Following the opening event of the 2026 Challenge of the Americas held at the K1 Circuit over the February 20-22 weekend, the program is focused on the second stop of the 19th season. The Phoenix Kart Racing Association is set to host Round Three and Four on April 17-19 at their Glendale, Arizona facility. Registration is now open at the ChallengeKarting.com website.

The opening weekend at the Winchester, California facility featured only 68 entries across the four 2-cycle categories and four Briggs 206 divisions. That total is well below the breakeven mark needed to conduct a safe, fun, and competitive weekend of kart racing. During the weekend, series promoter Andy Seesemann had a meeting with series sponsors, team owners, and others to discuss the future of the Challenge.

The Challenge is rich in karting history, dating back to the inaugural season in 2008. The program has knifed through the uncertainties within the sport, and continued to offer the western half of North America with a championship program to compete in.

The series announcement for registration opening was joined by a statement from Seesemann. Within the statement, the Challenge is seeking to receive 60 confirmed entries with $500 deposits toward the PKRA race weekend.

The following is that statement:

Greetings Challenge Racers and Teams.

It is no secret that numbers were down at our opener at K1 Circuit last week. So low, that I took a significant financial loss organizing the event. Track costs there are exorbitant and not sustainable, but we took the chance and it didn’t pay off. I can’t continue down the path of hemorrhaging cash. Doing it once was extremely painful, but necessary. Doing that 3 more times is impossible.

The new K1 club series has garnered the support of Southern California and a number of teams that have supported the Challenge of the Americas for the last 19 seasons. Unfortunately, the new program decided to schedule on top of our next two event weekends, unnecessarily forcing racers to choose a race program.

Therefore, for our Phoenix event I give you, our racers, the role of choosing the fate of our program. We need 60 entries committed to our PKRA event or the rest of the season will be canceled. After nearly 20 years, and with a heavy heart I say this, the choice is yours. I don’t want K1 to go down as the final Challenge of the Americas race weekend, but I need your support.

PKRA entry for R3 and R4 opens today and will remain so until 11:59pm on March 14th. I know it is early, so we only ask for a $500 entry down payment. The balance can be paid at a later date, right up until the race weekend, or even at the event. Should we not get 60 entries your $500 down payment will be refunded in full.

Thank you. Andy

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