Congratulations to Mike Weatherman and his Karting Coach team for the impressive win at the 24Hrs at The Track! Karting Coach was founded in 2007 with the intent to provide the most unique way to learn the art of Auto Racing through the use of High Performance racing Go-Karts.
Over the nearly 10 years that I have been involved in motorsports, I have worked hard as a privateer, to align myself with some of the most passionate and talented people around.
In Auto Racing, as with most sports, the talent exhibited by the hundreds of thousands of athletes who compete each year greatly exceeds the number of professional positions available. Unfortunately, in Auto Racing countless numbers of extremely talented drivers cannot compete each year due to the financial commitment needed to field a viable entry.
It is because of this that I have committed myself to the development of talented young drivers.
Karting Coach and its supporting partners have a unique opportunity to not only seek out the most talented drivers, but to further develop the skills and careers of young men and women from around the country.
The 2008 Karting Coach Driver Development Program is exactly as the name implies. It is a dedicated program to find, fund, and develop the talent of racing drivers.
I believe that our program will provide our students the opportunity to axel in this sport as well as provide our supporting partners with many opportunities to promote and build their business through a truly unique market.
Thank you for your interest in the Karting Coach Driver Development Program.
For more information on the Karting Coach Driver Development Program, visit their website at http://www.kartingcoach.com
SuperKarts! USA Announces Return to Rio for 2009 SuperNationals
At what was largely considered to be the greatest karting event in North American history, the Superkarts! USA SuperNationals XII elevated the event’s prestige when it returned to the Rio All-Suite Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas last November. Now, looking ahead six months, the organization is gunning to trump the previous edition of the program’s marquee race. SKUSA’s Tom Kutscher is pleased to announce that the 13th edition of the SuperNationals will return to the Rio on November 18-22, 2009, with a number of improvements scheduled to be unveiled prior and during this year’s event.
“The 2008 SuperNationals was a huge success for karting and for SKUSA,” stated Kutscher, looking back at an event that was the product of six months of work. “Without the hard work and dedication of the entire staff, both on and off the track, and those competing, the event would not have been possible. With last year’s event now in the SKUSA history books, we have a better idea of the challenges and opportunities that we face at this tremendous venue. With some fine tuning, we’re looking to make this year’s event even more spectacular – and one not to be missed!”
The evolution on the drawing board for this year’s race includes the addition of a fifth day of on-track action, a more focused class structure, a fine-tuned race track, increased seating and paddock excitement, and finally, the best room rate in the history of the SuperNats at the Rio.
After working closely with the Rio for the first time last year, Kutscher has put together a great program with them for the ’09 event. The hotel room rate will be announced just prior to the hotel registration opening June 1st. This special room rate and code will be announced at midnight on May 31st at http://www.superkartsusa.com.
If you’re waiting to hear that your class will be on the docket this year, at this time we can only confirm that the core SKUSA classes will be presented. Stock Moto is one of the foundations of the program; therefore, both S3 and S4 will be offered. The TaG categories have become such an exciting part of the group, as well; therefore, TaG Senior, Junior and Master will all be offered. If you have an ICC powerplant, the KZ2 (SuperPro) category will be your ticket into the SuperNats, where you will get the opportunity to run with the best of the best. Always a key part of the SKUSA program, the G1 pilots will also take center stage in Las Vegas, running both ICC and built moto engines. The remainder of the class structure has not yet been confirmed, but this final announcement will be made soon. The full ’09 update of the SKUSA SuperNationals website will coincide with the opening day of pre-race online registration on July 1st.
Last year’s race featured very long days, as the schedule was packed into four days of action at the Rio – prompting Kutscher to take the race back to five days of on-track action. The opening rounds of practice will take place on Wednesday, November 18, continuing through qualifying, heat races and Last Chance Qualifiers, all the way to the wildest day in karting – SuperSunday.
Critical Zone Racing started the 2009 race season off with a bang scoring 7 podiums with Big wins from Team Leader Ben Schermerhorn CZR/CRG/Rotax Tag. Sr. Sabre’ Cook CZR/CRG/CZR Leopard Tag Jr. Giovanni Velasquez CZR/CRG/Rotax Mini Max. Kid Kart- Lucas Velasquez CZR/CRG/Comer drove a great race to finish 4th and looks to be a threat in the competitive Kid kart division. Mini Max- Giovanni Velasquez CZR/CRG/Rotax drove to a dominating win in both heat races and main event and looks like the man to beat for the series title. Riley Cook CZR/CRG/Rotax decided to jump from Comer 80 to Mini Max and in his first outing he drove to a 3rdplace finish. Tag Jr.- Sabre’ Cook CZR/CRG/Leopard was on fire posting the fastest time in qualifying with a 54:085 .595 over 2nd place. She went on to win the main event by more than 16 second. Tristan Cook CZR/CRG/Leopard had a very impressive drive going running up to 3rd. However bad luck struck with 2 laps to go and a broken throttle cable ended his day. Johnny Lindquist CZR/CRG/Leopard who is usually found running towards the front had Motor trouble all weekend but will be one to watch for the remainder of the series. Tag Senior- Ben Schermerhorn CZR/CRG/Rotax started the season right where he left off dominating the Tag Senior division with impressive drives in both heats and the main to go unchallenged all weekend. He is the heavy favorite for the series title. Anthony Giannone CZR/CRG/Rok is the newest member of the team and quickly showed he is going to be a contender. He was one of the fastest through all the practice sessions however he ran into motor problems that sidelined him until the main event. After starting dead last he stormed through the pack like a seasoned veteran all the way to a very impressive 3rd place finish. Anthony is going to be in the hunt and gets faster and smarter every time he gets on the track. Kody Adcock again proved he is here to win with an impressive 3rd place finish in Qualifying. Kody was fast however in the main he tangled with another driver and had to storm back from last place to a 5th place finish. Tony Davella in his first Senior race stayed consistent all weekend long and finished a respectable 6th against the state’s best competition. Tag Masters- Louie Velasquez CZR/CRG/Rotax finally had everything come together to secure a very impressive 2nd place finish against the tough Tag Masters crowd. He will be a contender for the series title. Stock Moto- Jake Snider CZR/CRG/DDR Honda looked to make a run for the win with 2nd place finishes in both heats only to have a chain snap on the opening lap of the main. Jake will be tough to beat should be in the hunt for the Championship. 125 Masters- Mike Cunningham CZR/CRG/PSL Maxter made a huge statement that he is the man to beat as he dominated both heat races and the main event to take the top podium spot. Jet Davis CZR/CRG/DDR Honda the reigning 125 Masters Champion ran 2nd all day and looks to be as tough as ever as he goes for another state championship crown. 125 Pro- Ben Schermerhorn CZR/CRG/PSL Maxter again showed why he is the best of the best in Colorado. After finishing a very impressive 4th place in the Florida Winter Tour Ben came out and totally dominated all weekend long with runaway wins in both heat races and what looked like a repeat in the main event. However with 2 laps to go Ben suffered a mechanical failure that ended his day. Heartbreak of the day has to go to Kody Adcock who ran a close 3rd all day only to be DQ’d for a mis-machined part that actually hurt the motor performance. Kody is a rising star and is going to be a force to be reckoned with in Both Pro Shifter and Tag Senior.
About Critical Zone Racing: CZR is located at Grand Junction Motor Speedway in beautiful Grand Junction Colorado.Critical Zone racing is a full service operation, offering karts, parts, arrive and drive programs, engine building and tuning. We are an exclusive Authorized CRG dealer and Rotax service center. We also a carry Zamp Helmets, MG Tires, Parilla Leopard, Vortex ROK, Maxter, KG, Mychron and many more….
Racing the Rockies Race 1 (Sunday, May 17, 2009) is fast approaching Racing in on Sunday (1 day). The Track at Centennial is handling the registration for racing. GJMS is taking care of the rest (pit spots, etc...) Saturday is practice. All fees except race entry are thru GJMS.
We have the top people hired from the sport as the point people for the Racing the Rockies series. I was going to wait until the weekend, but lets start now!!!
I would like to take this time and introduce our Race DIrector and Tech Director.
Chris Egger, from Pats Acres in the Northwest is our Race DIrector. Chris is the finest Race Director in the country, period. A fellow track owner from Oregon; fair, fun and knows how to work the whole event. Lisa, his great wife, is coming with him for support as well. Chris and Lisa have directed all the races from SKUSA Pro Tour, the Gatorz Series, to the Florida WInter Tour, and the SuperNationals in Las Vegas.
We couldn't be happier to have Chris and Lisa help with the Racing the Rockies series this year!!! You will see them again at The Track at Centennial in July , and at The Pepsi Center in August.
Josh Smith is our Tech Director. Josh was the tech guy inspecting all the entries under Don Moormeister at the entire Florida Winter Tour, as well as the entire Gatorz Series. Please come prepared with your tools for these events... Josh is certified in Rotax, and knows all the TaG and CIK engines as well. I think we are well covered. (of course, Marty is there from TaG USA as well).
What a better way to introduce the Colorado Karters to top shelf event management than at one of the finest tracks in the country, Grand Junction Motor Speedway. We all know how great the place is, and how nice the Cooks are!!!!
I'm really excited that Race 1 is launching Racing the Rockies in Grand Junction! I'm also a firm believer the quality surpasses quantity every time! Our convoy is leaving Wednesday and Thursday to begin set-up.
If you have any event questions, please call me at The Track at Centennial or Grand Junction Motor Speedway for facility questions.
Thank you for your support, and see you at Race 1 of Racing the Rockies. "with attitude, at altitude"
