Four Championships and Seven Victories for OTK Products at SKUSA SummerNationals
Successful weekend at New Castle Motorsports Park for OTK drivers and teams to close out 2022 SKUSA Pro Tour
Ryan Norberg added his fourth and fifth wins on the season to claim a fifth career championship in X30 Senior (Photo: eKartingNews.com)
The Superkarts! USA Pro Tour concluded over the July 29-31 weekend with the running of the SKUSA Pro Tour SummerNationals at the New Castle Motorsports Park. Several OTK USA race teams, drivers and dealers were at the New Castle, Indiana facility to compete in Round Five and Six of the championship program to conclude the 2022 series and decide this year’s champions. OTK claimed four of the championship titles while winning seven times over the two days of racing, including 22 podium finishes and 36 top-five results.
Jeremy Fletcher claimed the KA100 Senior championship in his rookie season (Photo: eKartingNews.com)
No driver has won more in the X30 Senior category over the 2022 season than Ryan Norberg (Rolison Performance Group / Kosmic). Norberg was able to claim victory both days to earn five straight wins on the SKUSA Pro Tour, earning a fifth career championship. Hayden Jones (Rolison Performance Group / Kosmic) finished on the podium both days, third and second to help advance him to the second spot on the championship podium. Edward Portz (Rolison Performance Group / Kosmic) drove to fourth on Saturday with Jeremy Fletcher (Ryan Perry Motorsport / Tony Kart) was the hard charger in fifth. That helped to keep him third in the championship chase. Frankie Mossman (Team Benik / Kosmic) added to the top results for OTK USA, placing fifth in the main event on Sunday.
Oliver Calvo doubled up on the weekend for his first two SKUSA Pro Tour victories in KA100 Senior (Photo: eKartingNews.com)
Picking up his first two career SKUSA Pro Tour victories was Oliver Calvo. Joining the Speed Concepts Racing team for the first time, Calvo piloted his Redspeed to victory on Saturday and was named winner in the Sunday main event. Jeremy Fletcher (Ryan Perry Motorsport / Tony Kart) finished second to Calvo in the Saturday Final, securing enough points to claim the class championship in his rookie campaign. Senior rookie Parker DeLong (Ryan Perry Motorsport / Tony Kart) earned his first podium result with third on Saturday. Also earning their first podium results in the category were Frankie Mossman (Team Benik / Kosmic) and Josh Campbell (Ryan Perry Motorsport / Tony Kart), placing second and third on Sunday. Cedrik Lupien (Rolison Performance Group / Kosmic) and Vinnie Meskelis (Iron Rock Motorsports / Redspeed) made it an all OTK top-five. Alex Stanfield (GWR / Tony Kart) and Lupien helped to sweep the top-three spots in the championship standings, ending the year second and third.
Caleb Gafrarar secured the X30 Junior championship for his first career title (Photo: eKartingNews.com)
One of the more notable winners on the weekend was Sebastian Wheldon, earning his first two SKUSA Pro Tour victories in the X30 Junior class. Wheldon (JC Karting / LN Racing Kart) drove from 19th to 1st in the Saturday main event and held off the competition in the Final on Sunday to sweep the wins on the weekend. Caleb Gafrarar (Rolison Performance Group / Kosmic) was able to finish runner-up in both finals to claim the SKUSA Pro Tour championship. Cameron Brinkman (Mike Doty Racing / LN Racing Kart), Helio Meza (Iron Rock Motorsports / Tony Kart), and Jesus Vasquez Jr. (Nash Motorsportz / EOS) completed the OTK sweep of the top-five on Saturday. Meza improved to third on Sunday with Brinkman placing fifth. Max Taylor (Rolison Performance Group / Kosmic) joined Gafrarar on the championship podium, finishing third in the point standings.
Sebastian Wheldon went back-to-back in X30 Junior on the weekend for his first two SKUSA Pro Tour victories (Photo: eKartingNews.com)
The seventh victory of the weekend for OTK USA products came in the Micro Swift category thanks to Nicolas Orbezo. After getting shuffled outside of the top-10 on Saturday, Orbezo (Iron Rock Motorsports / Kosmic) fought back on Sunday to be in contention for the victory. A final lap, last corner pass put him to the checkered flag first, earning his first career Superkarts! USA Pro Tour victory. Joining him on the podium was Marco Sammut (Mike Doty Racing / LN Racing Kart), placing second for his first career podium in SKUSA competition in his first Pro Tour weekend.
Jesus Vasquez Jr. was among the first-time series champions, scoring the most points in KA100 Junior (Photo: eKartingNews.com)
OTK products were able to secure eight top-five finishes over two rounds in the KA100 Junior division. Cooper Shipman (Iron Rock Motorsports / Tony Kart) led the group on Saturday with runner-up result ahead of Helio Meza (Iron Rock Motorsports / Tony Kart), Jesus Vasquez Jr. (Nash Motorsportz / EOS) and Cameron Brinkman (Mike Doty Racing / LN Racing Kart). On Sunday, Meza was the leader of the group with a second-place finish. Caleb Gafrarar (Rolison Performance Group / Kosmic) improved to third with Shipman and Vasquez completing the top-five. The championship was an OTK sweep as Vasquez secured his first SKUSA Pro Tour title over Gafrarar and Shipman.
Nicolas Orbezo claimed his first SKUSA Pro Tour victory in the Micro Swift division (Photo: eKartingNews.com)
One driver landed on the podium in Round Five action of the Mini Swift class on the weekend. Asher Ochstein (Supertune USA / Tony Kart) recorded his best finish of the season, placing runner-up and missed out on the championship podium, finishing the season fourth in the point standings.
Drivers looking to compete with the most popular kart brand in the world or purchase OTK karts and components can contact their local OTK USA dealer. Head to www.otkusa.com for a complete list of dealers and details on the entire brand roster.
