The season’s most prominent Briggs 206 four-cycle event continues to break records as the Cup Karts North America Grand Nationals 7 has broken the 500-entry mark and seen the Senior Medium division move over the 100-driver barrier.
We can’t wait to arrive in New Castle, Indiana this weekend for Grand Nationals 7 as a massive contingent of Canadian racers will compete amongst the best Briggs racers on the continent for all the glory and the title of being a Cup Karts Grands race winner.
In total, 68 of the entries are Canadian, which is massive! We would’ve expected a few more too if the Coupe de Montreal wasn’t hosting their Championship finale this weekend, but there are only so many weekends in a Canadian summer.
The New Castle Motorsports Park circuit is a real challenge but truly the perfect host for this great event. It’s fast, it flows, drafting is important, and it challenges racers to be on the edge for a perfect lap. It also provides excellent opportunities for photo finishes. First-time visitors will love it and instantly mark it down as a track to revisit in the future.
Checking in with Gerald Caseley of Cup Karts Canada, he was short but very excited with how the entries continue to roll in for this weekend’s Grand Nationals.
“It’s absolutely amazing to see that many four cycles racing at one event.”
-Gerald Caseley, Cup Karts Canada Division
Canadian drivers will represent a number of teams including Prime Powerteam, Goodwood Kartways, Professional Racing Ontario, Team VSR, Team VRS, Marc Stehle Racing, Kart e Parts, CANCAM Racing and more.
Jordan Prior is the defending Cup Karts Grand National Champion in Senior Lite and he leads a group of 24 Canadian racers in the division this weekend, which as of writing, has 91 entries. MRFKC champion Jaden Harry is entered, as are Canadian Champions David Barnes, Jon Treadwell and Logan Ploder. The Cup Karts Canada division will be represented well with race winners Gianluca Savaglio, Nicky Palladino and Alex Murphy among the list of contenders.
A number of racers will pull double duty this weekend and compete in Senior Medium as well. The preferred category in the USA, Medium was the first to break the 100-driver barrier, but may not be the last. David Barnes, Alex Murphy, Jon Treadwell, Mitchell Morrow, Jordan Prior, Jason Rothman and Aidan Shimbashi all entered Medium as a second opportunity to race at New Castle.
In Masters, Senior Heavy and Legends, we have 5 Canadians in each. EKN’s Rob Howden will compete in Masters and Legends, aiming to keep the EKN title trophy on Canadian soil. We have high hopes for all five competing in Masters this weekend as Rich Folino, Kevin May, Steven MacVoy and Ian Macintyre all know how to get it done in the category.
Looking at the Junior divisions, we have 13 lining up in Briggs Junior, 1 in Sportsman and 4 in Cadet. After winning the Cadet title at home, Hudson Urlin returns to Sportsman action this weekend looking for the win. Canadian Champ Sebastian Day and Cup Karts Canada Champ Declan Black lead a strong group of Juniors that includes Jordan Di Leo, Ryder Brown, Max Franceschelli, Cole Morgan and our first sighting of Nathan Dupuis in months.
CKN will be trackside this weekend to provide coverage of the event as a whole and our usual focus on the Canadian contingent. Qualifying hits the track on Friday and Grand Nationals will run all day on Sunday. If you can’t be there, the event will be broadcast by Kart Chaser on YouTube, so be sure to check them out.
For the racers competing this weekend, we could use your support. Our digital photo services are available for only $75.00. Supporters will have access to images daily throughout the weekend to share on their social media, websites, etc. Head over to the CKN Store to purchase, or send us a message, and please don’t wait until Sunday to let us know you want photos.
CKNA Grand Nationals 7 Canadian Entries (As of Sept 26)
Senior Medium
David Barnes
Alex Murphy
Jon Treadwell
Mitchell Morrow
Christian Savaglio
Franco Savaglio
Jordan Prior
Jason Rothman
William Lalonde
Gabriel Rouleau
Aidan Shimbashi
Masters
Rob Howden
Rich Folino
Kevin May
Steven MacVoy
Ian Macintyre
Senior Heavy
Christopher Mitchell
Abigail Collins
Cameron Glasgow
Logan Quartarone
Jason Rothman
Senior Light
Quinton Murdoch
Nicky Palladino
Scotty Watkins
David Barnes
Alex Murphy
Carson Bartlett
Parker Gill
Logan Prince
Chad Webster
Logan Ploder
Noah Van Straten
Patrick Lelievre
William Adams
Dylan Reny
Jon Treadwell
Jaden Harry
Caden Drummond
Mitchell Morrow
Khloe Drummond
Alec Drummond
Jordan Prior
Gianluca Savaglio
Jordan Hounsell
Aidan Shimbashi
Legends
Rob Howden
Steve Lyons
Eli Yanko
Jamie MacArthur
Ronald Henrie
Junior
Cole Morgan
Declan Black
Sebastian Day
Hunter Patterson
Jordan Di Leo
Max Franceschelli
Sloan Sterling
Nicholas Capilongo
Nicholas Folino
Liam Plate
Ryder Brown
Emma Plate
Nathan Dupuis
Cadet
Andrew Adams
Melville Dos Santos
Kegan Irwin
Anthony Di Donato
Sportsman
Hudson Urlin
Also, check out this cool video intro Chad Webster made, featuring a number of Canadian racers competing this weekend at New Castle.
