RENO, NV (January 13) — The Northern Nevada Kart Club gathered at the GSR on Saturday to honor its 2023 champions and hand out special awards. This time there were 50 more in attendance and the membership has grown over the past year.
This past year one NNKC member succumbed to medical issues. When the meeting started MC Kelsey Nelson asked for a moment silence to honor Steve Manubi. He is a former racer whose kids are still racing and his presence will be missed.
Before the awards there was a buffet dinner and those in attendance were also buying raffle tickets. The club’s podium had been brought in and placed on the stage so those receiving trophies would have a place to stand.
First on the podium was the Kid Kart Class, whose ages range from 5 to 8. The 2023 champion is Presley Prater followed by MacKenzie Kepheert, Enzo Mendoza, Brooks Morrisey and Paisley Purdy.
The next was the Junior 1 Class with 9 to 12-year-old age range. Topping the points was the champion Kayden Williams and followed by Kipton Bocchi, Jameson Morrisey, Cash Prater and Noah Manubi.
Next in the age group is the Junior 2 LO206 Class so the drivers are usually 13-years and older. Topping the points was the 2023 champion Cooper Perez followed by Bryce Benton, Isaiah Manubi, Lucca Sweetland and Jeremy Heath.
After accepting his trophy and champion’s jacket Perez said, “I want to thank Cole Nelson and my other competitors for being there. Now I’m ready to race this year.”
One of the largest classes is Senior LO206 as they had 23 drivers signed up. It was very close with Andrew Hitchcock winning the title by only one point over runner up Giovanni Medina. Third through fifth were Brooks Anderline, Nathan Heath and Austin Hawkins.
After getting his trophy Hitchcock thanked Jeff and Cole Nelson as well as his competitors.
In the Heavy LO206 Class, another large class, Brandon Arce was the champion with veteran Steve Dow finishing second. Third through fifth were Eric Kuzemchak, Josh Prater and Jake Burchette.
Then Arce thanked Jeff, Cole and Kelsey Nelson for their help. And he added special thanks to his father and family.
Only the champion Brian Lewis was present when the F-100 Open trophy was handed out. It’s pretty small class so second through fifth would be Darryl Van Dorn, Bill Ramsey, Allen Wilt and Paul Georgeson.
William Owen was the Senior K-100 champion while Giovanni Medina was the runner trailing by 20 points. Third through fifth place were Stevie-Ray Rosario, Nathan Heath and Douglas Stewart.
After getting his trophy and jacket he thanks his brother-in-law and cousin for their support and help.
The older class is the KA100 Masters and that was another close one. Mike McMullen is the champion while runner up Nat Sombatsiri was a scant five points behind. Finishing third was Steve Ryckebosch and fourth place Gerry Altamira.
“I want to thank my loving bride for her patience,” McMullen said later.
Next up is Pro 4-Cycle and for the second year in a row Rachael Williams is the champion. Once again she and her son Kayden are the club’s mother-son championship duo. The runner up was Jimmy Johns followed by Jeremy Clark, Brud Beaudoin and Russell Rosario.
After receiving her trophy and jacked Williams said, “It as a blast. I appreciate all my family’s support as well as that from Cole Nelson and the club.”
The club’s F-125 is divided by engine type although they run at the same time. So many times their feature is a race within a race.
These are the fastest two classes and unlike the other classes these drivers utilize a 6-speed gearbox as they can shift gears while roaring around the track.
The F-125 Shifter ROK champion is Zeke Corson followed by Mike Faker, Gage Griego, Jeff Wamre and Mitch Kennedy. After the awards he expressed his appreciation to the club he thanked his daughters Morgan and Skyler.
Brooks Anderline was the F-125 Shifter Honda in his first yea with the class. The runner-up was Javier Avila followed by Ben Fisher and Gerry Williams.
After getting his award Anderline said, “This is my first year shifters as it was timeto step up and get going. It’s been a lot of learning as it’s so different.”
He thanked Mitch Kennedy for building his motor, and other drivers that have helped him. He also thanked Cole Nelson as well as his parents, “this would not be possible without them.”
Next came the special awards.
In the Junior group Landen Warren earned Junior Rookie of the Year.
The Most Improved Junior driver was Junior 2 runner up Bryce Benton.
And the Junior Driver of the year, who won the most poles was Kayden Williams.
Now we move to the adult classes and the Senior Rookie-of-the-year is William Amster.
Austin Hawkins is the Most Improved Senior Driver of the year.
Finally the Senior Driver of the year is Zeke Corson.
The Hard Charger of the year, due to his earning so many pole positions is Giovanni Medina.
There were other awards for those that have helped the club throughout the last season. Brent Warren was named the Volunteer of the Year for his tireless helping the club.
Dania Medinia was awarded the Outstanding Media Award due to her efforts to gain the club more publicity.
Finally it was time to name the Karter of the Year. This goes to a person that either races or has a big impact with the club’s efforts.
This year it went to Kelsey Nelson, who expressed her love for kart racing as both her sons now race. She also added that next year she intends to race more.
Finally, at the close this reporter had a chance go get comments from NNKC’s president and vice president regarding their views on the upcoming season.
Asked about the coming season and club’s future NNKC president Giovanni Medina said, “Its looking good, we’re looking at some outside racing. Hopefully if we can get them to come up to Reno we’ll have some pretty much regional stuff happening at our club.
“There is some, like Mini Moto that’s important too, that we’re going to be talking about at our next meeting. That part of the club is growing and it’s allowing us to create a better environment at the track. For next year we have a pretty solid schedule that we usually do, you know seven races and hopefully a couple of regionals.”
Then Vice President Greg Hitchcock said, “We’ve got some potential regional level racing we’re looking to bring to our track, which will help us expand our foot print on the west coast. The track itself is growing and the club is growing in good directions.
“We’ve got the support of the community, the airport authority is behind what we are doing. So a lot of positive infrastructure growth is on its way. “
Soon the club will publish its 2024 schedule and come April, weather permitting, Desert Park Raceway will again echo with the sound of go kart racing.
OTHER RACING NEWS:
• Sparks Cars & Coffee has their first meet of the month on Sunday. This time there were several trucks from the Northern Nevada Toyotas group. They usually have cruises as well as meetings. For further information please check the Northern Nevada Toyotas Face Book page.
• Tuesday, at 6:30 p.m. Trucks and Tacos has another meet. This time its at Deleon, which is located in the shopping center where Keystone and California Avenue meet. The address is 1201 California Avenue.
• This coming Saturday, January 20, Battle Born MX (BBMX) hosts its annual awards banquet at Boomtown. Times are from 3 p.m. until 7 p.m. and it’s always a great time.
• Daveys American Racing is found on Face Book. His focus is on western oval tracks as well as national series. Davey has restarted his regular broadcasts at 6 p.m. Wednesday evenings.
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