Two of Three AKRA Sprint Cup Northern Tour Events Confirmed

Series to visit Avon, NY and Chestertown, MD sprint tracks this summer

AKRA is pleased to announce we have confirmed two of the three inaugural  American Sprint Cup Series “Northern Tour” events as this exciting new 2-cycle and 4-cycle combined program continues to take shape.

The Northern Tour will open June 3-5 at the Genesee Valley Kart Club in Avon, NY, a historic sprint track a short drive from Rochester in Western New York.
For decades the Avon sprint track has hosted GVKC club series and other regional-level events. In recent years the club and its supporters have invested a considerable amount of money in repaving the entire track and widening it in select areas.

We hope bringing an AKRA regional series Grand National qualifier to Avon  will help grow participation for the GVKC club throughout the 2016 season. We believe the GVKC will provide a fine opening venue for the Northern Tour with a safe, challenging track; clean facility; adequate parking areas and a fun, friendly atmosphere.

While round two of the Northern Tour is still To Be Announced, round three will be in Maryland at Nicholson Speedway in Chestertown.

The Northern Tour will conclude August 26-28 at Nicholson, a quarter-mile sprint track that in the past has hosted national 4-cycle sprint events. The track holds weekly club events from April through November each year, and this year’s AKRA Northern Tour race will mark the first traveling series to visit Chestertown quite some time.

We feel both GVKC and Nicholson fit into the American Sprint Cup’s objectives and goals nicely. We hope these Northern Tour events will help generate interest in the sport and get racers throughout the region excited to bring their karts out to race against other karters throughout the Northeast and Midwest.

Much appreciation and thanks goes out to Al Gutberlet of GVKC and John Anderson of Nicholson Speedway for the opportunity to bring the AKRA Sprint Cup Series to the Avon and Chestertown tracks.

We’re working hard to confirm round two of the Northern Tour and we’ll announce as soon as the track and date are confirmed.

Drivers who enter and compete in a minimum of three 2016 American Sprint Cup regional events qualify for an AKRA Grand National Championship at the October 21-23 AKRA Grand National Championship in Jacksonville, FL. AKRA is offering three Northern and three Southern regional events in 2016 (six total). Drivers may choose to compete in any three events to become eligible for a Grand National Championship in their class.

Regional points and Grand National Championship prize packages to be announced soon!

Below is a preliminary class structure for the Sprint Cup Northern Tour:

AKRA “Northern Tour”

Tentative Class Structure
Kid Kart (Comer) (age 5 to 8)
206 Cadet 265# (age 7 to 12)

TaG Cadet 235# (Mini Swift) (age 7 to 12)

Yamaha Cadet 235# (age 7 to 12)

206 Junior 310# (age 12 to 15)

Yamaha Junior 310# (age 12 to 15)

206 Medium 350# (age 15 and up)

206 Heavy 390# (age 15 and up)

206 Masters 390# (age 35 and up)

Pro Gas Animal 375# (age 15 and up)
Stock Animal 375# (methanol) (age 15 and up)
Yamaha Senior Can 360# (age 15 and up)
TaG Senior (age 15 and up)

TaG Masters (age 35 and up)
Local option classes To Be Determined.

View updated 2016 American Sprint Cup Series Schedule HERE.
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American Sprint Cup Series Rule Clarifications
As we inch closer to the AKRA American Sprint Cup Series’ “Southern Tour” season opener March 18-20 at Carolina Motorsports Park, we want to pass along some rule clarifications that have been brought to our attention.

206 Cadet and Pro Gas Cadet Rear Tire Option

Per 206 Cup Series rules, racers in 206 Cadet and Pro Gas Cadet will have the optional rear tire size of either 4.60 or 6.00. Spec tire is the Vega FH.

This does not pertain to TaG Cadet or Yamaha Cadet. These classes must run 4.60 rears.
TaG Cadet
The TaG Cadet class will run the Parilla Swift engine with the restricted header. Minimum weight is 235#. Class age rule is attained age 7 to 12.

Event Tire Rule
All classes except TaG Junior, TaG Senior and Yamaha Senior will be required to run the same set of tires during all of Saturday and Sunday’sprograms. Tires will be painted at qualifying Saturday, and must be run through Sunday’s final.
You are not required to qualify Saturday with new tires. You may opt to qualify Saturday with used Vega FH tires. You will need to race these tires through the entire weekend program.

Senior Rear Wheels
All Senior 4-cycle classes will mandate Vega FH 6.00 rear tires. 7.10s will not be permitted.
The recommended rear wheel is the Van-K 340.5775.32 (polished) or 345.5775.32 (black-anodized). These measure 7 ¾” width with 3″ back-space.
There has been much discussion regarding not running 7.10 rears. While 206 Cup Series mandate the 6.00 rears, AKRA also supports the 6.00 rear tire as the ideal size for the LO206 Junior, Senior and Pro Gas Animal platforms.
We’re committed to staying consistent with the 206 Cup Series rules package and we’re encouraged with the number of series and tracks adopting the rules package and Vega tire rules for LO206 sprint racing in 2016.
Pre-entry is now open for Round 1 of the Southern Tour, March 18-20 at Carolina Motorsports Park. Click here to pre-enter!
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AKRA officials are listening and we want to hear from you! If you’d like to share your thoughts on the new American Sprint Cup Series, contact AKRA’s Keith Shampine at 704-662-5350 / keithshampine@gmail.com or Bill McCutcheon at704-764-8138 / billmcfast@aol.com.
Direct AKRA Road Race Series questions and comments to Bill McCutcheon or Van Gilder at 229-848-0483 / vanelite@live.com.