Ryan Norberg earned a third X30 Pro victory on the season after penalties (Photo: EKN)

The final day of action for the 2024 United States Pro Kart Series presented by IAME USA East and MG Tires was put into the books on Sunday, wrapping up the Indiana Grand Prix from New Castle Motorsports Park. After battle the core of Hurricane Helene moving through the area on Friday and Saturday, overcast clouds and moisture remained in the New Castle, Indiana area for much of Sunday, forcing all sessions to be run on wet weather tires. The final few main events saw a drying track, but not enough to switch over to dry tries, making it a challenging last Final to close out the season. On the day, six different drivers recorded their first victories of the season in their respective categories.

It was nearly seven new winners on the day, including the X30 Pro presented by Rolison Performance Group. The outside lane got the jump on pole sitter and provisional champion Austin Garrison (SCR / CS55), with Canadian Ayden Ingratta (RPG / Kosmic) and Ryan Norberg (RPG / Kosmic) out to the top two spots. Garrison fought back on Norberg but eventually lost that position and did not have the pace on the intermediate wet track compared to the full wet track on Saturday. Ingratta held the lead for the first half of the race until Norberg closed in and took over the spot. The four-time defending champion held off the USF Juniors driver, making his first start of the season. On the final circuit, Ingratta was able to slip past Norberg in the far section of the track, holding off the veteran through the final few corners to cross the line first for the provisional victory. Officials handed Ingratta a jump start penalty, of three seconds, thus handing the win over Norberg – his third of the season. Their advantage was enough that Ingratta only fell to second, with Alessandro de Tullio (Inter MS / Tony Kart) in third ahead of teammate Harley Keeble (Inter MS / Tony Kart). Keeble received a multiple penalties, dropping him to 14th in the final results, promoting Garrison to fourth and Pauly Massimino (BJR / LN Racing Kart) to fifth.

The win moved Norberg up into he second spot in the standings, 244 points behind new champion Garrison. De Tullio wrapped up the year in third over Massimino with Brandon Carr (Trinity / Kart Republic) in fifth.

First career KA100 Senior victory clinched the championship for AJ Myers (Photo: EKN)

AJ Myers (Magik Kart USA) made no doubts who was the top driver of the Indiana Grand Prix and the season in KA100 Senior presented by Brandon Jarsocrak Racing. Starting on the pole position after winning two of the three heats on Saturday, Myers jumped out to the lead on the 42 driver field with three drivers trailing – Jose Carlos Hernandez (Orsolon / Tony Kart), former series champoin Brandon Lemke (LN Racing Kart) and James Overbeck (BJR / LN Racing Kart). Myers maintained a good advantage over the challenging group, leading all 18 laps uncontested to take his first career victory in the category, and securing enough points to claim the series championship. Lemke put the pressure on Hernandez late, working past him to cross the line in second but was penalized three positions for avoidable contact. This put Hernandez second on the podium and Overbeck into third, while moving Ryan Persing (Nash / EOS) up into the fourth position.

Myers – the fifth different winner on the season in the class – made history with the KA100 Senior championship, becoming the first driver to win all three championships at USPKS – Pro Shifter (2023), TaG Senior (2014) and KA100 Senior (2024). Cooper Shipman (IRM / Tony Kart) finished second in the standings, finishing 19th on the day while Overbeck jumped ahead of Cameron Weinberg (CDR / Kart Republic) for third, after Weinberg finished 23rd. Connor Ferris (TFR / Kart Republic) completed the top five in the championship chase.

Diego Ardiles won the battle in KA100 Junior, clinching the class championship with his first victory of the season (Photo: EKN)

The action in KA100 Junior was among the more dramatic categories on the day with the fight for the victory and the championship going down to the wire. Championship leader Sebastian Garzon (Orsolon / Tony Kart) was starting fifth, and in the opening corner was spun around backwards in front of the rest of the 50 drivers in the field. Thankfully, no one made hard contact with him, and he was able to continue on, back in the 41st position. Up front, polesitter Enzo Vidmontiene (Trinity / Kart Republic) was joined by Diego Ardiles (SCR / CS55) – who was now into the championship lead. As they ran, Garzon needed to move up to the 17th position in order to hold on to the top spot in the championship. As the race progressed, Garzon kept moving up the order and the top two of Vidmontiene and Ardiles ran away from the rest of the field. In the final two laps, Ardiles put on the pressure for the top spot. A move on the final circuit at the far end of the track put Ardiles into the lead. As they came to the scoreboard corner, Ardiles ran the outside wet lane and Vidmontiene went deep into the apex. He slid wide and Ardiles was able to pull the over under move, powering away as Vidmontiene dropped a wheel and struggled to get the power back down. That was the winning move as Ardiles would take the checkered flag for his first victory of the season in the category. Vidmontiene would be passed by Augustus Toniolo (RPG / Kosmic) as Charlie Smith (Nash / EOS) and Michael McGaughy (RPM / Tony Kart) completed the top five.

Garzon put it all on the line, working his way forward to the 18th position after 18 laps. After penalties, including a six-second PBB to Garzon, he would end up 18th in the results. It would not be enough as Ardiles secured the class championship by 24 points. Vidmontiene finished the standings in third ahead of Davin Roberts (RPM / Kosmic) and Turner Brown (RPG / Kosmic) – who was not racing in New Castle.

Augustus Toniolo drove away to his first career victory in X30 Junior (Photo: EKN)

The X30 Junior presented by Speed Concepts Racing welcomed a first time winner on the day. Starting fourth, Brazilian driver Augustus Toniolo (RPG / Kosmic) moved his way forward and after early leader Jackson Wolny (SCR / Redspeed) who dominated in the wet sessions on Saturday. No rain and a intermediate wet track pushed the competitors and Toniolo found the right setup for the conditions. Moving into the lead on lap seven, Toniolo drove away from the field to lead the remainder of the race, going unchallenged to a 5.8-second advantage to claim his first series victory in the category. Enzo Vidmontiene (Trinity / Kart Republic) started second and finished second with Diego Ardiles (SCR / CS55) challenging late. Ardiles had a pushback bumper penalty, moving Wolny up to third and dropping him to fourth in the final order. Payton Westcott (RPG / Kosmic) drove up to fifth from 12th, however a pushback bumper moved her to sixth, and promoted Sarah Bradley (SCR / Sodi Kart) up to the fifth spot.

The fourth place result was more than enough for Ardiles to claim a second championship on the day, becoming the fourth driver to sweep both Junior titles (Brent Crews – 2019, Jeremy Fletcher – 2021, Ernesto Rivera – 2023). Wolny gave Speed Concepts Racing a 1-2 in the standings with Vidmontiene in third, Alexander Vanchev (Sodi Racing USA) in fourth and Davin Roberts (RPM / Kosmic) completing the top five.

Martin Stone became the fifth different winner on the year in KA100 Masters (Photo: EKN)

A fifth different winner on the year was welcomed in the KA100 Masters presented by Nash Motorsportz. Championship leader Niki Coello (FMS / Merlin) dominated the wet sessions on Saturday and started from the pole position on Sunday, looking for his first victory. He led the first five laps until Martin Stone (RPG / Kosmic) moved up into the lead. Stone was able to navigate the intermediate wet track better than anyone in the 17-driver field. Stone went unchallenged to claim his first victory of the season, winning by just over two seconds. Round One winner Adam Crepin (FMS / Gillard) overcame a broken chain in qualifying, working himself up to the third starting spot in the Final, placing second ahead of Coello. Former series champions Laurentiu Mardan (Tecno Kart USA) and Scott Kopp (FMS / Redspeed) rounded out the top five.

The third place finish was Coello’s fifth straight podium result and despite not having a win on the season, clinched him the series championship by 184 points over Stone. Mardan finished the year third with Miguel Mier (Orsolon / Tony Kart) in fourth and Andrei Isac (Tecno Kart USA) in fifth.

First career USPKS victory for Nico Kotowski in Mini Swift (Photo: EKN)

No one could have predicted the how the events unfolded in the Mini Swift presented by Sodi Racing USA with five drivers still in contention for the championship heading into the 16-lap race. Nico Kotowski (JNM / Sodi Kart) was able to secure the pole position with consistent results through the heat races. As the green flag waved, Kotowski jumped out to a big lead with the rest of the field battling for position behind them. Championship leader Parker Ives (RPM / Nitro Kart) – who started 19th – found himself at the tail end of the field after the opening lap. This moved Ashton Woon (Supertune / Parolin) into the championship lead as they ran on track, with the two-time winner sitting in third after early battling. As the race went on, Ives continued moving forward and was up into the 13th spot, needing to finish 10th to surpass Woon for the championship. On lap 10, Ives found himself spun around at the I-70 corner, ending his race and chance at the title. A lap later, Woon spun around in turn five, getting hung up in the grass and was unable to continue. With both drivers recording a DNF, this moved Royce Vega (Team Benik) into the championship lead as he moved up to third in the race. Up front, Kotowski was run down by Aston Wyatt (RPM / Nitro Kart), who started 11th. The two battled in the final couple of laps, however, Kotowski was able to hold on and record his first career victory. Wyatt settled for second, his best finish of the season with Vega crossing the line in third. Isaac Payn (Trinity / Kart Republic) moved up eight spots to fourth with Marco Sammut (BJR / LN Racing Kart) in fifth.

Vega finishing third was enough to hand the driver from Texas the championship in the Mini Swift category by 67 points over Sammut. Ives fell to third with Woon ending up fourth while Nicolas Orbezo (RPG / Kosmic) finished the standings in fifth.

Wire-to-wire victory for Wynn Godschalk in Micro Swift (Photo: EKN)

Micro Swift presented by Team Ferris Racing was the first main event of the day, and the final race in full wet conditions as a light rain hit the area for their 16-lap. Polesitter Wynn Godschalk (Team Benik) put in a dominating performance on the day, posting the only lap times in the 1:26 range and driving away to a 13-second advantage at the checkered flag, earning his first series victory. Jayden Francisco (RPM / Nitro Kart) was able to win the battle for second ahead of three-time winner Zayne Burgess (Sodi Racing USA) with Cameron Johnson (FMS / Merlin) in fourth and Lucca Becerril (Orsolon / Tony Kart) in fifth.

Burgess needed only a few points on the day to secure his first USPKS championship, becoming the ninth different driver to earn the Micro Swift title. Santiago Orioli (MPG / Kart Republic) finished the season in second ahead of Johnson. Godschalk ended up fourth with Francisco completing the top five championship podium.

Attention now turns to the 13th season of the United States Pro Kart Series, starting the 2025 season with a new venue. The year begins on March 13-16 as the series makes its first ever visit to the Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Florida.

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