Parker, CO.
The new Billet Performance Karting started the 2012 race season strong competing in the Gatorz Challenge of the Americas winter series. BPK brought over 7 entries per event with drivers competing in DD2 Masters, Rotax Masters, Rotax senior, Rotax Junior and Micro-Max. Strong performances were achieved by Mitch Carey (sr.), Tyler Edwards (sr.), and Corbin Emery (micro) aboard their Arrow chassis powered by Billet Performance. Rotax junior racer Lyndsay Brewer raced her way into the top ten at the Phoenix round, piloting her Arrow X1E with Billet power.
The series was highlighted by John Crow (DD2 Masters) earning four dominating wins and two second place finishes on his 2012 Arrow X1E DD2. Crow’s domination awarded him the series Championship and a free ride at the upcoming US Grand Nationals in South Bend, Indiana this summer. Crow Also finished on the podium two out of two times in Rotax Masters. Jim Carey (DD2 Masters) also saw the podium at every race, earning second place in the championship on his Arrow DD2.
Scott Falcone (masters), Will Owen (sr.), and Hannah Greenemeier (micro) spent their winter also competing in the Florida Winter Tour on their Arrow’s. Falcone saw the podium in both the Gatorz and Florida series.
Falcone, Owen, and Brian Robson took their efforts to Phoenix in April for the first rounds of the SKUSA Pro-Moto Tour. Joining the trio was National #2 TaG senior driver Dakota Dickerson. The strength of the four Arrow racers was challenged by the 105 degree heat and the tough fields in TaG (senior and Masters) classes. Falcone and Dickerson enjoyed top 10 finishes, while Robson dropped out of the event in 4th place with a mechanical.
Round one of Racing the Rockies was a success for the Parker based shop. Falcone took victories in DD2 Masters, and Rotax Masters on his Arrow Karts. Rounding out the masters podium was Jim Haubenschild. 2011 series champion Dave Zarlengo found the 2nd step on the podium in DD2 Masters on his new X1E DD2. Tyler Edwards and Connor Thomas placed 2nd and 3rd respectfully in Rotax Senior, and Hurricane Hannah Greenemeier was the one to beat in Micro-Max.
All of the podium finishers at the Racing the Rockies series were awarded Billet Bucks for their strong performances. The class winners took home $100.00, second place finishers received $50.00, and third place took $25.00. To be eligible for the Billet Bucks contingency programs, the racers were piloting their Billet powered Arrow Racing Karts.
Billet Performance Karting is the premier kart shop on the front range. Located minutes away from the Track at Centennial, the full service shop offers sales, service and support for Arrow Racing Karts, and is an authorized Rotax Service Center. Other services include arrive and drive kart rentals, one on one instruction and kart tuning. WWW.billetperformancekarting.com (303) 841-4855

The opening round of Racing the Rockies was a huge success for the newly formed Performance Division of Unser Racing. Unser Racing and SODI karts were the talk of the pits with a commanding presence and fast drivers in all categories.
Leading the team were Junior drivers Jason Dempster and Grant Copple. Dempster managed to grab pole position away from Grant Copple by a margin of just under 0.10 seconds. The two ran into bad luck in the prefinal where a spin from the lead put Dempster into the 5th position. Copple was off to a bumpy start but ended with a second place result. In the main event Unser Racing’s duo were on a tear, with Copple beating Dempster to the line to achieve the team’s first 1-2 finish.
Brothers Max and Everest Fedler had strong runs aboard their Unser Racing SODI Delta cadet karts. Max brought home a solid third place finish in MiniMax, and Everest had the best race of his short career to come in 7th. We look forward to seeing these two young drivers grow and develop into formidable competitors throughout the course of the season.
The shifter category saw a strong run from Utah native Keenan Schmitke. Keenan had a solid run aboard a loaner SODI Sigma chassis to finish 2nd in the main. We hope Keenan can make the trip over more often so he can show his true performance.
Unser Racing was joined at Racing the Rockies Round 1 by a group from the Dallas Karting Complex. DKC owner Kevin Adds brought home a podium 3rd place result in DD2 Masters. Chaz Nagel was 4th in Senior, followed by Sean Owens in 5th. Unser Racing would like to thank Dallas Karting Complex, Famous Dave’s BBQ and Rockstar Energy Drink for their support and look forward to the rest of the season.
About Unser Racing Performance Division: The Unser Racing Performance Division is a new kind of kart shop for the modern world. They offer complete racing packages from 7-70 years old and 40-125mph. They also offer kart storage, transportation, and services for any brand of kart. Unser Racing is a full ROTAX Authorized Service Center and a SODI Kart dealer. They have a wide range of accessories in stock including MOJO Tires, SODI Parts, Chains, Sprockets and more. For more information on the Performance Division please visit www.unserracing.com or contact Greg Welch via email: gwelch@unserracing.com or call 720-484-4410

Aluminos driver Cory Milne can celebrate this month’s EKN Driver Rankings as he tops the standings for the first time in his career. The S2 vice-champion came on strong at the end of 2011, helping to put him in the #1 position for the rankings this month. After making a strong S1 debut at the California PKC event, his first Pro Tour outing was not as promising with two finishes outside the top-10. The determined young 19-year old will be gunning for a stronger performance at the SummerNationals, otherwise, expect him to drop slightly down the order after the July event in Utah.

eKartingNews.com is happy to publish the newest edition of the 2012 EKN Driver Rankings for Stock Moto. The new season is proving to be a year of transition as a number of S2 drivers from a year ago have moved into the S1 category for good. With these graduations, and the revolving 12-month stats of the EKN standings, the top spot will very likely see some new and different names in the #1 position throughout the year. This month, a new young pilot finds himself on top as the #1 ranked driver in the nation, and he is Colorado driver and new S1 pilot Cory Milne.

Riding on the strength his two-win S2 performance at last year’s SummerNationals in his home state, Milne (GP) has overtaken Nicky Freytag for the #1 spot in the EKN Driver Rankings for Stock Moto. Milne made his S1 debut at the opening round of the California ProKart Challenge, placing second. His Pro Tour debut did not go quite as he hoped, which could cost him the number one spot after this year’s SummerNationals. Despite gaining a few points at the SpringNationals, as well as moving up to the S1 category this year, Freytag (FA Kart) falls to second place in the rankings. 2011 S2 Pro Tour champion Kyle Hathcox (GP) gained 50 points to move up to third in the order this month. With the best overall weekend of the S2 graduates at the SpringNationals, Jake French (Birel) moved up one position to fourth. Capping off a young top-five is S1 sophomore Lukas Johnson (Exprit), who did not replicate his two-podium effort in his SpringNats from a year ago, but still ran strong.

Thanks to the increase in numbers in the S1 category, defending California ProKart Challenge S1 champion Brad Dunford (GP) added to his point total to sit sixth this month. Finishing the weekend outside the top-10 at the SpringNationals, Dunford can increase his points more with a strong performance in the event leading up to the next Pro Tour outing. Jumping into the top-10 and sitting seventh is S1 rookie Joey Wimsett (CRG). With a victory in his Pro Tour debut, followed by a runner-up to 2010 champion Fritz Leesmann on Sunday, Wimsett could add his name to the short list of drivers who have topped both TaG and Stock Moto rankings. Clinton Schoombee fell two spots to eighth with fellow DR Kart racer Josh Lane returned to the top-10 in ninth. Dropping one spot to tenth is Connor Wagner (Formula K), who did not have the Pro Tour outing he wished for, but gained two podium finishes at the Texas ProKart Challenge opener to hold the title of highest ranked S2 driver on the list.

Two of the top three drivers from the Pro Tour S1 standings are further down in the order. Kiwi and defending champion Daniel Bray (GP) only has five events counted toward the driver rankings (all Pro Tour events). Missing the important sixth event result keeps him down in the 30th position, up two spots from last month’s rankings. It would be great to see Bray taken in a regional so that he would have enough races to properly position himself in the order. It's just part of the rankings calculation, as we have to set a minimum number of races to come up with the listing, and to us, five races is simply not enough when you consider how many Stock Moto events are being run each year. Current SKUSA Pro Tour S1 point leader Fritz Leesmann (CRG) was absent from the SummerNationals last year and is a tuner during the regional events, so he too, lacks the necessary number of total races. Fritz's SuperNationals result and SpringNats effort have him 67th, with just three races in the end calculation.


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This weekend marks the start of the revamped Rocky Mountain ProKart Challenge series, with Rounds 1 and 2 taking place at the Grand Junction Motor Speedway in western Colorado. Racers from all across the Rocky Mountain area will converge on the 9/10-mile course on May 4-6 to begin a trio of double-race events between Colorado and Utah. A number of the top racers from the recent SKUSA Pro Tour MG Tires SpringNationals will be on-hand, taking on some of the region’s best racers.

The 2012 Rocky Mountain ProKart Challenge will take racers from Denver to Salt Lake City in three weekends with a total of six rounds. Each weekend will provide a full day of practice on Friday with Saturday and Sunday each hosting a round of racing that includes qualifying, two heat races and a main event, the most amount of track time possible. With the opening round set for this weekend in Grand Junction, CO, the series will then travel to the site of this year’s SKUSA Pro Tour SummerNationals - the Miller Motorsports Park in Tooele, Utah on June 1-3. The series will crown its champions on August 31-September 2 at the IMI Motorsports Complex, located outside the Denver area. The champions in each of the Rocky Mountain ProKart Challenge SKUSA-sanctioned classes, as with all SKUSA regional programs, will earn a guaranteed starting position in the SuperSunday main event at the SKUSA SuperNationals XVI in Las Vegas.

SKUSA National Operations Director Stan Bryniarski will be directing the event and series for 2012. Stan brings his many years of experience managing karting events to the Rocky Mountain region, “I’m really excited about building the SKUSA brand of kart racing in the Rocky Mountain area. In the early days of Superkarts! USA, the Colorado and Utah racers built strong programs. Now in a new era of the sport, I look forward to bringing back large fields, exciting racing and fun times at the race track for the Rocky Mountain ProKart Challenge.”

A number of drivers that shined at the SKUSA Pro Tour MG Tires SpringNationals will be on hand competing in the opening round of the Rocky Mountain series. The classes available include S1, S2, S3, S4, S5, TaG Senior, TaG Master, TaG Junior, TaG Cadet, and the local option Mini Max division. Defending SKUSA Pro Tour S2 Semi-Pro Stock Moto champion Kyle Hathcox will be competing in the S1 Pro division, coming off a strong debut at the SpringNats. He will be joined by defending S4 Master Stock Moto SuperNationals winner Bonnier Moulton, making the move back to S1 alongside Utah drivers Mike Beeny, Tyler Bennett and Keenan Schmitke. Current S2 Pro Tour point leader Sabré Cook will be among the favorites this weekend. A host of Colorado hotshoes will attempt to edge her at her home track, including Jack Bradley, Christian Bird, and Ben Schermerhorn. Solid numbers in the TaG Cadet and Mini Max division have already entered prior to the pre-entry deadline on April 30, with a number of walk-up entries expected on the weekend.


Colorado’s Sabré Cook will be among the top shifterkart drivers in attendance for round one of the Rocky Mountain ProKart Challenge (Photo: On Track Promotions - otp.ca)
Colorado’s Sabré Cook will be among the top shifterkart drivers in attendance for round one of the Rocky Mountain ProKart Challenge
(Photo: On Track Promotions - otp.ca)

Key industry members will be on-site and supporting the 2012 series with a number of prizes up for grabs. CRG-USA has signed on as a series sponsor, Billet Performance Karting is supporting the TaG divisions, and Miller Motorsports Park will ease the pocket books for TaG Cadet and S5 Junior drivers. CRG-USA will offer up a new CRG chassis to one lucky Rocky Mountain PKC champion. Every first place finisher in any class driving a CRG will be given a raffle ticket, with the winner of a new CRG chassis to be drawn at the year-end banquet. Billet Performance Karting will award $50 in “Billet Bucks” to the winners in TaG Junior and Mini Max. Another $25 in “Billet Bucks” will be drawn at random at each Sunday podium presentation (winner must be present to win). At the year-end awards ceremony, the TaG Senior and Master champions will receive $100 each in “Billet Bucks” -- with another $25 available as a door prize. Miller Motorsports Park will award a free pit spot to the winner of TaG Cadet and S5, as well as one person in a podium raffle. There will even be a free entry to the next RMPKC race and a set of tires raffled off by Stan himself.

“Having the karting industry jumping in with this level of support confirms what I set out to accomplish IS a reality,” continued Bryniarski. “Giving back to the racers is what it is all about. We are here to have a great time and enjoy the sport we love, while providing a professional-style of kart racing. Having these three sponsors come to me and ask ‘how can we help’ confirms what I have believed from the start. The Rocky Mountain ProKart Challenge takes racing seriously and supports the racers who do the same.”

Some familiar faces will be behind the scenes in Grand Junction, as well. Working alongside Bryniarski will be National SKUSA Race Director Terry Bybee, and competitors will be greeted by SKUSA’s own Patti Kutscher at registration. The same methods and structure that made the original ProKart Challenge a success -- and now the SKUSA Pro Tour -- will be brought right to the racers of the Rocky Mountain area.

Additional class sponsorships are still available but time is running short. Interested parties should contact Stan at stan@superkartsusa.com . For more information on the Rocky Mountain ProKart Challenge, be sure to visit http://www.superkartsusa.com/regional/r ... n-pkc.html and go to http://www.gjmotorspeedway.com for more info about the Grand Junction Motor Speedway.

PPKRC 2012 Schedule

This year PPKRC and its members have decided to go to a new format of a double race day weekend on Saturday and Sunday at PPIR. We will have one registration form for the whole season, 6 races for only $420, and no other fees.
(Electric Hook-up fee paid to PPIR separately).

GJMS - June 16th & 17th (optional travel race)
PPIR - July 28th & 29th
PPIR - August 25th & 26th
PPIR - Oct 6th & 7th

PPIR Two Day Race Series:

Format
➢ Arrive Friday at PPIR after 5:00p.m.
➢ Registration 6:00p.m. – 9:00 p.m. (Pre-Registration preferred, particularly for those who are unable to arrive Friday/s)
➢ Saturday & Sunday Races
➢ Practice from 8:30-10:00 each day
➢ Drivers Meeting – 10:15-10:45
➢ Qualifying 10:45 – 12:30
➢ Race from 12:45 - ?

Race Fees: Whole weekend Saturday and Sunday includes wrist band for Driver and free ½ stall garage space.
$140 per weekend X 3 = $420 (that’s 6 races for $420)
*Optional Race June 16th & 17th (Father’s Day weekend) for those who want to travel and support the “Racing for Hero’s” event at Grand Junction Motor Speedway.

➢ Tag and Local Option Class Structure, same as last year, plus we’ve added a Pro Outlaw Shifter Class.
➢ Fuel per RMAX and Pump for everything else, same as last year.
➢ Tire per RMAX and Open for everything else, same as last year.


Roger Miller
PPKRC, President