(Photo: ROK Cup USA - CKN)

History will be made this week in Las Vegas as the 2019 ROK Cup USA ROK the RIO takes place outside the Rio All-Suite Hotel & Casino. A record 309 entries are confirmed for the four days of action in Las Vegas to compete in the second edition of the event, making it the largest ROK Cup race in North America to date. ‘Rokkers’ from around the world will take on the temporary circuit in 10 categories.

The temporary course outside the RIO is 12-turn, 7/10-mile layout in the clockwise direction in the parking lot with the Las Vegas Strip in the background. It is the same as 2018, with a few minor changes to improve efficiency for maximum track time and safety with the increased numbers. Competitors and teams began moving into the Rio over the weekend with Monday and Tuesday serving as move, set-up and registration. Wednesday opens up the on-track action, with five sessions for all divisions. That evening is the Bridgestone Tire Changing Competition presented by Fittipaldi Wheels.

Thursday will be a warm-up prior to the OMP Qualifying sessions. Pole position winners will be awarded the OMP Award and Swag Bag. The results from that session will set the lineup for the opening heat races and for the three Last Chance Qualifiers that will be run. Senior ROK, Junior ROK and Shifter ROK will have a 12-lap LCQ that includes drivers qualifying 35th or worse to race for the six transfer positions into the remainder of the event. Those who do not transfer are sent home.

Ryan Norberg is among the favorites in Senior ROK (Photo: Rok Cup USA / CKN)

The four rounds of heat races are progressive, with results from Heat #1 to fill out the grid for Heat #2. Heat #1 is Thursday with the other three held on Friday. The points each driver earns from the heat races sets the grid for the main events – with the lower the points the better starting position. Saturday’s action is split into two groups. Five categories will run their warm-up and Final in the morning hours with the other five divisions doing the same in the afternoon. Podium ceremonies take place following each main event at the ROK Cup USA ROK the RIO podium presented by Turtle Plastics. Full podium awards and cash prizes are totaling $45,000. Winners take home $2,500 with second $1,000 and $750 to third. The driver who posts the fastest lap in each main event receives $250 from Sunoco Fuels.

EKN is set to cover the 2019 ROK Cup USA ROK the RIO throughout the week. EKN Managing Editor David Cole is traveling early Friday morning to be trackside outside the Rio for the 30 final heat races and Saturday for all 10 main events. Tune in to the EKN Social Media network of Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram for images, videos, interviews, and more – including the popular top-10 for the main events on Saturday.

A total of 47 drivers representing five countries fill out the roster for the Senior ROK division. Leading the way for the United States is EKN Driver Rankings #1 Ryan Norberg. Fresh off his trip back from the Rotax Grand Finals, Norberg rejoins his Rolison Performance Group race team, coming in as the ROK Fest Amarillo winner and finishing fifth in last year’s event. Last year’s winner Ryan Macdermid, Florida Winter Tour champion Christian Brooks, and ROK Fest Biloxi winner Arthur Leist will all be absent, competing in the US F4 Championship in Texas.

Defending Shifter ROK winner Mathias Ramirez is back, returning with GFC (Photo: Cody Schindel – CKN)

Returning from last year’s podium is Canadian Zach Claman Demelo. The IndyCar driver was runner-up in 2018, and is one of the favorites to return. Axel Cabrera and Jace Denmark-Gessel were third and fourth in the battle last year, and help boost the competition level of the field. JDG spent three weeks in Italy, racing at the Rok Cup Superfinal in the Super ROK class within the top-10 all week. He just finished ninth in at the Rotax Grand Finals to cap off the international trip. Three others returning from the top-10 in 2018 include Emma Delattre, Jake Drew and Jacob Gulick. Delattre drove to 21st in the Senior ROK division at the Rok Cup Superfinal this year after winning the OMP Trophy in 2018. Drew won two of the six rounds at Challenge of the Americas program, earning the vice-champion position. Gulick races alongside Norberg at RPG and finished second to him at the ROK Fest Amarillo.

Two former champions are competing for the first time at the ROK the RIO. Former EKN Driver Rankings #1 Jake Craig and three-time world Rotax champ Ben Cooper are in the mix. A number of young guns are competing as well, including last year’s Junior winner Sebastian Montoya, Eduardo Barrichello, Challenge of the Americas champion William Ferguson, and Canadian Thomas Nepveu.

The Shifter ROK division has nearly doubled from last year, featuring 45 drivers in what will be the quickest category of the weekend. A total of six drivers are returning from last year’s top-10, including the first five. Mathias Ramirez gave GFC its first major victory when the Florida driver crossed the line first last year. Ramirez is back for more, hoping to complete the repeat much easier then 2018. Danny Formal came eight hundredths short of stealing the victory away as the Costa Rican is back, finishing second at the Florida Winter Tour, beating Ramirez at the ROK Fest Biloxi, and placing 11th at the Rok Cup Superfinal.

Florida Winter Tour Junior ROK champion Luca Mars leads the top contenders in Vegas (Photo: Rok Cup USA / CKN)

Jimmy Cabrera, Canadia Davide Greco and 2019 ROK Sonoma champ Enzo Prevost are returning as well. The top-five last year were three countries and five different chassis – GFC, Formula K, Kosmic, Birel ART and Aluminos. Greco is the only change, moving to the Exprit for 2019. Kol Bailey, who was vice-champion in the California ROK Championship this year, rounds out the six top-10 returning drivers.

Ten of the top-15 in the EKN Shifterkart Driver Rankings are in the field. Among the top ranked in Vegas is Kyle Wick. The 2019 SKUSA Pro Tour champ is making his debut return back with Rolison Performance Group this week. Through in recent Streets of Lancaster Grand Prix winner Jake French in his debut with PSL Karting aboard the Birel ART. Challenge of the Americas champion Ron White is not only fielding a big team under his Ron White Racing tent, the veteran is hoping to improve on his 16th result last year. Andrew Bujdoso and Hunter Pickett round out those in the EKN top-10 racing in Vegas.

Some names to watch on the week include Formula One star Rubens Barrichello making a return to karting. Veteran karter and Vegas native Matt Jaskol, Jamaican Collin Daley, and young star Hannah Greenemeier. One thing Race Liberante and Canadian Remo Ruscitti have in common? They both won the King of the Streets at the Rock Island Grand Prix. Each are making their first start at ROK the RIO and are among the contenders.

Jordon Musser is the defending winner in Shifter Master ROK

The Junior ROK division matches the total number of drivers to that of Senior ROK with 47 set to battle in Vegas. Two drivers have been with each other for the last month, including two events in Italy and now heading to ROK the RIO. Luca Mars and Connor Zilisch are ranked among the top Junior drivers in North America. Mars was P4 in 2018 in Vegas and carried that momentum into 2019 to win the Florida Winter Tour title and ROK Fest Biloxi victory. Zilisch is coming off a runner-up last year in Vegas, and was the top USA driver at the Rok Cup Superfinal three weeks ago, placing fifth. Mars was there and drove up to 12th. Last week, the duo were at the Rotax Grand Finals. Zilisch was crashed out of the Prefinal while Mars was the provisional runner-up until dropping after a pushback bumper penalty. Add in Branyon Tiner as the Rolison Performance Group driver won at the ROK Fest Amarillo.

In addition to those three, a number of notable drivers are in the field for ROK the RIO. The Morgan brothers – Cole and Carson – join John Burke under the Supertune tent. Burke is among the rising stars of 2019. Texas is well represented along with Tiner, add in Luke Lange and Ryan Shehan. Kyffin Simpson is fresh off an impressive week in France for the IAME International Final, just missing out on the Final B victory. Jeremy Fletcher is another rising star of 2019 and one to watch this week. Include also some top finishers from the Florida Winter Tour – Canadian Justin Arseneau, Brazilian Enrico De Luca and Alessandro De Tullio.

Another class to double its total is the Shifter Master ROK class at 34 entering the week. The class featured 16 drivers, with all but one from the USA. This year, drivers from Canada, Brazil and Colombia join the fun to expand the roster. It may still be the same drivers fighting for the top spot on the week, with four of the top-five drivers returning. PSL Karting’s Jordon Musser was able to claim the victory and the now four-time SKUSA Pro Tour champ enters as the favorite. His top rival for likely the last five seasons, if not more, is Ryan Kinnear. The now USA citizen was runner-up to Musser last year, and is back for one spot better. Challenge of the Americas 2019 champion Rod Clinard was P3 last year, and is coming back from his first Rok Cup Superfinal. Fellow CRG driver Patrick O’Neill was fifth a year ago and is among the 10 drivers on the CRG brand. That include veteran Robert Marks and former top ICC driver Ryan Yop under the Ron White Racing tent.

Fresh off a runner-up at the Rok Cup Superfinal in Master ROK is Renato Jader-David (Photo: ROK Cup USA – CKN)

A number of the drivers entered are coming from southern California thanks to the growth of the Formula Karting Championship. 2018 Challenge of the Americas champion Kalvin Chen and veteran Travis Irving among those. Add to the mix Jason Campbell and Nick Firestone – who have moved over to the GFC brand to help boost the operations tent. A sneaky pick for the week may be Mike Beeny, another veteran jumping back in the seat under the MSquared / RPG tent.

Master ROK surpassed the 30 drivers mark for this week, making it one of the most competitive divisions in Vegas. Brazilian Renato Jader-David is hoping it will not be a challenge. The 2018 winner and 2019 Florida Winter Tour champion is coming off a runner-up at the Rok Cup Superfinal, making him the key favorite. Last year’s runner-up Billy Cleavelin and third place finisher Paul Bonilla are back. The two combine for four previous victories in Vegas, three by RPG’s Cleavelin. Bonilla is moving from OTK to the GFC chassis under the Full Throttle Karting tent. Stephen Clark was P5 last year, back for more.

Prominent drivers in the Master ranks are making their ROK the RIO debut in hopes of stopping RJD from repeating. Scott Falcone joins Cleavelin under the RPG tent, and is coming off the win at the ROK Fest Amarillo victory. Vatche Tatikian won the Canadian Karting Championships and joins Clark under the PGR banner. ROK Sonoma champion Eric Molinatti, Brazilian Andres Fonseca, Challenge of the Americas 2018 champion Erik Jackson and Texan Miguel Mier are names to watch.

Kai Sorensen is the driver to beat in Mini ROK (Photo: Rok Cup USA / CKN)

There are three 100cc categories on the weekend with the Junior division the largest at 20 drivers. The category was not part of the ROK the RIO last year, and set to make a solid debut in Vegas. Five drivers likely to battle for the podium include ROK Fest Biloxi winner Chloe Chambers, WKA champion Adam Maxwell, Streets of Lancaster Grand Prix winner Max Opalski, along with Junior rookie Sam Corry and Logan Toke.

The Senior 100cc category has expanded to 17 for 2019. Defending winner Jenson Altzman is back to defend his crown with Nathan Martin the only other top-five finisher returning. Add in SKUSA Pro Tour champion Austin Osborne, SoCal standout Jake Drew and Colby DuBato as our projected top-five.

In total, 82 entries are from the three Master divisions. The Master 100cc is up to 16 drivers, with nearly half that from Canada. Defending winner Jonathan Silva is back to repeat with third place finisher Tim Meyer also returning. Leading Team Canada is Eli Yanko, and ‘Uncle’ Jimmy Gregory – Challenge of the Americas champion.

The Mini ROK category nearly reached the 40-driver mark heading into the event, and may do so with at-track entries. A total of six different countries are represented in the field, including North, Central and South America along with Europe. Over the past 12 months, Kai Sorensen has been one of the top Cadet drivers in North America. Sorensen came 78 thousandths short of winning last year in Vegas, and followed that up with the Florida Winter Tour crown and victory at ROK Fest Biloxi. He is fresh off a provisional third place result at the Rok Cup Superfinal, until a pushback bumper penalty took him off the podium. Challenge of the Americas champion Enzo Deligny and podium finisher Anthony White represent the west with Caleb Gafrarar – 2018 Micro ROK runner-up – and Anderson Leonard leading the east in what should be a great battle throughout the week in Mini.

No drivers are returning from the Micro ROK podium last year, opening up the door for new drivers to claim the steps in 2019. ROK Fest winners Carson Weinberg and Oliver Wheldon are among the favorites along with two-time California ProKart Challenge champion Graham Trammell. Italian Filippo Sala – Challenge of the Americas champion – and Canadian Jordan Di Leo – third at the Canadian Karting Championships – are among the seven international drivers in Vegas.

Senior ROK Provisional Entry List

Shifter ROK Provisional Entry List

Junior ROK Provisional Entry List

Shifter Master ROK Provisional Entry List

Master ROK Provisional Entry List

Junior 100cc Provisional Entry List

Senior 100cc Provisional Entry List

Master 100cc Provisional Entry List

Mini ROK Provisional Entry List

Micro ROK Provisional Entry List

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