Paddock Insider: 2022 United States Pro Kart Series – Badger State Grand Prix
EKN’s Paddock Insider is part of our Trackside coverage, bringing you notes, updates and breaking news as it happens. The article will feature notes from trackside at the 2022 United States Pro Kart Series Badger State Grand Prix from the Briggs & Stratton Motorplex at Road America in Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin. This is insider info will not be seen anywhere else. Please feel free to comment and discuss our coverage and today’s action in the EKN Global Members Discussion area below.
Ramos to PSL Karting / Birel ART
Diego Ramos making his PSL Karting / Birel ART debut this weekend at Road America (Photo: EKN)
Silly Season 2022 continues with a new driver added to the PSL Karting / Birel ART roster. Brazilian driver Diego Ramos is the latest to join the Red Army, competing this weekend for the first time with the team in the X30 Pro category. He is racing alongside 2019 FIA Karting KZ World Champion Marijn Kremers and Gabriel Kawer. Ramos is the 2022 SKUSA Winter Series vice-champion and ran X30 Pro in Orlando before moving to KA100 Senior with Racing Edge Motorsports aboard a Kosmic. The plans are not set in stone as of yet for Ramos for the rest of the season with the possibility of racing at the SKUSA SummerNats and USPKS finale in September.
Parolin Adds Jaxon Porter
Jaxon Porter carrying the Hy-Vee brand in his debut with Parolin USA (Photo: EKN)
New broke before the holiday weekend that Micro Swift driver Jaxon Porter was joining the Parolin USA team for the USPKS weekend at Road America. The former Challenge of the Americas champion is making his debut aboard the Parolin chassis with two teammates in the category in race winner Rocco Simone and Micro rookie Pasha Ali. Tyler Roberts is the lone Mini Swift driver under the tent this weekend working with Team Manager Yannick Rolland and driver coach Zachary Claman DeMelo. X30 Pro driver for Parolin USA Alessandro de Tullio is competing this weekend at Mid-Ohio in the USF Juniors program, coming off two victories at VIR earlier this year.
Notable At-Track Entries
Blake Wankowski in X30 Masters is among the walk up entries this weekend (Photo: EKN)
A handful of drivers that were not on the pre-entry list are competing this weekend, or moving to another class. The X30 Masters class had some last minute entry with Blake Wankowski and Chris Wehrheim joining the field for the weekend. Wankowski is the Birel ART dealer in the Wisconsin area, running aboard the Charles Leclerc brand, the same Wehrheim is running. Austin Garrison waited until Friday morning before he was talked into racing the X30 Pro category once again. The podium finisher from GoPro is moving from OTK to the CRG chassis this weekend and is expected to be on the brand at events later this year. One driver moving up that we missed in the pre-entry list was Oliver Wheldon. The second-generation driver is making his KA100 Junior debut after running Mini for the first half of the season, racing on the LN Racing Kart. In the Cadet divisions, Isaac Malcuit was on the entry list, however, is racing aboard a Nitro Kart after two successful outings with the brand and team in recent weeks.
