It’s been a number of years since an official Superkarts! USA event has been run in Texas, but this will change during the 2012 season as the SKUSA National Office is thrilled to announce the formation of an official regional program in the Lone Star State. The organization has long enjoyed strong participation from the Texas karting community, especially at the annual SuperNationals, making this a huge step towards further developing their growing regional platform. The new Texas ProKart Challenge will consist of three double-race weekends, running with the Gulf Coast Karters in Katy, Grandsport Speedway in Houston, and the North Texas Karters in Denton. This announcement comes hot on the heels of the recent confirmation of SKUSA’s renewed involvement in the Pacific Northwest, and sets the stage for an exciting season in 2012.

“Texas has an incredible wealth of talent, and we’re always happy to be able to host so many of them every year at the SuperNationals,” said Tom Kutscher, Superkarts! USA President. “The announcement of this new region in Texas means a lot to us, and it’s a major addition to our growing regional program. Expanding the reach of our Stock Moto and TaG rules package is a primary goal here at SKUSA, and I’m pleased to be able to begin what I believe will be a long relationship with the Texas karting community.”

The following is the schedule for this year’s debut season:

2012 Texas ProKart Challenge
May 5-6: Gulf Coast Karters - Katy, TX
June 2-3: Grandsport Speedway - Houston, TX
June 30-July 1: North Texas Karters - Denton, TX
The class structure for the Texas ProKart Challenge will be a mix of SKUSA Stock Moto and TaG classes, as well as Rotax Max categories, as the program has also been confirmed as an official Rotax Max Challenge series. The Gearbox line-up will include the S1 Pro and S2 Semi-Pro categories, as well as the S4 Master and S5 Junior Stock Moto classes. TaG classes will include Senior, Junior and Master. SKUSA classes will all be run using the outstanding MG White ‘SKUSA’ tire, allowing competitors to race throughout the year on the same tires they will be racing at the SuperNationals in November. Rotax racers will have the choice of MicroMax, MiniMax, Junior, Senior, Masters and DD2. The RMAX challenge classes will compete on MOJO tires.

“Superkarts! USA has an incredible program in place and they have great momentum right now,” offered Dave Pauly, who is part of the TPKC’s administration team. “Texas is a hotbed for Stock Moto racing, so it only makes sense that we partner with the leader in this category, SKUSA. They have some incredible rewards in place to support their regional racers, and we’re excited that we’ll be bringing SKUSA racing back to Texas in an official capacity. I expect that our racers will be fighting for victory in every class at this year’s SuperNationals in Las Vegas. Our confirmed position as a Rotax Max Challenge series is great as well, as Rotax racing is extremely popular, and we’re happy that we’ll be able to give our racers the chance to earn the punches they need if they wish to attend the Grand Nationals in August.”

Superkarts! USA has stepped up for 2012 in an effort to support the racers who compete in their regional series. All of the regional point champions in the SKUSA categories will be provided with a guaranteed starting spot in the main event on SuperSunday at the SuperNationals. In addition, SKUSA will be initiating a new preferred registration program for the SuperNationals this year, in an effort to deal with the overwhelming onslaught of competitors trying to be part of the action in Las Vegas. Racers who take part in the full Texas ProKart Challenge will be offered an exclusive opportunity to enter the event before registration is opened to the public.

The Rotax classes will run as an official RMAX Challenge series, allowing the racers to qualify directly for the 2012 Rotax Grand Nationals in August in South Bend, Indiana. These events will also count as ‘punches’ for the Pan-American Challenge event, which will be held in September at a location to be announced.

The new series website is currently in the final construction phase, so stay tuned for this announcement.