Pit Board 2010-02-24

WKA's Pit Board - 02.24.2010

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Road Racing Series ready to invade Kershaw

02.24.2010 -- The second of eight 2010 Dunlop Tire Road Racing Series driven by Mazda events will go off March 12-14 at the progressive Carolina Motorsports Park in Kershaw, S.C., which joins New Castle, Ind., as tracks hosting three WKA national series events this season. For the first time in 11 trips to Kershaw, the Russell Karting Gold Cup Series will join the popular Road Racing Series at the South Carolina venue. The pairing makes the event the first WKA doubleheader at CMP and the first featuring the Road Racing and Gold Cup series on the same weekend card.

The Road Racing Series began their 2010 campaign at Daytona in the final days of 2009, where an impressive number of 616 entries made it the best attended of the three series at KartWeek and the highest overall entry count for any Road Racing national since Daytona 2007. WKA is working to continue the trend at Kershaw, which has been a staple spring event for the Road Racing tour since the inaugural event in 2000.

Kershaw is considered a drivers' track. It offers a fast section from Turn 7 to Turn 11 that allows karts near their top speed and also a number of tight corners that force drivers to "get up on the wheel" to negotiate. Most turns have an adequate amount of runoff area which makes CMP one of the safest circuits on the Road Racing tour. To view an overhead shot of the entire facility, including the new sprint course, go to www.carolinamotorsportspark.com/trackabout.html.

Johnny Jacumin's retirement from promoting karting events with his Karolina Karters crew will lead to some new faces officiating this year's Kershaw national. A number of members of Jacumin's crew have been retained and will continue to work the Road Racing side of the twin bill along with the new personnel. Another press release in this Pit Board details who will be doing what when karts roll off for practice on Friday morning, March 12.

Judging from the Daytona season opener and last year's Kershaw national, a number of divisions should see solid turnouts at this year's event. Briggs Animal 360 was the best-attended Road Racing class in 2009 and 37 karts took the green flag at Daytona. CIK and WKA shifters were well represented at last year's Kershaw race and both had solid fields at Daytona.

The Controlled laydown classes saw a number of stout fields last year, and 2010 should be no different. In fact, most of the laydown-enduro classes should feature stiff competition at Kershaw. Laydown karts are still very popular in the South, as was represented at the Southern Kart Club's season opening race at Roebling Road earlier this month.

The new TaG 1 and 2 classes, which in 2010 join Spec TaG 1 and 2 as national Road Racing divisions for the popular Touch-and-Go engines, each had nearly 20 karts start their debutant features at Daytona and should see formidable fields at Kershaw.

Jr Sprint Lite and Heavy grew in numbers throughout the course of 2009, topping off with seven entries in each class at Putnam Park last August. The 2-cycle junior classes had five karts start each feature at Daytona. WKA hopes the surge in junior Road Racing competition continues this year; these divisions are the future of the series.

CMP will be open Thursday from noon till 6 p.m. for pit pass sales, parking and pre-entry pickup. Friday will see group practice from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. before 13 race groups hit the track between Saturday and Sunday.

Pre-registration opened Feb. 11 and runs until March 3. To view the weekend schedule, entry form and other related information, go to www.worldkarting.com and start making your plans today to run the challenging 14-turn Kershaw course.

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Familiar faces officiating Kershaw Road Racing / Gold Cup doubleheader

02.24.2010 -- In any phase of life, consistency is the key. In the sports world, it's a must! On the heels of the announcement of the retirement of longtime promoter Johnny Jacumin, WKA officials immediately addressed the desire to maintain the consistency and integrity of the Dunlop Tire Road Racing Series driven by Mazda event at Carolina Motorsports Park March 12-14 in Kershaw, South Carolina. And the best place to start was with the crew.

Jacumin's legacy will continue in March, especially with the faces at each flagging station on the 2.3-mile road course. Longtime WKA official Scott "Sleepy" McBride, along with fellow worker Wayne Muse will be two of the many faces competitors will see as they compete in the second of eight national events this year. Joining the North Carolina duo will be Mark Sands and Brad Sellers, along with local workers Jabo Sims and Clyde Talbert, who are also part of Jacumin's staff.

Leading the officiating crew will be popular race director Brandon Taylor, a familiar site to the Road Racing contingent at Daytona and Road America, as well as the events at VIR and Summit Point. Billy Shaw will serve as the official starter; Jenn McCollum will handle the grid steward chores, and longtime Road Racing supporter Allen Redman will operate the scales. Tom Speaks and Dave Armstrong will head up tech. Dave Williams and Keith Shampine will serve as the official scorers for the event while also assisting in registration. Heading up the crew will be WKA Representatives Van Gilder and Sissy Mendenhall.

For all 2010 Road Race National events, there will be continued club representation in an ongoing effort to better serve the needs of the competitors and the membership.

On the Russell Karting Gold Cup side, many familiar faces from the Charlotte Motor Speedway crew will transplant down to Kershaw. Returning as race director will be Chuck Yoder. Tony " The Toe" Cirillo will once again be the excitement behind the mic, while longtime flagger Chew Bob Fletcher will return for the new season.

The track staff will include Briggs & Stratton Speedway Dirt Series race director Jayson Brown, as well as Albert Vann, Carl Everett, Jordan Gettys, Shane Barrett, Jerry Wilber, Ted Allred, and Tyler Long, all of whom have multiple race experience with World Karting.

Bobby Gettys will once again head up the tech team, joined by Dan McCormack and Mike Everson. Beth Hopkins and Marie Borsuk will handle registration and scoring. Dave Favorite will return again, serving as grid steward with the Gold Cup team being led by operations director and WKA representative Buddy Long.

The combination of these two teams lends years of experience and consistency -- two very important ingredients as the new season officially gets under way.

To view the Michigan Kart Supply Nationals entry blank, download the PDF from www.worldkarting.com/downloads/eb-2010/0312_kershaw_gc.pdf. For the Kershaw Road Racing entry blank, download the PDF from www.worldkarting.com/downloads/eb-2010/0312_kershaw_rr.pdf.

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Dunlop RH2 Road Racing award tires available at Kershaw

02.24.2010 -- WKA and Russell Karting are pleased to announce the previously back-ordered Dunlop RH2 award tires have arrived in the U.S. These tires will be available for pick up by the award recipients March 12-14, 2010, at the Dunlop Tire Road Racing Series driven by Mazda national at Carolina Motorsports Park in Kershaw, S.C.

Specific distribution times will be posted at the event. If you will not be attending Kershaw, please see if a nearby competitor can pick these up for you or contact Sissy Mendenhall for other options at 704-455-1606 x13 or e-mail sissy@worldkarting.com.

-source: wka