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The 2024 Cup Karts season is well underway! Our South Division just completed it’s 3rd round at Atlanta Motorsports Park, North starts in just a few days at the iconic G&J Kartway, and the Canadian and East Divisions are just weeks away from starting their seasons.
With our first race for the East Division coming up in just a few short weeks, our vey own Tony “The Toe” Cirillo made an excellent write up regarding the upcoming East Division Season:
To all of the Karters that raced the Northeast (NE) Divisional series in 2023, thank you for making it a big success in its first year. Looking forward towards the 2024 East series as we are now calling it, the year should prove to be exciting and challenging. The East series will have coverage by Kart Lounge (https://kartlounge.com/).
There are some changes for the racers. First, it will be a 3-weekend divisional series made up of 6 points days. Each weekend has separate points awarded Saturday and Sunday. The series will be the best 5 out of 6 days to accumulate points towards the divisional championship. Hopefully with only 3 race weekends (6 points days), this will give the Karters some time to compete at their local events or any of the other CKNA Divisional and National events.
In 2023 the NE series raced on a traditional kart track, Oakland Valley Raceway Park (OVRP) and 3 of the famous Motor Sports tracks: Charlotte Motor Speedway, New Jersey Motorsport Park (NJMP) and Pitt Race International (PRI).
The first race in the 2024 East series will be at United Karting, located at the Baltimore Washington International (BWI) Airport on May 3rd – 5th. Just as NASCAR took their racers off the traditional racetrack in Chicago, CKNA is taking its racers off the traditional kart track with its race at BWI. United Karting at BWI adds a new challenge for those Karters who never raced on a parking lot temporary-style circuit. The facility has been there for several years and has hosted many different organization’s races. Karters who attend this race will need to be ready for racing on a different surface than most conventional tracks. I believe the level of competition that CKNA brings to all of their races will prove that 4-cycle racers rise to meet any challenge and show how skilled they are.
The second race in the series will be back at NJMP on July 26th – 28th on the Liberator track. Last season we received a lot of positive comments about this facility. The track offered some really close racing on a great surface.
The third and final race of the series will be at OVRP on Sept 6th – 8th. This is a traditional kart track with a long straight-a-way, some technical turns and elevations. The original track design was influenced by karting legend Lynn Haddock. OVRP is in New York and sits very close to the New Jersey and Pennsylvania borders. It is also very close to Lego Land in Goshen, NY! At this time of year, we might find a slight chill in the air changing the characteristics of the track as compared to last year’s race. OVRP has held many major events over its history, and CKNA is excited to have been added to their history books.
In 2023 the NE series raced on a traditional kart track, Oakland Valley Raceway Park (OVRP) and 3 of the famous Motor Sports tracks: Charlotte Motor Speedway, New Jersey Motorsport Park (NJMP) and Pitt Race International (PRI).
The 3 races that the East Division offers will be a test of Karter’s abilities. And for some, the ability to learn from the best on how to navigate different race venues and the challenges that each event will bring will be invaluable experience.
For looking for National level competition, CKNA did not forget the East. The Inaugural CKNA Summer National, scheduled for June 21 -23rd will be held at Pitt Race International (PRI) formerly Beaver Run. This race will get Karters ready for the Grand National being held in October at New Castle. With its challenging Wilson track that takes over a minute to get around, and the highly competitive local club racers there defending their home track; this is a race that truly crowns a National Champion. Last season featured over 180 entries in the divisional race. Some of the top champions and competitors from the North, Canadian and the South (Winter) series were there challenging the Eastern Karters. Thanks to Baron Racing, this race will have live coverage on You Tube by Kart Chaser. It will also get coverage by Kart Lounge.
CKNA continues to make Karting history, with over 500 entries at the 2023 Grand Nationals and over 500 entries at the Spring 2024 National. I welcome all Karters to accept this challenge and to go down in karting history as true champions. At the very least, you will get to say that you raced with the very best at the CKNA events.
Tony Cirillo CKNA Eastern Division Coordinator
