Superkarts! USA will crown their National champions this weekend as the SKUSA Pro Tour rolls into New Castle, Indiana for the third round of the championship.
After kicking off in New Orleans, Louisiana then heading west for Sonoma, California, the Pro Tour has picked up momentum at each round and should see it’s largest number of competitors at the New Castle round, the SKUSA SummerNationals.
There will be a handful of Canadians in attendance, with at least one vying for a title. Cedrik Lupien has used consistent top finishes, including a podium appearance in Sonoma to vault himself into the top-five in X30 Senior. The scrappy class has claimed many victims so far this season, leaving the a tight points battle heading into New Castle, where the top-five are within a race win (200 points) of the championship lead, although one race drop is to be factored in.
Currently PSL Karting’s Ryan Norberg leads Brandon Jarsocrak and Jake Craig, but Craig has a small drop in comparison to the leader duo, making him the provisional leader entering the weekend.
Samuel Lupien, younger brother to Cedrik is right behind in the standings, entering seventh overall while Ryan MacDermid is eleventh overall. Both have a chance to move up.
SKUSA upped the entry limits for the New Castle round where it appears 60 drivers will race in the X30 Senior class. Keep your hats on, it’s going to be a dogfight out there.
Other Canadians entered in X30 Senior include Kellen Ritter, Logan Cusson and Marco Signoretti, who is making his first SKUSA start.
X30 Junior will be just as exciting as their Senior counterparts, where damage control was the name of the game in Sonoma. Dylan Tavella leads the championship race and looks like he will upgrade his current National #2 for the #1 plate as long as he can keep Aidan Keel and Jak Crawford within his reach.
Thomas Nepveu has been the lone Canadian in X30 Junior this season and he has struggled to find his way to the front like he does in Canada. Here’s hoping he can find the podium this weekend.
Dale Curran Junior recently made the jump to Junior competition and thus surrenders his eighth place ranking in the Mini Swift category as he will sit out the New Castle finale. But Justin Arseneau is back for another round of SKUSA competition and is on a hot streak. He will be one to watch when the 40+ drivers hit the track.
Unfortunately Blake Choquer will not be competing this weekend after his nasty crash in Sonoma. Still in recovery, Choquer gives up P5 in the X30 Masters championship.
It also appears that Gianfranco Mazzaferro is taking a break from karting this summer as well and he relinquishes P3 in the S2 Stock Moto championship.
CKN will be trackside at New Castle Motorsports Park all weekend long to capture the action.
