eKartingNews.com is proud to present our Preview Series for the SKUSA SuperNationals 26. Leading up to the on-track action of the 2023 edition of the marquee SKUSA event, EKN will preview each of the nine categories that will compete on the temporary circuit located outside the Las Vegas Motor Speedway in Las Vegas from November 8-12.

Trackside coverage is set to begin on Tuesday, November 7 as the EKN crew sets up our SuperNationals 26 home, roaming the LVMS grounds with Paddock Insider and social media content. Coverage continues into Wednesday as karts hit the track for the first time. EKN Live begins on Thursday, November 9 as qualifying is conducted for both the morning classes and the afternoon divisions. Listen LIVE to the heat races throughout Friday, November 10 and into Situation Saturday, November 11, including the five Last Chance Qualifiers held on the day. That sets everything up for SuperSunday, with the main events for SuperNationals 26 audio streamed live on eKartingNews.com/live and eKartingNews.com/radio.

Complete coverage of the Superkarts! USA SuperNationals 26 can be found at the EKN EVENT PAGE.

KA100 Senior

Brandon Lemke is one of four former SuperNationals winners in the field (Photo: EKN)

In the United States, 100cc karting has been the backbone of 2-Cycle racing for decades. The introduction of the IAME KA100 engine platform provided a surge that has helped boost numbers at the local, regional, and national level. The KA100 Senior category sold out in 2021 but has backed down to welcoming 76 drivers competing at SuperNationals 26. Among them are two former winners of the class, however, defending race winner Tomass Stolcermanis from Latvia is not returning.

The winners before Stolcermanis were Pauly Massimino and Brandon Lemke, both vying to become repeat winners in the KA100 Senior division. Massimino (Brandon Jarsocrak Racing / Kosmic) has three starts in the class, winning back in 2019 in a wild ending. He finished sixth and seventh in his other two starts, racing only X30 Senior last year and ran only selected events in the class throughout the 2023 season. Lemke (Franklin Motorsports / Merlin) – a former SKUSA Pro Tour champion and USPKS title winner – has multiple starts at the SuperNationals, dating back to 2012. He contested KA100 Senior in Vegas twice, earning the provisional victory in 2019 after an amazing drive before it was taken away for a pushback bumper penalty while securing the victory at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway in 2021. Lemke had an up and down 2023 season in USPKS competition, finishing the season ninth in the standings.

SKUSA Pro Tour champion Aiden Levy seeking to improve on his P10 result last year (Photo: EKN)

The drivers that stood out during the 2023 SKUSA Pro Tour season were Aiden Levy and Collin Lloyd. The two finished 1-2, with Levy (Chad Dokken Racing / Kart Republic) earning his first career championship. Levy has run a limited schedule over the last few months after starting his freshman year at the University of South Carolina. Still, Levy finished 10th in his SuperNationals debut last year, putting him among the favorites. This will be the first start for Lloyd (T1D Racers / Tony Kart) at the SuperNationals, winning his first career SKUSA Pro Tour main event and going on to finish second in the championship standings.

The driver that stole the show in the second half of the season was Harley Keeble (Piquet Sport / Sodi Kart). The British driver won the final three main events on the SKUSA Pro Tour after not running the Winter Nationals, and secured victory at the USPKS finale in October. Momentum is on his side as he is set to make his SuperNationals debut. Those who were consistently at the front of the field in USPKS competition were Connor Ferris (Team Ferris Racing / Kart Republic) and Peyton Phillips (Ryan Perry Motorsport / Tony Kart). Ferris is still looking for that elusive victory in KA100 Senior competition, placing second in the USPKS champions standings. His best finish in two starts at the SuperNationals was 19th last year. Behind him in USPKS standings in third was Phillips, who struggled in the final stretch of the championship chase but comes in as the Texas Sprint Racing Series champion. Two starts at the SuperNationals for Phillips has resulted in a 30th at Las Vegas Motor Speedway in 2021 while not making the main event last year. The other driver to win in USPKS competition in the field at the SuperNationals is Christian Miles. The driver from Illinois stepped away from karting during the summer months to focus on dirt racing. He is returning with a ride at Racelab aboard the TB Kart. He finished 11th last year in his class debut after placing top-10 in both X30 Junior and Mini Swift the last two times at the SuperNationals.

Harley Keeble enters the SuperNats with four wins in KA100 competition on 2023 (Photo: EKN)

The other two SuperNationals winners in the field include Race Liberante and Ernesto Rivera. Liberante (MPG Motorsports / Kart Republic) gained SuperNationals triumph in the Pro Shifter 2 category in 2019. This will be his first SuperNationals start since then, earning his ticket to Vegas thanks to a supported effort from Rock Island Grand Prix, along with teammate Chase Jones – the King of the Rock winner and 2022 ROK Vegas champion. Rivera (Rolison Performance Group / Kosmic) – the fourth and final SuperNationals winner in the field – is making the jump to the Senior level in Vegas. Rivera won the X30 Junior category a year ago, which propelled his successful 2023 season by winning the X30 Junior championship at the SKUSA Pro Tour and sweeping the two Junior titles at USPKS.

Rivera is among the many Senior rookies in the field, along with Eli Warren (Brandon Jarsocrak Racing / OTK), Jesus Vasquez Jr. (Nash Motorsportz / EOS), Fernando Luque (Supertune USA / Tony Kart), Leonardo Escorpioni (Zanella Racing / Tony Kart) and 2022 SKUSA Pro Tour X30 Junior champion Caleb Gafrarar (Brandon Jarsocrak Racing / LN Racing Kart). Gafrarar will be arriving in Vegas following the 2023 Skip Barber Formula Race Series penultimate event at Laguna Seca on Monday and Tuesday prior to the SuperNationals, currently sitting third in the Skip Barber championship standings.

X30 Junior winner in 2022 Ernesto Rivera is among the top rookies in the field (Photo: EKN)

Several drivers are expected to be in contention in this stacked field, including drivers from outside the USA. British drivers Oliver Hodgson and Brandon Carr are among the international drivers in the field. Hodgson calls the USA home and has been among the top drivers in single-speed competition throughout the season. The Arizona resident is coming off victory at the US Trophy Final, won his two starts at Challenge of the Americas and secured the top step of the podium at the SKUSA SpringNationals in X30 Senior. Hodgson is one of two podium finishers from last year’s SuperNationals in the field. Carr will be making his KA100 Senior debut at the SuperNationals after running X30 throughout the season. The Stars Championship Series OK-N champion has four previous starts at the SuperNationals after missing last year. His lone start in X30 Junior resulted in a P12 finish, with two top-12 results in Mini Swift before that.

In addition to Hodgson, Frankie Mossman (Mike Doty Racing / Tony Kart) is the other podium finisher in the field from last year’s SuperNationals. Mossman was among the contenders last year, placing third in his class debut. He’s run a selected number of karting events as he continues his transition to open wheel racing. Drivers who finished in the top-10 a year ago that are on the list of contenders once again include Alex Stanfield (GWR / Gillard), Alexander Kardashian (AMK / EOS), and Chase Hand (GFC Karting).

Other notables are John Burke (Precision Works / CRG), Finnegan Bayliff (Trinity Karting Group / Kart Republic), Nate Cicero (Rolison Performance Group / Kosmic), Diego Contecha (Rolison Performance Group / Kosmic), Mick Gabriel (AEM Karting / Kosmic), IAME Grand National Championship X30 Senior winner Dalton Hanes (Chad Dokken Racing / Kart Republic), Blake Nash (Nash Motorsportz / EOS), James Overbeck (Brandon Jarsocrak Racing / Tony Kart), and Aden Rudolph (PSL Karting / Birel ART). Many others will be considered once we hit the track Wednesday for practice and drivers begin focusing on earning a spot in the fast group for the qualifying sessions.

SuperNats Stats

2 – KA100 Senior SuperNationals winners in the field

4 – Former SuperNationals winners in the field

9 – Different countries represented in the field

9 – Drivers graduating from Junior classes last year

13 – Drivers from outside of the USA

32 – Drivers with no SuperNationals experience

Provisional Entry List – KA100 Senior

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