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| November 24, 2004 News |
| IKF Region 7 Releases ’05 Schedule |
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The International Kart Federation’s Region 7 has released their 2005 schedule with eight dates spread from February until October. As has been the case for the past several years, racers can count on a regional event on the first weekend of each month.
Two trips out of state dot the schedule while the remaining six races are set for the bustling Southern California area with its multitude of solid racing facilities. This could be a pivotal year for the venerable regional series as they now face direct competition from the upstart WKA Manufacturer’s Cup West series, a program that has drawn a line in the sand by scheduling a majority of their race dates the same weekends as IKF program.
To that end, new Regional Coordinator Don St. Ours is working hard to raise the level of the series to address some of the problems that have plagued Region 7 for the past couple of years. He recently confirmed that Super Kart Illustrated publisher Rob Howden would be at the first round to serve as race announcer.
St. Ours has a difficult path to follow as he has lost most of the previous staff but that also affords him some opportunity to state with a clean slate. In fact, according to St. Ours, starting with a clean slate is exactly what he wanted in order to take the job.
He is heading into the season with his eyes wide open knowing fully what he is getting himself into. With that said, he is working on a number of projects to improve the product for the racer. In the end, he says he wants to put on an event as opposed to just a race.
St. Ours is also working on the nuts and bolts of the race meeting itself. He knows that over the past few years, racers have come to expect something different from race promoters, largely due to the efforts of national series like the SKUSA ProMoto Tour and the Stars of Karting. Region 7 will work hard to keep on a daily schedule as in the case with the national circuits.
According to St. Ours, the target audience for the series is the regional racer. His goal is to appeal to the racer who is looking to expand their racing beyond the club but may not have the time, budget or inclination to chase the national circuit. With the 2005 schedule, he hopes to make that appeal.
The series kicks off in February in Fontana at the CalSpeed Kart Track. This will be the first to two events in Fontana. March sees the tour heading off to Moran Raceway in Beaumont before moving to Buttonwillow in April.
Las Vegas Motor Speedway hosts the series in May then it’s back to Fontana in June. The first weekend of the month protocol is broken for the IKF Sprint Grand Nationals on June 27-30 at Moran. The GNs are included on the series’ schedule. After its traditional summer lay-off in the July and August, Region 7 heads to Phoenix and Formula K Raceway in early September before concluding the series at Grange on October 1-2.
Racers will have a choice to make for 2005 as to which series they support. With the WKA’s expansion into the traditional stronghold of the IKF, it may signal a major shift in the power distribution in American karting. Should Region 7 falter, it will deal a serious blow to the IKF and further strengthen the influence that WKA head Randy Kugler has on the direction of the sport.
2005 IKF Region 7 Schedule
| CLUB | TRACK | DATE| Kerman Kart Club | *CalSpeed Kart Track | February 5 & 6 | | Tri - C Karters | Moran Raceway | March 5 & 6 | | Bakersfield Kart Club | Buttonwillow Raceway Park | April 2 & 3 | | Las Vegas Kart Club | Las Vegas Motor Speedway | April 30 - May 1 | | Karting Ventures | *CalSpeed Kart Track | June 4 & 5 | | 2 Cycle Sprint Grand Nationals | Tri-C Karters @ Moran Raceway | June 27 - 30 | | Phoenix Kart Club | Formula K Raceway | September 3 & 4 | | Grange Kart Club | Grange Motor Circuit | Oct 1 & 2 | |
*CalSpeed Kart Track is located in Fontana, CA.
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