Written by:
SPEED Staff
SPEEDtv.com
The 10 race 2009 Jim Russell Northern California Rotax Challenge kicks off this weekend, and will run 3 races at Dixon (including a night race) and 7 races at the Jim Russell Kart track at Infineon Raceway. The best 8 of 10 races will count toward the championship.
The 2009 Jim Russell Northern California Rotax Challenge will likely be the largest regional series in the US this year which goes to show how popular the Rotax classes in Nor Cal have become since their humble beginnings at Infineon Raceway in 2003.
Early indications are for strong fields in the 4 National classes from the 2008 season. Junior Rotax should be especially strong with only 2 drivers from the 2008 season having to move up the Senior class. Expect to see strong performances from Donovan Wheeler, Brody Zink and Bobby Tifft. The Senior class will again be a strong class this year. In addition to the return of Series champ Gregory Liefooghe and strong racers Nikola Radosavlievich and Matt Powers, look to see to Junior graduates Jordan Jadallah and Jordan Miller to make for a very competitive field in 2009. The Masters and Masters Light fields also look to have a strong turnout. The Rotax DD2 class will again have the largest regional field of any series in the Western US.
New for 2009 is the addition of the Micro Max (8 to 10 years) and the Mini Max (10 to 12 years) classes. The addition of these two Junior 1 classes will complete the Rotax class offerings that exist throughout the US. The early inputs are that a number of drivers are planning to move over to these classes in 2009 and take advantage of the lower maintenance costs and the level playing field of Rotax racing.
In addition to the Northern California Challenge honors, members of Rotax USA will also be racing for the National Rotax Points championship. Drivers from each regional series throughout the country compete against each other based on the points earned at the regional level. In 2008, Northern California Rotax drivers won 3 of the 6 Nationals points Championships.
Sponsorship for the Norcal Rotax Challenge has been building. Marin Karting from Novato,CA is the series organizer and owner Adrian Szwarcburg has announced sponsorship from Ribtect (a Ribtect vest for each class champion), Sanzaru Games ($1000 worth of video games and consoles), Motoring Memories (artwork and discount certificates), J&D Snack Shack (lunch certificates to be raffled off at each race.) and of course, Jim Russell Racing Driver Schools (final prize package still to be announced).
In addition, the Jim Russell Northern California Rotax Challenge will have expanded press coverage at several sites including the F1Weekly.com podcast, SPEEDtv.com, norcalkarters.com, ekartingnews.com.
The 2009 season is shaping up to be bigger than last year's successful 2008 season and a lot of fun competitive racing is expected.
