Northwest championship series continues to evolve heading into sixth season
The 2017 Can-Am Karting Challenge program wrapped up on their traditional September 13-15 weekend at the Pat’s Acres Racing Complex in Canby, Oregon with an extremely exciting event. The championship weekend welcomed the largest gathering in series history, and the positive momentum gained is expected to carry over into the sixth season coming in 2018. Series promoter Mike Rolison has been working diligently since the middle of the year in preparation for the upcoming 2018 season, and is happy to release the dates for next year’s schedule.
The 2018 Can-Am Karting Challenge will expand to host four events at four different locations. The dates for the four weekends have been confirmed, and the tracks to be announced in the near future. With the addition of a fourth event, Can-Am is happy to introduce a new weekend format for the upcoming season that is designed to provide significant track time while also limited missed school and work days. The event will officially begin on Saturday morning with practice leading up to qualifying at the end of the day for all categories. Sunday’s schedule will feature all the heat and main event racing with an earlier end to the day.
“The karting industry is always evolving, keeping tracks, series promoters, shops and team owners on their toes,” stated Can-Am Karting Challenge owner Mike Rolison.
“Our focus for the 2018 season is to provide a simple, exciting regional program for our racers and families to enjoy. We considered a lot of factors in moving to a two-day format. The ‘quiet’ costs of missing work for parents and missing school for the younger racers was a big part of our decision. Since our inception, the Can-Am has led the way in the Pacific Northwest on many different levels and this is just one more step in the direction of providing the most competitive, efficient and stream-lined competition for all our racers.”
2018 Can-Am Karting Challenge Schedule:
May 19-20
June 23-24
July 28-29
September 15-16
Class structure for the 2018 Can-Am Karting Challenge is still under review and a survey will be sent to all 2017 competitors for feedback on classes and engine structure.
The 2017 season featured three exciting events and the championships went down to the wire. Many of the highlights were found in the Senior and Junior Rotax categories. Tickets to the 2017 Rotax Max Challenge Grand Finals were on the line all season. Canadian Kellen Ritter came away with the championship in Senior, however, he had already earned a ticket through another program. As a result, Ritter handed his ticket to Portugal as part of Team Canada to Oregon’s Kyle Dupell, who will join Team USA. Colorado driver Hannah Greenemeier had won three of the four main events heading into the Pat’s Acres championship weekend in Junior Rotax. A runner-up on Championship Sunday earned Hannah her first series title. Having placed runner-up at the US Open Grand Nationals, Greenemeier had also already earned her Grand Finals ticket, so she relinquished the Portugal pass to Jason Leung, who won a tight battle for second in the Junior standings and will be part of Team Canada. In total, seven Can-Am Karting Challenge champions and competitors will be competing at the November 4-11 event.
The Can-Am Karting Challenge would like to congratulate all of the 2017 champions on the season:
Senior Rotax: Kellen Ritter
Shifter: Kyle Wick
TaG Senior: Remo Ruscitti
Masters Rotax: Christopher Mann
Junior Rotax: Hannah Greenemeier
Micro Swift: Graham Trammell
Mini Swift: Josh Pierson
Briggs Cadet: Trey Arnzen
Briggs Junior: Josh Pierson
Briggs Senior: Brady Egger
For more information regarding the Can-Am Karting Challenge, head to www.canamkartingchallenge.com and be sure to find them on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
