BARNESVILLE, Ga. (By Bob Barthelemy) — Wednesday is always a busy day as teams arrive and get set-up in their reserved pit spots. We had one of the largest Wednesday crowds in the 20 years of the GSKA promoting this VKA event. Many vintage karters wanted to get some practice time in, so we offered practice at the GSKA member rate and enjoyed a safe afternoon with several karters getting some pre-event laps on the track.
Photos by Richard Pearson — full album on Facebook at Richard’s profile
The Lord blessed us with excellent weather during the entire event, Wednesday – Saturday (mornings in the mid 50’s and afternoons in the mid to high 70’s). Registration opened early Thursday and was busy most of the morning. Safety tech inspection was conducted individually by competitors and verified at the practice grid where signed inspection forms were collected. By the end of the day the registration count was in the mid- high eighties and the temperature during the afternoon was about the same. By 5:45 the grid was empty, so we closed the practice for the day. Everyone seemed to have all the practice they wanted for the day.
Friday temperatures were a few degrees higher than Thursday’s, but it was a gorgeous day. From 9:00 am till 12:15, the track was filled will vintage karters getting ready for the first two heat races later in the day. We gathered for our driver’s meeting at the base of the scoring tower, inviting all in attendance, not just drivers, to witness the Karting Hall of Fame inductions. After thanking God for the weather and the amazing vintage karters for their attendance, I introduced Randy Kugler, former WKA President, and presented him a recognition award. Randy then inducted Dick Wilson (accepted by Dicky his son) and Tony Cirilo into the Karting Hall of Fame. It was truly a historic and emotional presentation. Following that, I conducted the usual driver’s meeting agenda, emphasizing safety. After the invocation and National Anthem, we called for the Vintage four cycle class, the first of fourteen groups. Utilizing both grids A & B we were able to coordinate (28 Heats) and complete on track activities by 6:00pm. There were only a couple of minor on-track incidents with no reported injuries.
We then gathered as many karters as possible at the concession building and Randy Kugler presented another Karting Hall of Fame inductee, Denise Johnson. As most know Denise was an outstanding multi-award winning driver from the 70’s & 80’s. Our social hour followed with an outstanding presentation of light meal.
Saturday morning started with karts lining up on the front straight for the kart show. We had 19 karts entered and presented many award for historic, rear engine and sidewiders. We also presented awards for the people’s choice, furthest traveled, and the prestigious “Yankee Award”. At approx. 10:45, we opened the track for practice and by 11:30 had a short drivers meeting and called for the first of (14) third heat races. After on track activity complete, we presented preliminary 50/50 awards such as T-shirts and a rib vest donated by generous attendees before the final drawing for the 50/50 raffle, Kevin Merritt won $605 and the same presented to the VKA. Competition awards were present at the podium for photos before 3pm. Thanks to all who made this event a success!
Winter Nationals Event-Class-Entry Statistics – 2026 • Barnesville, Ga.
| Class # | Name | No. of Entries | 1st | 2nd | 3rd |
| 1 | Historic | 3 | Roy Fenwick | Dean Scarborough | Ralph Pears |
| 2 | Junior | 1 | Owen Boarman | ||
| 3A | Sportsman Rear | 1 | Robert Rizzuto | ||
| 3B | Sportsman Rear Straight Axle | 0 | |||
| 4 | 80cc Mac Stock | 0 | |||
| 5B | Single Rear 8.2 American | 1 | Tony Severino | ||
| 5C | Single Rear 6.1 Foreign | 2 | Jerry Nagel | John Pagans | |
| 5D | Single Rear Yamaha | 0 | |||
| 7 | Dual Rear | 2 | Jerry Nagel | Al Hazenfritz | |
| 8 | 100cc Sidewinder | 9 | Cale Boarman | Scott Ader | Walter McDade |
| 9 | 150cc Sidewinder | 10 | Simon Seay | Evan Seay | Bowen Carlock |
| 11 | Dual Sidewinder | 0 | |||
| 12A | Sportsman Sidewinder 100cc Mac | 4 | Landon Boarman | Cole Calloway | Dick Charest |
| 12B | Sportsman Sidewinder 125cc Mac | 1 | Steve Mox | ||
| 13 | Yamaha Piston Port Light | 6 | Dustin Merritt | Cale Boarman | David Smith |
| 13 | Yamaha Piston Port Heavy | 7 | Kevin Myers | Nathan Myers | Brian Carr |
| 14 | Yamaha Limited Light | 9 | Cale Boarman | Jeff Clounch | Dustin Merritt |
| 14 | Yamaha Limited Heavy | 9 | Bowen Carlock | Jeff Green | Noah Rivers |
| 16 | Yamaha Masters Light | 9 | Tommy Crosby | Johne Guastavino | Terry Ruffer |
| 16 | Yamaha Masters Heavy | 10 | Jeff Green | William Eriksen | Brian Vorhes |
| 17 | Dual Yamaha Limited | 2 | Clayton Abercrombie | Vince Kavanagh | |
| 18A | West Bend Sidewinder “Stock App. Eng.” | 1 | Don South | ||
| 18B | West Bend Sidewinder “Stock Eng./Pipe” | 2 | Al Hazenfritz | Jo Ann Herzog | |
| 19A | Classic 100cc Piston Port | 9 | Randy Wells | Johnathon Guasavino | Clayton Abercrombie |
| 19B | Classic Reed & Rotary 100cc | 3 | Walter McDade | Chip Raines | Bill Stocksdale |
| 20 | VKA Four Stroke Stock | 3 | Simon Seay | Brad Nickolsen | Mike Queisert |
| 20A | VKA Four Stroke Stock 370 lbs. | 4 | Billy Johnson | Kevin Milligan | Tracy Pearson |
| TOTAL | 104 | ||||
| Practice Only | 3 | ||||
| Total Entries incl. Practice Only | 107 | ||||
| Kart Show Awards | |||||
| Historic Unrestored | #13 | Roy Fenwick | Will Advise | ||
| Historic Restored | #1 | Tim Womack | Will Advise | ||
| Historic Past Champion | #4 | Rob Rizzuto | Will Advise | ||
| Rear Restored | #9 | Owen Boarman | Will Advise | ||
| Rear Modified | #6 | Tony Severino | 1966 Bug Sprint W.B. 820 | ||
| Sidewinder Restored | #7 | Owen Boarman | Will Advise | ||
| Sidewinder Modified | #17 | A.J. Wahli | Will Advise | ||
| Enduro Best in Class | #3 | Ralph Pears | Will Advise | ||
| Peoples Choice | #7 | Owen Boarman | Will Advise | ||
| Furthest Traveled | Brian Vorhes | Alleman, Iowa | |||