It all starts with a trip down to Indiana on October 16 and concludes on the iconic SuperSunday on November 16 in Vegas. Three road trips to three major events will come to define the 2025 season.

The Big Three. Three events. Three two-cycle engine manufacturers.

First on the docket is the Race Rotax RMC US Trophy Final, which will take place on the October 17-19 weekend at the hub of karting in North America – New Castle Motorsports Park. Less than two weeks later, EKN travels to Las Vegas for a return to the ROK Vegas event, presented by ROK Cup USA on October 29 – November 2, and held on the parking lot outside the Rio Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas. The cap on this trio of events is the iconic Superkarts! USA SuperNationals 28, which will be held this year at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway on November 12-16.

As we recorded in our latest Face2Face episode with Mike Burrell of ROK Cup USA, discussing the upcoming ROK Vegas 2025 event, Rob Howden ended the show with a poignant statement. “The impact of this event is not a massive economic impact (for Las Vegas), but it is the economic impact on the industry.”

As we continue with the history of these season-ending events, they all provide the sport of karting with the chance to display the talented drivers we have with their performances on the big stage. But for the sport as whole, they provide an avenue for growth, building up all year to these important races for each engine program. And, in turn, they help stabilize the industry to provide the teams, dealers, and manufacturers with one final push and revenue stream through the final quarter of the season to set up for next year.

Race Rotax RMC US Trophy FInal returns to New Castle Motorsports Park on October 17-19 (Photo: EKN)

Additionally, we have seen drivers and teams come off success at the end of the year and carry it into the following season. Yes, all three races are great season-ends, but momentum gained can power teams and drivers into the coming season. GFC Karting is a great example, launching its brand in 2018 at the ROK Vegas event, celebrating their inaugural victory at the hands of Mathias Ramirez. The marque is celebrating its seventh anniversary, and is now expanding to become an international brand. Last year, Alexander Vanchev used his victory at ROK Vegas 2024 to springboard a record setting season in 2025 with Rolison Performance.

One final aspect of the big three events at the end of the year is the promise of international recognition. While we all know that the USA was the birthplace of karting back in 1956, that often gets lost on the international stage with most of the manufacturers being based in Europe. These major international events that are hosted on United States soil attract many of the top drivers from around the globe, luring them to Nevada to compete against the best the USA has to offer.

The Race Rotax RMC US Trophy Final event will be the fourth edition of the event. From 2001 to 2020, the US Rotax Grand Nationals served as the ‘national championship’ for Rotaxians from around the United States, bringing them all together to compete against one another to a US title. As the Rotax Max Challenge Grand Finals was gaining stature across the globe and the industry, winning at the Grand Nationals and earning a ticket to compete at the ‘Olympics of Karting’ was a major accomplishment. It still means something today, providing the opportunity for a driver to represent their country against the best at a true world championship event. The RMC US Trophy Final attracts drivers from multiple countries with the opportunity to gain one of the last tickets to the Rotax Grand Finals, which will be held this year in Bahrain. Drivers in Mini MAX, Junior MAX, Senior MAX and DD2 will be racing for tickets to the November 29-December 6 event.

EKN is set to return trackside to the ROK Vegas event for the first time since 2019 (Photo: CKN – ROK Cup USA)

On October 28, I’ll fly to Las Vegas for the first of two trips to ‘Sin City’ and a return to the Rio Hotel & Casino Las Vegas for ROK Vegas 2025 presented by ROK Cup USA. This year’s event is shaping up to be a phenomenal week with a $110,000 prize purse offered up for the 11 categories competing. The highlight will be the new ROK SV Pro category, with the engine making its USA debut in Las Vegas featuring a star-studded field of 50 drivers from all over the world. The most significant entry is the debut of former ROK Vegas winner and six-time SKUSA Pro Tour champion Ryan Norberg with GFC Karting. EKN will have full trackside coverage, beginning with the first engine raffle for the category Tuesday afternoon, as on-track action starts on Wednesday. Last year, Romanian Daniel Vasile became the first shifterkart driver to win at ROK Vegas and then double down in Vegas with a victory at the Superkarts! USA SuperNationals days later since Danny Formal in 2019.

The 2025 USA season comes to an end at the SKUSA SuperNationals 28 returning to the Las Vegas Motor Speedway (Photo: On Track Promotions – otp.ca)

The final battle on the dance card is the record-setting SKUSA SuperNationals 28. Following the massive pre-entry records set – the quickest classes to sell out and the quickest to 500 entries – nine divisions will go at it at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway for a fourth time in the 28-year history of the event. A slightly updated track layout is expected during the November 12-16 festival. Last year’s entry total reached 550 and this year’s event sis on track to surpass that number. Vasile will look to defend his Pro Shifter victory from a year ago, returning with Italkart as the first driver in the event’s history to win on that brand in the headline shifterkart division. Also returning is British driver Joe Turney, who became the first driver to win both the Pro X30 and KA100 Senior main events and in the same year. Records keep getting reset, and Billy Musgrave will aim to add to his five wins at the SuperNationals as he leads the all-time win list. The Factory Kart driver is coming off the Master Shifter victory in Vegas last year, while winning his first SKUSA Pro Tour championship in the Pro Shifter category.

There is no question that history will be made over the next month across these three races. It will be an honor and pleasure to be able to provide complete coverage for the ‘big three’. Our OutLap preview podcasts and preview articles begin each race weekend. Full trackside coverage, including daily reports, social media content and our top-10 updates will keep everyone on top of things throughout the weekend. And be sure to check out the Debrief podcasts after each event.

I CAN’T WAIT!

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