WINTER - HAPPY HOLIDAYS

Winter is upon us.

The Karting Zone race team is hibernating until the spring....well not really!  We have begun the tear-down and rebuild process on the team karts. We have everything in the shop and fully disassembled as we do every offseason. Motor rebuilds and inspections are in in process, and new graphics are in route from our friend Brian at DB Motorsports (stay tuned for photo's of the fresh graphics).

http://www.dbmotorsportsonline.com/

2012 schedules are in the works, and early reports are that Michigan will be the host to at least 5 road course events. 1 of which will be a WKA National event held at Grattan Raceway. Full schedule details will be posted once everything is finalized. 

The Karting Zone will have race prepped Rotax karts available for rent again in 2012! 

Enjoy the winter season - Happy Holidays!

SuperNationals 15

The next event on the karting schedule - Supernationals!

TKZ Racing is not making the journey this year, but wanted to wish all of this years racers a safe

fun week in Vegas!

ABOUT THE SUPERNATIONALS

Speed, Competition and Thrills In the world of motorsports, few races can be billed as the race of the year, but time and time again the SKUSA SuperNationals have been dubbed the pinnacle karting event of the year. This year marks the fifteenth running of the prestigious race, and as usual, it is poised once again to be "the race of the year." stay tuned to Ekartingnews for event coverage: http://www.ekartingnews.com

Dan Wheldon

The Karting Zone would like to express our sincerest condolences to the Wheldon family and the entire motorsports community on the loss of Dan Wheldon. His presence will be missed not only on the race track, but in the hearts and minds of everyone who had the pleasure of interacting with him.

Tag World Championships

Great day of racing and a first place finish in the Rotax class at the Tag World Finals. I checked out on the competition at the drop of the green flag. The chassis and motor set-up was spot on for the final! Great way to end the season.

TAG World Finals

Sun comes up on a beautiful morning in New Castle Indiana for the NOS Energy TAG World Finals! Great day for racing.

TAG World Championships

TAG™ Racing International 7th Annual TAG™ World Championships Sponsored by NOS Energy Drink and Presented by Mazda Road to Indy is Scheduled at New Castle MotorSports Park in Indianapolis, on OCTOBER 7-8-9^th 2011 at NCMP

The Karting Zone Racing is gearing up for the final kart race of the season at NCMP. We are headed off to the TAG World Championship event scheduled for the October 7-9th weekend. The TAG Finals will include the best TAG drivers from across the country. The racing takes place at the finest kart facility in the Midwest. TKZ Racing will take to the track Friday afternoon for a short practice session before the qualifying and racing kicks off on Saturday. Prep work is complete on the kart, and looking forward to a great weekend at the track, and a strong finish to cap off the season!

Anyone interested in a kart rental program for 2012 should contact us: 

info@thekartingzone.com

as we have opportunities for rentals for New Castle Motorsports events, as well as events in the Michigan area. Both 125cc Shifter and 125cc Rotax options are available.

RIGP Update

RIGP Recap.

3rd place finish in Tag Master! 

My best finish yet at the Rock! A hard earned 3rd place finish, while battling for 2nd all the way through the checkered flag. Clean hard racing for the closing 5-6 laps and a fraction of a second separated 2nd and 3rd position. I am pleased with the finish, and glad the weekend of racing went off with only minor complications.

The Friday 'land rush' for pit space went smooth. We endured 100degree temperatures as we waited for the streets of Rock Island to close at 5:00pm, and then we made the trek into the pit area and staked out our ground. All things considered, this went off smoother than in years passed. They RIGP staff has made big improvements to the pit staging process.

Saturday started the practice rounds and qualifying. During my first round of practice, the front two motor mount bolts worked themselves loose which created a HUGE vibration and cause for me to pit early. The repair took longer than expected which resulted in a missed practice round. Second practice session went well and the kart was handling well, and the Rotax power was competitive. As we prepared for qualifying the skies opened and the rains came. The rain came so hard, that the streets began to flood and the qualifying rounds were canceled! This lead to qualifying times to be taken from Sunday mornings warm-up practice round. - 1 day to make this happen!

Sundays morning warm up went well....sort of....I made it about 2/3rds of the way through the morning warm-up/qualifying session before I ran wide through turn one and hit the barriers. I hit hard enough with the front right wheel that the barriers pulled me in, I made two spins and came to a stop. The damage was done and my qualifying session was done. Even with the brief session, I managed to make the 5th spot in qualifying times.

Now it was time to get to work - The kart had moderate damage that would take some time to repair before the race. The front steering was bent, the nose and side pods were in need of replacing, and the final tuning changes needed to be done to prepare for the final. Luckily, we had all of the needed spare parts....we only needed to work calmly and quickly to make the needed repairs, re-align the front geometry, and make the final motor tuning changes. Dad and I made all of the repairs and changes with time to spare :)

Ready for the green flag. My race was the last of the day. Starting on the inside of the 3rd row meant I needed to get a clean start and at the least, hold my position and race clean. I made it through turn one with no incident...the usual pushing and shoving transpired during the braking zone, but I managed to hold my ground and actually gain one position. I raced in 4th position for several laps before the 1st and 2nd place karts came together and ended up in the turn one barriers. It was about the half way point that I became under pressure from behind. We had a 2 kart battle for the balance of the race for the 2nd/3rd position. We raced clean, and battled hard, but at the final turn leading onto the front stretch for the checker flag...I could not make the pass and came across the finish line in 3rd. It was a great race, and I was pleased with a 3rd place finish.

A huge THANKS to the TKZ Racing team that made this podium finish possible. 

RIGP

Registration is in, preparations for TKZ Racing have begun and the Rock Island Grand Prix is only a few weeks away. The largest karting street race in the world will be in Rock Island Illinois on Labor Day weekend. It has been a few years since I've raced this event...but I'm glad to be making the trip back to the ROCK this year. This is a great event, that the entire town embraces with a festival weekend. Large spectator crowds, live music, a great entertainment district and of course...the best street race karting has seen! 

NCMP race update

Full day of racing with some great racers. I made slight improvements through practice and qualifying. I qualified in 10th place, and finished the heat race in 9th. The kart seemed to slow down with every lap in the heat race. Not sure if it was simply due to the heat, or if there was a bigger problem. After we examined the motor before the feature race, we found a set of cracked reeds was the problem. With new reeds installed, I raced the feature and picked up one position to finish in 8th. A respectable finish given the level of competition for this race. The heat had some tempers flaring through the day....but I managed to race clean with everyone around me, and finished with no incidence.

Thanks to my race team for keeping me cool and hydrated through the weekend (and the cold beers at the end of the day!!)

Thanks to GL Pro Series and Central States SKUSA for hosting a great event.

NCMP

GLPro Series vs. Central States SKUSA dual. Temps in the high 90's and a heat index over 100degrees will make for a physical challenge for the drivers. The midwest's best shifter pilots are in attendance for the weekend battle!

Grattan July recap

One word describes the weekend at Grattan - HOT! Mid 90 degree temps both days this year. One positive...no rain :) A great weekend, and a good turn-out. Great competition in all classes, and everyone was pleased with the new pavement. Track records were shattered in most if not all classes. I saw improvements in my personal best lap times by close to 2seconds! They fresh pavement and weather conditions were near perfect. Saturday TAG125 - I had a second place finish in the tag class by .014 seconds! I battled wheel to wheel for almost the entire 25 minute race...and made the pass for the second place position on the final lap. Jordan Johnson made a run to regain the position, but I held him off to cross the line in second position. Saturday Stock Moto 125 - I had a solid start and was into 3rd place by the end of lap one...and battled into 2nd place through lap 5. I ran as hard as I could...but could not run down the leader, and finished the race in 2nd place. Sunday TAG125 - I had a horrible start for this race...and was in 6th place by the time we entered turn 1. The competition for this class is fierce, and I managed to work my way up into 2nd place during the first 5 laps of the race. With continued passing, and drafting changes through each lap, I found myself shuffled back into 4th place and separated from the lead pack. I could not catch the lead pack and finished the race in 4th position. Sunday Stock Moto 125 - A solid start for this race had me in first place on turn 1. I had a sizable lead through the first 3-4 laps and thought I may be able to run away with the race when a red flag was waived due to a kart flipping accident! After a full restart and only 10mins left in the race...I re-gained the lead again on the start. On only the 3rd lap after the restart, I dropped to 2nd place. I held onto the second position and was locked onto the rear bumper of the leader. I held this position until the last lap until the leader missed a shift going through turn 2...I made my move and passed for the lead. I held the lead until we passed the start/finish line side-by-side, and I crossed in FIRST place! A hard run race, and great competition. Great fun to be able to race cleanly wheel to wheel at 100+ MPH. Thanks to the TKZ team for everyones hard work and enduring the HEAT!

GRATTAN RACEWAY EVENT ANNOUNCE !

NEXT EVENT - Grattan Raceway!

Next event on the TKZ Racing calendar is scheduled for the weekend of July 16-17 at Grattan Raceway.  Championship Enduro Series is hosting the weekend event at the newly re-paved Grattan Raceway. This should be a great event with the new pavement. Many kart racers have chosen not to attend the Grattan events due to the deteriorating pavement at the track. I had a chance to dive on the new pavement and think the racers with be pleased! I remember the days of 100+ shifters lining up for the green flag!! And look forward to those days coming back. This year should be the start of the rebuilding of the road racing in the Midwest. My plan is to race the stock moto in the modified class, and my Rotax in the Tag class. I hold the track record for the stock moto and expect to be competitive with it racing in the modified shifter class. I will not be fighting for the lead...but considering I am about 8-10hp less than the modifieds...I enjoy the challenge. The tag class always has a strong competitive field at Grattan that will make for some great racing. The tag karts race at the same time as the stock-moto class, thus my need to race my stock-moto with the modified shifters. I always like to race both my shifter and tag kart at Grattan :) This track has continued to be my favorite place to race since my first time driving there...I look forward to a good time again this year!

Waterford Hills

Waterford Hills.  Michigan Kart Club hosted a great race at Waterford Hills. The Michigan weather cooperated and gave us a great Saturday to race. My kart was quick throughout the day, and I was able to drive to a 2nd place finish. The track surface is starting to show it's age and left me a little banged and bruised, but with an ear-to-ear grin. Waterford is a physical track to drive, but it is a blast!

Grattan test day

Finally! I have had a chance to drive on the new pavement at Grattan personally. I can say...it is GREAT! The track surface was overdue for a fresh layer of asphalt. They completed the final sections of the track to make for a great smooth surface.  Grattan continues to be my personal favorite track to drive. The technical sections are some of the best to drive in the Midwest! The smooth surface make the track once again enjoyable to drive, without causing the hated rib pains and chassis damage through the 'bowl'. We rented the track for a weekday, and it was worth every penny spent. I had about 2hrs of 'hard track time'. Was great weather, and a good group of drivers which meant not many 'pick-ups' to manage.  Karts ran flawless all day, and we basically ran out of the trailer with little if any adjustments for the day. The smooth surface saw some of my personal best lap times in both the shifter and Rotax karts. The CES race later this season should lead to some new track records set!

Loaded!

Loaded and ready for the first race of the season! Spring is finally here, and we are off to a club race at NCMP. Maybe on rain tires...but who cares when it is the first race of the year.

Race prep

additional set-up work on the TKZ shifter. Fine tuning to kart prep continues...ready for SPRING! The TKZ Shifter should prove to be FAST on track again this year. Ready for a successful season in both the Rotax Max, and 125 Shifter classes this year. Thanks again to the help from our friends at OGRacing, and MRP!

Spring is near!

Only a few minor items left to finish the assembly on the Rotax for the racing season.