As the 2015 national racing campaign has come to an end, so does the year long battle for one of the most coveted titles in the karting industry, that being the bragging rights for chassis manufacturers sporting the most wins by their drivers in a season. With the final event for the VEGA/TS Racing National Road Race Series wrapping up just a couple weeks ago in Kentucky, the season long battle between Competition Karting Inc, known as CKI, and Mind Game Motorsports, also known as MGM, was settled. After losing the top spot to MGM on the Road Race side in 2014, CKI roared back to claim 51 victories in the 2015 season, with MGM holding a strong second with 33 wins overall. While at least 25+ chassis’s were represented in 2015, CKI and MGM began the battle at Daytona, taking the lead, quickly distancing themselves from the rest of the field.
John Klutz and the CKI gang will receive their latest Manufacturers Championship Award at the annual Road Race Awards Presentation, with date, time, and location still to be determined.
The first title to be snared this year came on the Bridgestone Manufacturers Cup Series in late August in Pittsburgh where Top Kart won an extremely tight battle with Merlin and Tony Kart for supremacy in the 2cycle sprint category. Top Kart emerged with 15 wins this season, while Merlin and Tony Kart shadowed the winner across the stripe with 11 and 10 wins respectively, clearly one of the closest and best battles in recent history. Praga also registered some very notable wins in 2015, netting 6 wins on their chassis, coming in a close 4th. Bill McLaughlin will receive the honors for Top Kart at the Manufacturers Cup year end Awards Presentation Dec 27 at the Daytona Beach Resort and Hotel, as part of the Daytona KartWeek festivities.
A familiar old friend returned to victory lane in the RLV Tuned Exhaust Products Gold Cup Series with former champion Bandit Racing Chassis returning to the top of the heap in one of the most competitive seasons ever in 4 Cycle Sprint racing. Coming down to the final event in Barnesville, Georgia in late September, Bandit scored enough wins to stave off former champion Razor Chassis, who wound up with 22 wins, while Arrow Racing Chassis, the leader for most of the season, finished third with 21 wins.
Tommy Triplett and the Bandit gang will be honored with their award at the Gold Cup Year End Awards Ceremony, with date, location, and times currently being finalized.
On behalf of the World Karting Association, congratulations to the 3 Chassis winners this year, and to the countless amount of drivers, crewmembers, and sponsors, providing the support for these companies to return to the top of the heap. Congrats just as equally to the companies that finished right behind this years winners, providing some awesome competition and a great variety of professional equipment for drivers to have the opportunity to choose from.