If you want to test yourself against the best single-speed karters in North America, one of the primary series at which to accomplish this goal is undoubtedly the United States Pro Kart Series. For the last 13 years, the USPKS has attracted the top drivers and the top teams to their events, which have included all the top venues found in the eastern half of the country. For 2025, top facilities like Trackhouse Motorplex, Road America, and New Castle Motorsports will be joined by the series’ first trip to the World Center of Racing, Daytona International Speedway. Once a facility used just once a year by the World Karting Association each December, the track has made its karting layout available to other series and the USPKS will open its next season there on the March 14-16 weekend. With the race less than two weeks away, we caught up with USPKS boss Mark Coats to discuss the program and their Daytona opener.

eKartingNews.com: Mark, we appreciate you taking the time to talk to us with this year’s opening USPKS event just around the corner. Let’s start right out of the gate with Daytona. How did the discussion start to begin the season there and what was the motivation?

Mark Coats: We wanted to make sure we hit Florida in 2025. I wanted to try something different, so we went to Daytona International Speedway. This event has been a three-year conversation as we reviewed options at racing there over the last few seasons. This was not something that happen overnight.

Daytona was part of the racing schedule for years for myself and my old racing team. I’ve wanted to go back there for years. The repaving of the track is a great positive heading there next week so our 2025 season will open up on a smooth racing surface. There is no other backdrop like racing inside Daytona International Speedway. When you go through that tunnel, it’s just a different feeling. You can ask all those drivers who have raced at IMSA, NASCAR or even on motorcycles, it’s just different.

Many of the top drivers in North America and around the world have competed at the USPKS over its 12-year history (Photo: Studio52.us)

EKN: Daytona is a special facility in many ways with its prestige and history. It also is not a full-time karting circuit with the temporary track built up for each karting event inside NASCAR Turn 3 and 4. What special tasks or added staff members have been brought in to help put together the standard USPKS hospitality and officiating inside the World Center of Racing?

MC: The biggest hurdle is having our event right after Bike Week. Unfortunately, it is the only date they had available that would work for USPKS and around the rest of the karting schedule here in the United States. I thought it would be a good fit, unfortunately, we are unable to enter the facility until Wednesday morning. That has been the only downfall of the whole pre-planning. This hampers the teams from arriving early to get set up, however, it provides us with a circuit that no one is able to test on prior to event practice, which we had a lot of feedback on. Of course, a race track that does not have club workers or track workers forces us to bring in additional workers to staff the entire race track. Corner workers and additional personal have been brought in to help ensure we have proper staff to handle the weekend activities.

EKN: Mark, every series has its own culture and its own ‘brand’, if you will. When you look at what you and your team have built with the USPKS, how would you describe the series. What is your ‘brand’?

MC: To put on the best event possible. We want to bring the best experience for the racers and for the teams. Having been part of the sport this long, even before becoming a promoter, we’ve seen the sport go through different cycles. Now into our 13th season, USPKS has had to change and adapt with the way the sport moves. What we are doing now is trying to make the racers experience the best that they could be when they walk through the gate, having everything in a convenient location and treated with respect. Our goal is to make everything as flawless as possible so that their experience makes them want to come back.

One thing we have lost track of is having a good time at some of our events. In the early years, we had time for games and activities off the track. One of the negatives of having a very competitive racing series has been the sheer focus of the competitors and teams with a serious attention from the time they come in until packing up on Sunday. We need to change that atmosphere a little more in 2025 while still giving everyone the best experience we can.

Many of the top teams in the USA compete for the Geo Cup prize for most wins in the season (Photo: Ken Johnson – Studio52.us)

EKN: New for 2025 is the relationship with Skip Barber Racing School. We’ve seen the announcement of One Day School sessions to be awarded at the upcoming Daytona Super GP. What brought on this relationship with Skip Barber and will there be more special prizes in future events for 2025?

MC: It goes back to our racers at the series. There are a lot of drivers in our sport using karting as a stepping stone. When we created the United States Pro Kart Series, our goal then and continues to be a series by the racers, for the racers, with very little focus on promoting karters to the next levels. As we have seen the cycle change, more and more are looking to the next level of motorsports. We want to help guide them in the right direction and Skip Barber Racing School has a long-standing history of developing the next motorsports stars. Our connection with them helps expand our status within the motorsports community and provides a chance for our racers to enjoy great prizes toward their racing school program. There will be more special prizes, not just for Daytona, but throughout the season as well.

EKN: Finishing up last year’s championship, what was the feedback from the competitors and teams heading into the 2025? And what changes, if any, has been made for the 13th year of USPKS?

MC: Back to what I said earlier, we’re trying to make everything goes smooth and be more convenient when competitors and teams get to our event first thing. Competitors wanted everything in the entry fee, so we’ve rolled everything into one fee, including the tires, fuel, oil and pit pass for 2025. Tires will now be available for pick up near registration, along with fuel and oil as we always have. For 2025, we are introducing the USPKS hard card, so teams, mechanics and others don’t have to wait in line to sign in at the gates. Our goal is to be more proactive in what we provide each race weekend.

EKN: It was great to set the stage for the 2025 season Mark and we thank you for your time.

MC: Thank you and it’s going to be an exciting year.

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