Editors note: CKN will travel to Dallas for this weekends US Open event and will have full coverage from Friday’s Qualifying all the way to Sunday’s Finals.
After months of hard work and preparation, MAXSpeed Entertainment’s new series, the US Open, is set to make its inaugural start this weekend at the Dallas Karting Complex (DKC) in Caddo Mills, Texas. As a true national karting campaign, the series has created a buzz with a prize package of over $200,000, support from major teams and industry members, major corporate sponsors, and a host of hot talent from North America and beyond.
“It will be really satisfying to see all the effort we have put into the US Open come to fruition this weekend in Dallas,” explains MAXSpeed Entertainment’s Director of Promotions Garett Potter. “There are so many things the series has to offer, from the amazing prize package to the exciting race format, the best drivers in the world and let’s not forget the grid girls. The opening weekend for the US Open is going to be awesome!”
With drivers traveling to the inaugural running of the US Open from as far as Australia and Morocco, as well as France, The Netherlands, Mexico and Canada, the international series has drawn top karting talent from around the world as well as the US’s finest. Pre-entries have hit the 160 mark, setting up great racing action to come in all seven Rotax MAX Challenge categories and five Stock Honda Shifter classes.
Confirmed in Rotax Micro MAX are Florida Winter Tour and Rotax Challenge of the Americas champions Ugo Ugochukwu and Diego LaRoque, and Rotax Mini MAX front runners Nicholas d’Orlando and Payton Durrant. Junior MAX will see a new name in the mix as Mathew Latifi makes the jump in class while Nicholas Brueckner, Trenton Estep, Sting Ray Robb and David Malukas will be amongst the drivers to watch.
Rotax Senior will see Canadian hot shoe Gianfranco Mazzaferro and perennial front-runner Mason Marotta. Multi-time Rotax MAX Challenge Grand Finals Team USA member Oliver Askew will also compete in the US Open program as he looks to secure his spot on the team for 2015. Michael Ilavia, Alessandro Bizzotto and Nathan Mauel are a few names to watch in DD2, as are Scott Falcone and Luis Schiavo in Rotax Masters. DD2 Masters features a host of talented pilots including Dallas Kart Complex owner Mike Jones.
Shifter Elite will see the legendary name, Davide Fore, as well as some of America’s top drivers in Nick Neri and Sabre Cook. Joey Wimsett will also enter the gearbox category, as he looks to battle wheel-to-wheel for the win. Britain’s Jordon Lennox will also enter Shifter Elite and is certain to be a front-runner in the headline gearbox class. Shifter Senior is also packed with talent, including Nathan Adds, Cody Jolly and CJ Cramm.
“With all these big names confirmed for this weekend’s action, we can’t wait to launch the US Open in Dallas. And a successful launch of our new series wouldn’t be possible without the support of all of our partners and sponsors,” adds MAXSpeed Group President Richard Boisclair. “We are so incredibly fortunate to have the continued support from Cold Stone Creamery. Their efforts into our program have been second to none. We are also proud to announce that we will continue our affiliation with Mazda Road to Indy as an official partner to foster the next wave of motorsports stars, and K1 RaceGear is back on board as partner and Team USA gear supplier.”
These partners join the recently announced partnership with Enterprise Rent-A-Car and National Car Rental, as well as returning supporter University of Miami Global Academy and all the class and event sponsors. Stay tuned for more information regarding the continued Mazda Road to Indy partnership.
MAXSpeed Entertainment is also pleased to announce a new partnership with Bell Helmets, as a new Bell helmet will be awarded at all three rounds of the US Open. The first 30 drivers to register for each event weekend will be put into a drawing for a state-of-the-art headpiece courtesy of Bell Helmets. Special thank you to Kyle Kietzmann, President of Bell Helmets for coming on board as a supporter for the series.
Practice at the Dallas Karting Complex for round one of the US open is set for Wednesday, May 13th and Thursday, May 14th, while qualifying and wheel-to-wheel competition will be reserved for Friday, May 15th and Saturday, May 16th. Sunday will see only warm-ups and main events, as the first race winners of the US Open will be crowned. The US Open of Dallas event schedule is available to download HERE.
