East Division Finale: OVRP

The third and last event for the East series is next weekend, at Tim Hannen’s Oakland Valley Raceway Park (OVRP). Here’s a quick recap of the East series’ 2024 season so far.

The first stop at United Karting was CKNA’s first race on a parking lot racetrack, located at the Baltimore Washington International Airport.  This was an exciting challenge for karters who had never raced on a parking lot circuit before. On top of that, it rained on both race days elevating the level of skill needed to handle this new venue.

The next race was at New Jersey Motorsports Park (NJMP) where the competitors got “Liberated”.  As it always does, NJMP’s Liberator track provided excellent racing and close competition. The sun shined for the entire weekend, giving the drivers in the Division their first real opportunity to compete under normal racing conditions.

Now we are on to the third and final leg of the East Divisional Championship. OVRP is a traditional Kart track that has a history of running major events for some of the major karting organizations from the past as well as other more recent series in the Northeast, making it an ideal place for the final points round of the 2024 season.

Hannen Motorsports spent time analyzing international standards for karting tracks as set by the FIA and CIK and researched every track in North America to come up with the best configuration possible, taking racing at OVRP to the next level. This track challenges the karter with its long straight-a-way, uphill climb and add to that a horseshoe turn while going into an incline.

Whether trying to nail down a CKNA East Championship or to test your skills against some of the best 4 cycle drivers in North America, OVRP will be the place to be next weekend. This highly contested division features some of the best drivers in 4-cycle karting:

Kid Kart

Spencer Hite currently leads the Kid Kart standings. This 7-year-old has been showing the fast way around at every track he visits.

Cadet

In Cadet, John Dwyer will be defending his points lead over Cole Decker.

Junior

There is a 3-way battle for the championship in Junior among Levi Getz, Jordan Cline and Paulie Hart.

Legends

None other than Tim Hannen is the person to beat at his home track. However, you can’t count out Rodrigo De Francisco who also calls OVRP his home track, or Tim Stiefel who waits for nobody when it comes to getting to the finish line first.

Masters

The Masters class’s Eric King sits at the top right now. However, he is being chased by Jason Zobkiw who returned this season to the racing scene, along with John Price who is last year’s East Masters Champion. Neither can be counted out in this race for the championship.

Sportsman

Sportsman driver Wyatt Fink has been on fire this year, but Max Mitev and Aiden Shoemaker will definitely take the challenge to him going into this final race.

Sr. Heavy

Senior Heavy has Brady Atwood first in points.  I’m sure he will continue to be fast, but Cooper Van Horn might take a liking to this OVRP track and give Brady a run for the championship.  And don’t count out Ryan Miller.  He has been getting faster at each race.

Sr. Light

In Senior Light, Hudson Brown is the points leader. David Baker did best him at NJMP, so the competition is far from over. And watch out for Nathan Guerreiro, who could be the one to break up the top two.

Sr. Medium

Senior Medium is usually the largest class and it brings the spectators to the fences.  Hudson Brown leads this class as well closely followed by Maryland’s Brady Atwood, who is looking to take the points lead. Brady is not going to have it easy. Josh Stiefel, who was injured all last season, is back in the seat and is looking to return back to the top step of the podium

Whether you are coming to compete for a championship, or are a first-time racer in this CKNA series, it is a great opportunity to see how you stack up against the best 4 cycle drivers in North America. Or, if you are just coming to watch, OVRP is a great place to be a spectator.  The race will go on, rain or shine.

For those visiting OVRP for the first time, the famous Lego Land is just about 20 miles away.  I wish all a very safe and competitive race. When this is behind us, we’ll be getting ready for the CKNA Grand Nationals on Oct 10th – 13th.

Tony “The Toe” Cirillo

CKNA East Director

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