Dan Wheldon Ambassador Award Taken Over by Mike Maurini and Will Continue at the 2015 Florida Winter Tour

By: MaxSpeed Group PR

With the group of people at the MAXSpeed Entertainment taking over the reigns of the Florida Winter Tour, employees were thrust into action immediately to organize, plan and make changes to one of the largest and most competitive series in North American karting. With the addition of the ROK Cup USA program and the evolution of the Rotax MAX Challenge weekend, few items were over looked as the planning continued throughout the last quarter of this year.

“One of the awards that I wanted to see continue under the new management of the series was the Dan Wheldon Ambassador Award that had been a sought after prize in the Florida Winter Tour for the past three seasons,” explained Mike Maurini, owner of Race Tech Development, Koene USA and great friend of the late Dan Wheldon. “Being proactive, I made a few phone calls and offered my hand to help rekindle the award for the 2015 Florida Winter Tour. I know it means a lot to Bill Wright, several members of the karting community and myself, and with the help of Richard Boisclair from MAXSpeed Entertainment, he agreed that I would be the perfect successor to manage the award.”

Developed by former Florida Winter Tour owner and promoter Bill Wright, the Dan Wheldon Ambassador Award is expressed in his words as two fold: first to honor the memory of Dan Wheldon, and secondly to inspire others to be aware and adopt the personal attributes that made Dan an outstanding father, racer, friend and a strong and positive image for the karting community.

Continuing with Wright’s tradition, the award will be presented to a Florida Winter Tour participant who best represents karting with a highly competitive spirit, a helpful and positive attitude, and a professional image. The eligibility for the award requires the recipient to be a Florida Winter Tour participant. Although drivers are the most visible part of any series, success in karting requires a group of individuals including drivers, parents, tuners, mechanics, coaches, team managers, business owners, importers, track owners and even event promoters.

Maurini added, “I always work hard to emulate Dan’s attributes; to be the kind of person that could be a recipient of the Dan Wheldon Ambassador Award. Though I was never able to win it, I am happy and honored to take over the program and award it to a deserving winner.”