LOOKING AHEAD TO 2018 RACING:NNKC AND NPSA

RENO (March 26) – Looking ahead into the new 2018 I’m highlighting two groups highlighted in this article. One is the Northern Nevada Kart Club and the other is the Nevada Pro Stock Association; both have something in common, new presidents and boards.

The new president for the Northern Nevada Kart Club or NNKC is Rodney Rivera.

“We have a complete new board with fresh new faces,” he said. “Right now we’re getting the club back on track paper work wise and structurally as some things maybe have gone by the wayside in the past 10 or 15 years.”

He added that NNKC hasn’t had good numbers over that time span. One big reason was probably the recent bad economic times this region has faced.

“I think that’s changing, with the new crew they’re excited. I have a secretary on board, I have an accountant on board, they know what they are doing and know how to take care of the paperwork,” he said. “We bringing a little more enthusiasm to the club, people want to see more advertising, more marketing and that’s a big focus on what we’re going to do.”

So there will be an effort to get the word out as well as getting more new people into the club. He added the older previous members know where NNKC is as far as location and schedules.

“We need new people, we need to get more new people into the sport,” he said. “We always want as many members and as many previous members to come back. Karting is a revolving door, people come and go so my focus and my board’s we’re just going to try and get as many new people as we can.”

He added that it takes a while because advertising and marketing usually don’t offer instant results.

“It takes a few years so we’re planting the seeds now for the future of our club,” he said.

Home track for the NNKC is Desert Park Raceway, located at the eastern edge of the Reno-Stead Airport. The club has been a long-term tenant on the airport property.

“The future looks petty good out there with the Airport Authority, I’ve been in contact with Mike Scott and he doesn’t seen any reason why we would have to move or anything like that.”

Rivera noted that there is drone training out at the airport but said Scott is in contact and lets the club know when the gate will be closed. While the club is let in at other times the airport wants to keep the general public out.

“We are working on things like that and we have the full green light to do any upgrades we want to do out there. And that’s what we plan to so, we’re going to send in a business plan to the Airport Authority letting them know what our plans are for the future so that maybe we can get a longer term contract,” he said.

Originally the track was on a year-to-year contract but now it’s every two years and Rivera’s plan is to ask for a longer period. That will bring more stability and opportunity to make upgrades to Desert Park Raceway.

“We’re coming up with a business plan and things our members want to see at the track like an expansion, maybe connecting some parts of the track, the ability to run the track backwards,” he said. “We had a member donate some money to add a merge lane coming on to the straightaway, making it a little safer coming onto the track. His main motivation is he wants to have an Enduro.”

An Enduro kart race runs from three to four hours and the merge lane will allow karts to safely enter the track after fuel stops. Rivera noted an event like that probably won’t happen until the 2019 season.

After rain postponed this weekend’s event the track clean up day was rescheduled for April 7 and practice day will be Sunday, April 8, which also includes a safety seminar. The point races begin on April 15th and there is one big event during the club’s season.

“The one big event is KPX. It’s been steadily growing over the last four years, it’s the major regional series in our NorCal region,” he said. “Basically it covers six tracks and they are voted on by the racers as to where they want to go. They try to keep the amount of races down a little bit as to not take away from the clubs.”

As a result the NNKC will have seven points races, down one from last year with the eighth being the KPX race.

Asked about the KPX event he said, “It will be a stand alone so we have seven local club races plus the KPX and that race will be in August and that will be a night race.”

Coming at the end of the schedule when sometimes championships have been decided, Rivera wanted to help increase the kart count. So to spruce it up a bit he suggested the one here be at night and the KPX promoter said yes.

“August night race for KPX is definitely in the works and that is what’s going to happen,” he said.

The traditional night race for the club has yet to be voted on. It comes down to the time, if lights are available and if the funds are available.

Last year’s kart count could have been better but right now Rivera is optimistic due to what he’s seen at the track, which could translate into a decent shifter class as well as the new K100 motor for the TAG class.

Unlike previous TAG motors the new one is 2-cycle and air-cooled and is way less expensive than the 4-cycle water-cooled one. He feels this new motor will really takeoff as it’s a middle ground between the 206, which many classes use, and high horsepower shifter type racing.

“The hardest part of it is mixing fuel. If you’re coming from the 4-cycle world you’ve got to fix your fuel,” he said. “Other than that it’s a simple push button start, air-cooled engine, carburetion is very simple. The 2-stroke technology is much different than a few years ago, they run cleaner, more efficient, less fuss and I think that motor is going to make a big statement in NorCal karting for sure, especially at the club level.”

If one wants to get into racing karting is the most economical way, especially if a person wants to start with a Briggs 206 motor and a new kart.

“That’s pretty unheard of in the racing world that for $4,500 you can get out there and be competitive,” he said. “For the most part a lot of people get into the sport for a lot less. You can look for used stuff and get out there for less than two grand.”

Getting people into the sport takes some time between when they get interested and involved.

“Most people don’t get started in this sport until a couple of years after they’ve heard about it. I’ve polled a lot of people and it took them whether it was a year or two years or several years to get into this sport after they had heard about it. So that was kind of eye opening,” he said.

The reasons varied between saving or maybe their child turned old enough or maybe they saw something on TV and they thought ‘this is something I may want to do.’

“That seems to be the way that people get into this sport that takes a little bit so we have to be patient and just keep plugging along and trying to get new people out here,” he said. “The city is big enough, Reno and Sparks area is plenty big enough to accommodate what we do out here.”

Rivera feels the club should have from 75 to 100 entries for every race but in the past it’s been around the 30 to 40 so he’s working for an improvement.

“I think that with the product we have now that you can get into Karting a lot cheaper now than ever before and be competitive,” he said. “With some of the packages like the two-cycle we’re coming out with to help those people transition out of the four-cycle into a faster kart for a lot less price all these things are going to come into play for the future.”

One thing helping Rivera’s up beat feeling is what he’s seeing on the day’s he’s out at the track.

“I’ve been out to the track three or four times in the last couple of months, on some of the beautiful days we’ve had out there. We’ve probably had 15 to 20 people out there on the weekends, which is very surprising,” he said. “A lot of new people so that’s very encouraging to see. Usually when you see that it’s a good sign the racing season is probably going to be pretty healthy.”

He feels the club is on the upswing and is looking forward to the season getting going on April 15.

“There’s a lot of enthusiasm right now, people are excited, they feel the club is growing and the club is moving in the right direction. They’re more willing to spread the word and that’s what we asked, ‘tell your friends, tell your co-workers, tell your family’, he said. “I’m definitely optimistic.”

For further information the club’s website is,  or if you click the link in the sponsor list at the end of this article it will take you to his business, Nevada Kart Sport. The 2018 schedule is at the end of this article.

• The other group begining its series at the end of April is the Nevada Pro Stock Association. After a season where the championship was decided in the final race the new president, Travis Petersen is looking forward another successful season.

“Last season was very impressive,” he said. “A great way to end the season and for the association. It proved that on a given night anybody can win a race.”

He’s also excited looking at the schedule for the upcoming season.

“I see it being consistent with 12 to 15 cars every race so we can put on a good show for the crowd. We have some guys coming back to the class while some will be driving other people’s cars,” he said. “The goal would be 20 for an ideal but at least 15 makes for better show.”

Last season the series made its first visit to the Modoc County Fairground at Alturas, California. Although the track had been dark for several years Petersen felt it was one of the best races last year.

“Alturas will have some Oregon guys coming over from the Outlaw Pro Stock class so they should bring from five to eight cars,” he said. “All of our guys are committed so it should be the race of the season.”

One thing the association tries to do is to have some space between each race.

“We’re trying to keep it spread out with a week or two between them so a person isn’t married to their car all season,” he said.

Petersen added there is a pair of two-day shows this year. The first is in May when the series visits Lovelock Speedway then goes to Winnemucca Regional Raceway the following day.

Toward the end of the season the NPSA will be part of the two-day Silver Cup races at Battle Mountain.

Looking at the schedule Petersen said, “I’m very optimistic and very excited for this year.”

The season begins April 28 at Rattlesnake Raceway in Fallon. For further information on NPSA check their Face Book page at Nevada Prostock Association.

REPORTER’S NOTE: Schedules for NNKC and NPSA are at the end of the article after the BBMX results.

OTHER RACING NEWS:

• Battle Born MX journeyed to Winnemucca this weekend for the second race in the spring series. Class winners are listed before the NNKC and NPSA schedules.

• The NASCAR Cup race was delayed by a snow storm so it was run Monday. Nevada Natives Kyle Busch and his brother Kurt ended up 2nd and 11th.

• This week Teresa’s Garage Radio Show is going to have a very special announcement. This reporter is on the show and my racing preview is around 2:15 p.m. as the show runs from 2 until 3 p.m. Hope you’ll give us a listen.

The show is streamed on amm.streamon.fm.

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We now have five very appreciated sponsors that are helping support this site. Please patronize them as they support your sport.

Our newest is Big Valley Honda and is the first dealer we have as a sponsor. They sell everything from motorcycles, UTV’s, ATV’s and about anything else things one could want.

They are located at 2225 Market Street in Reno and their website is www.bigvalleyhonda.com and they have a Face Book page, www.facebook.com/bigvalleyhondareno.

Our first sponsor is a full service motorcycle shop, Reno Motorsports and they too have a full service shop as well as about anything a rider could want.

They are located at 964 Terminal way, by Mill Street and their website is, www.rms-renomotorsports.com.

Sponsor PJ & Co Restaurant and Saloon located at 1590 Wells Avenue in Reno is familiar to most in the riding lifestyle.

Good food, great place and they have Bike Night every Wednesday. For further information please check their website at, www.pjandco.net.

Concours Body Shop, owned by racer and race supporter Gil Grieve, is a business doing quality repair work on cars and trucks.

The business is located at 240 Telegraph Street in Reno and their website is, www.concoursbodyshop.net.

If you are into karting or want the most cost effective way to start racing then check out Nevada Kart Sport, our only full service kart shop in this region.

The shop has moved to 894 Deming Way in Sparks and their website is, www.nevadakartsport.com.

Have a business targeted toward the motorcycle, motorsport or off road demographic? Well we are looking for more sponsors.

You can contact us either through the comment section of the site or our Face Book page.

• BBMX – SPRING SERIES, ROUND 2

WINNEMUCCA – MARCH 25

• CLASS WINNERS:

50cc: (Beg.) Walker Van Dover, (Jr.) Pierson Potratz, (Intrm.) Drew Marson, Open) Drew Marson,

65cc: (Beg.) Hub Losey, (Jr.) Rogen Hill, (Intr.) Sam McCord, (Open) Sam McCor

85cc: (Beg.) Joseph Muth, (Jr.) Tovin Kahabka, (Intrm.) Sam McCord, (Open) Declan Kahabka, (Supermini) Ayden Katzenmeyer.

52+: (Jr.) Doug Wollum

45+: (Jr.) Hawkins

38+: (Beg.) Jason Daniels, (Jr.) Chad Johnson,(Intr.) Jeromie Sorhouet.

30+: (Beg.) Terry Teninty, (Jr) Zach Howell, (Intr.) Kile Fye,

CLUB: Daniel Martin.

Women: (A) Jasmyne Herrera, (B) Hayden Losey.

Schoolboy: Trevor Tellez.

Open: Michael Jepsen

2-Stroke Open: Kai Kapahee.

125/250F: (Beg.) Nakana Domingo, (Jr.) Tevor Tellez, (Intr.) Landon Morand

250/450F: (Beg.) Ayden Katzenmeyer, (Jr.) Jacob Kinkel, (Intr.) Landon Morand, (Pro) Tony Evans.

2018 SCHEDULES FOR NNKC AND NPSA: