CONCORD, NC - As entries begin to pour into the WKA Office for the second stop of three for the all new WKA Winter Cup Series Feb 5-7 at 103rd Street Sports Complex in Jacksonville, Florida, the list is a virtual Who’s Who in 2 and 4 cycle competition. Headlining the entry list on the 2 cycle side is 2 time Daytona KartWeek winner Alex Bertagnoli, winner of both the Franklinkart.com Yamaha Junior, and Woltjer Racing Engines Pro IAME Junior classes. Bertagnoli leads the Merlin Chassis Camp, fresh off of 3 wins at Daytona, while fellow Merlin driver and defending Pro IAME Class champion Brandon Lemke has also filed his entry for the weekends activities. The Top Kart camp will be lead into battle with additional Daytona KartWeek winners as Dakota Pesek and Connor Ferris have filed their respective early entries. Pesek, the 2015 Yamaha Senior Pipe winner on the Bridgestone Manufacturers Cup Series, continued his winning ways, taking one of the two Fullerton Karts USA Yamaha Senior wins at Daytona, while Ferris impressively took down the field in the IAME USA East Pro Swift Sportsman class. Other Top Kart drivers already filing early entries include 3 time 2015 champion Jason Welage, Kaden Wharff, Karsyn Walters, Austin and Emil Schulz, not to mention defending Kid Kart Champion Ben Maier, as well as 2015 5th place points driver Danny Dyszelski, both drivers now moving up into the CRPRACING.COM Mini Swift class this season.
A couple of the top Tony Kart drivers to be on the watch for include Ty Gibbs, fresh off of top 10 runs at Daytona. Gibbs will be running the Pro IAME Junior class, while chassis teammate Rylee Engel will be another young gun to be aware of, running both Yamaha Sportsman and Pro Swift Sportsman.
A top five run at Daytona will make Nicholas Terlecki one of the heavyweights on a Birel chassis, while Checkered Motorsports will be out in full force, lead by one of the top young female racers in Annie Rhule. A top 10 performer last year in the Swift Cup, Rhule will be challenging all in the Yamaha and Pro Swift Sportsman classes.
But while this will mark a welcomed return to Jacksonville for 2 cycle competition, the Winter Cup isn’t confined to just the 2 cycle racers. Following a more than impressive event at Daytona, the Briggs and Stratton LO 206 Junior and Senior classes will be loaded for bear, with Daytona winner Corey Towles leading the charge. Also joining Towles in the Senior ranks includes Coyote racers Sean Meier and Matt Mayes, with drivers such as Jimmy Cole Jackson, Cale and Cody Hall, and many others trying their hand at both 2 and 4 cycle competition.
Entry information for the Jax Winter Cup is online, as is the entry blank for the series third and final event March 4-6 at Go Pro Motorplex in Mooresville, North Carolina.
Competitors should be reminded there is very little difference in the Class Structure from the Daytona event to Jacksonville. With Daytona serving a dual purpose, as the first race for both the Winter Cup and the Bridgestone Manufacturers Cup Series, with the exception of the Yamaha Junior and Senior classes, all other classes will be running, making a grand total of 8 classes per day, with the top 3 receiving awards each day, and an overall weekends champion per class recognized with special awards, courtesy of Checkered Motorsports. Prior to the heats and mains, drivers will go through the qualifying effort, with Fast Time awards being sponsored by Comet Kart Sales. Here’s a list of the Winter Cup classes at Jacksonville.
CRPRACING.COM: Mini Swift
Woltjer Racing Engines: Pro IAME Junior
Allison Racing Engines: Yamaha Sportsman
Briggs and Stratton: LO206 Senior
KARTSPORT North America: Pro IAME Senior
IAME USA East: Pro Swift Sportsman
Water for a Cause: Kid Kart
Briggs and Stratton: LO 206 Junior