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2016 SKUSA Pro Tour ReCap - 49 Total Podiums
2016 was another great year for SwedeTech Racing Engines and their Stock Moto customers who participated in the SuperKarts USA Pro Tour. The 2016 Spring Nationals were hosted by the Phoenix Kart Racing Association. The event had mixed weather, with Rain for the most part of Saturday.
The Pro drivers in the S1 class had an interesting main event. The rains stopped while the karts were gridded in the paddock. Most drivers opted to stay on the rain set up, but a few gambled with slicks. Joey Wimsett (Ricciardo) was one of the gamblers and it paid off well for him. From the back of the grid, he set the fastest lap in the Main by over 2/10ths of a second. His hard drive earned him a second place finish. Jake French (Sodi) was the man to beat on the rain set up, but it wasn’t enough to compete with the slick tires. He posted the fastest main event time by any driver on rain tires, by over ½ a second. His drive would earn him 4th place. He followed up a strong performance on Sunday with a Third place main event finish.
The Intermediate S2 Class was dominated by SwedeTech horsepower. Saturday’s main event was swept by SwedeTech engines, with Austin Wilkins (SODI) leading the charge, followed by Kyle Kalish (Merlin) and Harry Gottasker (Intrepid). Kyle Kalish had a good weekend securing a Top Five on Sunday and Kol Bailey (TonyKart) finished up a solid fourth place.
S4 Masters also had a great presentation of SwedeTech force at the Spring Nationals. Another event sweep was led by Jordon Musser (Intrepid), followed by Ryan Kinnear (Intrepid), and Darren Elliot (CRG). On Sunday, this group almost swept the podium again, just in a different order. Ryan Kinnear was runner up, Darren Elliot was third, and Jordon Musser was fourth.
New for the 2016 season was the S4 Super Masters class. The third Swedetech sweep was managed by this group with Robert Marks (CRG) leading the way. Nick Firestone (DR) and Darrell Tunnell (CRG) did a great job cleaning up behind Marks. Sunday was another successful race for the S4 Super Masters crew, with Nick Firestone crossing the line first, Robert Marks in third, and Ken Shilling (Vemme) in fourth place.
The Second round of the Pro Tour stopped in New Castle, IN at the famous New Castle Motosports Park. This is one of the best tracks in the country of shifter kart racing. This was another very successful weekend for SwedeTech and our championship drivers.
S1 was dominated by TBKart pilot, AJ Myers, who won both main events and swept the heat races. Oliver Askew (Birel) finished third on Saturday, followed by Nick Neri (Intrepid), and Joey Wimsett (Ricciardo) rounding out the top five. On Sunday, Jake French (SODI) moved up and finished third in the main with Joey Wimsett rounding out the top five.
The S2 class Saturday’s Main event was won by Kyle Kalish (Merlin) and Sundays Main event was won by Hunter Pickett (Aluminos).
The S4 Masters group once again dominated the podiums with another Swedetech Sweep for the year. Ryan Kinnear (Intrepid), Jordon Musser (Interpid), and Jimmy McNeil (CRG) filled all spots on the podium. Sunday, the same group repeated Saturday’s Sweep.
The S4 Super Masters group added more podium counts to their tally, led by Nick Firestone (DR). Darrell Tunnell (CRG) finished Saturday in fourth. Sunday, Robert Marks won the main event. Darrell Tunnell and Nick Firestone secured fourth and fifth place.
The final round of the SuperKarts USA Pro Tour would wrap up in Las Vegas. The S1 battle was fierce for the championship. Jake French would finish the year in 2nd place after a strong SuperNationals weekend. AJ Myers missed the first two rounds, but secured 4th place overall. Rounding out the top ten would be Joey Wimsett in sixth, Nick Neri in seventh, Oliver Askew in eighth, and Kolton Griffin in ninth in the overall championship points.
In S2, Kyle Kalish and Hunter Pickett made the championship chase interesting. Both of them needed a solid and consistently high finishes in order to take home the crown. Neither of them gave up and they ended up Second and Third, respectively in the championship tally.
The S4 Masters class was championship was in Ryan Kinnears’ control for the weekend. Always going for the win, he had to stay clean in order to secure the championship. He drove clean races and stayed out of the carnage, which handed him the 2016 S4 Championship. Jimmy McNeil was caught in a main event traffic jam which dropped him down in the point standings to a fifth place overall.
S4 Super Masters, Robert Marks, had a hell of a year. Multiple race wins and the biggest one of his career, the 2016 SuperNationals. This solidified Marks as the champion, over his rival, Nick Firestone placing second. Darrell Tunnell rounded out the top five championship chase in fifth.
Swedetech is always proud of their drivers. With hard work and dedication, Swedetech amassed incredible results for the 2016 season.
Quick Pro Tour Stats
Overall Championships – 2 – Ryan Kinnear and Robert Marks
Total Podium Sweeps - 5
Total Main Event Wins – 14
Total Runner Up Main Events – 9
Total Third Place Main Events – 11
Total Fourth Place Main Events – 8
Total Fifth Place Main Events – 7
If you would like to look back at the 2016 Race Season, visit our online photo album hosted by Flickr.com
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