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Wednesday, 05 May 2010 08:58 |
 Riding off the momentum from the debut of the Superkarts! USA North American Pro Tour, the ProKart Challenge North continued its season at the same facility in which the SKUSA SpringNationals were held. The Northern California regional series returned to the Jim Russell International Karting Center in Sonoma for the third round of the program. Veterans Tom Dyer and Larry Fraser took home the gold in the two headline classes – S1 Pro Stock Moto and TaG Senior – over two of the strongest fields. Coming off his first national victory at the Pro Tour, Daniel Langon continued his winning ways by scoring the win in both S5 Junior Stock Moto and the competitive HPV-2 Junior division.
Dyer was making his first start of the 2010 season, and the defending SKUSA SuperNationals Stock Moto champion found himself in chase mode following qualifying. Brett Buckwalter scored the pole position with a lap of 47.791 to better the times set by round two winner Nic LeDuc and Dyer. From the third grid spot in heat one, Dyer was quick on the cold MG Tires, knifing his way to the point in the opening circuit. LeDuc dropped in to follow in second as Tommy Thompson advanced up to third, dropping Buckwalter to fourth. The field stayed that way for the eight-lap heat, with Dyer taking the win. Dyer and LeDuc were able to break away from the rest of the field in heat two. Dyer led early until LeDuc took over the spot on lap six, which would be the winning pass. The third spot was hotly contested, with current point leader Fritz Leesmann earning the spot after the eight laps. The holeshot was all Dyer needed to help him claim the feature victory, as he got off the line cleanly and ran consistent lap times for the 20-lap race. LeDuc and Leesmann engaged in a heated battle for the runner-up spot. Contact was made during one instance where LeDuc was trying to overtake Leesmann. The result of the contact allowed LeDuc to secure the second spot to the checkered flag, until officials docked him one position for the infraction. That put Leesmann up to the second step of the podium and LeDuc to third. |
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Tuesday, 20 April 2010 09:56 |
 The Superkarts! USA brass couldn’t have asked for a better launch to their new Pro Tour in Sonoma, CA this past weekend, as their inaugural SpringNationals drew over 100 racers to the Jim Russell International Karting Center at Infineon Raceway. The racing was insanely good, running the popular circuit in the reverse national layout, and this elevated competition helped develop a great buzz throughout the paddock. Veterans were all talking about how this new series is bringing back the excitement of the famed ProMoto Tour of the late 90s and early 00s. In the headline classes, Fritz Leesmann and Clinton Schoombee split the S1 wins in thrilling fashion, while veteran karter and former Indy 500 Rookie of the Year Phil Giebler followed suit in his sweep of the TaG Senior events.
The action in the headline Pro classes was nothing less than incredible, featuring hardcore racing and some impressive come-from-the-back drives by the best in the sport. Aluminos’ Fritz Leesmann (CRG) dropped the gauntlet on his charge for the S1 national title right out of the box, sweeping Saturday’s action with the pole, two heat race wins and the main event victory. Select Shifter’s Clinton Schoombee (CRG) and STA Racing’s Jason Toft (GP) would fight it out for second, and both drivers would be ready to step up on Sunday. In the second main of the weekend, Leesmann would set the early pace, but Schoombee matched his speed this time out, eventually taking the lead midway through the 20-lapper. After Leesmann took back the point, Toft completed his drive from dead-last – following a heat race DNF – by passing Schoombee for second on the final lap. Schoombee would not be denied, however, passing both Toft and Leesmann under braking into the left-hand turn three, much to the crowd’s delight. The CRG driver would hold back his challengers for the remainder of the lap to score a very popular triumph. In the overall weekend points, Leesmann would earn the victory and the $1000 first place prize.
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Saturday, 17 April 2010 09:06 |
A new era for Superkarts! USA began on Friday with a rebirth of national level racing for the organization. The new SKUSA Pro Tour is making its debut this weekend with the running of the inaugural SpringNationals, held at the Jim Russell International Karting Center at Infineon Raceway. The Sonoma, California circuit has hosted a number of major events in its history, including a number of national events from in the previous era of the sanctioning body.
 The weather was perfect for on-track activities with clear skies and warm temperatures. Drivers grew accustomed to the 3/4-mile course, which is being run in the reverse national configuration, a layout that many have never seen. Judging by the practice laps run on Friday, a number of key corners around the course will provide optimal passing opportunities. Following the on-track action of the day, Superkarts! USA hosted a tri-tip BBQ dinner with beverages being provided of J3 Competition. Media leaders eKartingNews.com were also on-hand, streaming a live audio wrap-up show that also played via PA to the racers as they enjoyed their meal.
On the line for the headline categories will be weekend purse of $1,750 in cash for both S1 (Pro Stock Moto) and TaG Senior. Drivers will be gunning for victories, but also for the season championship that features a point fund of $8,000 with $5,000 going to the champ. For all of the classes competing on the SKUSA Pro Tour, the top-five in the standings heading into the finale - the SKUSA SuperNationals XIV in Las Vegas will have guaranteed starting positions for the main events, which is huge considering the fact that only 40 drivers can start the finals. The champions who will be crowned following the November event will earn the National Number One Plate as well as special sponsorship for the 2011 season. |
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Friday, 16 April 2010 12:13 |
 Make sure to tune into www.ekartingnews.com/live for live audio and scoring coverage of the Pro Tour SpringNationals. You will also find the official discussion thread on the EKN forums there as well where you can find up to the minute race results.
EKN will start broadcasting audio near the start of Practice 5 at aproximately 1:30pm PST.
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Monday, 05 April 2010 20:13 |
 Host Hotel -- Special Pricing Cutoff is THIS Friday, April 9, at midnight!
The Embassy Suites in San Rafael, CA is our host hotel for the first Pro Tour race weekend at Infineon April 16-18, and they have worked out some GREAT rates starting Wednesday night, 4/14! The current special pricing -- which applies to the next 25 rooms booked -- is just $109 for single or double occupancy! Click here for more details and to reserve your rooms today! Don't stay anywhere else -- this is where Thursday check-in registration -- and all of the parties -- will be!
Pre-Entry Cutoff to Race is THIS Sunday, April 11th at midnight!
Don't miss out on the first race weekend of the new SKUSA Pro Tour! Pre-registration is open now online -- and must be done with a credit or debit card. The cutoff to pre-register is this Sunday, April 11th, at midnight. Anyone wanting to register after that will have to sign-up on Thursday 2-7:30pm at the Embassy Suites or Friday morning at the track, with $150 added as the at-event registration fee! Save some money! Pre-register today!
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