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California ProKart Challenge
| Season 20 for the California ProKart Challenge |
| Saturday, 16 March 2024 14:44 |
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The California ProKart Challenge was established with a gathering of karters in 2005 led by kart shop owners and enthusiastic racers in the Southern California region. The program was led by Tom Kutscher, who would later become owner of Superkarts! USA in 2006. The California PKC became the flagship regional program for the organization and is now set to celebrate its 20th season. “I can’t believe it’s been 20 years since Patti and I started this journey,” shared a contemplative owner and principal Tom Kutscher. “This business has had its share of highs and lows for sure, but I’m really hoping we will see a positive turnaround in Southern California karting with the opening of K1 Circuit later in the season. I can’t wait!” The 2024 PKC racing program begins on March 23-24 with a trip to the Buttonwillow Raceway Park in Buttonwillow, California. The opening round is slated for the national circuit in the counter-clockwise direction, including the popular ‘Spa’ and ‘Le Mans’ section of the track affectionately known as ‘the kink’, which produces some exciting finishes. Once again for 2024, both Round One and Round Two will be held at Buttonwillow, with the second event of the California PKC scheduled for April 20-21 in the ‘clockwise’ direction. The third event of the season is slated for May 18-19, with a return to the historic Santa Maria Karting Association facility. The series will take the months of June and July off for the next two SKUSA Pro Tour events before returning to action on August 23-25. If all goes as planned, the new K1 Circuit is scheduled to host the lone double-header of the PKC season during that weekend, while also hosting the series finale on September 28-29. Each of the single-round weekends will feature a full day of practice plus qualifying on Saturday, followed by the Prefinal and Final action contested on Sunday. This year’s series format will again be a ‘Best 5 of 6 races’, with competitors having the ability to drop one round towards their year-end points total. Once again, Superkarts! USA rules state that any race is allowed to be ‘dropped’ without restriction. The 2024 California ProKart Challenge class structure features the nine categories from the Superkarts! USA Pro Tour along with four regional divisions. The Cadet divisions include Mini Swift and Micro Swift. All three KA100 classes for Senior, Junior and Master levels are offered, as are the X30 categories for the same three age groups. Pro Shifter and Master Shifter headline the shifterkart divisions, while two ‘Open Shifter’ divisions for Senior and Master welcome different engine packages to the competition. S5 Junior Stock Moto returns to complete the 2024 California ProKart Challenge class roster. The total prize package for the 2024 California ProKart Challenge is worth nearly $84,000 – including prizes to the top 3 podium finishers for each round. Each class winner receives a free 2024 PKC race entry with tires, the runner-up receives a free PKC race entry, and third place is awarded a $50 race entry credit. The PKC Champions in 2024 will be awarded a free SKUSA SuperNationals 27 entry with tires. The runner-up in the final standings will earn two PKC race entries with tires for the 2025 season, and third place receives one PKC race entry with tires for 2025. Once again, champions in the KA100 Senior, KA100 Junior and Pro Shifter – or any SuperNationals class open to 88 entries – will earn a Guaranteed SuperSunday Main Event Starting Position at SKUSA SuperNationals 27. Head to the series webpage for further details surrounding the championship purse for 2024. Superkarts! USA would like to thank the following companies for their support as Class Sponsors for the 2024 California ProKart Challenge: Sanner Racing, Formula Works, SuperSpeed Bearings, P1 Engines, Mike Manning Karting, Nash Motorsportz, HRT Driver Development, IAME USA West and Evinco Tires. Race Pre-Entry remains open for the California ProKart Challenge 2024 opener at Buttonwillow until the online registration deadline of Tuesday, March 19 at 11:59pm PST. As always, a 2024 SKUSA membership is mandatory to register and compete. Complete race and venue information, along with a tentative weekend schedule, can be found at the PKC Event Page. Reserved pit spots and camping reservations are highly recommended prior to the pre-entry cutoff and can also be found online. For more information on anything related to Superkarts! USA, please check this website and be sure to follow the Superkarts! USA Facebook page, Twitter and Instagram accounts. |