The 2026 season brings with it the 19th year for the Challenge of the Americas championship program. The series that was once based as a winter program has evolved throughout its near two decades of action into what is now a four-weekend major championship for the western half of the USA.

The 2026 Challenge of the Americas heads to K1 Circuit in Southern California to open up the year in February, and will then return to the Phoenix Kart Racing Association in April for the first time in two years. The third stop in May will take the Challenge for the first time to the Colorado Karting Circuit at Centennial Airport before closing out the title battles at Sonoma Raceway in July. This season marks the second year with Shinko Kart Racing Tires as the official supplier for the Challenge, and 2026 will be the debut of Briggs & Stratton 206 categories running for championships with four age groups offered this season.

EKN was able to connect with series promoter Andy Seesemann as we are less than a month away from the karts hitting the track for the 2026 Challenge of the Americas.

eKartingNews.com: The Challenge of the Americas is entering the 19th season, nearly two decades of hosting a karting championship program along the west coast. What are some of the things you look back on over that span of time and what are some of the key aspects that continue to be part of the Challenge heading into 2026?

Andy Seesemann: It’s been a long wild journey, that’s for sure. So many memories flood in when I think about your question. The first year was a doozy. From our opening location, Moran Raceway, suddenly selling three weeks before our first ever race and needing to move the event to Willow Springs, to the monsoon at Sonoma for Round Two, which caused us to postpone the Sunday events to the final round, and finally organizing the last race ever at X-Plex, the storied track near Las Vegas, for our finale. I was toasted by Spring. I was excited about what we created, but I was exhausted. Then, the 2008 financial crisis hit and put it all in jeopardy. What a start!

Shinko Racing Kart Tires returns as spec tire for Challenge of the Americas (Photo: EKN)

I also go back to the moment in 2017 that our first partner, Rotax, basically left the US market after owning almost 50% market share just three years prior and wondering what was next. I think about the great years we had with ROK Cup USA, building a program out west that had not existed outside of Florida up to that point. Then I recall when I decided to forge on as an independent program and built it into one of the most successful, if not most successful, US karting program that is not directly connected to one engine manufacturer.

Finally, I think about traveling to South Korea in August 2024 to sign the deal to bring a new tire brand to market – Shinko – which is one of only seven brands worldwide with the very important FIA / CIK homologation.

I suppose one of our greatest strengths over the past 19 years is our ability to pivot when we need to. As you know, karting is constantly changing, so being flexible is important to maintaining long-term success. I do steer the ship, but I am blessed to have an amazing staff that has been with me for so many years. A few of them have been with me for all 19 years, but many others have been part of my Challenge Family for 10 or more. So, even though things do change in our sport, whether it’s the engine, tire or track, racers and teams can expect the same great experience that all of my people work hard to provide and have provided for many, many years.

EKN: The 2025 season was the first to evolve from a winter program into a major championship series in western USA. What was the feedback from teams and competitors expanding to four events last year, and continuing that format for 2026?

AS: Like all things, reviews were mixed. Everyone wants more events until they are out of the points or run out of budget. We sent out a survey this fall and it was pretty well split if folks wanted three events or four. We decided to go with four again this year and it will be good. We have usually had a team or two from the Pacific Northwest, but our teams have been primarily based in SoCal, Sonoma, Arizona and Denver for many years. Having four races gives each area a ‘Home Race’ for those teams. We did some races at Pat’s Acres as part of our Summer program a few years ago, but those were not as well attended as Challenge events. So, who knows if and when we will be able to get up there again. Bottom line, we have a great schedule, spread over four great tracks in three different states in two different time zones. It certainly covers the entire Western side of the US.

The Challenge will make its first visit to the Colorado Karting Circuit at Centennial Airport

EKN: The Challenge began officially at the Centennial Airport in Colorado in 2007 with the announcement coming at the US Rotax Grand Nationals that year. For the first time in series history, the program will be competing at the rebranded Colorado Karting Circuit at Centennial Airport for the third stop of the championship. What does it mean to be returning to the location after nearly 20 years?

AS: Ah, you remember that. Yeah, it’s pretty cool actually. When Joe Ramos and I sat down in the early summer of 2007 and talked about mirroring what was happening in Florida during the winter, I had no idea of what Challenge would evolve into. All we knew is that we needed something bigger out West and we had to create it. With his support, at the 2007 Rotax Nationals Welcome Party, I made the announcement of the debut of the Challenge of the Americas at Moran Raceway in January 2008. We already talked about how that changed, but that announcement set into motion of what would be a major part of my life for almost 20 years. It feels amazing to go back to the spot of original announcement, while being able to support a track that has been brought back to life after many years of being dormant. As stated earlier, it also gives us a chance to support Greg Welch, who has supported us as a team owner for many years and is now also a track partner for 2026.

EKN: New for the 2026 program is the addition of the Briggs & Stratton 206 categories, replacing the shifter divisions. What led to this decision and what are your expectations for the Briggs division in 2026 at the Challenge?

AS: Yes, it was a tough decision, but it had to be done. The shifter classes are cyclical, and they were certainly trending down for the Challenge the last few years since the move to KZ. It wasn’t that long ago that we had almost 50 ROK Shifters, but as is typical in karting, things change. In the end, the shifter classes just didn’t pay for the track time, so I had to make a change. I saw this coming about a year ago, so we tried a one-off Briggs 206 Senior program at our finale in Utah last year and it went well. I think that we had close to 20 in the class and the racers had a good time. So, to replace the shifter classes, I decided to add the full slate of Briggs classes, Cadet through Masters. The Briggs racers have some great traveling options in the East, but the West had not had a bigger program for Briggs racers to call home. There are some great state or area regional programs, but none with the footprint or the history of the Challenge of the Americas. This gives us four 2-cycle single speed classes and a mirror image of Briggs classes to match. These represent classes that are run at 90% of the clubs in the US in some form or another, not classes that only exist at our program. We already have entries in all four classes, which is great. Obviously, some are larger than others. It will be exciting to see how it all pans out.

Briggs 206 categories have been added to the 2026 Challenge of the Americas championship program (Photo: EKN)

EKN: As we are less than a month away from the opening weekend, what has been put together for a prize package for the 2026 season?

AS: It will be here in the blink of an eye and you can come to California and get your In N Out fix again. As we always do, we will have our drivers raffle on Sunday morning where we give away tires, Acceleration Karting gift certificates, and other items. At our races, we are fortunate to hand out quality awards from JM Awards, as well as our one-of-a-kind podium hat, supplied by M2 Brandwear, to the top three finishers in each category for each round. Our year-end champions will earn a series ticket, where they race with us for free in 2027. Vice champion in each category receives entry to two events next year while third place in the championship standings takes home a single event weekend entry for 2027. This year, ROK Cup USA has offered our racers two tickets to the ROK Vegas 2026 event. Each ticket will be earned by the highest finishing driver on a ROK VLR engine in the 100cc Junior and 100cc Senior classes, regardless of championship finishing position. Engine usage will have to be declared at our K1 event and will be tracked for the balance of the series. This is a great incentive from a manufacturer, which is how most other forms of racing work.

EKN: Thank you, Andy, for taking the time with us and best of luck for the 2026 Challenge of the Americas.

AS: Thank you for reaching out and we’ll see you next month.

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