Keagan Kaminski celebrated his 100cc Senior championship with a third victory on the season (Photo: EKN)

The 2025 edition of the Challenge of the Americas closed its books at the Burt Brothers Motorpark in Grantsville, Utah on Sunday as six champions were crowned after eight rounds of racing. The final round of the series 18th edition was waged in tough conditions as the mercury pushed north of 90 degrees through the second half of the day. The racing was as good as expected, with the battle for the race win in 100cc Senior coming down to a battle between Formula Works / GFC drivers with Keagan Kaminski scoring the win. The Formula Works team was on fire on Sunday, winning 100cc Junior with Luca Popescu as well. Ruthless Karting’s Christopher Mann stepped to the forefront in 100cc Masters as well, delivering a stellar performance to take the victory. Nolan Gagnon (Shifter Senior), Michael Faker (Shifter Masters), and Lucas Tarango (60cc Cadet) scored the remaining wins.

Luca Popescu claimed his first career victory in 100cc Junior (Photo: EKN)

In Forward Direction Motorsports 100cc Senior, Formula Works teammates Keagan Kaminski (GFC) and Chase Hand (GFC) quickly hooked up and pulled away from the competition, waiting for the final laps to fight it out for the win. Kaminski took the lead with two laps remaining and went defensive. In a similar setup to Saturday’s conclusion, this time it was Kaminski on the inside at turn 13 and he was able to hold the lead through the corner. Hand regrouped and made another lunge at the lead in turn 17 but Kaminski slammed the door. Redemption came for Keagan as he crossed the line as the victor, earning a third triumph on the season to celebrate his first series championship. Hand settled for second, helping him to earn the second spot in the championship despite missing the opening weekend. Greyson Shobert (Neliton Race Concepts / Gillard) won the battle for third, earning his first trip to the Challenge podium, beating out Tevin Robbins (Tony Kart) while Camden Rumanes (Team KartNick / Tony Kart) came away with fifth. Johnie Stamps (FW / GFC) suffered contact in both the Prefinal and Final, ending the championship in third.

Christopher Mann secured his first career victory in 100cc Masters (Photo: EKN)

The championship in the Nash Motorsportz 100cc Junior category was decided on Saturday with Erik Doan (Nash / EOS) claiming the title one round early. He moved up to the Senior category on Sunday. On track, Saturday winner Payton Anderson (Nash / LN Racing Kart) and Luca Popescu (FW / GFC) locked up at the front of the field and was able to pull away. Anderson sat in second behind Popescu, as it seemed she was waiting for her moment to make an attempt at the lead. Popescu stayed strong, keeping Anderson a bay to claim a wire-to-wire victory, his career first triumph. Wes Witt (FW / GFC) went from fifth to third on the final circuit, nearly securing a podium spot but a two position penalty for contact dropped him to fifth. That promoted Braydon Wagner (FW / GFC) to third and Sergeri Karamseili (Apex / Gillard) into fourth. The victory for Popescu moved him up to second in the standings with Karamseili ending up third.

Lucas Tarango won the drag race to the line in 60cc Cadet (Photo: EKN)

The Ruthless Karting 100cc Masters group grew by an entry with the addition of Chad Wallace (Neliton Race Concepts / Redspeed). Scott Falcone (Precision Works / Pantano) qualified on pole and won the Prefinal when Wallace held off Saturday runner-up Christopher Mann (Ruthless Karting / Exprit). Mann stepped up his game in the main as quickly attacked to get on Falcone’s bumper before Wallace slipped through to mess up his plans. Mann took a couple of laps to get past Wallace, but once he did, he set up to reel in Falcone and eventually passed him to take the lead and the eventual win. On Saturday, Mann didn’t have the pace to run with Falcone, but he was the fastest driver on the track on Sunday and steadily pulled away to a eight-second victory. Falcone finished second, taking the series championship in the process. Wallace pushed to close on Falcone all race and ended up in third. Bruce Norman (GFC Racing / GFC) finished fourth. Mann finished second in the championship despite missing the opening weekend with Wallace ending the season in third.

Nolan Gagnon completed the sweep on the weekend in Shifter Senior (Photo: EKN)

Just as was the case on Saturday, a lead group of four drivers developed quickly in the Karting Collective 60cc Cadet main event. The initial group consisted of polesitter Koa Saito (Formula Works / GFC), Luis Martinez (Croc Promotion), Lucas Tarango (Ruthless Karting / Nitro Kart), and Hudson Hidalgo (Team KartNick / Parolin). Hidalgo did what he could to hang with the lead trio but he eventually dropped off the back of the group. The race developed into a lead pairing of Saito and Martinez, but despite all their efforts, they just couldn’t pull away from Tarango. On the final lap, Saito tried an outside move in turn 13 on Martinez, but slight contact slowed both drivers and Tarango was right there to make it three wide. Tarango executed a perfect over-under to come out of the complex with the lead, which he would hold through the final six corners to the line. Martinez finished only 0.094 seconds back, chased by Saito in a three wide finish. Hidalgo never let up to come up in fourth and he was being chased by a group led by Wyatt Kroeger (Tony Kart), who finished fifth. Tarango’s win secured the second spot in the championship standings while Hidalgo competed the season in the third spot.

Michael Faker claimed the Shifter Masters championship with victory on Sunday (Photo: EKN)

In the gearbox categories, Nolan Gagnon (Nash Motorsportz / Italkart) once again pulled away to win in SwedeTech Shifter Senior over Anthony Freese (West Coast Motorsports / Birelart) and Evan Concepcion (Scuderia Little / GFC). In the final championship tally, Michael Avansino’s six straight wins to start the season clinched the title at Sonoma, which led to his decision to skip the final in Utah. Freese finished as the series runner-up while Concepcion was third overall. Michael Faker (GFC) backed up his Saturday victory in Neliton Race Concepts Shifter Masters to win again on Sunday, and these triumphs vaulted him to the class title over Joe Ruch and Michael Guasch, who didn’t make the trip to Utah. Chris Muecke (Italcorse) finished second to Faker in Sunday’s action.

The Briggs 206 Shootout win was awarded to Jack Grote (Photo: EKN)

The Challenge Briggs 206 Shootout completed its second day of racing with Heat 2, Heat 3 and the main event. The morning heat saw a lot of action with top qualifier Grant Hearne (Tony Kart) once again got shuffled back with Trey Arnzen (CompKart) charging up from ninth at one time to take the win as they bashed sidepods behind him. The third heat saw Arnzen once again climb to the win with a last lap move as he beat out Gustavo Marmorato (LN Racing Kart), who led the first seven laps. The main event began with Collin Ruess (Exprit) and Arnzen out front. They tried to work together but were unable to breakaway from the train that made up the second group. At the halfway point of the 14-lap race, Arnzen was shuffled out of the lead and eventually was drive up on by Cooper Catt (GFC). They fell down the order and out of the race. This left Jack Grote (GFC) and Ruess at the front of the field, swapping the lead multiple times. On the final circuit, the lead pack shuffled around multiple times with Ruess coming out with he lead and the provisional victory. Officials handed Ruess a two-position penalty for contact, handing the victory and the $750 payday to Grote. Kingston Deamer (Kosmic) was promoted to second, taking home $500 with Ruess completing the podium, taking home $300. Steele Larson (GFC) and Ayrton Littel (GFC) completed the top five.

This event wrapped up the 2025 season of the Challenge of the Americas. The 2026 schedule has already been announced, although the venues are still to be confirmed. The series will now look forward to the February 20-22, 2026 to reconvene the staff for the 19th season of the Challenge.

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