After Friday’s official timed sessions, De La O looked like the driver to beat as he topped the official time sheets with a time of 58.668, more then three tenths of a second ahead of his closest rival. Though practice does not count towards the championship, De La O showed that his time was no fluke as he took the Junior Intercontinental A (JICA) Gatorz Pole Position on Saturday morning with a solid 58.799 lap as he was the only driver under the 59 second barrier.

With the heat race format, Phil De La O would start all three of his heat races on the inside of the front row pacing the field to the green flag. Heat one and two went exactly as planned as De La O got a jump on the field and led after the opening trio of corners. Setting a blistering pace, the Arizona pilot began to pull away from the stacked JICA filed to claim both heat race victories in Saturday’s action.

“Ending Saturday leading the points towards the pole position is a great feeling,” explained Phil De La O after the day’s events. “Tomorrow is the big day with the final heat race and then both finals. I am looking forward to the challenge of trying to make it a perfect weekend.”

Sunday morning’s third and final heat race did not go as planned for De La O as he found himself in the gravel before even making it to the first corner. Luckily a jump start by the outside pole sitter caused a complete re-start and De La O was able to regain his position at the front of the grid. The second start attempt was perfect and De La O took the lead on the opening lap. Looking to make it three for three in the heat races, Phil was overtaken by a fellow competitor but was able to garner a second place result and the pole position for both main events.

As the opening ceremonies came to a close and the tension mounted, De La O was at ease in his machine. The talented junior pilot was anticipating the start of the event and when the green flag fell, he was determined to stand atop the podium. De La O drove a mistake free race with fast consistent race laps to pull away from the field of independent and factory supported drivers. De La O took his first career Stars of Karting victory by 1.648 seconds while turning the fastest race lap.

Looking to repeat his success in final two, De La O got another great start and led the majority of the race. As the race neared its end, De La O was overtaken by a fellow competitor but managed to secure the second step of the podium and a share of the Snap-on Stars Karting presented by IndyCar Series Western division points lead.

Phil would like to thank his current sponsors and supporters for a successful 2008 season to date: Advanced Karting, High-Rev Engines, Northwest Floor and Wall as well as his family.

For sponsorship opportunities and more information on Phil de La O and De La O Racing, please contact Phil De La O Sr. at 602.697.1255 or via e-mail at Phil@Northwestfloorandwall.com

Published with permision of EKN-Rob Howden

Superkarts! USA regional program lights up the night in Tucson

TUCSON, AZ (April 19, 2008) – The SKUSA Desert Kart Challenge (DKC) hosted its fourth round this past weekend, racing at the P1 Kart Circuit in Tucson, Arizona. Bud Grossenbacher earned his second straight TaG Senior victory in DKC competition, sweeping the on-track sessions for the class. The feat was no easy task as he was hounded all day long, from qualifying through the main event. James Rooke and Taylor Monning applied the pressure in the two heat races and the final, as well. Monning earned the second spot in the final, just under a second behind Grossenbacher with Rooke finishing third.

Three shifterkart classes and three TaG categories battled under the lights at the 8/10-mile track, which is a replica of the famous Suzuka Kart Circuit in Japan, and the entries were up from the last round, signaling the growing popularity of this new SKUSA series. TaG Masters saw another class sweep, this time by Jim Flynn, as he led all the sessions on the day, including a flag-to-flag win in the final. Flynn held off Helmar Beregszaszy, who drove from fifth to second in both of the heat races, in the final by just 0.664-seconds at the line. Close behind all day, and in the final, was third place finisher Sean Kingston.

TaG Junior had the best kart count of the year with seven drivers in the paddock, but only one pilot rose above the rest and he it was Kolton Griffin. Making his DKC debut, Griffin was fast all day, putting in a dominating performance by sweeping all on-track action. Scoring maximum points on the day, including the fast lap of 50.935 seconds, Griffin stretched out to a 16-second victory over championship leaders Tyler Cerbo and Chance Stephens.

In the shifter categories, all three classes ran on-track together, providing great excitement with S1, S3, and S4 all battling each other for position. Grossenbacher, who was running double duty in TaG and S1, had the overall final victory all but wrapped up until an engine failure with five laps to go put him on the sidelines. This gave the overall lead to S3 class leader Harley Owen, who earned his second straight victory. Mike Jimenez and Paul Flori completed the S3 class and overall podium. With Grossenbacher out, Curtis Ruth was handed the S1 lead and the victory ahead of Peter Workum in second. In S4, Dave Van Gordon made it four-for-four on the year with another win in the Stock Moto class. Tommy Baker and Joe Johnson stood alongside Van Gordon on the podium.

The series will continue with Round #5 scheduled for May 3 at the Phoenix Kart Racing Association facility in Phoenix, AZ. For results and point standings, visit www.p1kartcircuit.com or contact Charles Quiroz by email at Charlie@p1kartcircuit.com

About Superkarts! USA:

Established in 1995, Superkarts! USA is dedicated to shifterkart racing and is the leader in the field, currently promoting three regional racing series located on the West Coast, with challenging racing program running in Southern California, Northern California and Arizona. These programs all lead to the annual SKUSA SuperNationals, the biggest shifter kart race in the world, held every November in Las Vegas, NV. For more information on SKUSA, please visit http://www.superkartsusa.com/

About the Desert Kart Challenge:

The Desert Kart Challenge series debuted last year as the first new regional program under the Superkarts! USA banner, bringing high-quality shifter kart and TaG racing to Arizona. The series consists of six racing events at P1 Kart Circuit in Tucson and the Phoenix Kart Racing Association facility in Phoenix.

Rob Howden
EKartingnews.com

PKRA brings some early summer heat to race three of the IKF Region 7 Southwestern Super Series hosted by Apex Karting Center in Perris California. Here are some of Sean Burr’s highlights written in Go Racing Magazine.

“Sean Conyers put his #20 on pole in Junior 1 with a smoking 44.457 lap time…”

“HPV Cadet left the grid for their final with Jake Craig and Pete Yerkovich Jr. on the front row and our pole sitter Carlee Taylor way back in 28^th…”

“The final proved to be one of the best races of the day. Yerkovich jumped out to an early lead as they headed into turn one for the first time. Yerkovich had the pedal down for the first half of the race with Jake Craig, Zane Smith, Sean Conyers, Carter Williams and Jason Hannagan all in tow…”

“Craig came away with his second win of the weekend and Yerkovich found his way back into 2nd place. Conyers, Smith, and Hannagan capped off the podium….”

The full story can be found at Ekarting News http://www.ekartingnews.com/news_info.php?n=9882

Congratulations to all the drivers from PKRA in their runs in Perris.

Pete Yerkovich Jr
Tommy Yerkovich
Sean Conyers
Brian Lemon
Lucas Barnett

PKRA President Jay Flasser says “let’s give back to the members!” and will use fees paid by the club’s food vendor, “Victory Lane”, to make sure that…..

Every driver in the April 27th club race will receive a FREE T-Shirt! The shirts will also be on sale for non-drivers at $10.00 each. Proceeds from the sale will go towards another “Give back to the members” event next season.

After a rigorous application process, Austin Newmark becomes the youngest driver licensed to compete nationally in NASA and SCCA competition. Austin will be racing in the National Auto Sports Association Porsche 944 Spec division.

Austin took the track for the first time in his Motul 944 at Phoenix International Raceway on March 7, 8 & 9 for his mandatory Competition School and orientation. The event went extremely well for Austin.

Austin’s father Pete had this to say:

Austin’s quick adaptation to driving and shifting a full size race car was developed by his years in his Birel shifter karts. If there was only one thing I would recommend to parents of Jr kart racers who want to race cars, it would be get them into an S5 Jr 125 shifter. The SKUSA S5 class is affordable, dependable and promotes the skills needed to make the move to race cars.

I would like to thank all who have helped us in our quest to move forward in Austin’s carrier. A VERY SPECIAL THANKS to the following in the Karting world:

• Team Arizona Karting, Birel – Larry & Jason Laveque
• MRP, Birel – Chris Lobaugh and Mike Speed
• SuperDyne Racing Engines – Pete
• SKUSA – Tom and Patti Kutscher
• PKRA – everyone
• P1 Kart Circuit – Charles Quiroz

Eighteen racing teams met March 15th at Bondurant’s Firebird facility. Their goal was to raise money for United Cerebral Palsy, have fun and fight to have their names added to the Champions roster on the Bondurant Cup.

PKRA drivers Joshua Lyon and Phil DeLao Jr. were on the Miller Brewing race team and several other PKRA members were in attendance to watch and cheer them on.

To the left is the Miller Brewing team with their UCP client ambassador Christopher Pignotti in one of the Bondurant Cup karts.

The race karts were prepared by Bondurant and powered by 10 HP Briggs & Stratton motors.

The race format was a series of 20 minute heats with LeMans starts and a minimum of 4 driver changes. Each team raced in two preliminary heats. The seven teams with the best heat results would race in the final for the Bondurant Cup.

Some of the teams seemed to be there just for the fun, but several of the corporate teams were taking it seriously and had drivers who knew their way around a race track. Click here for a short video clip from the Miller Team’s helmet camera.

The various pit strategies made for exciting racing where anything could, and usually did, happen. The Miller team’s strategy was to get the driver changes out of the way relatively early. Their 4th driver would be in the kart with more than half the race left. The 4th and 5th drivers would split the remaining time. Josh and Phil alternated running 4th and 5th. Team captain Todd Fabian started each heat, braving the typical carnage of the LeMans start and early laps. Jacque Bambridge and 1988 USAC Champion Mark Passerrelli drove the middle stints.

In the heats, Miller’s competition chose to run their long stints first. That put Miller more than a lap down by the time Josh or Phil got into the kart, but with the other teams having more pit stops to complete. The two PKRA drivers were up to the challenge and by the end of the 1st heat, the Miller team was 2 laps ahead of their nearest competitor.

Miller went on to also win their second heat, but it was a bigger challenge. The kart they drew was down on power. Todd made a brilliant dash and entry to the kart, moving away before any other team. But by the 1st turn he had been relegated to next to last. Even so, the Miller team made fewer mistakes and Phil and Josh helped take the team back to the front, this time one lap up on the field.

But the main was to be a nail biter for the Miller team…..

As fate would have it, Miller drew the same kart they had in the second heat. To make matters worse, the motor wasn’t even running when Todd got to it. After some frantic arm waving, a Bondurant official restarted the kart but not till the rest of the field was more than a half lap ahead. The Miller kart spun trying to gain back some ground and the team found themselves a lap down before completing their first lap.

With the Bondurant Cup within reach, many drivers were giving no quarter and altercations were becoming more frequent. Off track excursions were becoming common.

The Miller team started the penultimate lap 3 karts behind the leader. Even so, the Miller kart won the race to the checkered flag with 3 seconds to spare. It was a narrow victory for the Miller team but a decisive one having also lapped the field in both preliminary heats and posting the fast lap of the event with Joshua Lyon in the kart.

Good times were had by all and UCP received some much needed funds for their important work.

Miller Brewing is already planning their title defense for 2009.

PKRA’s Joshua Lyon has been tapped by the Miller Brewing Company to race for them in this year’s United Cerebral Palsy Bondurant Cup charity race.

Josh proposed adding another accomplished kart racer to Miller’s corporate team. Miller agreed and Phil DeLao Jr. will be that driver. Josh and Phil are pleased to support this worthy cause and help Miller in their quest for the Bondurant Cup.

This year’s Bondurant Cup race will be on March 15 at Firebird.

United Cerebral Palsy (UCP) is the leading source of information on Cerebral Palsy and is an advocate for the rights of persons with any disability. As one of the largest health charities in America, the UCP mission is to advance the independence, productivity and full citizenship of people with disabilities through an affiliate network.