#FloridaWinterTour
Holy Moly This Winter is Going to be Busy!
A look at what’s ahead this winter and a quick catch up on the first races of the year.
It’s the first week of the new year and the 2025 karting season has already arrived, and there is no shortage of options for those flocking south during the winter months.
Two races are already complete: the WKA Kartweek at Daytona International Speedway ran between the Christmas and New Year’s holidays while Cup Karts North America Winter Nationals at the 103rd Street Complex in Jacksonville wrapped up yesterday.
Three Canadian Winners at WKA; A couple of podiums at Cup Karts
Competing on the inside of the famed Daytona International Speedway, the WKA Daytona Kartweek was busy. Three days of intense competition ended on December 30, when three Canadian competitors drove to victory.
Making a rare start in North America after competing full-time in Europe, Rocco Simone utilized his winter break time well and scored a victory in KA Junior. Not to be outdone, Rocco’s younger brother Leo followed up with his own victory in Daytona, leading the charge in Micro Swift.
In the intense four-cycle divisions, Hudson Urlin led a photo-finish in 206 Junior, edging out his competitor by 0.082 seconds. Just behind, Nathan Dupuis finished third and joined him on the WKA podium.
Hudson Urlin and Nathan Dupuis on the WKA podium (Photo courtesy: Urlin Motorsports)
This past weekend, the CKNA Winter Nationals took place in Jacksonville.
In Cadet, Yousef Adi came close to victory but had to settle for runner-up in the Final. Michael Patrick was also in contention and was fourth at the finish line.
Racing in both Masters and Legends, Eli Yanko scored a pair of fourth-place results.
Six straight weeks of Orlando up next!
The state of Florida is always the home for winter karting on the eastern side of the continent, this year will see an unprecedented six straight race weeks at the Orlando Kart Center.
Starting this coming weekend, the SKUSA Winter Series gets underway. After five years of hosting their Winter Series races in Homestead, SKUSA will run both of their 2025 Winter Series races at Orlando. The second weekend will see ROK Cup USA move into Orlando for their Florida Winter Tour followed by the RTX Group for back-to-back weekends to determine their Rotax Winter Trophy Champions.
Those events cover the final weekend of January and the first weekend of February before SKUSA returns to Orlando for their championship finale ahead of ROK Cup USA capping off the six-week run with round two of the FWT.
Canadians are no strangers to all three of these winter programs and we’re excited to see how our drivers contend. CKN will be present for the ROK Cup USA FWT and the first half of the Rotax Winter Trophy while keeping an eye on the other race weekends.
Talking to many of the race teams, they are already in Florida, or about to be en route. Racing Edge Motorsports has very busy plans this winter, as do Prime Powerteam and PSL Karting, three programs that have been very dedicated to winter karting over the years.
Premier Karting, HM Propela and SH Karting all have their eyes on the Rotax Winter Trophy and will run the FWT as a chance to best prepare their drivers and shake off the rust. We know Energy Corse Americas will be present too and we’re sure there are more teams going.
We’re going West too…and you should too!
On the western side of North America, we will be present for the debut of the SHINKO Kart Tire at round one of the Challenge of the Americas in Tucson, Arizona. We’re excited to once again attend and support all four rounds of the ‘Challenge’ and invite everyone looking for a winter getaway race not in Florida to check them out too. Rounds two and three will take place in California including a stop at the beautiful and new K1 Circuit while a fourth race was added for 2025, taking the Challenge into Utah for the first time.
New for CKN in 2025 will be the US Rotax Trophy Series West, which has been condensed down to a single race weekend to award coveted tickets to the Rotax Grand Finals. This year’s event will take place at the Phoenix Kart Racing Association in Arizona on February 21-23 and we will be there.
We’re excited to support this race for the first time and we’ve already heard from a number of Canadian race teams and drivers who are committing to this race as well. Phoenix is a great place to visit and PKRA is an awesome circuit. With Rotax Grand Finals tickets available, we’re expecting the competition to be quite stout and fun to watch.
March races won’t be in Florida this year…
In March, Cup Karts North America will host their Spring Nationals at the Charlotte Motor Speedway on the opening weekend. The Challenge of the Americas will run at the K1 Circuit on weekend two while the ROK Cup USA Florida Winter Tour will race in Texas, that’s right, Texas, for their championship finale on March 21-23. Capping off a wild three-month run of races will be the start of the regular season with the SKUSA Pro Tour also at the SpeedSportz Racing Park in Texas.
Unfortunately, we can’t do all of these races but we’re doing our best to attend as many as we can. Your support of CKN to be trackside and provide the news, updates, photos and content you love is always appreciated.
If you plan on competing in any of these travel races this winter, check out the CKN Online Store to reserve official photo services from CKN.
2025 CKN Winter Trackside Schedule
| Date | Event | Location |
|---|---|---|
| Jan 17-19 | ROK Cup Florida Winter Tour | Orlando Kart Center, FL |
| Jan 24-26 | Rotax Winter Trophy | Orlando Kart Center, FL |
| Feb 1-2 | Challenge of the Americas | Musselman Honda Circuit, AZ |
| Feb 14-16 | ROK Cup Florida Winter Tour | Orlando Kart Center, FL |
| Feb 21-23 | US Rotax Trophy West | Phoenix Kart Racing Association, AZ |
| Mar 7-9 | Challenge of the Americas | K1 Circuit, CA |
| Mar 21-23 | ROK Cup Florida Winter Tour | Speedsportz Racing Park, TX |
| April 25-27 | Challenge of the Americas | Sonoma Raceway, CA |
