Pit Board 2009-12-17

WKA's Pit Board - 12.17.2009

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Tires for the 2009 Daytona Dirt World Championships

12.17.2009 -- The WKA spec tire program for the Briggs & Stratton Speedway Dirt Series has a significant change from 2009. Effective at the season's opening event at the new Daytona dirt track, drivers in all classes including the junior, sportsman, Unlimited and local-option divisions may select tires from any of the following brands:
Burris
Dunlop
Firestone
Hoosier
Maxxis
Vega

The track surface at the new track should be familiar to those competitors who raced at the old Daytona stadium. The dirt used at the stadium has been moved to the new track at the Daytona International Speedway. This information may help in tire selection and chassis setup.

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Paschal represents Speedway Dirt with Triple Crown Championship

12.17.2009 -- Four of the five Triple Crown champions in 2009 came from the sprint ranks of the WKA -- three from Gold Cup and one from Manufacturer's Cup. Of the three remaining WKA national series -- Speedway Pavement, Speedway Dirt and Road Racing -- only one driver, Hawkinsville, Georgia's Dee Paschal, was triumphant enough to earn a renowned Triple Crown Championship.

Paschal, 38, had a fine season on the Briggs & Stratton Speedway Dirt tour. The karting veteran starting things off right with five-win effort at the series opener in April at North Carolina's Margarettsville Speedway, a weekend that got him on the cover of WKA's Karting Scene June issue. He kept his season in high gear throughout the remaining four events, netting two more feature wins at the Dexter (Ga.) Raceway Jimmy Rivers Performance Works Grand National in June and four wins in the remaining three races at Liberty Raceway Park in N.C., Hanging Rock Kartway in S.C., and Hurricane Raceway in his home state of Georgia.

When the dust of the southern dirt tour settled, Paschal had 11 feature wins highlighted by two Grand National victories, and five national championships in Briggs Lite, Medium and Heavy, and Briggs Raptor Lite and Heavy. And while he didn't dominate every race, Paschal certainly dominated the point standings. Of his five triumphs, the only class that had a driver within 100 points of Dee was Briggs Lite, which saw fellow Georgian Kati Leonard end up 57 markers back.

So for a 25-year veteran of the karting wars, including stints in pavement oval and Manufacturer's Cup sprint racing, what exactly does a Triple Crown championship mean? Paschal took a late-afternoon break last week to talk about it.

"I can't say that this is a dream come true or anything, but I will say that this is one trophy we were after that we didn't have. The last seven or eight years have been pretty good to us. But about a year and a half ago I teamed up with Mark Bowers of MB Motorsports, and since then, we've really come into our own. Without Mark, I wouldn't be able to race. I have to thank him a lot," Dee said.

As quickly as Paschal praised Bowers, he emphasized that his success in 2009 was a total team effort.

"We've got everything working as a team. When you can do that, it all clicks. This is a team effort right down to the very end. MB Motorsports, Phantom Chassis, Tod Miller Racing, Larry Jones Motorsports, Core Race Products, A.C., Rob Peacock and my wife, and I'm sure I'm forgetting some -- without them, it'd be hard to do all this."

Of course, with the renewal of the Dirt World Championships looming in less than two weeks at Daytona Int'l Speedway, Paschal was busy preparing an MB Motorsports Phantom for the new quarter-mile dirt track on the grounds of the World Center of Racing. But surprisingly, Paschal wasn't preparing a kart for him to drive, but for Bowers' son, Kyle.

"I'm taking Daytona off from the driver's seat," said Dee with just a hint of disappointment. "I'll just be crewing down there for Kyle Bowers. Kyle has been racing awhile and we're really working hard to try to get him a national win. For what Mark's done for me over the last couple years, I believe I owe this to him and I'm happy to do it for Mark, Kyle and the whole MB Motorsports team."

Paschal says he'll most likely return to the seat of the black MB No. 01 when the "regular season" of the Speedway Dirt Series begins in April at Hurricane; although, he admitted his definite 2010 plans are still up in the air.

While you may not see Paschal on the track later this month at Daytona, you'll surely see him accepting his prizes at the Speedway Dirt Series awards banquet. Paschal will be honored as a Triple Crown champion Friday night, Jan. 29, at the Carolina First Center in Greenville, S.C. The banquet will be in conjunction with KartFest 2010.

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Road America, Kershaw, Dumplin Valley, Hurricane highlight national schedule additions

12.17.2009 -- World Karting officials are proud to announce several new additions to the 2010 national touring schedule, as well as continued alliances with newly created tracks from 2009.

Highlighting the schedule for the George Kugler / Bridgestone Manufacturer's Cup Series and Dunlop Tire Road Racing Series, both driven by Mazda, will be a return to Road America in July for the second Mid-Summer Classic doubleheader. Additionally, both series will join forces again at New Jersey Motorsports Park in September, the second annual stop at the popular facility for the Road Racing Series, and the inaugural stop for the Manuf. Cup contingent. The Road Racing Series will compete on New Jersey's Lightning Course while Manuf. Cup will be on the F1 New Jersey sprint track.

On the Briggs & Stratton Speedway Dirt Series, Hurricane Raceway in Alma, Georgia makes a return to the schedule as the second stop on the dirt tour April 9-11, while Dumplin Valley Raceway in Kodak, Tennessee, makes a long-awaited return to the dirt program as the final stop on the tour Sept. 10-12.

Carolina Motorsports Park in Kershaw, South Carolina, will boast three national events in 2010, the first being a March doubleheader with the Road Racing and Gold Cup series, then a return in June for the Rage Karts Speedway Pavement Series, stop two of a five-race series in 2010. Kershaw is the only new track on the Pavement tour, joining OCR (N.C.) Action Sports Park, Chapel Hill (N.Y.) Raceway, BeaveRun (Pa.) Motorsports Complex and New Castle (Ind.) Motorsports Park.

The addition of these great facilities will only enhance an awesome program for all five series for the new year.

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KOMET clutch retrofit kit now available

12.17.2009 (OOLTEWAH, Tenn.) -- The new 2010 clutch retrofit kit for the KOMET piston valve engine is now available.

Engine owners may obtain these units on a one-clutch-per engine basis at a special introductory price of $ 200.00. This offer is good until July 1, 2010.

To take advantage of this special, owners must present an engine serial number (number on the REAR of the engine) for validation.

At this time, only the 10-tooth model is available, however in January 2010, all other sizes will be offered.

To take advantage of this offer, please contact Haddock, Ltd., Inc or your local Komet agent.

-credit: wka