eKartingNews.com is proud to present our Preview Series for the SKUSA SuperNationals 25. Leading up to the on-track action of the silver anniversary edition of the marquee SKUSA event, EKN will preview each of the 10 categories that will compete on the temporary circuit located outside the Rio All-Suite Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas from November 16-20.

Trackside coverage is set to begin on Tuesday, November 15 as we set up our SuperNationals 25 home, roaming the Rio grounds with Paddock Insider and social media content while attending the 2022 SKUSA Pro Tour Awards Presentation ceremony that evening. Our coverage continues into Wednesday as karts hit the track for the first time. EKN Live begins on Thursday, November 17 as qualifying is conducted for both the morning classes and the afternoon divisions. Listen LIVE to the heat races throughout Friday, November 18 and into Situation Saturday, November 19, including the four Last Chance Qualifiers held on the day. That sets everything up for SuperSunday, with the main events for SuperNationals 25 audio streamed live on eKartingNews.com/live.

Complete coverage of the Superkarts! USA SuperNationals 25 can be found at the EKN EVENT PAGE.

X30 Senior

2022 SKUSA and USPKS champion Ryan Norberg seeks a sweep of the season with a second straight SuperNats triumph (Photo: EKN)

The X30 Senior category is the first half of the headline categories at Superkarts! USA SuperNationals 25. The top single-speed division at the SuperNats will feature a $25,000 purse, the largest ever presented for the category. The driver to claim the top step of the podium on SuperSunday will earn a $15,000 payday for one of the largest payouts to a SuperNationals winner in the class.

SuperNationals 25 will be the 19th time a Senior level ‘TaG’ category has been offered at the Las Vegas event for the organization. The Rio All-Suite Hotel & Casino welcomed TaG Senior in 2003, and the category stuck with the ‘Touch & Go’ craze building from there on. It was in 2008 in the first return to the Rio after running three years at Sam Boyd Stadium that TaG Senior welcomed its largest field at 95 drivers. The 2022 edition will feature a sold out 87 driver field competing for the big prize package, and name etched in history.

Over the previous 18 editions of the class, there have been no repeat winners. There are 18 different names, representing seven countries and 10 chassis brands during that span. The SuperNationals 25 could be the year we see a driver earn a second victory in the category, thanks to 2021 winner Ryan Norberg coming in as the top favorite to win once again. Norberg (RPG / Kosmic) rounded out his CV with victory at SuperNationals 24 a year ago outside the Las Vegas Motor Speedway, his first in five tries. The current EKN TaG Driver Rankings presented by Skip Barber Racing School #1 is sure to end the year in that spot despite what happens at the SuperNationals. His win at the recent ROK Vegas has helped to further his bid at a repeat win at SuperNats 25.

Jeremy Fletcher is the only former SuperNationals winner in the field with more than one victory to his credit (Photo: EKN)

Norberg is not the only former winner in the field with Zachary Claman DeMelo attempting to add a second victory at the SuperNationals in X30 Senior. The former NTT IndyCar Series driver was the last to win at the Rio in the class, taking the victory in a dramatic finish in 2019. Like Norberg, ZCD (REM / Kosmic) is making his sixth straight start at the SuperNationals.

In addition to those two, there are four others who have celebrated a SuperSunday victory in other categories that will be competing at SuperNationals 25 in X30 Senior. Jeremy Fletcher is the only driver in the field with two victories at the SuperNats. Fletcher (RPM / Tony Kart) won both the X30 Junior and KA100 Junior main events last year to become only the second driver to win twice at the same SuperNationals. The Senior rookie is the only driver aside from Norberg to win on the SKUSA Pro Tour, taking victory in the opening round at the WinterNationals, helping him to finish third on the SKUSA Pro Tour. Fletcher, who sits #3 in the EKN TaG Driver Rankings presented by Skip Barber Racing School, is among the 14 drivers running double duty with KA100 Senior, where he is the 2022 series champion.

Pauly Massimino (SCR / CRG) is making his second start in the X30 Senior division. Massimino was the winner in 2019 in KA100 Senior. The North Carolina driver finished the season fourth in the SKUSA Pro Tour standings and third in USPKS championship chase. Two drivers come in as former Mini Swift winners. Connor Zilisch and Thomas Nepveu are the remaining former winners in the field. Zilisch (Late Apex / Tony Kart) claimed the class win in 2017 in the final event outside the Las Vegas Convention Center, and has three additional podiums at the SuperNationals since then, including two in X30 Junior and placing fourth a year ago in his X30 Senior debut. Nepveu (Trinity / Kart Republic) won in his SuperNationals debut back in 2016, and returned to the podium for the first time since that win last year with a fifth place result in X30 Senior.

Last year’s top qualifier Jake Drew is back, now as a champion in the ARCA Menard Series West program (Photo: EKN)

All five of last year’s podium finishers are returning. Diego Contecha and Pedro Hiltbrand drove to second and third last year respectively. Contecha (Orsolon / Kart Republic) earned a second runner-up at the SuperNationals, placing second to Zilisch in 2017 in the Mini class. 2016 World Karting Champion Hiltbrand (PSL / Birel ART) celebrated his second top-10 result in two starts at the SuperNationals last year. He also finished fifth in the 2022 SKUSA Pro Tour standings in his first full campaign of the series – placing on the podium three times.

In total, eight of the top-10 finishers from last year’s SuperSunday final are returning to help further show the strength of the entry list. Last year’s top qualifier Jake Drew (GFC) is back for redemption after slipping back to sixth on SuperSunday. The 22-year-old is coming off a championship season in the ARCA Menards Series West program, including four wins on the year. Dalton Hanes (Tony Kart) finished ninth in his SuperNationals debut last year. He is among the nine karters selected to the 2022 Spec MX-5 Shootout that was recently postponed due to Hurricane Nicole. Colin Warren completed the top-10 at SuperNationals 24, also in his debut at the Las Vegas event. The seven-time CKNA Grand Nationals winner had a best finish on the season of third at the USPKS event at GoPro Motorplex.

Aside from Fletcher, Hayden Jones is one of only three drivers to beat Norberg during the 2022 season. Jones – the current #2 in the EKN TaG Driver Rankings – was able to double up at the USPKS finale to end the winning streak for Norberg at the series. Now a freshman at Virginia Tech, Jones also finished second in the SKUSA Pro Tour standings to carry the #2 plate in Las Vegas. Brazilian Diego Ramos (PSL / Birel ART) is the third driver to beat Norberg in 2022. Ramos won the series finale at the SKUSA Winter Series, and will be making his second start at the SuperNationals in X30 Senior, unable to qualify for the main event last year.

2022 FIA Karting World Champion Matheus Morgatto is returning to the SuperNationals for first time since 2018 (Photo: FIA Karting)

The 25th edition of the SuperNationals could mark the record for the most international drivers in the field at 47 with 18 countries represented in the field. One driver that stands out among all the international pilots is recent FIA World Karting Champion Matheus Morgatto (AM / Alonso Kart). The Brazilian competed in Europe throughout after clinching the SKUSA Winter Series championship in X30 Senior. In September, Morgatto became only the second Brazilian to claim the world karting championship after victory at the famed Circuito Internazionale Napoli in Sarno, Italy. Ironically it was Augusto Ribas that took the victory in 1986, in Jacksonville, Florida – the only time the FIA Karting World Championship was held in the USA. This will be Morgatto’s first trip to the SuperNationals since finishing fourth in 2018.

There will be a total of three world karting champions in the field as Dutch driver Marijn Kremers will make only his second start in the premier single-speed category at the SuperNationals. As we have seen all season, Kremers (PSL / Birel ART) will run double duty with Pro Shifter as well. His only other start in X30 at the SuperNationals was in 2016 when he retired after leading the main event. Kremers was seventh in the SKUSA Pro Tour standings and fifth in USPKS championship in X30 action, including a SKUSA Pro Tour championship in Pro Shifter.

2019 FIA KZ World Champion Marijn Kremers will run double duty at SuperNats, in only his second start in X30 Senior (Photo: EKN)

Adding to the international standouts are US Rotax Trophy Final winner Oliver Hodgson (CompKart), Red Bull Junior driver Noel Leon (CRG Nordam) from Mexico, SKUSA Mexico top contenders Donovan Bonilla (RPG / Kosmic) and Diego Ortiz (GFC), British driver Louie Westover (Nash / EOS) and Latvian Tomass Stolcermanis (Nash / Energy). Stolcermanis is making his SuperNationals debut, coming in as the 2021 Rotax Grand Finals Junior Max champion.

One of the more experienced drivers in the field is Braden Eves (MPG / Kart Republic). His first start was back in 2012 in TaG Junior, and will make his fifth start in the Senior category. Others to consider on the favorites list are Alessandro de Tullio (Parolin USA), Jack Jeffers (SCR / Tony Kart), Frankie Mossman (Benik / Tony Kart), Alex Stanfield (GWR / Tony Kart) and Cameron Weinberg (SCR / CRG) making his first start at the SuperNationals.

Weinberg is among the Senior rookies in the field that include Justin Adakonis (MDR / LN Racing Kart) and Ayden Ingratta (SCR / CRG) who finished third and fifth in X30 Junior last year. Add Dane Idelson (PSL / Birel ART) and Jakub Kolar (Orsolon / Parolin) to the solid list of rookie Senior drivers in the field.

SuperNationals Stats

0 – Repeat winners in category over 18 SuperSunday main events

2 – Former X30 Senior winners in the field

3 – World Karting Champions in the field

6 – Former SuperNationals winner in the field

13 – Canadians in the field

14 – Double duty drivers with KA100 Senior

18 – Different countries represented in field

47 – Drivers from outside of the USA

Provisional X30 Senior Entry List

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