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Tuesday, 05 February 2013 12:28 |
 The California ProKart Challenge began the 2013 season for the Superkarts! USA organization as the flagship regional program hosted its opening round at the Buttonwillow Raceway Park on February 1-2. A record number of entries for the program under the SKUSA banner converged on the Buttonwillow, California facility, with drivers coming from as far as Texas, Hawaii and Canada to fill out the 150 total for the event.
“This weekend was just exciting,” stated Superkarts! USA President and California PKC promoter Tom Kutscher. “It was incredible to have 150 drivers and their families in the paddock. The atmosphere was so cool, and everybody was having a great time. It felt like the early days of the ProKart Challenge, people just out at the track for the love of the sport. The racing was outstanding, and to have the numbers we did across the board was awesome.”
The racing was exciting, with some recognizable names and some new faces at the front of the fields on the weekend. A familiar name was at the top of the Pure Karting TaG Senior qualifying sheets, as defending S1 champ Fritz Leesmann returned to the TaG ranks with fast lap of the session. His 48.486-second lap was quicker then young drivers Austin DeMent and NorCal transplant from Michigan Alex Keyes – making his TaG Senior debut. Leesmann set the pace early on in heat one, but Keyes took over the point and went on to score the win. Leesmann sat on his bumper to the checkered flag, with former PKC champ Travis Lowe running third. Keyes led the entire second heat race, pulling away to a three-second advantage as Lowe edged out Leesmann for the runner-up spot. Leesmann was the early charger in the 20-lap main event, taking over the lead from Keyes on lap three, but retired a lap later when with a broken coil wire. Keyes retook the top spot and would hold the position to the checkered flag, scoring his first PKC victory. Austin Elliott advanced up from eighth to second, scoring the fast lap of the race, while Mason Daughters recovered from 12th on the grid to place third. Mason Marotta and Jess Peterson rounded out the top five.
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Tuesday, 29 January 2013 15:22 |
Hope you're planning to come race with PKC this weekend at Buttonwillow! It's gonna be a HUGE turnout! Don't forget -- our discounted price is just $295 for entry and race tires -- but you have to register online by TOMORROW NIGHT! Go to www.skusastore.com to register to race, as well as purchase or renew your SKUSA membership, a reserved pit spot, or anything else you might need! NOTE: PKC has SOLD OUT of the MS98 spec fuel for this event, but you can bring your own -- or we will have at least one team on site that will have extra supplies. Also, be sure to get your official race number/letter approved by SKUSA before ordering your colored number plates. Click here for all event details and here for the number panel specs.
See you in Buttonwillow! |
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Friday, 25 January 2013 12:30 |
 The first weekend of February will welcome the ninth season of the California ProKart Challenge, the flagship regional program of the Superkarts! USA organization. Over 100 racers are expected to converge on the Buttonwillow Raceway Park in Buttonwillow, California on February 1-2 for the first round of the 2013 six-race championship, all vying for a piece of the over $70,000 prize purse this season. Owned and operated by Superkarts! USA president Tom Kutscher, he and his dedicated staff strive to provide the best value to racers in the state, while adding the fun and exciting atmosphere you can only get at a SKUSA event.
The start of every new season gives a chance to spotlight those drivers moving up the SKUSA ladder system, both in TaG and Stock Moto. Those drivers claiming champions have the choice to remain or move up, and S2 California PKC champion Matias Podboj will advance to Extreme Karting/Vemme S1 Pro Stock Moto. Three victories and four podiums to his credit in 2012 bring him up against the top Stock Moto drivers in the country. Also at the top of the rung is new S1 driver - the ‘Flyin Hawaiian’ Alec Gumpfer, as the 18-year old is graduating from S2. Making a return to the series is NorCal driver Cody Hodgson. The former PKC champ spent the last two seasons on the east coast, competing in the NASCAR K&N Pro Series. Those and others will be among the strong contenders that will challenge defending champion Jimmy McNeil for the 2013 S1 title.
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Tuesday, 15 January 2013 18:11 |
 As per the 2013 schedule, Superkarts! USA is just three months away from kicking off this year’s SKUSA Pro Tour program in Phoenix. However, due to disappointing circumstances, SKUSA must now relocate the event. Originally scheduled for the PKRA facility in Phoenix, Arizona for the April 12-14 weekend, SKUSA has been forced to make a change in location to the Musselman Honda Circuit, located outside Tucson, Arizona -- site of the 2011 SKUSA SpringNationals. The three-day event that hosts the first two rounds of the SKUSA Pro Tour will remain on the same weekend as scheduled, just a few hours further south than originally announced.
“First off, I’d like to apologize to our racers and teams that support the SKUSA Pro Tour,” stated Superkarts! USA President Tom Kutscher. “We set our schedule well ahead of time, and unfortunately issues came up that forced us to make this move. After a successful SpringNationals at the PKRA course in 2012, we agreed to return for this coming year. Things were moving in the right direction, until a recent decision made by the PKRA Board of Directors did not uphold the terms we presented to them for hosting the SpringNationals 2013. This forced us to move the event, and Tucson was the obvious choice, as Charlie and the entire Musselman Honda Circuit staff have welcomed us back. We understand that teams and drivers have testing schedules and that travel arrangements have to be made – this is why we wanted to alert everyone as soon as this decision was made.”
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Wednesday, 09 January 2013 12:41 |
Over the past eight years, Tom and Patti Kutscher have been dedicated to building their ProKart Challenge series into the most enjoyable karting series in Southern California. With a focus on providing top-notch customer service, a fun and relaxed atmosphere with incredible competition and the best value in the sport, the Kutschers have grown their initial PKC effort into a national brand under the Superkarts! USA banner – while also being the promoters of the biggest race in karting, the SKUSA SuperNationals. The opening round of their 2013 California ProKart Challenge is now just under a month away, and SKUSA is again providing the best value – period – for SoCal karters. With the lowest ‘cost per lap’ and over $70,000 in prizes on the line, the series is the most lucrative in the state.
“We dropped our event entry price significantly in 2011 and have kept it there, offering a package price of just $295 for a driver entry and a set of MG race tires,” states Tom Kutscher, SKUSA President. “And with this affordable price, our racers are also getting the most track time of any club or series in California! We don’t mess around. We’ve got nine classes, but typically run just six or seven race groups, so that translates into five long sessions each day with just the one entry. With morning warm-up, qualifying, two heats and a main event, our racers are logging 65+ laps on race day. If you want to be on track, ProKart is the place to be!”
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