Superfinal in Italy are the ultimate ‘carrot’.

At the same time, we are always looking for another way to enhance and incentive the racers to come to the next race. For the past two years, we’ve given “double ROK Champions” – drivers who win two full ROK Vegas tickets – the option to use the second ticket for a 5-night stay at the Rio. We’ve also given away complete ROK engine kits and done a ‘Chassis of Choice’ prize where the winner picks whatever chassis they want. I’m always open to ideas and the racers – our customers – is the best source for those.

EKN: ROK Sonoma dates have been locked in, with the program continuing to offer two separate ‘Triple Crown’ championships within the season. The first spans March to May and the second from June to September. The ROK engine platform is competing within multiple programs across the country. What other clubs or series is ROK Cup USA working with in 2026?

MB: ROK Sonoma is our signature series throughout the spring and summer. It is hard to call it a ‘club’ though; the VLR fields are very deep with typically 25 to 30 in ROK VLR Senior and we’re getting competitors from all along the West Coast and Pacific Northwest. Other than ROK Sonoma, through Vega Tire, we are expanding our relationship with Tri-C Karters in Southern California. And there are many other tracks and series throughout the US that allow ROK/Vortex engines. We are always happy to offer support to anyone loyal to our engine package. Outside of that, we support Canada, Central America and South American ROK Cup Series programs with similar prize packages and technical support.

EKN: Thank you, Mike. We hope it’s another great Florida Winter Tour and successful 2026.

MB: Thank you EKN!

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