October - 2002

• CES Point Battles determined at GingerMan
  The final round of the MG Tires Championship Enduro Series was held at GingerMan Raceway on September 20 - 22. A decent turn out was on hand including members from the SKUSA Great Lakes Region who ran their shifter race on Sunday. Comfortable racing weather prevailed throughout the weekend as the temperature remained below 70 degrees and dipped down to 50 degrees on Saturday night making for rather cool camping weather.
• The Kid Kart class put on show at 2nd Annual High Revs Race
  The Jr. 2-cycle classes took to the 1/3-mile oval at Lake Geneva Raceway in the 2nd Annual High Revs Race, part of the Burris Circle Tour. Nineteen kids, ages 5-7 were entered in the Kid Kart class. Hometown favorite, Eric Sudcliff, narrowly beat Austin Hintt and Morgan Schissel. Cullen Breeden, a first time racer with the Burris Circle Tour came, from deep in the field to finish fourth.
• Beinlich wins 7th Annual Purple Shootout at Lake Geneva
  Nick Beinlich celebrated Sunday as he won the 7th Annual Purple Shootout at the Burris Circle Tour. The win was Nick's first on the Tour and brought the total number of different feature winners this year to 50. The Shootout got revved up with the trophy dashes. In the first dash Andy Jones found the gas pedal to win. Cody Daul, recently graduating from the Kid Kart class, Bryan Deutsch and Andrew Hintt, another Kid Kart graduate, were atop the podium.
• Action heats up under the lights at Mid-State Raceway
  The first true night race was held at Mid-State Raceway on August 24 with the completion of the track lighting system in the oval section of the track. With the full lighting system now in place, Mid-State Raceway now has more flexibility in scheduling events on the _ mile sprint track and oval. Look for more night races to be on next year's schedule, and possibly some night racing with the Mid-West Sprint Series.
• Crum caps stellar season at WKA NC Chassis Company/Rage Karts Pavement National
  Jake 'The Snake' Crum captured two title-clinching wins at the WKA/Bandit Racing Chassis Speedway Pavement Series season finale, the NC Chassis Company/Rage Karts National September 13-15 hosted by Wilson's Motorsports Track in Wetumpka, AL. Crum added those championships to his six North Carolina Divisional Championships, two North Carolina Triple Crowns and a WKA/Briggs & Stratton Speedway Dirt Series Championship.
• Last lap of qualifying session sets bar for the Formula Mazda field
  Good news just in from Mid-Ohio...Jamie Bach and the B-K Motorsports Formula Mazda are on the Provisional Pole after Round One of Qualifying at SCCA's National Championship RUNOFFS! Jamie was able to turn in a fast lasp of 1:27.7 on his last lap of the qualifying session...he went a full second ahead of his time from last year's Runoffs and only .7 seconds off the qualifying track record.
• Adam Carlson spins and wins ­ Freiberg, Kenseth and Humphrey hold off last corner challenges at the 2002 Lake Geneva Raceway Fall Classic
  The kart racers of the Burris Circle Tour took the show to the big time to participate in the Lake Geneva Raceway Fall Classic. This annual event includes wheeled vehicles of all types from some of the youngest karters to ŒRun What You Brungš stock cars. The Friday night show featured Small Cars with FIRA, Sport Trucks, Super Mini Cup Cars, and Mini Mods running along with 4 classes of karts and Champs Karts.
• Nineteen-year old Jamie Bach leads flag-to-flag to win 2002 Formula Mazda National Championship
  On the same day of the glitz and glamour at the Emmy Awards in Hollywood, Jamie Bach and B-K Motorsports could not have scripted their 2002 SCCA (Sports Car Club of America) Formula Mazda National Championship at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course any better. In fact, the entire week was quite a story.
• Fast Times Fall Again
  Hot and humid conditions made for a long day of racing at the Badger Raceway in Dousman. However, the track was in excellent condition and fast times fell like leaves in Autumn as quite a few racers dialed in the right combinations for the features. Eric Suminski took top honors in HPV Heavy. Erick Heiling smashed his previous track record in Briggs Animal Sr. by over six tenths en route to winning this week.
• Cota wins with pair of deuces
  Matt Cota decided to campaign two classes this weekend and it was definitely the right move. Cota spent the entire day patiently moving up through heat races to land the pole spot for both the Yamaha Lite and Yamaha Sr. Sportsman Lite features. This paid off, as Cota was able to go wire-to-wire in both features to capture the double-decker.
• Franz departs; other changes for eKartingnews
  Jeff Franz, editor/president of Ekartingnews.com, has announced that he will depart his positions at the website along with his role as a partner in 'E' Enterprises, in part to pursue the project of creating a new karting magazine.
• Red Bull F1 driver search candidates unveiled
  Organizers of the Red Bull F1 Driver Search program revealed the identities of the 15 young American drivers who will vie for fully funded 2003 racing seasons. The racers, aged 16 to 24, will be assessed in an intense, five-day testing program at a racetrack in France in mid-October. A panel of judges that includes Sullivan, former F1 driver Gerhard Berger, racing school founder Skip Barber and other proven talent scouts from Europe.
• Alex Barron revives racing career in IRL
  Four-time Grand National Karting Champion Alex Barron has revived his Indy car racing career by competing in the Indy Racing League with the Rayovac sponsored Blair Racing team. Highlights this year include a win at Nashville and a fourth place finish at the Indianapolis 500, and a third place finish at Gateway. He was also named Co-Rookie of the Year for the Indianapolis 500. His first start in the Indy Racing League was last year at Gateway for Sam Schmidt Motorsports finishing 21st.
• PDKA State Championship Karters finish six-race series
  Tyler Bear of Elliotsburg was the top youth class winner in the Pennsylvania Dirt Karters Association (PDKA) State Championship Series sponsored by Burris Racing Sunday at the Selinsgrove Speedway as he set fast times in two classes and then won both of his feature events. Tommy Beavers of Winchester VA, a defending 2001 PDKA state champion, also won two feature events in the Sr. Lites and Sr. Medium classes.
• Path Valley finishes Karts points races
  Only one race for karts and quads remains on the Path Valley Speedway Park schedule with the completion of the regular Saturday afternoon points races Sept. 21. Zack Fouse in Jr. Sportsman I and Frankie Peters in Jr. Sportsman II were two upset winners in their classes as most of the wins went to the points leaders in each class. The final race was scored on completed heat races when afternoon showers washed out the main events.
• Yamaha Motor Corporation selects Colin Braun to compete in Japan
  Yamaha Motor Corporation has selected Colin Braun to represent the factory in the All Japan Championship kart race at the SUGO circuit in Japan. The race is the Grand Nationals of Japan, pitting 34 drivers age 12 and up, against each other in direct drive Yamaha KT100 powered karts. Drivers from across Japan have competed this year to earn an entry for the Championship. In addition Yamaha has selected one driver from the U.S.A, one from Australia, one from Malaysia, and one from Korea to compete.
• A KGB Agent's First Year in S1 - My Battle at the Rock
  When I was filling out the application for Rock Island I realized that I could register for the Super Pro Class. Upon that realization I started to think about if I would be better off running Semi-pro or Super Pro at the Rock Island Grand Prix. After some consideration I decided it would be more beneficial for me to compete in the Super Pro class. My reasoning was simple, it is a confidence booster just to know you are in the Super Pro class.
• MRP plans assault on SKUSA, Stars and WKA Championships
  MRP Motorsport are in the process of searching for motivated drivers of all ages for their 2003 racing program. The racing team consists of numerous class options (80cc, Rotax, ICC and moto) for all events in the SKUSA ProMoto Tour, SnapOn.Com Stars of Tomorrow and SCCA/WKA Championships.
• Road America to host Kart racing club, championship point series
  Road America will sponsor and host a new karting club based at the new Briggs and Stratton Motorplex, according to George Bruggenthies, Road America president and general manager. The Road America Karting Club (RAKC) will hold an open house and organizational meeting with open practice session on the new Briggs & Stratton Motorplex on Saturday, Oct. 19.
• St. Louis Karting Association holds first Oval Race
  The St. Louis Karting Association once again moves the spotlight from its sprint track to the one-fifth mile tri-oval for some oval racing excitement. The SLKA will hold a money race for those who would like to race their karts on the asphalt oval. This flat, 1/5th mile tri-oval has three different radius turns, with three different length straights, which when combined should provide for both good racing, and a challenging set-up.
• Warren McIlveen tops charts in World Superkart Challenge qualifying
  Australian Warren McIlveen put his name in the hunt for victory at the second annual World Superkart Challenge at Laguna Seca by turning the quickest time of the Friday afternoon qualifying session. Driving the Australian-made Stockman chassis with Honda RS250 power, McIlveen attacked the 2.238-mile Mazda Raceway course to post a blistering 1:27.103 that gave him the NDI Pole Award for Saturday afternoon's heat race.
• Yamaha driver sweeps heat and final at Laguna Seca
  Eddie Lawson proved that he was most definitely the man to beat at this year's World Superkart Challenge at Laguna Seca as he scored a decisive Formula E victory in Sunday's main event. Armed with monster Yamaha power and his new P1 chassis, Lawson took to the top step of the podium after a dominating victory over Californian Tom Woods and Australian Brian Stockman. It was the debut 250cc run for Woods and his performance turned many heads.