The 2023 California ProKart Challenge will begin on the March 11-12 weekend at Buttonwillow Raceway Park. The 19th season of the Superkarts! USA regional program visits the California facility for the first round of the six-round championship series. The race will be the first major event within the state on the season, with big numbers anticipated for the two-day event.
Buttonwillow has been a popular and consistent destination for the series, with its centralized location between northern and southern California. The opening round is slated for the national circuit in the counter-clockwise direction, including the popular ‘Spa’ and ‘Le Mans’ section that produce exciting finishes.
The 2023 California ProKart Challenge schedule has been revised from what was originally slated heading into the calendar year, due mostly to weather delaying the completion of the new K1 Circuit in Winchester, California.
“Weather has not been friendly to us here in the southern California region over the last few months, including this past week,” stated Superkarts! USA CEO Tom Kutscher. “The new K1 Circuit has had delays in completing their final phase of construction before opening their doors, which we anticipate will be later this Spring. The facility will be a key partner to SKUSA and the California ProKart Challenge now and in the future, and we look forward to hosting our first ever event there in August.”
Both Round One and Round Two will now be held at Buttonwillow, with the second event scheduled for May 6-7 in the ‘clockwise’ direction. July 8-9 welcomes the historic Santa Maria Karting Association facility for the third round of the championship. The lone ‘double-header’ event – with two rounds contested over the August 18-20 weekend – will be the first Superkarts! USA event at the new K1 Circuit. California PKC closes out the 2023 season with a return to K1 Circuit on September 23-24 to decide the series champions for 19th season.
Each of the single-round weekends will feature a full day of practice plus qualifying on Saturday, followed by the Prefinal and Final action contested on Sunday. This year’s series format will again be a ‘Best 5 of 6 races’, with competitors having the ability to drop one round towards their year-end points total. A noteworthy series update is the recent Superkarts! USA rule change that allows any race to be ‘dropped’ without restriction.
The class structure for the 2023 California ProKart Challenge features the nine Superkarts! USA national categories along with four regional classes. The cadet divisions include Mini Swift and Micro Swift. All three X30 categories will be contested with Senior, Junior, and Master. All three age groups are offered for the KA100 engine package as well with Senior, Junior and Master. Pro Shifter and Master Shifter represent the national shifterkart divisions, while two new Open Shifter divisions – allowing engines aside from KZ and the IAME SSE – is offered for Senior and Master levels. S5 Junior Stock Moto will also continue as a regional class option.
“A popular series feature has been our class structure, which hasn’t changed much over the last few seasons,” added Kutscher. “One adjustment we have made is opening the regional shifterkart class to all engine makes. Shifterkart racing is what SKUSA was founded on, and it’s our bloodline. We want all shifter racers to be welcomed at the California ProKart Challenge, and we strongly urge them all to come out and be part of the program. I know they won’t want to miss our three rounds at K1. That track is going to energize our sport immensely.”
Superkarts! USA would like to thank the following companies for their support and class sponsorship for the 2023 California ProKart Challenge: P1 Engines, SuperSpeed Bearings, Speedsense Motorsports, HRT Driver Development, Nash Motorsportz, Empire Karts, Factory Karts, Mike Manning Karting, ELF Oil, Aspen Fuel, and Evinco Tires.
Another consistent part of the California ProKart Challenge program is the lucrative event and year-end prizes awarded each season. 2023 is no different, with a nearly $70,000 prize package over the six-round program. The daily podium prizes for the top-three finishers at each round for every category competing with a minimum of 6 drivers includes a free 2023 PKC entry with tires for first place, a free PKC entry for second, and a $50 MSR credit to third – along with high-quality trophies presented at each podium ceremony. Year-end awards will continue to recognize the top-three in each championship category. At this time, Superkarts! USA is still formulating the final season-ending prize package – along with an end-of-year celebration to rival those in the past. Keep checking the series webpage for further details surrounding the championship purse for 2023.
Race Pre-Entry remains open for the California ProKart Challenge 2023 opener at Buttonwillow until the online registration deadline of Tuesday, March 7 at 11:59 pm PST. As always, a 2023 SKUSA membership is mandatory to register and compete. Complete race and venue information, along with a tentative weekend schedule, can be found at the PKC Event Page. Reserved pit spots and camping reservations are highly recommended prior to the pre-entry cutoff and can also be found online.
For more information on anything related to Superkarts! USA, please visit the website – www.superkartsusa.com and be sure to follow the Superkarts! USA Facebook page, Twitter, and Instagram accounts.