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Sunday, 07 April 2013 08:14 |
 The 2013 Superkarts! USA Pro Tour is expected to be bigger and badder than ever before. Entering its fourth season, the three-event program has been enhanced by its largest series prize package ever -- now set at roughly $96,000 for the year. A sign of the series’ strength and popularity, the Pro Tour has enjoyed an increase in participation year-after-year and has attained record numbers each season. This year’s SpringNationals, which is set for April 12-14 at the Musselman Honda Circuit in Tucson, Arizona, is welcoming yet another record-setting number of drivers, as a total of 197 pre-entries have been processed so far and verbal commitments have well surpassed the 200 mark.
The SKUSA Pro Tour has experienced steady growth over the previous two seasons following its debut in 2010. The majority of classes have already surpassed last year’s numbers, highlighted by the strongest increase in the S2 Semi-Pro Stock Moto, TaG Master and TaG Cadet classes. SKUSA shifterkart racing is continuing to expand – and the cool-factor has increased – as many of the young guns in the sport are working their way up the ranks and into the headline S1 Pro Stock Moto class. The continuing graduation of S2 front-runners means that there is an exciting number of young pilots stepping up to become the next rising star in Superkarts! USA action.
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Friday, 29 March 2013 07:02 |
 This season will be the fourth running of the popular Superkarts! USA Pro Tour program, which will host three major events for shifterkart and TaG competitors on the season. The numbers have grown each year – from drivers and teams to sponsors and prize money. 2013 will see the series rising to the next level, as another record number of entries is expected for the upcoming SpringNationals – set for the Musselman Honda Circuit in Tucson, Arizona in just two weeks.
Roughly $96,000 in cash and prizes could be awarded throughout the season on the Pro Tour, with the April 12-14 event kicking off the series that travels next to the SKUSA SummerNationals in Colorado on July 19-21 and then completes the schedule with the 17th annual SKUSA SuperNationals on November 20-24. Last year’s SpringNats welcomed a record number of racers (185), and pre-entry numbers to date are nearly at that mark already. Projections are set for well over 200 drivers for this year’s event in the Tucson desert.
“The paddock diagram is filling up for Tucson, there’s no doubt about that. The numbers we saw at the California ProKart Challenge, and what we see projected for our other regional programs across the country, are carrying over to the Pro Tour for 2013,” stated Superkarts! USA CEO Tom Kutscher. “Each year, the numbers improve – and now we’re breaking that 200 mark. The SKUSA ladder system that we developed four years ago when we started all this is now beginning to show signs of how well it can work. Kids are graduating from the Cadet and Junior ranks, moving up to the Senior level, and now some are even racing in the Pro categories. Add to that the number of new competitors in all categories who just want to race at the ultra-competitive level and have a good time doing it. This season is going to rock!”
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Friday, 15 March 2013 11:29 |
 Over the past three years, Superkarts! USA has been working diligently to develop its program of regional and national level racing, with much success. Thanks to a focused class structure and a dedication to customer service – and with the annual SuperNationals as its anchor event – SKUSA has opened up new regions around the country. It’s a business model that they can duplicate in any program and in any region.
One of the keys to this growth has been a tight focus on the Stock Moto and TaG programs, which have been growing steadily around the country. The top tiers of both categories have now come of age, and the time is right to make a move to reward SKUSA customers for their dedication and support. This reward will come in the form of a vastly increased purse for the S1 and TaG Senior categories at the SuperNationals XVII this November, where the winner of each main event could walk away with a check for $10,000. The cash purse alone for the 2013 SKUSA SuperNationals will be a whopping $45,000.
“There’s no doubt that I love the KZ2 class and the raw competition that it brings to the SuperNationals, but I am the biggest fan of our core headline classes, the men and women who bring us excitement at every Pro Tour and ProKart Challenge event of the season,” admits Tom Kutscher, Superkarts! USA President. “It’s time to give them their due at the SuperNationals, and we’re going to do that by putting up the same winner’s check in 2013 for S1 and TaG as we do for the KZ2 guys. It’s time….we’re putting up $10,000 to win in S1 and TaG Senior for drivers who run the entire Pro Tour with us this year! I want this to bring out all the big guns.”
The three headline classes at this year’s SuperNationals – KZ2, S1 and TaG Senior – will all run for respective $15,000 purses. In the S1 and TaG Senior classes, the winner must have run both the SpringNationals and the SummerNationals to be eligible for the $10,000 first place check at the SuperNationals. The purse distribution for the 3 classes will feature $10,000-to-win (or $3000-to-win in S1 or TaG Senior if the winner did not compete in the full Pro Tour), $2500 for second, $1250 for third, $750 for fourth and $500 for fifth.
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Wednesday, 13 March 2013 11:05 |
 In less than 30 days, racers from across North America will converge on the Musselman Honda Circuit in Tucson, Arizona for the opening rounds of the 2013 Superkarts! USA Pro Tour. The fourth annual SKUSA SpringNationals is set for the April 12-14 weekend on the 8/10-mile course. Registration has opened at skusastore.com, and by early numbers, many of the categories are likely going to see a full grid. Fields for the 2013 SKUSA Pro Tour, and especially the SpringNationals, are expected to reach the 40-driver cap mark as entry numbers are already higher than in previous years. The competition level is expected to increase to the next level compared to before, with a number of the SKUSA #1 plate holders returning to defend that honor.
Looking at the eight categories offered, all eight champions will be returning – with many of them defending their titles in 2013. S1 Pro Stock Moto champion Fritz Leesmann earned his second title in just three years, and will have a number of drivers looking to stop him from gaining a third. Those include class rookies Billy Musgrave, the 2012 SKUSA SuperNationals S2 Semi-Pro winner, and last year’s S2 series champion Sabré Cook, in addition to a number of returning drivers. That will leave the S2 category open for a new champion, with a number of young pilots looking to add it to their resume. Phil DeLaO is projected to return to defend his TaG Senior championship with what could be a capped field of 40 racers fighting it out at the SpringNationals.
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Tuesday, 05 March 2013 15:04 |
 The California ProKart Challenge followed up its opening event in February with another solid turnout for round two of the six race championship, held at the Willow Springs International Raceway on March 1-2. Roughly 140 drivers visited the Rosamond, California facility from throughout the state – in addition to a number of other states – including as far away as Missouri and Texas. The Superkarts! USA regional program welcomed four first time series winners in addition to four drivers gaining their second straight victories of the season.
A total of 26 drivers filled out the combined shifterkart grid made up of the Extreme Karting/Vemme S1 Pro Stock Moto and Buddy Rice Karting S2 Semi-Pro Stock Moto categories. Billy Musgrave earned his second straight S1 feature win to kick off the 2013 season, while Texan Connor Wagner scored his first California PKC S2 victory. The field’s strength stepped up a level with the inclusion of SKUSA Pro Tour S1 champion Fritz Leesmann making his season debut. The NorCal driver started the day on top in qualifying (42.285) over defending series champ Jimmy McNeil and Musgrave. Leesmann went wire-to-wire in heat one, with McNeil and Musgrave trailing. Leesmann led the first 10 laps of heat two before engine trouble took him out of the race. That moved Musgrave to the lead and the win, with McNeil second and Cody Hodgson third. The 20-lap final was all Musgrave and McNeil as they ran close the entire race, with Musgrave at the point every lap to secure his second victory of the season. Hodgson ran a comfortable third as Leesmann fought his way forward through the S1/S2 field to end up fourth in class, edging out Matias Podboj on the final lap.
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