Edited with memorial service information at bottom:

This is Gayle writing for our entire family.

Rich fought long and hard until the end, but died at peace with his sons and I at this side on Sunday night.

We thank all of you who followed Rich's story both on the kart sites and CaringBridge.

We heard time and again that Rich was a beloved figure at the karting tracks and we knew karting was his passion during the final decade of his life.

I will post again when funeral plans are finalized. God bless you for caring for # 51 and for the donations which made the financial burden easier these past 10 months.


Gayle, Brett and Colin Vito

Updated:
Memorial service 3:00 PM Thursday March 11, 2010 at Christ Our Savior Lutheran Church at 640 Alpine St. Longmont. Private Inurnment at Longmont Mountain View Cemetery, cremation Ahlberg Funeral Chapel and Crematory. Contributions can be made to Christ Our Savior Lutheran Church c/o Ahlberg Funeral Chapel.

By Eric Cody
On Sunday February 21st, the Colorado Junior Karting Club kicked off its 2010 season with a meeting at Red and Jerry’s in Englewood. The club moved the meeting to the larger venue due to continued growth in the club during the off-season. “We basically outgrew our other meeting venues and Red and Jerry’s graciously offered us this larger space that will allow us to accommodate the club as we continue to add new member families”, said Scott Hannum, CJKC President.

The CJKC continues to grow despite the challenging economy which has contributed to stagnation and even declines in participation in Karting series across the region and nation. The February 21st meeting saw several new members attend as well as a strong showing from the returning members. Cost control, a focus on providing a fun and safe environment for the member families, and providing value to the Karting community has been central to the CJKC since it’s inception in 2007 and these principles have helped the club grow exponentially in just a few short years. The CJKC operates under the sanction of the International Karting Federation and hosts the IKF Region 4a Junior Karting Championship Series.

The CJKC was extremely busy in the off-season. In September they began to survey members to gauge their opinions on various issues facing the club in this economic environment. A key issue was the planned review of the club’s engine packages. The membership expressed a desire to move to a lower cost, sealed engine, to help even the playing field. The Briggs Racing LO206 engine package was chosen after 7 different packages were tested and considered. The Briggs Racing LO206 offers the basic engine package for approximately $449 that is sealed at the factory and only requires a few additional accessories to complete. The CJKC is rolling this package out for use in the Junior 1 Classes this year with a possible expansion down into the Kid Kart level in the future which would allow a 7 year application of the LO206.

Due to the large participation in the Junior 1 class in 2009, the CJKC will be implementing a new entry-level Junior 1 formula for 2010. This class was designed with both the new driver and/or recent Kid Kart graduate who is moving up to Junior 1 in mind. This class will use the new Briggs Racing LO206 engine, however, the club will spec a gear and other engine aspects to keep the speeds down for these transitional drivers as they get acquainted to the much higher speeds attained at the Junior 1 level. This class will also allow the club to break up the class which in some cases saw as many as 26-28 racers fight for 18 starting positions at some tracks.

Experienced Junior 1 drivers will have their class with the CJKC using the new Briggs Racing LO206 as well. This class will feature the more experienced Junior 1 racers with more options, more power and open gearing available to the teams. This class is expected to have the largest fields in the club and will provide some of the closest racing anywhere with most of the title contenders returning in 2010 to battle for the coveted IKF Region 4A Champions jacket.


Another exciting addition to the CJKC fo 2010 will be the Junior 2 Class featuring the Briggs Racing CIK World Formula engine package. This class was designed for the 12 to 15 year old who is either new to Karting or as a next step after they graduated out of the Junior 1 level. The World Formula engine package provides plenty of power to test the abilities of these racers as well as reliability and value, (basic package starting at approx. $995) allowing families to participate in Karting at a much lower cost than other classes available to this age bracket.

The new Briggs Racing LO206 and CIK World Formula engine packages built to the specifications of the IKF can be purchased at any of the following Colorado locations:

Action Karting at Bandimere Speedway
CRE Motorsports
IMI Motorsports Complex
Grand Junction Motor Speedway
Shockwave Karting
Mile High Power Supply

The 2010 International Kart Federation Region 4A Junior Championship Series hosted by the Colorado Junior Karting Club kicks off on April 18th at Action Karting at Bandimere Speedway. The CJKC will also be hosting a new member orientation day as well as driving and tuning clinics in the weeks leading up to Race #1 at Action Karting. Additional information can be found by visiting the CJKC website at http://www.cjkc.org.

March 5, 2010

Shockwave Karting to support the Rotax Pan American Challenge

If you’re interested in competing with the best, the Rotax Pan American Challenge is for you. No series offers as level of a playing field as Rotax Max Challenges. Not only is the competition great, it is also very affordable. When compared to other forms of kart racing on the national level, Rotax is an absolute bargain.

Shockwave Karting is pleased to announce that we will be supporting the new Rotax PanAmerican Challenge. We are very excited about this new Rotax Challenge. This challenge is an international challenge which means that it is open to any Rotax driver in the world. Winners of the series will get entries to the World Grand Finals this fall. The dates for the Rotax Pan American Challenge are:

April 23-25 at MSR Houston, Houston, Texas
June 11-13 at New Castle Motorspeedway, New Castle, Indiana
September 3-5 at Cal-Speed, Fontana, California

We expect this series to be very well attended. The entries this year for the Florida Winter Tour Rotax events have broken all previous records. The same is true for the Challenge of the Americas held in the southwestern United States. While other series have been struggling, Rotax is growing by leaps and bounds. Numbers are up 20 to 30% over previous years! We have no doubt that we will see full fields in all classes at all of the PanAm Challenge events. In particular, the PanAm event in June at New Castle will be packed. We expect that there could easily be over 50 drivers entered in each class at this event.

Shockwave Karting will be supporting both Shockwave drivers and Sodi kart drivers who wish to attend this series. We will offer full factory support and parts for both lines of karts. We are offering arrive and drive packages as well as transportation, tent space, and technical support. Our main team drivers will be on Sodi Karts.

For more information on the Pan American Challenge, please check out their web site at:

http://rotaxmaxchallenge.com/panamerican

For more information on Shockwave Karting, please visit our web site at:

http://www.shockwavekarting.com

You can give us a call at 800-608-3457. Local drivers should call 303-781-7829

February 26, 2010

Shockwave Karting forms alliance with Gphactory Kart Co. and Sodi Racing USA

Big changes are happening this year at Shockwave Karting. An alliance with Gphactory Kart Co. and Sodi Racing USA has been finalized after months of preparation. In 2010 Shockwave Karting will be racing the preeminent Sodi chassis brand utilizing select made in USA Shockwave components. “We made this move for our customers. We want to offer them the best total package available and we can achieve this by teaming with the Sodi Racing Team (SRT) and Gphactory,” said Greg Welch, race team principal at Shockwave.

Shockwave will be a dealer for the full line of Sodi Karts, but will build the karts with selected Shockwave Karting components. Shockwave axles and hubs, along with other fine Shockwave Karting components, will come standard on any Sodi Kart sold through Colorado based Shockwave Karting.

Shockwave chose Sodi Karts because of the high quality of the product and attention to detail that goes into manufacturing each kart. Sodi Karts are built in an 80,000 sq ft facility in France, and their manufacturing is second to none. “The Sodi Karts are of the highest quality of anything I have ever seen, which makes them a perfect match for our product line,” stated Doug Welch, owner and founder of Shockwave Karting. The combination of Sodi Karts and Shockwave components will make a winning package that our customers will appreciate.

By teaming with Gphactory and SRT, Shockwave customers will have access to Gphactory’s full trackside support operation at many regional and national events. At races like the SKUSA SuperNationals, Shockwave drivers will have the opportunity to be in the same tent as the factory SRT drivers and team members. “The benefit of running with direct factory support is invaluable. Our drivers and tuners will be able to pull knowledge not only from Shockwave reps, but from Gphactory and SRT factory technicians and drivers” said Greg Welch.

Customer response so far has been overwhelmingly positive. Several drivers have already signed on for new karts and for participation in out of town events. We are currently looking for drivers to join our team and benefit from all that Shockwave and Sodi have to offer. Please contact us for more details at 800-608-3457 or local drivers at 303-781-7829

By Eric Cody; Photos by Ryan Hiatt


The Colorado Junior Karting Club (CJKC) is an organization created to provide an opportunity for young people and their families to experience and grow in the sport of Karting. The club is solely focused on “Jr” drivers ages 5-15 within the Kid Kart, Jr-1 and Jr-2 classes. Established in 2007, the club conducts organized practice sessions, training events and organizes Kart racing events throughout the state of Colorado. The CJKC is sanctioned by the International Kart Federation and its eight race series comprises the IKF-4A Junior Karting Championships.

The club has experienced incredible growth in its first three seasons of operation. The first season began with just a handful of Kid Kart and Jr-1 participants, but as word spread of the camaraderie and professional manner in which the series was run, young racers began to migrate to the club. The 2009 season saw consistent fields of 15 Kid Karts, 5 Jr-2s in its inaugural year for that class and strong 24–28 entry fields in Jr-1. The club also organized a group of participants who raced in the IKF 2 Cycle Grand Nationals in ’08 and ‘09

The Engine Dilemma
One of the leading objectives, which helped establish the CJKC, was creating a stable platform for families to enter the sport. Central to this was the issue of value relative to the significant investment required to go racing. The club wished to establish an equipment package for a minimum of three years allowing families to amortize the startup cost over several seasons. Prior to the CJKC, some families were forced to update equipment on a yearly basis resulting in higher costs and the eventual fragmentation of classes, so engine stability was an important goal. In 2007 the club committed to the Comer C51 for Kid Karts and the Comer K80 Jr-1 engine package for a minimum of 3 years. Availability of engines, parts, and the recognition of most sanctioning bodies were prime motivators in this original decision. Operating under IKF rules, the club saw participant’s present engines with various levels of preparation. Members would compete with stock engines fresh out of the box, others had used ones purchased with the kart, while some would have professionally blueprinted, prepared and maintained engines. As with any reputable series, a technical inspection program at each event was provided and the club has never had any significant problems with illegal engines. However, the cost to be competitive has increased significantly over the past few years and there has been growing concern regarding engine parity, (particularly in the Jr-1 class) which is critical to the club’s inclusive and developmental mission.

Unlike some racing series, the CJKC is not owned or operated by a track, race shop, or combination of the two. This unique arrangement allows the club to make decisions primarily based on membership objectives as a whole minimizing the influence of potential windfall to self interest. The first step in the engine review was to gather the thoughts and concerns of the membership on topics ranging from cost control to their future racing aspirations. This was done by issuing a comprehensive survey to all members of the club. While this survey did not ask for engine recommendations by name, the survey was geared to determine what level of cost control, equality, sanctioning, and performance the members wanted as they entered the next three to five year commitment cycle. The intent was to use the results of the survey to evaluate the potential engines available to the club and were asked how much they agreed or disagreed with questions such as:

“I would like to have an engine that will last one full season with only small maintenance.” -This question was almost unanimously supported.

“I want an engine that is sanctioned by a national governing body.” – This seemed to be an important concern overall.

“I would like to have an engine that is sealed and cannot be opened for internal adjustments by the owner or professional tuners.” – A majority of club members support the concept of a sealed engine program.


The Engines and the Test
Immediately after the season ending “Family Celebration and IKF Awards Banquet,” the club began to solicit engines for consideration for the Jr-1 division. The club was open to evaluate any and all engines that are considered appropriate for this class and age group. The club received the following 7 engine combinations to evaluate on the track:

- Blue Max Honda Clone
- Stock Production Honda GX-200 – Locally Sealed
- Briggs Racing LO206 – Factory Sealed
- Locally Race Prepared Honda GX-200 – Locally Sealed
- Rock
- IAME Gazelle
- Stock Production Comer K80 with Vevey Pipe – Locally Sealed

Unfortunately, two other engine combinations, (Yamaha KT100 & Rotax) that were promised to the club did not arrive and therefore not evaluated. The current Jr-1 club engine, an IKF/WKA legal Comer K80 was not officially evaluated as the club felt it had plenty of data from three years of racing that same combination. However, there were several club members who brought their Comer K80’s to the track for the test day and were running with the test motors during the sessions for comparison.

The test engines are inspected before the test. –photo courtesy R. Hiatt

The aim of the engine test was to evaluate how each of them performed with different drivers of various abilities. The club invited all current Jr-1 drivers to participate in the test with 18 drivers, including the top 5 finishers in the IKF regional championship, taking advantage of the opportunity. Each engine was mounted to a prepared chassis and the drivers were cycled through for one session with each motor. The club felt that by keeping each engine attached to the same kart and cycling the drivers through, they could eliminate the driver’s own chassis as the reason for a driver’s times. Transponders were also attached to keep track of lap times for each driver/engine combination.


The drivers wait to take to the track for another test session. –photo courtesy R. Hiatt

The club was extremely impressed with the reliability and strength of each motor with no engine failures or problems during the entire test. The club was additionally impressed with how easy some of the motors were to tune. The reaction of the parents to each of the engines was also closely watched. The club was interested to gauge the level of acceptance of the parents to each engine as some had only raced the current Comer K80 since they began Karting. It was refreshing to see some of the parents open up to other engines and embrace ideas such as single-jet carburetors, belt drives, and sealed combinations. It was also interesting to see some of the drivers really blossom with the different engines. There were the usual fast drivers running good times, however some of the drivers who typically were not at the front of the field were right with the faster drivers, which was one of the objectives the club was hoping to see.



This Honda was tested with a belt drive which was well received for club racing. –R. Hiatt

The lap times were also meticulously kept and evaluated. The club was specifically looking to see which motors produced the most consistent lap times across all drivers and there were some surprising results. Some drivers were actually faster with motors of lower horsepower ratings. Interesting but perhaps not surprising, was how different engines were faster in different parts of the racetrack. For example, in several sessions, the Briggs LO206 was able to gain up on the IAME Gazelle in the tighter cornering sections of the track while the Gazelle would pull away on the faster straight sections. Amazingly, the overall lap times were fairly close for all of the engines across all of the drivers.

The Final Step
Next, came merging the survey results and the test session data. The club then met as a group to review these critical pieces of data as well as overall recommendations from the club leadership team. The first question was to establish whether or not a change was warranted and if so, which of the engines researched and tested best fulfilled the club’s criteria and to announce the 2010 program prior to January 1st. With all the data and survey results compiled the leadership team made a presentation and recommended that the Briggs racing LO206 was the logical choice and that based on its reasonable price point, should be implemented in time for the start of the 2010 racing season. A subsequent vote was then held which resulted in an 18 to 3 vote in favor of the Briggs Racing LO206. We will also note that based on the strength of the LO206, a parallel review and test in the club’s 12-15 yr old class took place resulting in an almost unanimous decision to convert that class from TAG-Jr, (primarily Leopards) to the Briggs CIK World Formula and will now be called “Jr-2” also beginning in 2010.

The process of surveying, tallying, soliciting, testing, combining and weighing all of the available information ended up being quite a project and to our knowledge, had never been done before, but the CJKC feels that it was not only worth the effort but necessary in order to legitimately address the concerns and issues that are critical to the survival and growth of Karting. The Colorado Junior Karting Club would like to thank all of the suppliers and club members who generously supplied engines, equipment, and the valuable assistance that enabled this one of a kind engine review. Additional information on the Colorado Junior Karting Club can be found on the club’s website at: http://www.coloradojuniorkartingclub.com.


Questions
1. I would like to have an engine that will last a full season with only small maintenance.

4. I feel that the club should assure that no one has an engine more powerful than anyone else.

6. I would like to have a motor that is sealed and cannot be opened up for internal tuning/adjustments.

14. The club should do all it can to limit the cost of ownership (price, maintenance, parts, ect..) on our engines.

16. I would like to have an engine that can be used as my driver moves up from Kid Kart to Jr-1 and beyond.

18. I have been frustrated over inequities in engines in our series.

3. I want a motor that is sanctioned by a National governing body (IKF, WKA, SKUSA, etc…).

9. I feel as though I spent too much time working on my engine to stay competitive in 2009.

15. I feel confident in my own abilities to tune an engine.

12. We have aspirations for our driver outside of local club racing

20. Racing in an IKF sanctioned series enhances our enjoyment of the CJKC.

13. I would like to have a gear specified for each track.

7. I plan to race my Kart/engine at other races in addition to CJKC events in 2010.

17. I plan to do overhauls or rebuilds on my motors one or more times per year.

5. The ability to sell my engine when I am done racing is a strong consideration to me.

2. I prefer to have a wide range of carburetor adjustments available to tune the engine.

8. I believe we should establish a top speed for the Karts and configure an engine to not exceed this speed.

11. I want to be able to have my engine blueprinted or tuned by a professional within the rules of the club.

19. I have no problem with a driver benefiting from having a strong engine tuner in this series.