This year, 34 sponsoring tracks across the country will be hosting VKA Karting Events including 18 Sprint and 16 Enduro.
Although most are driving events, the Kart Show at these events is where 100% of our members, guests & the public, can participate by viewing the workmanship in our members’ karts, vote for their favorite go kart, meet our members and enjoy the social side of our great organization.
VKA Kart Shows run the gamut from simply lining up our karts for viewing, to organizing full blown social celebrations. In 2020, VKA members and our sponsoring tracks came up with the following enhancements that added a lot of pizazz to everyone’s benefit:
Pre-kart show, early-arrival, dinner/social
Wine & beer tastings
Cheese & snack platters
Live music
Singer for the National Anthem
Introduction of special guests
Enhanced 50-50 raffle prizes
Door prizes
Acknowledgements for farthest traveler, oldestdriver, youngest driver
To support our Kart Shows, VKA Guidelines call for a committee of volunteers to help our members and sponsoring tracks organize the most fun Kart Shows possible with advice & organizing suggestions, but also to learn new ideas that we can share with all the other Kart Show volunteers.
Members & promoters interested in upgrading your 2021 VKA Kart Show(s), please email us with your name & phone number along with the name & date of your event to VKAKartShow2021@gmail.com .
Sal Palatucci Volunteer National Kart Show Director
This is just one half of the smooth, long Jacksonville straightaway
Although the temperature was in the mid 30’s Thursday morning, the late morning and afternoon saw temps. in the60’s and made for a beautiful day of practice. After safety tech inspection, we opened the track for practice around 10 am. With all single engine karts then duel engine kart practice. After lunch (the Mother Truckin Pizza food truck served some delicious subs and pizza) we provided open practice till 5:00 pm. with the grid steward controlling the amount of karts on the trackat a time.
The forecast for Friday showed rain so we got an early start with practice open from 8:30-9:30 am. We posted the starting line-ups and held a quick drivers meeting at 9:45. The first group to enter the track for heat #1 at 10:15 was the Sportsman Rear accompanied by a Karman Jobe (junior) and Nick Wiel in the straight axle S/W. Two more groups were able to run heat # 1 prior to the rain setting in till noon. About a two hour process of drying the track followed lunch and by 2:30 the sportsman S/W and 4 cycle stock group completed their first heat. Two more groups completed heat #1 before more rain came to end the on track activities for the day.
Saturday morning a steady rain was drenching the facility at 103rd St. Jacksonville. After talking with the people at the track, and a few already packing up to leave, we decided to officially call the Saturday activity as a rain-out. The few people that were interested in participating in the kart show did not even want to get their karts out in the rain. We presented awards based on first heat finishing order (12 classes) and by order of registration (5 classes). Karman Jobe assisted us by drawing Todd Horton’s name as winner of the 50/50 raffle. Todd and the VKA were presented $155.00 each from the proceeds of the raffle. Thank you to Jim Hindery, NFKC President, and the entire NFKC & GSKA team for a well-run event! Thank you to all the Vintage Karters (58 competition plus 2 practice only entries)for participating at this event. Come join us at Barnesville March 25ththru 27th where we hope for better weather conditions.
The Jacksonville circuit is well suited to C/Opens like this B-Bomb-powered rig with a nice set of overhead pipes.
The Bennett crew had plenty of room to spread out under the pines.
Scott Nagel with the family C/Open. His dad Jerry runs the beast every chance he gets.
Several dual Yamahas showed up for Jacksonville. Seems to be a growing class everywhere in the VKA.
Old Skool – gear-drive dual carb Mac rear engine entry. Still amazing little powerplants.
Ron Jones was selling some good stuff including a pair of Corsair rotaries and a Sirio. Elsewhere in the pits was a restored Hartman sprinter for sale.
Rob Rizzuto and Tony Severino make some last minute adjustments on Rob’s Dart.
Part of Team Haddock – Charlie Groeteke starts Pete Vetter in an HPV-powered Margay SR-16.
Engine builder/tuner Steve Jamison gets Scott Nagle prepared to go on track. BM130s supply the power.
Mike Giessen drives the dual Yamaha “FreddyVader” for the Haddock team. Kart runs strong and Mike’s driving and tuning skills are as good as it gets!
Craig Bennett dual sidewinder carries the “Intimidator” livery of Dale Earnhardt. Super clean with overhead pipes.
Donald Southerland (foreground) and Sean Collins #9 getting ready to go out for some fast laps.
Father and son team of Kurt and Karman Jobe came out to run the Jeff Brown-tuned Yamaha.
More nice karts – Jesse James’ #84 and Don Renton’s #88 sportsman sidewinders plus Scott Klinger’s #421 8.2 Rear.
This photo of Penelope Giessen sums up the weather for Jacksonville this year – COLD!
The business end of Haddock’s dual Yamaha – Lynn says “spec” pipes make these karts very low maintenance in the clutch department, and they are easier to drive with lower clutch engagement speeds.
Trevor Lotz’s 6.1 Rear SAE is truly a time capsule with its GEM V-12 “Y” intake setup.
A big group of Sportsman Sidewinders fire up for a heat.
Morgan Healy drives this pristine ’67 Bug Sprint 8.2 for Lynn Haddock.
Unidentified 8.2 Sidewinder looks perfect in every way.
The Haddock fleet numbered 8 karts at Jacksonville – or nearly 15% of the total entries. Now that’s a lot of work.
It takes a lot to keep 8 karts running. Here’s some of the crew…(L-R) Nick Weil, Lynn Haddock, Shane Davis, Jeff Clounch and Mike Giessen.
Lynn and his young protégé, Morgan Healey.
Race promoter/engine builder Jeff Brown came south for some warm weather and to tune the Jobes’ Yamaha. Well at least it was warmer than where he lives!
Rudy Francek with Capt. Jack McClure and his Rocket Kart
A small, but dedicated group of Vintage Enduro Karters made the annual winter trip to Daytona to enjoy the high-speed thrills that only the track’s high banks can provide. Rolling up onto the banking in NASCAR turn 3 at over 100 miles per hour is an experience no karter should miss.
Tony Ellison was a double winner, notching wins in Vintage Open F1 and Vintage Open F2, while Dennis Griffith took the win in Vintage Piston Port F1 and Stuart Keller was the victor in Vintage Twin F1.
While only 11 entries were on the grid sheets, a number of Vintage Enduro racers have committed to drawing larger numbers for next year.
One terrific surprise was the appearance of 95-year-old Capt. Jack McClure who displayed his Hydrogen Peroxide-powered “Rocket Kart”. Capt. Jack was a crowd favorite at drag races nationwide in the ‘60s and ‘70s.
One of the young Carbarino boys on a Mc8-powered ’61 Dart leads Paul Wright on his KT-100 Panther X. Body English versus no body English!
Like virtually everything else in California, this year’s 16th Annual Faye Pearson Vintage Kart Reunion was canceled due to Covid. And that was a real shame as the weather was a balmy 76, with lots of sunshine and hardly a wisp of wind. Not typical weather for Riverside in February that can often be wet, cold and extremely windy. About 25 vintage karters showed up for the Saturday-only gathering with masks, social distancing and all of that. Those who made it were rewarded with the best track day possible – plenty of track time sharing it only with fellow vintage karters.
There was a great assortment both rear-engine and sidewinder karts. The Bug camp was well represented by Tom Harpur of Wilmington, CA who brought a ’76 Wasp, a ’88 Spider and a ’81 Scorpion. (He left a ’72 Stinger and Bug 2000 home because he ran out of trailer space.) The opposing Margay camp was well represented by Paul Wright who brought a pair of beautiful Expert 1s and a Panther X. He too left a couple of Margays at home. And finally, Jack Dodd brought three Emmicks, a NOS Arrow III (twin Yamaha, big axle), a K35-powered Elite and a Yamaha-powered Express. All that was missing was a few of Van Duesen’s Invaders.
What was interesting to me was to find out what everybody was doing with this track day. My old buddy from the Hot Rod Magazine days, Pete Eastwood (his primered ’32 Sedan graced the cover while I was editor), was there breaking-in a freshly rebuilt pair of 101s on his ’68 Dart Chapparal single, for his twin Dart Chapparal. Big Mike Golembesky had his twin K-30 Emmick at Adams to switch from gas to methanol and figure out the new tune-up. Jack Dodd was breaking in his NOS Emmick Arrow III with a pair of Yamahas and Jon Woods at the wheel. The Bug guys including Stacy Seguine in a Spider were seriously working on their lap times as were Paul Wright’s Margays.
Howard Combee showed up with an early ‘80s Birel with a direct drive K78 – no gauges, as bare bones as it gets. He gave us all a driving exhibition of how to drive a DD for smoothness and momentum. I think Howard ran more laps than anyone until he broke a header. Fortunately, someone was selling exactly what he needed. Unfortunately, a hard-working Victor Osuna from nearby Jurupa Valley thrashed all day before getting in some laps just before the track closed. And it was good to see a couple of youngsters out there getting a thrill of a lifetime. One of the highlights of the day was when Greg Richardson let Timel Sebastian (Adams Track Manager) drive her first vintage kart. She’s been part of the Adams operation for years, but never had the opportunity to drive. Greg’s Briggs-powered ’80 Proline was the perfect starting point.
With the limited number of VKA karting events in any regional area, arranging a few track days with a group of friends is a great way to get your kart ready for the big events and also to get that all-so-important seat time!
Cary Thomas from Carlsbad, CA has a ’62 Fox with twin Mc 20s on it. It looks almost too nice to drive, but Cary drives it like he stole it!
Jack Dodd brought out 3 Emmicks to shore up the strong west coast Emmick fans. This Elite runs a K35 with a Burco axle clutch in the 150 Unlimited class. Here Jack is powering out of the “Sandbox” turn in the sweet afternoon light.
Looking for something really special? A fellow karter named Craig had this brand-new, never fired C/Open for sale. It was built by Jeff Brown with a Bennett chassis and NOS BM130s. And like anything Jeff brown builds it is flawless!
Craig also had an original ’60 GoKart800 signed (on the left engine mount) by Duffy Livingston, one of the founders of our sport and owners of the GoKart manufacturing facility. Craig can be contacted at: 909-936-2000.
Tom Corso from Rancho Mirage, CA was flying in his ’64 Fox Mc45 (built by our own Louie Figone). Here Tom exits the Little Monza in perfect position for the next turn.
Tom was constantly tweaking his combination for better driveability and speed.
None of the “Big Hitter” C/Open – 300 Unlimiteds came out to play except for Speed Parts’ Big Mike Golembesky. Mike tried converting to methanol, couldn’t find the tune-up and switched back to gas. This twin K-30-powered Emmick Elite doesn’t need more power – just a little consistency. Mike purchased this kart chassis new from Pitts Performance, back in the day.
Karting great, Howard Combee brought out an early Birel with a direct drive K78. No stinkin’ gauges, no stinkin’ air cleaner, just the essence of what a kart was to the rest of the world – 100cc, no clutch – pure magic!
Still extremely competitive in modern karts, Howard put on a direct-drive driving clinic for those of us who have never experienced DD. Very cool!
Here’s one of Tom Harpur’s Bug Spiders driven by Terry Russell. It is show quality and runs extremely well.
Another Tom Harpur orange Bug – this one’s a ’76 Wasp with a pipe’d Yamaha.
They never stop coming – Tom Harpur’s ’81 Bug Scorpion transfers some weight as driver, Stanley Hansen exits the “Sandbox” turn.
Pete Eastwood used the Adams Play Day to break-in a pair of mc101s, one at a time on his single ’68 Dart Chaparral. As you can see, he doesn’t baby anything!
If there’s a vintage kart event in SoCal, Tom Wilms from Redlands, CA will be there with his two very fast Dart Chaparrals. The single runs a Mc90 and the twin has a pair of Mc101s, and Tom simply drives the wheels off of them. The lady in the hat is Timel Sebastian. She coordinated this Play Day for us. Thanks Timel and the Adams’ staff!
Greg Richardson brought his Briggs-powered, ’80 Proline and gave Timel a chance to hot lap it. Now Timel is a huge supporter of vintage karting.
Gilbert B. Rodriquez brought his Doug Sharp- restored ‘88DAP up from San Diego. It has a DAP T81 reed on it and runs as well as it looks!
Paul Wright’s Margay Expert I has all of the right stuff – Komet K55, Burco clutch and a RLV Pro80 pipe.
Wright’s Margay Panther X has a KT100 with an RLV A2 pipe. It runs strong and handles great!
Jon Woods probably has more laps at Adams, than any living karter. For the Play Day he was wheeling Jack Dodd’s NOS Emmick Arrow III twin Yamaha. Ran strong all day!
Here’s a bad photo of an incredible kart – Bruce Bereiter’s ’66 “Green” Hornet, powered by a Dave Bonbright 820 WB. There’s a better shot of Bruce in action in last year’s Bakersfield coverage – check it out!
Another Bug Spider out of the Tom Harpur camp was driven by Stacy Seguine from Long Beach, CA. Stacy pounded the Yamaha engine lap-after-lap, looking for better lap times.
Last but not least, Victor Osuna and his crew from Jurupa Valley (literally next door to Adams), thrashed all day and finally got some laps before the sun went down. They have an ’81 CRG and an Emmick Express, both Yamaha powered.
The Georgia weather was a little nippy Thursday morning with temperatures in the mid 40’s followed by temps over 70 by mid-day. Mother Nature was kind to us Thursday and Friday but on Saturday morning a heavy mist followed by a drizzle and later a downpour resulted in no on-track activity. Thank you to Mike Adkins, GSKA President, and the entire GSKA team for a well-run event! Thank you to all the Vintage Karters (44 entries) for participating at this event, and especially the large group from Saltillo, Mississippi.
After a round of safety tech inspections, the track was opened for practice at 9:15. We started with open practice for all single engine senior drivers with a max of 10 karts on the track at a time. The junior drivers were then allotted a practice session followed by the dual engine drivers taking their separate practice session. We repeated this order throughout the day and closed the track for practice at 5:00 pm. I believe everyone had plenty of practice time.
Foreign 8.2 Sidewinder means big power and close racing. Jimmy Gay trails Marc Nagel and winner Bowen Carlock into Barnesville’s signature corner.
There were four entries in the popular Yamaha Dual class. Here 2nd place finisher Gary Combs (14) leads the winner Mark Green’s Margay SR-16 (2).
Friday morning temperatures were in the mid-50’s and rose to the mid-70’s and it was an absolutely gorgeous day. Practice began at 9:00 and went through noon. After the lunch break, we conducted our driver’s meeting including a brief devotional recognizing what God did to save Bill Jackson’s life and to pay respects to my friend, Ronnie Smith, who recently passed away (I conducted the eulogy at his funeral Saturday morning). After a few last-minute corrections to our running order to ensure participants were not driving in back-to-back classes, we were able to get the first Heats started by 1:45 pm. We had 13 classes represented, and by grouping some of the classes together, we were able to run 10 groups. We proceeded with our 1st and 2nd round of demonstration Heats. All Heats went smoothly with no substantial incidents on the track.
Sportsman Rear winner, Billy Dalton from Mt. Washington, Kentucky was both fast and his kart was show-worthy. Robert Rizzuto and Tony Severino also competed in Sportsman Rear.
We all enjoyed a great evening buffet meal (chicken and rice, pork loin, and a wide range of vegetables and salad) prepared and served by Vicki & Glenn Forsyth in the concession/registration pavilion (outside to comply with COVID-19 protocol). “Legends of Karting” awards were presented in recognition to Dicky Wilson and Bill Berry by Bob Barthelemy. A Longest Distanced Traveled award was presented to Romero Llamas from Canton, Ohio. Romero was also presented the coveted traveling “Yankee Award”. He will be able to cherish it for only five months due to the 2021 Barnesville event scheduled for the March 25th-thru the 27th weekend, when it will be presented to another honored recipient.
Due to the continuing rain Saturday morning, the vintage karters in attendance voted to call the 3rd Heat. We then presented the awards for the demonstrations (based on finishing order of the 2nd Heat) and finished before 12:00 noon.
Lots of intensity between these two in 100cc Classic, Romero Llamas (11) and victor Tony Ellison had a great on-track battle. Romero also took home the Long Distance award.
Here are the top three in Yamaha Piston Port. Scott Nagel (7) won, George May (14) was second and Jarod Brannon (9) was third.
If vintage karters thought that they’d be rid of the Nagels anytime soon, they haven’t been watching young Ben Nagel who drives his SAE “like he stole it”! This photo shows why the sprocket guard is necessary as Ben rolls the rear tire away from the rim.
Rick Williams (6) and John Pagans (16) take the checkered flag in Over 60 Yamaha. Jeffery Conner finished third.
The 6.1 Sidewinders take the green. Winner Rick Williams (6) had a busy day running in at least three classes. Sean Collins (9) finished second and Todd Breedlove (12) finished third.
Nobody had more fun at Barnesville than Marc Nagel who “wheelied” his dual SAE all over the place. Can’t wait to see young Ben in this rig!
Dual Sidewinder alway7s brings the spectators to the fence. Here Bob Barthelemy gets a little sideways but still held on to second place. Ron Caldwell (7) is considering his options as winner Jerry Nagel exits the photo.
Jerry Nagel always runs up front in Dual Sidewinder. His dual BM 130s give the Komet “Bomb” boys fits.
Mark Green (2) not only won Yamaha Dual, he doubled up with a win in Yamaha Limited. He is followed by Brian Carr (87) who finished 4th, and Bowen Carlock (8) who finished 2nd.
The Juniors had just two entries but excellent driving and speed. Alden Riley from Nettleton, Missouri battled Ben Nagel from Napoleon, Ohio. Maybe we have a Haddock – Dismore rivalry brewing…
