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August 2. 2022

Fifth Annual VKA Vintage Karting Reunion

By Kurt Bogerman
Photos by Rolf Hill

On June 26-28, 2022, we gathered at Nicholson Speedway in Chestertown, Maryland for the Fifth Annual VKA Vintage Karting Reunion. The turnout featured many familiar faces, in most cases seeing one another for the first time this season.

This event’s official schedule promised a three day format, offering test and tune on Thursday and demonstration Heat races on Friday and Saturday.

Plenty of Rears to be judged at Nicholson.

Thursday brought with it numerous early arrivals, eager to get on the track and get down to optimizing their engine and chassis tuning. Frankly, I found myself simply struggling to keep mufflers and carburetors attached by all of their intended fasteners. (For Heaven’s sake, I use a torque wrench! Such issues should not plague me!) We definitely got all of the track time one could ask for. At the end of the day, we cleaned ourselves up and regrouped for dinner at Harbor Shack, a local Chesapeake Bay waterfront restaurant. As usual, the food was excellent and our group enjoyed each other’s company and camaraderie.

Great field of Historics take the start.

Friday’s weather forecast had become an elephant in the room several days earlier, and offered the possibility of thunderstorms and heavy rain throughout the day. Several of us gathered in the timing tower, and, armed with up-to-date radar weather maps predicting downpours, we decided to continue practice throughout the day, planning for demonstration Heats on Saturday. As it turned out, the predicted squalls held off until mid-afternoon, as we were cleaning up and looking forward to dinner. The weather system brought high winds and heavy rain. Anchored to some heavy disc brake rotors, my canopy stayed put, but some of the frame connections and rivets were torn and twisted. It was no vintage canopy, and is easily replaceable. I didn’t hear of any more serious damage, so we’ll count our blessings. At the end of the day, once again, dinner and drinks were enjoyed at Harbor Shack.

Four-cycles showed up at Nicholson and ran very well

Saturday, as planned, was “Track Day”, but putting first things first…we had a Kart Show to put on. This weekend’s Kart Show featured 22 entries, including a fine variety of machinery ranging from some very well-restored Rears to some very original, unrestored Sidewinders. Skip Owen, Bruce Ristow, and I judged the show. While trying to be conscious of our time constraints, we had a lot to consider when picking out the “Best” in any category. That said, I’m always impressed by the enthusiasm with which the People’s Choice “Best in Show” ballots are cast! After wrapping up the Kart Show, we rotated through a few sessions of test and tune, and then we got right into the Demonstration Heats. The entries were consolidated into eight groups. With the exception of a brief downpour which evaporated off of the boiling hot pavement in no time at all, we were spared any further aggression from Mother Nature. All three Heats were completed by mid afternoon.

John Wolkiewicz won Historic Restored Rear show award with his beautiful ’64 SAE with a WB820 on board.

I believe we owe this event’s success to the enthusiasm and interest of the Nicholson Speedway staff and club members who assist on site, and to a kind of grass roots initiative amongst the VKA members themselves, all of whom worked together to keep the event on schedule and running right. While, with the modified schedule, it wasn’t a perfectly conventional event, I think I can say that we all had a blast. Nicholson Speedway clearly supports Vintage Karting, and they’ve made clear, by their words and actions, that we are welcome to enjoy their facility and their hospitality.

Next stop: Lafayette Motorsports Park, June 24 & 25, 2022. Be there or be square.

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2022 VKA Land of Lincoln Vintage Weekend

July 8. 2022

by Adminin Events

2022 VKA Land of Lincoln Vintage Weekend

Hosted by: Mid-State Kart Club, Springfield, Illinois

By Ken Wooldridge
Photos by Christy Miller

The Midstate VKA event was held Thursday 5/19/22 Thru Saturday 5/21. Thursday was open practice and was a great day with 65 entries at the track.

Friday we had a total of 78 entries and ran 2 heat races with a outstanding group of VKA drivers. The weather forecast and fuel prices seemed to hold back some from attending.

Jon Clem (Midstate Kart Club president) and his staff did an outstanding job as usual at this outstanding facility and track. VKA is very fortunate to have this great facility on its schedule every year. I also want to thank Christy Miller for all her hard work doing the photos for this event. Christy does an outstanding job for us!

We held the kart show shortly after the 2^nd heat race with a great group of vintage karts.

Friday evening, we had a free barbecue dinner thanks to Doug Sharp, The Nagel family, and Dudley Fleck sponsoring the food. Jesse James furnished the beverages. I also want to thank Jon Clem for doing all the leg work for the dinner, the Curry family and the other folks that helped serve the dinner. This was one of the best VKA dinners I can remember!

Friday during the dinner we also had a raffle drawing on the HPV motor donated by Gil and Danny Birge. Dave Doogan was the lucky winner of the motor! Darin Birge (Gil’s Grandson) also donated several tools that were drawn for after the motor. I can’t thank Gil, Danny, and Darin enough for the donations!

Rain set in late Friday night and continue into Saturday. Unfortunately, I had to call the event early Saturday. We had a small break in the rain around 9AM Saturday and held the award ceremony based on the two heats ran Friday. Jon Clem also has tremendous giveaways of tools, etc., that is give away prizes for each entry at the awards. This is an outstanding VKA event, and I hope more of you can make it next year!

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The 2022 16th Annual GSKA VKA Vintage Kart Winter Nationals

June 11. 2022

by Adminin Events

The 2022 16th Annual GSKA VKA Vintage Kart Winter Nationals

Lamar County Speedway, Barnesville, GA
4/7/22 thru 4/9/22

By Bob Barthelemy
Photos By Leah Bennett

The vintage karters started rolling into the Lamar County Speedway Wednesday morning and continued throughout the afternoon. A monsoon type downpour started around 5:00 pm and continued throughout the evening. We prepared for the inevitable track drying activity for Thursday morning.

Tony Severino (#52), Blaine Young, and Rob Rizuto in the sportsman Rear group

With wet/dry vacuums, blowers, and other hand tools we were able to get the track dry and ready for practice by 9:15 Thursday morning. By the way, the weather was beautiful for the remainder of the weekend activities. As many more vintage karters arrived and completed registration, and track-drying activity was happening, Tommy Hinson, and I (Bob Barthelemy) completed the safety tech inspection of all in attendance. The track was opened for practice just before 10:00 am and continued through 12:30 as we shut down for a lunch break. The Firehouse Cafe again provided a good variety of excellent food for the event. We opened the track for afternoon practice by group with Juniors, Senior Rears, Senior Sidewinders, and Duals practicing in their respective groups. This helped to keep the practice sessions safe with like speed karts on the track at all times. The junior drivers (5 entries) were then allotted a (10) minute practice session followed again by the senior groups. We repeated this order throughout the day and closed the track for practice at 5:30 pm. I am very encouraged that the VKA has agreed to sponsor the junior drivers with a reimbursed entry fee to the promoters (the junior drivers are responsible for their wrist band and meal ticket fees, the VKA reimburses the promoters for the difference).

Sean was dominant in the 100 cc classic A group

Friday, we opened the track at 9:00 am and resumed practice with the same groups that ran Thursday afternoon. Friday was another beautiful day with temps in the low to mid-eighties, similar to Thursday. After lunch, we called all drivers and pit crews to the drivers meeting congratulating the drivers on their respectful driving during all practice sessions and encourage them to do so during the demonstration heats as well, emphasizing safety-safety-safety! We also recognized a long time karter, Bill Jackson, whose favorite track is Barnesville. As many of you know, Bill has been fighting cancer over the past few years and has an awesome testimony of how God has been with him all the way. We dedicated the sweeping 180 degree turn coming on to the front straight away as the Jackson Sweeper. We mounted signs on both sides of the fence and presented one to Bill to take home. Needless to say it was an emotional time. Aubrey McClellan lead us in the national anthem Todd Shearin lead us in prayer prior to starting the heat/ demonstration events. Pastor Todd also called the track activities on the PA system throughout the weekend, making it even more exciting for the spectators and fans. We had 19 VKA classes represented and by grouping some of the classes together we were able to run all classes in 12 groups. We completed two heat demonstrations Friday afternoon and by 5:45 pm then enjoyed a delicious heavy orders meal provided by Glen & Vicki Forsyth (Firehouse Cafe) & GSKA to the vintage karters and crew members.

Sean Collins leads a pack of 100cc classics and 100 cc sidewinders into turn 1

Bill Stocksdale and his team of judges; Tony Severino, and Al Hasenfratz got the kart show judging activity going at 9:00 am Saturday morning on the front straight at the start/finish line. Fair showing of 14 karts entered in the show, and these were some beautiful machines. The Kart Show awards were presented a little after 10:00. We held a 50/50 raffle collecting $1200 ($600 to the winner Chris Hagan and $600 to the VKA. Gay Wlodarsky also conducted a $50 ticket 50/50 raffle and raised an additional $350. We recognized a couple legends of karting Dicky Wilson and Lake Speed and also provided a furthest traveled award to Colm Bryan O’Higgins from Ontario, Canada. The track was then opened for 30 minutes of practice. We called a quick drivers meeting, prayed, we started the third round of heat races by 11:00 am. We completed the third round of heat races before 1:00 pm., then presented the awards for the demonstrations and finished by 2:30 p.m

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The 2022 2nd Annual NFKC / GSKA VKA Vintage Winter Ice Breaker

May 15. 2022

by Adminin Events

The 2022 2nd Annual NFKC / GSKA VKA Vintage Winter Ice Breaker

103^rd St. Sports Complex, Jacksonville, Fl.
3/3/22 thru 3/5/22

By Bob Barthelemy
Photos by Leah Bennett

The Florida Sunshine state lived up to its name, at least at southwest Jacksonville’s 103^rd Street Sports complex for the 2nd annual VKA Vintage Ice Breaker, with temperatures in the high 70’s and low 80’s for the entire event. Many vintage karters arrived Wednesday to get their pit spots set up, and continued throughout the day Thursday. A big thank you to the NFKC & GSKA workers for a well-run event! A special thanks to Tommy Hinson who served as the main flagman and safety tech inspector for throughout the weekend. Thank you to all the Vintage Karters with 57 entries participating at this event.

After a round of safety tech inspections Thursday morning, the track was opened for open practice at 10:30. There was a slight delay due to one of those freak occurrences of locking the track keys in the camper- sorry Lynne but remember you have been forgiven! Lynne Brown (NFKC) was also a huge help keeping things running smooth throughout the weekend. We started with open practice for all senior drivers (40 minute session with a max of 10 karts on the track at a time). The junior drivers (2 entries) were then allotted a (10) minute practice session followed again by the senior drivers. We repeated this order throughout the day and closed the track for practice at 5:30 pm. I am very encouraged that the VKA has agreed to sponsor the junior drivers with a reimbursed entry fee to the promoters (the junior drivers are responsible for their wrist band and meal ticket fees, the VKA reimburses the promoters for the difference).

Marc and Jerry Nagel in drift mode in dual rear class

Friday, we opened the track at 9:00 am and resumed practice. After lunch, we called all drivers and pit crews to the drivers meeting congratulating the drivers on their respectful driving during all practice sessions and encourage them to do so during the demonstrations/ Heats as well emphasizing safety-safety-safety! We had 17 VKA classes represented and by grouping some of the classes together we were able to run all classes in 10 groups. We completed two heat demonstrations Friday afternoon and by 6:00 pm then pizza was provided by GSKA & NFKC to all the vintage karters and crewmembers.

Scott Nagle #7 and Stuart Keller slamming into the front straight right-hander.

Tony Severino and his team of judges got the kart show judging activity going at 9:00 a.m. Saturday morning at the starting grid. Although we had had only nine karts entered in the show, these were some beautiful machines. The Kart Show awards were presented a little after 10:00 we then opened the track for 30 minutes of practice. We called a quick drivers meeting, prayed, we started the third round of heat races before lunch. We completed the third round of heat races before 2:00 pm., then presented the awards for the demonstrations and finished by 3:00 p.m.

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The Faye “Ladybug” Pierson Memorial Karting Reunion

March 11. 2022

by Adminin Events

The Faye “Ladybug” Pierson Memorial Karting Reunion

The 2022 Adams Event Was a Memorably Affair

By Leonard Emanuelson
Photos by Wayne Mass & Julie Watson

Adams Motorsports Park is located in the Inland Empire of Southern California, more specifically the city of Riverside. Like most of SoCal, it is a desert – massively irrigated so that it doesn’t resemble a desert, but still a desert. VKA’s premier west coast event, the Annual Vintage Kart Reunion is traditionally held the first part of February, and the weather is always a crapshoot. It can be a sunny 80-degrees, or like in 2019 a near rainout. This year’s 17^th Annual Reunion honoring Faye “Ladybug” Pierson, was cold and windy with overnight temps dipping in the high 30s. Compared to the icecap gripping the rest of the country, Adams was the place to be but the plunging afternoon temps and Santa Ana winds dampened some of the evening festivities, but the vintage karters soldiered on.

We lost several vintage karters in ’21 & ’22. The most notable was Faye “Ladybug” Pierson who drove her signature Bug kart here for the final time in 2020 at the age of 91. There were several photo displays of Faye and other karting legends whom we dearly miss. A few of the others include Rick Gifford whose karting career included a national championship in every division of karting. Tom Smith, a talented vintage kart restorer/fabricator, and Jerry Imbroden, the long-time Adam’s track photographer.

Dual Sidewinder, C-Open, 300 Classic – call it want you want, but the action is awesome! Opening laps of Heat 2 here with winner Steve O’Hara followed by the Hannon Gang – Brian Hannon and Doug Waterman. Brian’s K35s led many laps, but the Swantek Bro’s K-30s on “Goldfinger” prevailed.

Another great friend in karting we lost this year was John Motley from Paso Robles, California. John owned Yamaha of San Luis Obispo and Race Kart Engineering. He was heavily involved in modern karting too, serving as a tech director for SKUSA for many years. His daughter Kelley Coons and son-in-law, Randy Coons brought a huge trailer of John’s collection of kart parts from over the years. Several engines, pipes, karts and even a Rathman Exterminator were for sale.

My photo doesn’t do Steve O’Hara’s Caretta II/Mc30 justice, but the judges awarded it Best Modified Historic Rear Engine kart. It is a beauty!

In 2021 the VKA “Reunion” was relegated to a “Fun Day” due to Covid. This year vintage karters were happy to return to a full event schedule promoted by Louie Figone and Joe Swantek and hosted by Adams Motorsports Park. Some highlights were the Thursday lunch provided by JMax-Torque’s Jim Donovan, ably assisted by Dean Kanocz and Jack Murray. The Randy Holt estate provided the excellent pizza Thursday night, and the Adam’s family and VKA hosted dinner and a jazz band on Friday night.

Virtually unlimited track time was available on Thursday and Friday, and the heats went off without a hitch on Saturday. When nearly 130 karts descended on the historic track the action was hot and heavy, and we were all treated to watch a couple of karting legends dominate the action. Steve O’hara won both heats in 300 classic and 150 classic. Howard Combee got the trifecta with dual Yamaha, 100cc Open and Yamaha Stock Appearing. The always tough Tom Wilms, captured the Historic honors and and Martin Johnson won Dual Rear. None of these guys have lost a step in 30 years!

Here is the remainder of the pack behind O’Hara in the second heat. #19 Ron Funkhouser from Indiana was having mechanical problems. Jason Gibb #83 leads Cayden Spring in a Swantek entry, followed up by Richard Swantek in #19.

While participation was down slightly over previous years, the vintage karters that traveled long distances were way up. The Hannon Gang from Seattle just keeps growing, and was joined by other Washingtonites Jason Gibb, Mike Stryker and Stan Crocker, to name a few. Doug Sharp hauled much of his Vintage Museum Restoration from Indiana and his dual 101-powered Hartman was the talk of the pits. Alex Odenthal showed up from Idaho and ran a direct-drive Dap T-80 out of the Hannon camp. Jason Gibb’s brother Chris showed up from Texas to drive his brother’s second kart. Dennis Faust and his wife brought two beautiful vintage Emmicks for sale and a Yamaha single to race from the Phoenix area. But undoubtedly the long distance award goes to Frank Weir from VROOM magazine who traveled all the way from Ireland.

The Adam’s Kart Show did not disappoint. While the amount of participants was noticeably lighter, the quality just keeps getting better. Doug Sharp showed some amazing karts from his Vintage Museum Restoration and won Best Modified Rear Engine for his ’61 McCulloch 300. Alan Paolercio and Bug Cooper are a traveling karting “event” by themselves (usually showing up with no less than 10 of Alan’s karts) — were rewarded with Best Un-Restored Rear and Sidewinder classes. The Washington state folks showed well too with Stan Crocker’s ’69 Bug Stinger winning Best Restored Sidewinder and the Tom Pierson “Best Bug In Show” award. Jason Gibb’s ’82 Proline captured the “Peoples Choice” award. Jsson has made the transition from racing dirt karts to vintage, and says he loves the karting and the people. Check the photos out – other stunning karts include Steve O’Hara’s Carretta II, Rennie Goldberg’s Lancer and Paul Wright’s Bug Stinger Enduro.

If Adams is any indication, the ’22 VKA season is going to be awesome!