RENO, NV (May 22) – Need2Speed, our local indoor electric go kart track is part of the new American E-Kart Championships sponsored by Monster Energy. Local tracks around the country are hosting a series aimed at selecting a local champion, who competes in the finals for a national title.
The new American E-Kart Championship Logo.
Graphic courtesy – E-Kart championship.
Need2Speed general manager Matt Bowen explained what his track is doing as part of this series.
“What we’re having here is us an about 15 other tracks across the country that aren’t related to each other are working as a team to develop this E-Kart association league,” he said.
The contestants race at their local tracks and the winner at each location gets a trip, paid for by the association, to Chicago.
“Winners at each track takes home $500 to goes towards their flights. Everyone goes out to Chicago in August to race for the championship and the $10,000 grand prize,” he said.
Need2Speed general manager Matt Bowen hosted a Q&A session this Sunday evening.
Signups have already started and Sunday evening there was a Q&A session for some that had already signed up and three others that were interested.
While the first round is this Thursday one can sign up after that because a racer’s best six out of seven rounds are counted.
“Week eight is going to be a playoff round, which is subject to change,” he said.
Bowen used a power point presentation the League sent to go over the ground rules during the meeting Sunday.
Each night begins with a qualifying round, which starts every round. Points will be awarded after this session.
“We’ll then move on to two pointed heats after that where the first heat is an inverted grid so it’s position racing with rules to keep everyone safe,” he said.
Then they take the fastest lap time, either from qualifying or the first heat and move the drivers into the main, which has double points. Depending on how many people show up there may be multiple heats.
In the Q&A session Bowen indicated he would like to have at least six drivers in each heat and they will use a rolling start. The main looks like it will use a standing start on a part of the course where it can be done safely.
He also added that every driver switches karts after they’ve been on the track so no one always races the same kart. The team is testing karts so they are within a tenth of a second between them as that levels the playing field and those will be only used for the series.
“It is position racing in the final two heats however there is the element of fastest lap time in the first race and just to seed one into the main event. But in the inverted heat the winner still takes home the first place points,” he said.
The races wrap around July 12th for the final and the national championship finals are August 11th and 12th in Chicago. Bowen mentioned the first day in Chicago is when everyone gets a free day of racing to get familiar with the karts they will be driving.
For further information please check the website at, www.need2speed.com or call the track at 775-851-7223. And remember the first race in the series is this Thursday, May 24 at 7:30 p.m.
Need2Speed’s store front. The track is inside the building at 6895-B Sierra Center Parkway.
The facility is located at 6895-B Sierra Parkway, Reno. It’s in the same area the Target store is located.
Good luck to all.
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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.
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