Pit Board 210-05-04

WKA's Pit Board - 05.04.2010

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Neri, Rogero only dual winners in MRP Man Cup action

05.04.2010 - The WKA George Kugler / Bridgestone Manufacturer's Cup Series driven by Mazda returned to action over the weekend with the highly anticipated MKP Nationals at the popular Michiana Raceway Park near South Bend, Ind. Rain was present in northern Indiana throughout the weekend, but ultimately the wet weather kept at bay for most of Saturday and Sunday afternoons with most feature events run in the dry.

Over 450 entries marked another excellent turnout for WKA's only national 2-cycle sprint series. Only two racers were able to race to a pair of wins in the 20 national classes that went off. Ashley Rogero solidified herself as one of the Manufacturer's Cup Series' best young drivers with two wins on Saturday. The Naples, Fla., racer scored the day's second final win in RLV Tuned Exhaust Products Cadet Final 1. After a late-afternoon thunderstorm, Rogero returned to the track to win Adkins Speed Center Komet Jr Sportsman, which was the last final of Saturday.

Nick Neri backed up his two-win effort at Daytona with another pair of wins at MRP. Neri bested Shawn Sharkey and Sam Beasley to win Beasley Motorsports / Arrow Karts Komet Jr Lite on Sunday. Neri tacked on a second win to his Sunday total with the victory in MRP / Birel Yamaha Jr Heavy over Raquel Martinez.

In another display of just how competitive the Man Cup Series is, no other driver was able to garner more than one victory at the 0.700-mile course. Ontario, Canada's Grant Quinlan was close. The Canadian drove to a pair of top-five finishes before scoring the win in Grand Products / Top Kart Cadet Final 2.

Austin Self got the win in SCS Racing Komet Jr Heavy over Sharkey, who did not win a final but did finish second, three times. One of those runner-up finishes was in Arrow USA Yamaha Jr Lite, which saw Sharkey run second to Beasley. Beasley was the fast-time setter in each of the four classes he entered, but found the top step on the podium only once.

Shinya Michimi won his first senior national final with his triumph in Ocala Gran Prix Komet Lite. Michimi ran his first event as a senior at the Daytona opener. Ryan Stewart notched another Man Cup victory in TSRacing.com Komet Heavy.

Dakota Pesek outdid Michimi by one race when the Ohio driver won a national final in his first attempt as a senior competitor. Pesek got the victory in Woltjer Racing Engines Yamaha Supercan Lite. Cody Robinson was victorious in Margay Racing Products Yamaha Supercan Heavy.

Robert Bujdoso won his first ever TaG final with the win in Franklinkart.com TaG. Bujdoso won over Kyle Wiegand and Mike Giessen.

Bujdoso won over 29 competitors in TaG, but couldn't pull off the victory in the short five-kart Orlando Kart Center TaG Heavy final. New Jersey's Scott Ferris bested Bujdoso to net his only win of the weekend.

In other TaG action, John Dixon continued his winning ways in Tony Kart Flordia TaG Masters. Wiegand won over Giessen in Grand Products / Top Kart Parilla Leopard. And Andy Dunne hit pay dirt in GoRotax.com Rotax with his win over Luca Forgeois.

Zane Smith surprised many with a Cadet win at Daytona, and the Californian returned to Man Cup competition at South Bend and won Kartlift Yamaha Sportsman Lite. Smith won over Rogero, who also finished second to Brandon Jarsocrak in Comet Kart Sales Yamaha Sportsman Heavy. Smith's and Jarsocrak's Yamaha Sportsman wins denied Rogero of her third and fourth wins of the weekend, which would have been an unprecedented total in recent years on Man Cup tour.

Kevin Nelson and Tony Jump surprised no one with their MRP performances. Nelson got his first SKF Bearings Yamaha Masters win of the season over John Ferris III, while Jump won over Robinson in Mike Doty Racing Yamaha Pipe.

Six New Jersey Sprint Series Kid Karts ran exhibitions throughout the MRP weekend. Connor and Tyler Ferris, Jack Miller, Evann Milless, Joseph Stecher and Caleb Tate all gained valuable experience in the wet and dry at the tricky MRP circuit.

The George Kugler / Bridgestone Manufacturer's Cup Series driven by Mazda will now take two months off before a summer that features the final three rounds of the 2010 tour.

Next up is the Zoom Zoom Grand Nationals July 9-11 at Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin's Briggs & Stratton Motorplex at Road America, followed by the Aug. 6-8 Show Hauler Trucks Nationals at New Castle (Ind.) Motorsports Park. A Sept. 17-19 date will see the Man Cup Series close its 2010 campaign with the SSC East / CRG Nationals at New Jersey Motorsports Park.

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CKI organizes transportation services for upcoming Phoenix WSK North American Series event

05.04.2010 (TEMPE, Ariz.) - In these tough economic times, CKI officials have put a program in place to help competitors transport their equipment across the country for the upcoming Phoenix WSK North American Series Event. Working with the karting teams, CKI has contacted a host of series teams to organize transportation services to help lower the travel costs the sport of karting. With the next event May 14-16 at the PKRA facility in Phoenix, Ariz., a list of teams offering these services can be found below.

"We have had a few customers come to us and express their concern in the travel costs to each event," explained CKI Director of Operations Kevin Williams. "With that concern raised, we instantly started to look for a solution to at least minimize some of the costs. A plan was formed and after speaking with several teams, all agreed that some sort of transportation program could work."

Coming from different geographic locations, teams listed below will offer to transport independent customers' equipment to and from the WSK North American Series by CKI event in Phoenix.

Northern California Kartel Motorsports Phone 916-383-5278

Leading Edge Motorsports Phone 209-369-0921

Southern California SSC Racing Phone 760-864-1320

Colorado Grand Junction Motor Speedway Phone 970-256-0107

East Coast J3 Competition Phone 814-864-1846

These exciting programs are great opportunities to participate in the second round of the WSK North American Series by CKI.

Entry Forms and information are available at the CKI Web site, www.ChampionshipKartRacing.com.

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Ocala Gran Prix shows strength at MRP

05.04.2010 (SOUTH BEND, Ind.) - The Ocala Gran Prix / Tony Kart race team showed their strength this past weekend at the second round of the World Karting Association Manufacturer's Cup event held at the Michiana Raceway Park in South Bend, Indiana. Coming to the WKA program for the first time as a big operation, the Ocala Grand Prix (OGP) along with their dealer, Indiana Racing Services walked away with five wins and nine podiums when the weekend was complete.

Leading the way in the Sportsman divisions was Floridian female Ashley Rogero. The up and coming star had an outstanding day in both wet and dry action on Saturday as she claimed victories in Cadet Junior Sportsman and Komet Sportsman as well as a solid second place result in Yamaha Sportsman Heavy. Proving it was no fluke, Rogero led the majority of Sunday's Cadet Junior Sportsman final only to come home fourth but rebounded later in the day to take the second spot in the Yamaha Sports Lite class.

Junior pilot Nick Neri would lead in the junior classes as the multi-time champion would score the victories in the Komet Junior Lite and Yamaha Junior Heavy classes in Sunday's racing action after scoring a third place podium result in Komet Junior Heavy on Saturday. An incident at the start of the Yamaha Junior Lite class took Neri out of contention for the win.

Californian Cody Hodgson used the Ocala Gran Prix Rotax power in the TaG division to take a fifth place result on Saturday. Competing in his first WKA action and his first time to Michiana Raceway Park, Hodgson drove wheel-to-wheel with WKA veterans as he ran towards the front of the pack. Having to catch a flight and get back to the West Coast for school, Hodgson was unable to compete in Sunday's Rotax final as OGP tuner Mario Ioffredo jumped behind the wheel. After never turning a lap at the facility, Ioffredo ran fifth before driving offline and damaging the rear sprocket and would eventually be classified in eighth.

"I am extremely happy with the OGP team this weekend," explained Ocala Gran Prix President Jorge Arellano. "I have to admit, this is my first attempt at a Manufacturer's Cup event and I see areas where we can improve our program. I am looking forward to the next event and will be working with the team to make our operation event better. Also, I would like to congratulate John Dixon and Nick Neri on their victories as well as Ashley Rogero on her first and second career national wins."

Tony Kart dealer Indiana Racing Services driver John Dixon scored Sunday's TaG Masters win in dominating fashion. After taking the prefinal victory, Dixon made little changes to his Tony Kart as he drove to a solid victory.

Also competing under the Ocala Gran Prix banner was Floridian pilots Jonathon Koytek and Andrew Evans. Both drivers would enter their first WKA Manufacturer's Cup series event and would battle hard throughout the weekend making constant improvements. Indiana Racing Services driver Mike Burrell would score two top ten results in his Masters classes while Senior and Tony Kart rookie Morgan Nelson would battle with some of the nation's best TaG drivers.

For more information on Ocala Grand Prix, OGP race team opportunities and info on how to get into karting, please visit Ocala Gran Prix online at www.OcalaGranPrix.com.

-source: wka