When racers say the sport is dying or there is no growth in the sport, they must be ignoring the efforts of the Briggs & Stratton #OperationGrassroots program. The fourth year of the Briggs Weekly Racing Series has reached the mark of over 2,600 drivers, with the goal of surpassing last year’s mark of over 3,000 combined. The Senior/Masters division has 1,675 combining the USA and Canada racers, while the Junior program is nearly across the 4-digit mark at 954.

A number of drivers are reaching their eighth event of the year, thus propelling them up the standings toward the top. Setting the bar for the year-end awards is Michiana Raceway Park driver Tim Roy. Seven of his results have a score of 30 or higher, that include six wins in eight races at the South Bend facility. His top rival in the series championship Linus Gugino, who sits ninth in the overall Briggs WRS standings despite earning a victory all year.

The track with the most drivers inside the top-10 is New Castle Motorsports Park with six calling the Kart Racers of America program home. Blake Korth leads the Briggs Senior standings at KRA with five wins on the year, sitting second in the Briggs WRS. John Ewing is the top Masters driver in the Briggs WRS in the third spot, and is second in the KRA championship with one win and a string of runner-up finishes. John O’Keefe, the KRA point leader, is the only other Masters driver in the top-10, sitting sixth behind KRA Briggs CIK point leader Drew Lansing. KRA has multiple Briggs 206 classes, and currently Lansing also holds the eighth spot in the Briggs WRS with his results in the Briggs Senior class. Evan McCorquodale is the sixth KRA name inside the top-10.

Travis Roderick represents the Lone Star State at the top of the Briggs WRS program. The Hill Country Kart Club driver is fourth overall, earning four wins in 2018 at the New Braunfels, Texas track. Completing the top-10 is Evan Stamer from the Gateway Kartplex facility in the SuperComp series. Stamer has just six races counted for 2018, so watch for the St. Louis-area driver to move up in the coming weeks.

Many of the Canadians are at the six-race mark on their season, thus why they are lacking in the overall standings. The Canada standings however has different providences represented this month with five different clubs/tracks holding spots inside the top-10. At the top remains the Edmonton & District Kart Racing Association (EDKRA) with experienced international racer Griffin Dowler taking over the top position after sitting second last month. Five in total hail from EDKRA with Whitney Stevenson in third, top Masters driver Greg Murphy fifth, Kevin Dowler ninth and Colby Wallace in tenth.

Top Manitoba Karting Association driver John Buzza is now second, not even listed in the top-25 in June. Stephen Bachalo followed Buzza up the ranks as well, now sitting in the fourth position. Francesca Pasubio is the lone driver from the Toronto Kart Club, dropping down the order to sixth. Mark Banks has put Saskatoon Kart Racers into the top -10, sitting seventh while Jordan Prior is now the lead driver from the Goodwood Kartways program in Ontario. Last month’s top Canadian driver Angelo Amorim fell to 11th in the standings.

Team USA remains at the top of the Junior standings, holding seven of the positions including the top-four. Stockholm Karting Center is represented in three of those positions, including new number one Hudson Tran. The Minnesota driver has four 29 results in six races, giving him a small nine point advantage. Last month’s number one driver Lanie Buice is down to second, representing Georgia Sprint Karting Association. Kiara Stai and Lukas Klimek complete the Stockholm roster.

Hundson Hamelin is the top driver for Team Canada, representing Toronto Kart Club. TKC has two inside the top-10 with Alivia Allen-Ricard in the sixth spot. The Kart Racers of America at New Castle Motorsports Park holds the next two positions with Sam Griffin and Kyle Ford. The lone west coast driver inside the top-10 is Carson Kragh from the Central California Kart Racing Association in Fresno. The facility will be hosting the upcoming IKF Grand Nationals in September where the Briggs 206 engine will be the focus of the class structure. Rounding out the top-10 is Canadian Logan Ploder from Goodwood Kartways.

For complete standings and information, visit briggswrs.com.

Senior/Masters – United States

Tim Roy
Points: 221
Track: Michiana Raceway Park

Age: 34
Hometown: Munster, Indiana
Occupation: Engineer
Chassis: Comet Eagle
Sponsors: None
Years Karting: 5

For complete standings and information, visit briggswrs.com.

Senior/Masters – Canada

Griffin Dowler
Points: 159
Track: Edmonton & District Kart Racing Association

Age: 15
Hometown: Sherwood Park, Alberta
Occupation: Student
Chassis: Tony Kart
Sponsors: Apollo Motorsports, Empire Mechanical
Years Karting: 8

For complete standings and information, visit briggswrs.com.

Junior

Hudson Tran
Points: 170
Track: Stockholm Karting Center

Age: 11
Hometown: Lakeville, Minnesota
School / Grade: 6th grade
Chassis: Margay Ignite K2
Sponsors: Mom and Dad
Years Karting: 4

For complete standings and information, visit briggswrs.com.

Created in 2015, Briggs & Stratton announced the ‘Briggs Weekly Racing Series presented by RLV’ program for the grassroots Briggs 206 racers across North America. The premise is to match up racers against other racers at tracks from the same state, the same region, and the entire continent. While Briggs presented the WRS to tracks all over the country, the ultimate responsibility was put on the racers to have their own track or club series sign up for program, and in return both the tracks and racers would receive a prizes at the end of the season, including many of the great products produced by Briggs & Stratton.

The format is simple. Three standings are recorded on the season – Senior/Master is split up by country – United States of America and Canada, while the Junior division includes all of North America. A racer must compete in the Senior or Masters 206 category – or a Junior 206 (Junior 1 or Junior 2 level) division – at ONE recognized Briggs WRS tracks or series, racing in at least seven events in the calendar year before October 21, 2018, all in accordance to the Briggs & Stratton rule set. Each track must be a sanctioned facility in good standing with WKA, IKF, NKA, TAG USA or AKRA. The Senior, Masters, and Junior 206 classes must follow the Briggs & Stratton factory rule set in its entirety with no exceptions (in Canada, the official ASN rule set). The track must submit a maximum of 11 race dates (including rain dates), and the final results within one week following said events. Full list of track schedules HERE.

Points are accumulated based on the first eight races attended, with the best seven of eight counted at the end of the season. Both Senior and Masters drivers compete head-to-head in the standings, while Junior drivers will have their own rankings. Points for Senior/Master are based on three categories:

Category 1 – Quantity of karts participating in the class. The scale is 1 point to 11 points, based on the number of karts. More than 11 karts is still 11 points.

Category 2 – Finishing position. First place equates to 11 points down to 11th place or above at 1 point.

Category 3 – Number of karts finished ahead of (maximum is 11 karts).

Category 4 – Prefinal / Heat win bonus equals 0.25 points

Points for Junior are based on these three categories:

Category 1 – Quantity of karts participating in the class. The scale is 1 point to 10 points, based on the number of karts. More than 10 karts is still 10 points.

Category 2 – Finishing position. First place equates to 10 points down to 10th place or above at 1 point.

Category 3 – Number of karts finished ahead of (maximum is 10 karts).

Category 4 – Prefinal / Heat win bonus equals 0.25 points

Each United States and Canadian Senior/Masters top-50 and combined Junior top-50 in the final Briggs WRS standings will receive prizes.

1st-2nd: 7,000watt Elite Series Generator ($1,200 value)
3rd-8th: Powersmart P2200 Inverter Generator ($650 value)
9th-15th: 3,000 PSI Power Flow Plus Pressure Washer ($400 value)
16th-25th: 2,200 PSI Pressure Washer ($327.95 value)
26th-35th: 10 quarts of Briggs & Stratton 4T by AMSOIL ($160 value)
36th-50th: Hilliard Inferno Flame Clutch ($85 value)

In total, over $48,000 will be awarded at the end of the Briggs & Stratton Weekly Racing Series presented by RLV.