KartSport Magazine

You’d be amazed, dear reader, at the tidbits of information that drop into the laps of the reporting hounds here at KartSport Magazine. Sometimes it’s like breadcrumbs leading right back to the source, other times it’s an unmarked envelope slipped under the office door here in Pasadena, CA, or an anonymous phone call at 2 AM by someone using one of those voice disguiser thingies. Intrigue, mystery and mayhem, we’ve got them all.

First off, in order to make The Grapevine Report, we generally need to have heard the info from several reputable sources, and sometimes even the horse’s mouth itself! Of course, the horse often wants the info to get out into the general public, but doesn’t want to be the one to say it. He’d like to test the quality of the feed without actually putting his mouth in the food trough.

So what’s the latest that’s been floating around for the last couple months or so? Here’s what we’ve got for this installment.

The most interesting piece of info that’s been drifting around for quite some time now is the sudden interest in The Rio Hotel in Las Vegas as the potential site for events promoted by the Stars of Karting as well as Superkarts! USA. Stars honcho Paul Zalud and SKUSA honcho Tom Kutscher have both been whispering to industry types that The Rio would be an awfully neato place to stage their year-end Vegas events. Whether there might be two events at The Rio (shared barriers, anyone?) or whether it’s a straight-up fight to earn the rights to race there, who’s to say.

What’s certainly well-known is that the two SKUSA SuperNational events held at The Rio in 2002 and 2003 are widely considered as the pinnacle of badassery in shifter kart history. The backdrop, the vendor row, the massive fields, it all felt Big Time. Engineered by former SKUSA frontman Jim Murley, those two events stand out as landmark events on the chronological timeline of North American karting.

However, much of SKUSA Version 1’s demise can be traced back to the second Rio event, where swelling costs and some poor money management led to the partial downfall of the organization. The price of staging an event in Vegas is astronomical, and it’d be difficult to believe that The Rio’s demands for the rental of their parking lot have gone down in the past five years. Given that neither Stars nor SKUSA is exactly experiencing awesome entry numbers, a high-dollar event at The Rio would be a bold move by either group. We’d be happy to attend, though!

The Stars of Karting has also made the news with their pursuit of a national Rotax Max Challenge series for 2009. This one has kinda been on the down-low for awhile, but with an industry as small as karting’s, such notions are hard to keep secret. Whether this would run in conjunction with the current Stars class structure, or be part of separate event weekends, one can’t say. And this is something that’s definitely in the negotiation stages, as nothing has been settled yet. Given the past…. tensions… between Stars of Karting brass and US Rotax importer SSC, this is a development that will be closely monitored. SSC’s initial reaction to this potential development hasn’t been one of particular enthusiasm, shall we say.

Should this come to pass, the notion of a Rotax concept that was supposed to be a regional series which culminated with a single national event is going to officially be dust. The effect of a national Rotax series on the strength of the regional programs would be difficult to predict, but there aren’t many cartwheels being done by some of the regional Rotax promoters at the potential of this.

The World Karting Association is off to a shaky start under its new leadership. There seems to be no shortage of remorse over the manner in which former president Randy Kugler was unceremoniously run out of town not so long ago, and a stroll through the paddock at any WKA event reveals a distinct lack of confidence in new president Rick Dresang. Whether that’s just the early-tenure blues of slotting into a tough position or a distinct problem for the future, only time will tell, but one would think that the honeymoon hall pass will only last for so long. Many folks reckon that Vice-President Kevin Williams is the ace in the hole for the organization at this time, as the Vegas-based Williams is widely regarded as both fair and capable. That he comes from one of karting’s greatest families (brother Kimball Williams, dad Dave “puttin’ it on the spin cycle” Williams) doesn’t hurt either.

And finally, and this is news that you can take to the bank, the CIK-FIA announced today that the 2009 Karting World Championships will be hosted by the ASN of Macau-China, at the track in Coloane, Macau. October 8-11 of 2009 will be the official date as it marks the first time that the Worlds will be held on the Asian continent. That’s a pretty impressive and important development. No matter how much some folks in the states want to deny it, they can expect more and more of their karting products to come from China. More than one of the Italian manufacturers has already begun investigating the notion of having their chassis and parts constructed in the Far East. That the CIK has awarded next year’s World Championships to that corner of the world is just one more indicator of the inevitable influence that China shall have upon the sport of karting.

That’s all for now, keep your ears to the ground and your lips loose!

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This entry was posted on Wednesday, June 25th, 2008 at 9:18 am.