September 4th, 2010
K1 Speed in Torrance California, held its second Challenge GP race this past Sunday playing host to a packed house full of drivers, all looking for that number one podium spot. Qualifying remained straight forward as the usual faces took to the concrete surfaced track an showed their driving abilities are just as good on the slick track as they are on asphalt. John Tanaka would take the overall pole position for the night posting a 26.642 second lap time. He was followed by Edward Bergenholtz posting a 26.644 second lap time and Tyler Pope would close out the top 3 qualifiers with a 26.88 second lap.
The C Main drivers would start out the main events of the evening, with Jon Fitzsimmons on pole for the rolling start. Jon brought the group around followed closely by Ryan Widner in second, and Christopher Burrows in third. Jon would pull away at the start and the pack would separate out early leaving Ryan and Christopher comfortably in their qualifying positions. At the checkered flag Jon would take the win, followed by Ryan and Christopher staying in their qualifying positions respectively in second and third.
B main race action saw many familiar faces including Khalifa Alasiri who was on pole with a 26.885 second lap, just missing the A main by a few thousandths of a second. Brandon Cruz was just behind Khalifa in second and Tyler Bryant was qualified in third. The green flag would come down and Khalifa would run away from the pack in his usual fashion. The battle for second and third was pretty amazing to watch. Brandon would drop down to 5th and was unable to regain any positions, Tyler moved up into second position and Paul Ciralli would come from a 7th place starting position, to work his way up to third. The podium would see Khalifa in the top spot with Tyler and Paul in second and third to finish out the B main for the night.
A main race action would start with John Tanaka leading the group around for the green flag rolling start and would go unchallenged for 16 laps to take the overall win for the night. Edward Bergenholtz, who has really started to come up on his kart racing game, would finish in second in the same position he qualified in, and Tyler Pope would do the same finishing in third.
This was a great night of racing for all involved, the concrete surface creates a different and unique racing experience for drivers looking for a new challenge around each corner. Come into our Carson based location and see what this facility has to offer.
Don’t miss out on round III coming September 26th.
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September 1st, 2010
K1 Speed’s Anaheim location is offering 2 free tickets to the Pepsi 400 in October at Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, California to the driver that posts the quickest single lap time on our technical track for the month of September.
There is a catch – in order to be eligible to win the tickets you must participate in races with 8 or more drivers, while still posting the quickest lap time of the month! This will put the drivers racing skills to the test!
Come out and give our electric indoor racing karts a try and take your chances at being the best driver of the month at K1 Speed Anaheim.
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August 30th, 2010
Boris Said doesn’t know the meaning of the word quit. As he proved this past weekend while competing in Montreal. After stepping out of the Marsh Racing Rolex Grand-Am Series #31 Corvette after qualifying on pole Friday, and finishing 9th in class Saturday, he jumped into the RAB Racing #9 Ford Fusion sponsored by Zaxby’s Real Chicken, and qualified the team for the 5th starting position just behind Carl Edwards for Sundays NASCAR Nationwide Napa 200 Race.
The race began with pole sitter Marcus Ambrose dominating the field but was forced onto pit road for an extended amount of time to replace a faulty battery. Carl Edwards would take over the lead but broke a track bar during a caution lap and had to make an unscheduled pit stop giving up the lead position. Right at the drop of the next green flag, there was an immediate yellow leaving the top 4 drivers making a mad dash to the start/finish line for position, running nearly four wide creating a fight for the lead between Robby Gordon, Max Papis, Brad Keselowski, and Boris Said. After the chaos the top 5 would look like this Robby Gordon, Boris Said, Max Papis, Jacques Villeneuve, and Brad Keselowski. After just one lap of being under green another caution came out and ultimately a red flag would come out stopping the race for 13 minutes. Unfortunately for Robby Gordon he ran out of fuel after the re-start as the drivers were looking at a green white checkered situation.
Once the drivers got rolling and Robby Gordon dropped back, and it was a three car battle for the lead with Max Papis, Boris Said and Jacques Villeneuve. Boris would pass Max and hold him off for half a lap when Jacques started to make a run on the runner up position. Max would use a cross-over method to take back the second spot from Villeneuve and take a run at Boris ultimately getting underneath Boris to take the lead with just one lap to go.
Boris using his long time road racing skills saw an opening on the last corner before the final straight and got back under neath Papis and it was literally a drag race down the front straight for both drivers. Boris would literally inch by Papis in one of the closest NASCAR Nationwide races to date, to come out on top to win the NASCAR Nationwide Napa 200 in Montreal on the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve.
Everyone at K1 would like to congratulate Boris on his amazing driving feat as this is his first win this year.
You can keep up with RAB Racing and where Boris will be racing next on their website
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August 30th, 2010
K1 Speed partner Boris Said and driving partner Eric Curran, qualified Friday for the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve capturing respective poles for Saturday’s Montreal 200, Round 11 of 12 in the GRAND-AM Rolex Sports Car Series presented by Crown Royal Cask No. 16. Boris drove the GT class Corvette of Marsh racing to the pole position with a 1:38.895 second single lap time with an average speed of 98.613 mph.
On Saturday luck would run out for the Marsh racing team, as Paul Edwards, who came from being nearly a lap down, would take the overall win in the GT Class with the Banner Racing Corvette along with co-driver Scott Russel. Boris and his co-driver would finish 9th overall in the GT class, after a hard fought battle with the full class of participants all gunning for the top spot on the podium.
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August 27th, 2010
Come check out the new display car at our Ontario Location! This Mazda MX-5 drift car is on hand courtesy of new marketing partner International Allstars which is a nation-wide youth automotive marketing and promotions company that provides services to every major market in the US.
Our Ontario location is located right in the heart of the Inland Empire and offers the best in indoor kart racing in the area. Come in and check our this new ride and enjoy racing on our two technical layouts!
Become a fan of our Facebook page and stay on top of all happenings at K1 Speed Ontario
Check out the International Allstars website
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August 26th, 2010
K1 Speed is supporting the Off-road Racing community by donating 25% of all proceeds made this Sunday August 29th during the Dezert People 8 Movie Premier party. Proceeds will be going to the Fast-Aid Foundation which is a non-profit group that is dedicated to providing financial, educational, and personal assistance to injured racers, support teams and their families as well as ensures the necessary support is in place to complete a thorough recovery and rehabilitation from motor sports racing incidents.
Fast-Aid is currently helping support the families involved in the recent California 200 tragedy that happened August 14th in Lucerne California. If you would like to donate to the cause you can visit the Fast-Aid web site and click on the California 200 icon.
On August 29th 2010 All German Motorsports along with host sponsor JD Films will be premiering their brand new video in the “Dezert People” off road video series, Dezert People 8. The movie premier is being held at Carlsbad, CA K1 Speed indoor kart facility and will be used to help raise funds for Fast-Aid.org, known as the Red Cross for off road.
In light of the recent events at the California 200 race that killed 8 and injured many more, this fund raising effort has been kicked into high gear. So come on out, check out some amazing off road vehicles that will be on display, eat some great food being donated and cooked up by Locos Mocos and the Baja Pits teams, participate in the raffle drawing, check out the celebrity go kart race featuring the stars of off road racing, and watch the next big hit movie Dezert People 8. Remember all proceeds are being donated to Fast-Aid.org!
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August 25th, 2010
Coming this Sunday August 29th to K1 Speed in Torrance, right in the heart of Los Angeles is Round II of the Challenge GP Race series for the second half of 2010. The concrete surfaced layout of our Torrance location offers a unique challenging course for drivers to compete on. The points series is just starting to heat up and its any ones game for who will be the overall points leader.
Sign ups start at 630pm and racing will start at 7pm. Cost is $50 that’s a $10 off regular Grand Prix pricing per person to compete, and it is open to drivers 18 years of age and older.
See the schedule for all Challenge GP events here
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August 24th, 2010
K1 Speed Carlsbad held round two of its Challenge GP Race series this past Sunday. A packed house full of some of San Diego’s top indoor kart drivers with a good mix of Los Angeles racers were all chasing after the top qualifying spot in the A Main. It wasn’t until round 2 when the drivers really started to get into their groove, and Shawn Walker would be the man of the evening, posting a very fast 27.825 second single lap time, almost breaking the current lap record of 27.80 seconds. The rest of the group kept qualifying pretty straight forward and most of the racing action came down to the main events.
The B Main would start off the night with new comer to the GP series Justin Cope on pole followed by local resident Jon Simms and Stephen Robertson in third. Justin brought the group around for the green flag rolling start and was able to hang on to the lead for the first couple of laps but it was long before Jon and Stephen were able to find a more consistent way around the track, Justin would end up getting sideways out of the hair pin corner and that’s where Jon was able to make his move and take over the lead and he never looked back. Stephen followed Jon’s line and got around Justin and the rest of the pack stayed in tow working to try to catch the top 3 but it wasn’t going to happen. Jon would take the win followed by Stephen in second and Justin would finish out in third.
A Main drivers took to the track with pole sitter Shawn Walker leading the group and when the green flag dropped it wasn’t long before everyone was freight training with each other all trying to find some room to pass on the driver in front of them. Eventually something had to give and a few drivers found them selves getting ping-ponged between each other. The group would spread out a bit, but unfortunately for Shawn he had lost a number of positions and dropped to the back. Thomas Litton was right there to take advantage followed by Matt Merrill with Jordan Robertson making his way through the field. Shawn was able to get his kart swapped out since it was starting to slow down, but it was too late and he had to settle for finishing in the back of the pack after the re-start. It looked as though Matt may be able to hold pace with Thomas, but Thomas seemed to have the fast line dialed and he pulled away from Matt finding a quicker way through some of the more technical sections. Thomas would end up coming out on top, followed by Matt Merrill in second. Jordan ended up dropping back a few spots after doing some rubbing with Kirk Messse. Kirk and Jordan seem to have a magnetic attraction when they are racing close cause both of them seem to get into trouble when they get within a few feet of each other. Justin Davenport would wind up in third with the hard charging David Messimer following closely in 4th.
K1 Speed in Carlsbad offers the best indoor kart racing in San Diego with our technical track layout offering multiple spots to pass around the course, drivers are finding the good line and getting faster each week.
Don’t miss out on our next Challenge GP race at K1 Carlsbad September 19th and join in on the racing action.
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August 20th, 2010
Want to become a professional race car driver? K1 Speed has teamed up with Oakley to bring you the Future Driver Search for the 2011 Volkswagen Jetta TDI Cup race series!
In 2011, another group of aspiring, young race car drivers will take their chances at over $50,000 in purse winnings on the road to becoming the 2011 SCCA Pro Racing Volkswagen TDI Cup Champion.
The selection process for the 2011 season of the Volkswagen Jetta TDI Cup will begin this summer with a series of Driver Selection Karting Qualifiers leading up to the Final Driver Selection Event to be held in early 2011. Qualifiers will be held at multiple locations of K1 Speed in Southern California. Check out our upcoming qualifier section for dates and locations. Registrants of all ability are encouraged to participate. Lack of experience will be taken into consideration when evaluating performance. The top finishers from each Driver Selection Karting Qualifier will be selected to move on and compete in the Final Driver Selection Event that will determine the starting lineup for the 2011 Volkswagen TDI Cup
If you are between the ages of 16-26 by January 1st, 2011, and have ever dreamed of becoming a professional race car driver, here’s your chance.
October 9th – K1 Speed Ontario
October 10th – K1 Speed Carlsbad
October 16th – K1 Speed Torrance
October 17th – K1 Speed Irvine
It All Starts here!
Follow the TDI Cup Qualifiers on Facebook
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August 20th, 2010
K1 Speed in Torrance California, was recently visited by the original Brady Bunch actor Barry Williams, who played Greg Brady during the 1969-1974 seasons. Barry grew up in Santa Monica, California, down the street and around the corner from actor Peter Graves. As a grade schooler, Williams began pestering Graves for show biz advice, and at 11 the youngster had an agent and began appearing in TV commercials, the rest was history as he played in roles in the Mod-Squad, Adam 12 and The Invaders, long with a slew of others before being cast for the role as Greg Brady.
Barry took to our technical concrete layout and really enjoyed our fast paced electric karts. K1 Speed offers the best in indoor kart racing action in the Los Angeles area and the smile on Barry’s face proved so.
We look forward to seeing Barry back again soon!
Check out Barry’s official blog
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