KC Happy Hour

NEW 2024 National Calendar Dates.A FULL Weekend of USPKS Racing in the books. A NEW X30 Pro Winner in Harley Keeble. And another 'Ask Xander' segment presented by Mega Power Engines!Tune in tonight to hear from Xander and Kyle, along with first-time guest Harley Keeble of Sodi Racing USA // Piquet Sports North America!

FEATURING Ryan Raffa, Keith Raffa, and Ethan Oring of the Northeast Karting Challenge!This week's show will feature a bit of a teaser on what to expect in 2024, this weekend's preview for USPKS Cincinnati, and a behind the scenes take on regional racing in the Northeast! There's a lot of storylines coming into this weekend's US Pro Kart Series Event at the Motorsports Country Club of Cincinnati. It's the biggest event this facility's ever held, and they have done a stellar job in preparing for it. The Fall Nationals for the NEKC will also be it's marquee race on the year, featuring a unique format. For the first year of any series, there's a lot of lessons and unexpected experiences that occur. Keith Raffa, his son Ryan, and his social media manager Ethan will join the show to discuss how the year's gone, and what can be expected from their crown jewel event that's set to take place in a few weeks.

FEATURING Justin Stefani of RaceRotaxJ3 Competition, Ryan Norberg, and Mike Doty of Mike Doty Racing! Tonight, we'll be getting to know Justin Stefani as well as getting an inside look into the Rotax program in the USA. As many already know, we'll be LIVE Streaming the 2023 Rotax USA Grand Nationals at New Castle Motorsports Park on September 15th-17th. While that is the only national Rotax race on the 2023 US Calendar, J3 and Rotax have already had quite the busy year thus far. Two successful regional championships completed, a number of club programs, and the year-round prep that accompanies the titanic mission of putting on the Rotax World Finals are just a peak into the workload. Who's behind Rotax? What does Rotax racing look like in 2023? What's the future hold?

FEATURING David Land, Kyle Cuthbertson, Braden Eves, and SKUSA KA100 Masters Race WINNER Clay Settles!We spend a lot of time using Happy Hour to talk about things to grow the sport, things we can improve on, and things that are already great. But to truly foster growth, we need some outside eyes and new perspectives! And there's no better folks for tonight's episode than David Land and Clay Settles. For David, this past weekend was his 3rd major US Kart Race working with us alongside his packed Indycar and IMSA filled calendar. And with Clay being a privateer -- first-time SKUSA Pro Tour National racer and first-time KA100 racer, we'll get just that! Of course, Braden, Kyle, Xander, and David will all breakdown a number of other usual topics from the past two weeks. - Pro Shifter's closest Championship Fight in Pro Tour History - Joe Turney vs Ryan Norberg in X30 Senior - The Paddock Community coming together on Saturday following the massive storm that destroyed many tent setups and much more. As always, submit your comments, thoughts, and questions to be answered LIVE!

FEATURING Chris Wehrheim and Braden Eves!LOTS to breakdown over the past two weeks of our break, including: - Fallout from the 2023 IAME USA Grand Nats - Schedule Cancellations - 2024 Scheduling and more!

FEATURING Matt Johnson, TJ Koyen, and Jackson Gardner!After another full weekend of Pro National racing action, there's a lot to talk about! Matt Johnson of NASH Motorsportz and TJ Koyen of KorsaSport Driver Development will join to help breakdown some of the key moments of the weekend, including some in-depth analysis on Austin Garrison and Kyle Wick's winning pace! Later on in the show, Jackson Gardner of REP and the Stars Championship Series will join to talk on the first-ever Stars Pro-Am Charity Enduro benefitting Mission for Miracles, which will allow fans and friends to race alongside and against top drivers at Three Rivers Karting! Presented By: ROK Sonoma, MEGA Power Engines, Leading Edge Motorsports, Karting the Coast, Amarillo Kart Circuit, and SRP Engines.

FEATURING Chase Jones, Race Liberante, and Braden Eves!With almost all of the major national series schedules coming to light in the last week, the 2024 Season is starting to take shape. Tonight's show is a full-on brainstorm of reworking the way we look at pro senior classes in the sport, from prize money to event format.

FEATURING Oliver Hodgson!We're all cooling off after a hot SKUSA SpringNationals at the Utah Motorsports Campus, where we got to crown TWO new US Pro Senior category winners! This week one of those drivers, Oliver Hodgson, is joining us! Tune in as he talks karting, this past weekend, and his thoughts since moving to the US and working with J3 Competition.

FEATURING Alex Stanfield and Braden Eves!As we get ready for the Stars Championship Series King of the Castle, OK-N Stars competitor Alex Stanfield is joining the show to talk about his thoughts on night racing, TSRS competition, and some more! We'll also take a little bit of time to talk about the finish of the Indy 500 and what we can learn from it in the karting industry.

FEATURING Brittany Lobaugh, Braden Eves, and Ryan Norberg!With the second round of the Texas Sprint Racing Series coming up this weekend, we invited series owner Brittany Lobaugh to come talk on the show! The series has made a huge rise in prominence since its debut season, and Brittany will be here to talk about the work she's had to put in to get it there.We've also received some big news this week from SKUSA, so Braden Eves and Ryan Norberg are joining our driver panel to discuss the recently released news.

FEATURING Jake Drew, Martin Pearce, and Braden Eves!Tonight we have some big guests to talk on the show! Jake Drew, 2022 ARCA West champion and longtime karter is with us on the show to talk about his experiences with driver coaching and development. Alongside him is Martin Pearce, current coach of Lucas Palacio, Kai Mars, and Aiden Levy, to give us his thoughts on the discussion as a coach with a lot of success as well. Finally, Braden Eves will be making his return to Happy Hour. the MPG Motorsports coach will be weighing in with his thoughts on driver development in the discussion.

FEATURING Joe Turney and Chris Wehrheim!We have officially wrapped up Round 1 of the Stars Championship Series, and there's been a lot of talk about the new OK-N package. Joe Turney and Chris Wehrheim are joining us to talk about the new engine program and get into detail about the differences between OK, OK-N, and X30. Afterward, we'll host another Ask Xander Clements segment at the end of the show to answer anything else our viewers may be wondering about.

FEATURING Helio Meza and Tahlon Yockel!This week features a couple of up-and-coming stars in the single-speed and gearbox categories and some big news from USPKS! USPKS Texas GP breakout star Helio Meza is joining us to talk about his story as one of the top junior drivers from last year turning into a real threat in the Pro 125 categories. The Mexican hotshoe has been one of the biggest stories since his 125 debut at the ROK Cup FWT in February. Afterward, Tahlon Yockel is taking some time from getting ready at Trackhouse Motorplex for the Stars Championship Series Night Fight to sit down with us and talk gearbox racing! The young driver from North Carolina was fighting for the top 5 in Houston and will be a contender this weekend at Trackhouse. We'll be ending the show, answering many of the questions we've received on Facebook, YouTube, and Instagram, and talking about some MAJOR news that came out from USPKS today.

FEATURING Aden Rudolph, Christian Marsh, Emory Lyda and Alex Searle!It's time for Round 2 of the United States Pro Kart Series at Speedsportz Racing Park in Houston! Coming on the show to talk about the track is Houston local Aden Rudolph. He'll be here to give us an idea of what the track is going to look like for anyone that hasn't gotten out to the track. Afterward, KC Pit Reporters Alexander Searle and Emory Lyda will be with us to preview the upcoming USPKS Round 2, from storylines to fantasy picks, and talk about how they think this weekend is going to play out. Finally, from the Stars Championship Series, we have Christian Marsh on the show! With the opening round of Stars only 2 weekends away, Christian will be here to talk about the program and give us an idea of what to look forward to in 2 weeks!

FEATURING Andy Seesemann and Tim Koyen!Tonight we'll have Andy Seesemann on the show to talk about his Challenge of the Americas! After wrapping up the season this past weekend, he's joining us to sit down and talk about his operations in the Western half of the country. Following him will be the founder of the new North American Karting Alliance program, Tim Koyen! We'll be talking to him about the new program slated for 2024, and answer some questions that many people have been asking in a live Q&A session. To cap off the show, another round of Ask Xander Clements, so send us any questions you may have for the man in charge here at Kart Chaser!

FEATURING Ryan Norberg, Mike Doty, and Keith Raffa!In the downtime from national racing, this week's show will touch a bit on the news that's hit that scene over the past 7 days. Beyond that, we'll be doing a deeper dive into the behind the scenes of the newly-formed NorthEast Karting Challenge -- which just hosted it's first race a few weeks ago! With some downtime in his schedule as well, Ryan Norberg will join the show in the opening segment to break down some of the national news. He's also keen to speak on the interesting dynamic that is the 2023 track progression that we've seen so far with the MG and LeVanto rubber going down over the course of a weekend. As always, submit your questions in the comments below or in our private messages for Xander to answer in our Q&A Segment presented by Mega Power Engines!

FEATURING Billy Musgrave and Hayden Jones!Our Kart Chaser March Madness has officially wrapped up in Orlando for the SKUSA WinterNationals! To talk about this past weekend, we invited Hayden Jones, newly signed Trinity Karting Group driver, and Billy Musgrave, owner and builder of Factory Karts, to come and talk about the event. Don't miss out on our Ask Xander Clements segment at the end for any major questions you viewers may have for us.

FEATURING Dave Sera, TJ Koyen, Taylor Burris, and Aaron Hachmeister-Ng!It's a guest from across the Pacific Ocean this week, 18-time Australian National Champion Dave Sera is coming on the show while he's here in the USA! We'll have him with us to talk shop and find out more about what he's been up to here in the US. Joining him will be TJ Koyen, Taylor Burris, and Aaron Hachmeister-Ng, and at the end of the show we'll all be throwing in our fantasy picks for this weekend's Superkarts! USA WinterNationals at the Orlando Kart Center!

FEATURING Alex Searle, Emory Lyda, Taylor Burris, and Aaron Hachmeister-Ng!We're back after a wild doubleheader in Orlando, and some BIG news just dropped for the national karting scene! We'll have our whole cast of analysts on to cover some major talking points from throughout the entire two weekend stretch of racing from both USPKS and the ROK Cup FWT, and the new NAKL licensing system just announced TODAY for the 2024 season! From clashes on track to moments behind the scenes, be sure to drop in and join the discussions tonight!

LIVE from Orlando Kart Center for Round #1 of the United States Pro Kart Series season!Follow us!Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kart.chaser/Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/KartChaserOf...Twitter: https://twitter.com/kart_chaserTikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/discover/kart-...

FEATURING Mike Burrell and Chris Kardashian!Leave a Voicemail Question/Topic!

FEATURING Louie Westover, Pauly Massimino, Emory Lyda, and Alexander Searle! With the conclusion of the SKUSA Winter Series, we're bringing on Louie Westover and Pauly Massimino to talk about their experiences from the first X30 Championship of 2023! Before them, Emory Lyda and Alex Searle will be on to talk about their thoughts from the past weekend, and preview this weeks ROK Cup USA Florida Winter Tour Round 2 at Piquet Race Park.

FEATURING Carlos Iaconelli, Matt Johnson, and TJ Koyen!It was a hectic month of January, and after finishing up the Rotax Winter Trophy, it's time to look towards the final weekend of the SKUSA Winter Series! Before that though, we will have Carlos Iaconelli, manager of Piquet Race Park, on to talk about the new facility and get his thoughts after the first weekend of action. Afterwards, TJ Koyen and Matt Johnson will join to talk about what to focus on for this weekends upcoming SKUSA Winter Series weekend, and give us their fantasy picks.

FEATURING Josh Conquer, Blake Nash, Alex Searle, and Emory Lyda!With the first month of the 2023 KC Broadcasts wrapped up, we have a couple up and comers in the National karting scene right now in Josh Conquer and Blake Nash on tonight's Happy Hour! We'll have them on, along with our pit reporters Emory Lyda and Alexander Searle, to talk about the most recent round of racing from the ROK Cup USA Florida Winter Tour in St. Petersburg.

FEATURING Massimo Sanchez-Lara and Simon Sikes!We have officially wrapped on the first weekend of 2023 action in Homestead-Miami, and man was it a good one! We'll have Massimo Sanchez-Lara and Simon Sikes on the show along with a couple drivers to go over this past weekends events, and look forward into the ROK Cup USA Florida Winter Tour opening round in St. Petersburg this weekend!

FEATURING Massimo Sanchez-Lara, Matt Johnson, and TJ Koyen!We are finally kicking off the 2023 season, and there is no better place than Homestead-Miami for the first weekend of the SKUSA Winter Series. TJ Koyen, Matt Johnson, and Massimo Sanchez-Lara will be here to give us their thoughts before the first rounds of action, and talk about their top picks for the Fantasy League!

FEATURING Matheus Morgatto and Marijn Kremers!As we build up to the first weekend of racing in 2023, and our first live broadcast of 2023 as well, we'll have Matheus Morgatto and Marijn Kremers with us to talk about the upcoming season! The 2022 OK Senior and 2019 KZ World Champions, and not PSL Karting/BirelART teammates, will be talking about their time in karting and what to look forward to from them in 2023.

FEATURING Alexis Rhule and Ryan Norberg!This week, we're talking about social media and marketing. Whether it's for yourself as a driver like Ryan or for a business like Alexis, social media is huge in a marketing strategy. We'll talk with them about their experience in utilizing social media, and how you can use it to help yourself in your career in motorsports.

FEATURING Alex Stanfield, Jason Berry, and Alessandro De Tullio!Over this past weekend, CalSpeed Karting hosted it's last race, the Machismo 12 Hour. We'll talk about the history of endurance races in the US, and karting news from the West Coast for 2023 with Jason Berry from NorCal Karters. Later on, we'll have Alex Stanfield & Alessandro De Tullio on to talk about their 2023 karting campaigns and what to expect in the upcoming season!

FEATURING TJ Koyen, AJ Myers, Kyle Wick, and Danny Formal!With everything from 2022 all but wrapped up now, it's time to look forwards to 2023. We have Oktane Visual owner TJ Koyen in with us to talk about some of his experiences in the karting industry as a helmet painter and a racer for so many years.After that AJ Myers, Kyle Wick, and Danny Formal will be on to talk about the growth of shifter racing over the past season, and what the 2023 Shifter season may look like with KZ in all national series in the country now.

FEATURING Jake French and Braden Eves!What. A. Weekend!We have officially wrapped up the 25th SKUSA SuperNationals at the Rio, and man was it exciting! Braden Eves and Jake French will be on to talk about their experiences, and talk about the week in Las Vegas overall. From track layouts to tires and anything else on the radar, there will be plenty to tune into tonight!

FEATURING David Cole and Ryan Smith!With the 25th edition of the SKUSA SuperNationals at the Rio just 1 week away now, it's time to really get into the details of the biggest race in North America! David Cole from eKartingNews and Mike Smith are joining us to talk about this past weekend of racing at the Rio for ROK Vegas, along with some common issues that we see at these temporary tracks and what we may be able to do to fix them.

FEATURING 2022 FIA Formula E driver Oliver Askew!That's right! Oliver Askew will be joining us for this week's edition of Happy Hour before he competes in the 2022 ROK Vegas event! He'll be here to talk about his time in karting, coming back to karting a couple years ago, and what he's expecting for this upcoming weekend.Joining us will also be Braden Eves as we talk about the new USPKS changes that were just announced, and he'll give us his thoughts on the layout for this year's SKUSA SuperNationals!

FEATURING Christian Marsh from Stars Championship Series!This week we've got Christian Marsh on to talk about some news from the Stars Championship Series that just got announced. Along with that, we'll be discussing why we're seeing less Americans at the IAME and ROK world final races and a couple other news announcements from the past week.

After a week off, we are coming at you with a 2-Hour Special Edition of KC Happy Hour!First up, we'll be bringing on first-time guest Tim Shutt of Timmy Tech to talk about his background in racing, the launch of his shop and team based in North Carolina, and most importantly, some of the strengths and weaknesses our sport has right now when it comes to attracting and retaining new drivers and families.In the second hour, we'll dive into all of the news that we missed with our week off:- K1 Circuit officially being added to the 2022 SKUSA Pro Tour and SKUSA California Pro Kart Challenge- The Route 66 Sprint Series ownership changing hands from Mark Coats to Chris Kardashian- Updates on Piquet Race Park in West Palm Beach, FloridaAnd among other things, our notes from the 2022 IAME Grand National Championship at GoPro Motorplex:- Xander getting DQed in the Rental Kart Tuner Challenge- The event's second year of a non-traditional format, featuring alternate track layouts, shootout racesand more!

FEATURING Brandon Jarsocrack, Ryan Cassity, and Braden Eves!With a number of our regulars at the CKNA Grand Nationals this past weekend both racing and working, there's a few talking points to discuss about the grassroots level of motorsports in the US after the biggest 206 race in the country. We'll also have a few track development updates from across the country, and some big races coming up this weekend!

FEATURING Ryon Beachner, AJ Roderick, and Jorge Ruiz!This week we'll have Ryon Beachner on to talk about more of the business of kart shops, from local kart shops to a full national championship program, and some of his thoughts on the industry as a whole.With the Cup Karts North America Grand Nationals coming up this weekend as well, we have AJ Roderick of Roderick Racing Development, and Jorge Ruiz of JaM Racing on the show. We'll chat with them about the 6th Edition of America's biggest 206 event, what it means to them, and the evolution of the event as a whole.

What a final weekend at New Castle!Tony Tesoro will be with us to recap some events of the weekend. Lots of news hit the desk beyond the realm of the USPKS Finale, including the unfortunate news of CalSpeed Karting closing down at the end of the year.Jamie Sieracki from Franklin Motorsports and Nick Tucker of Nitro Kart/Nitro Motorsports will join us later to talk about their thoughts on karting ranging from this past weekend at USPKS to the sport as a whole.

It's time for the championship finale for the United States Pro Kart Series!Both USPKS and SKUSA have announced some big news this past week, and Hayden Jones will be making his KC Happy Hour debut for an interview. Tony Tesoro, Dalton Hanes, and Connor Zilisch will all help us make up our analyst panel to predict the Top 5 in X30 Pro for this weekend, as we preview the final 'regular season' national event for 2022.Make Your Picks: https://forms.gle/1vXtyW6FnZVPTGNm8Fantasy League Standings: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/...

FEATURING GFC Karting's Gary Carlton and OffSet Sport's Chris Wehrheim!Picking up from the last time Chris joined us on the show, we will be diving deep into the on-going debate of spec versus multi-manufacturer 'open' engine classes. We'll also be touching on the notable points that came out of last weekend's wide range of races!- The Rock Island Grand Prix- The Route 66 Sprint Series @ Autobahn Country Club- Lone Star GP @ SpeedSportz in Houston, TXThe coming weekend's races are spread a bit:- Test weekend at New Castle Motorsports Park for next week's USPKS Finale- SKUSA ProKart Challenge @ Santa Maria

It's a busy week for karting all over the country! Kart Chaser is heading to the Championship finale for the Route 66 Sprint Series at Autobahn Country Club, while Speedsportz Racing Park is hosting their Lone Star Grand Prix, and one of the biggest street races in the country is going down at the Rock Island Grand Prix!We'll also talk about a new Predator 212cc Briggs 206 competitor, and some events from the Stars Championship Series race at New Jersey Motorsports Park.

After a bit of travel, we've made it to New Jersey for this weekend's STARS Championship Series Round! There was quite a bit of regional action over this past weekend:- CKNA North Finale at Michiana Raceway Park - Indiana- Saturday Night Shootout at Tri-City Kart Club - Washington- ROK Fest West at Sonoma, CaliforniaA special shoutout to our friends north of the border as well as the Canadian Nationals took place at Mosport!In the middle segment, we'll have KA STARS driver Keegan Bosch join us to talk about the struggles of coming back to the seat following a nasty car crash that left him with a laundry list of injuries. Beyond the on-track action, there weren't a ton of headlines making waves over the past week. So, we'll be picking up a bit of where we left off last week's episode -- by reacting to and answering all of the comments posted in segment 3!

Tonight on Happy Hour we're talking about National racing with Chris Wehrheim and Ryan Norberg! It was a pretty slow week for karting news and media, but Chris has some good ideas and discussion for us to think about.

We are back from a lot of racing and some big news over the past week! Along with the Route 66 weekend at the Motorsports Country Club Cincinnati and Texas Sprint Race Series at the Amarillo Kart Circuit, we'll also be covering some major announcements from SuperKarts! USA regarding the Winter Series and Pro Tour schedule, and the SuperNationals prize payouts.Joining us will be Alan Rudolph to talk about his upcoming Lone Star Grand Prix at Speedsportz Racing Part next month on September 2nd and 3rd with details about the event, and Christian Marsh from the STARS Championship Series as they head to New Jersey Motorsports Park for the very first time.

Joining the show tonight: PSL Karting's Marijn Kremers, Rolison Performance Group's Ryan Norberg, and Speed Concepts Racing's Austin Garrison and Pauly Massimino!We'll break down different topics coming out of the weekend on the SKUSA Pro Tour Finale, the first schedule release for 2023 with the US Pro Kart Series locking in 5 locations for 5 full rounds, and a few other updates that have come across the US Karting scene in the past week.

It's time for the first championship finale weekend of the 2022 season! Tonight Kart Chaser will be covering the headlines for the SKUSA Pro Tour SummerNationals this weekend at New Castle Motorsports Park, including- Pauly Massimino to Speed Concepts Racing onboard a CRG for the weekend- Danny Formal's first weekend on the Rolison Performance Group in Pro ShifterAfter the news, we'll be previewing some of the major classes and what the championship fights are looking like coming into the weekend, along with our usual Fantasy League picks and drivers to keep an eye on!

In what was a relatively light week on track in the US, there was news that broke all across the country!- ROK Vegas signs Multi-Year Deal with Caesar's Entertainment, beginning with a stop at the Rio in 2022- SKUSA SuperNationals Registration Tops 200+ Pre-Entries- WKA Announces $14,000 Purse for 2023 Daytona KartWeek in Partnership with Summit Racing Equipment- ROK Fest East Registration Open, ROK Fest West Location, Date, and Purse ConfirmedBeyond the breaking news, we're taking this week to be the first of many off weeks where we shift our focus around different regions of the US Karting Community. Representing Mississippi and Louisiana will be none other than Christy Kendall, who has done a fantastic job in less than 10 months of bringing a club of less than 10 members to over 50!We'll also be interviewing the newest Head Race Director on the National scene, Blake Hunt, to get his thoughts following his first weekend in the captain's chair at USPKS Road America!

We're officially past the halfway mark in the 2022 National Pro Season!Tune in as we have the usual KC Happy Hour crew alongside returning stars Ryan Norberg, Brandon Jarsocrak, and more.Tonight's Topics:- The outcome of the Road America chicane barrier system // access path- Top Supporting Class Prospects coming out of this weekend (KA Senior, X30 Junior, Mini/Micro)- The dynamics of Road America as a racetrack when it comes to set up and driving style with different sections throughout the circuitSend in your questions below!

After a week off, there's a lot of catching up to be done!There were a number of regional races that took place over the last two weekends with some interesting bullet points coming out of each. Along with that, the FIA dropped the first of what seems to be a series of bombshells to come on June 29th, with the announcement of the new OK-N Division and the OK-N World Cup.We'll also be doing our preview of the 3rd Round of the US Pro Kart Series as the tour heads to Road America for the third time.

With the 'Big 3' Promotional Groups dropping their announcement last night, we've got a fully-packed out topic list for this week's show.Join Xander Clements, Aaron Hachmeister, newly-signed KC Happy Hour personality Dalton Hanes, Braden Eves, Ryan Norberg, and this week's special guest Annie Rhule!- Giving a a bit more background on our tech difficulties over the weekend- A full debrief from the Route 66 Sprint Series- Preview for Round 3 of the Texas Sprint Series at NTK- Preview for the STARS Championship Series 'Night Fight' at GoPro Motorplex- Breaking down what the 'Big 3' coming together means for the sport in North America and what it could bring- Diversity in karting, specifically girls being able to do it too, and do it well -- hear Annie's background and hear journey in the Pro Shifter class over the last few seasons!

FEATURING: PSL Karting's Jake French alongside KC's Xander Clements, Caleb Smock, Aaron Hachmeister, and more.Join us to talk about a wild weekend of racing on both ends of the country! The Grand Prix in the Park in Quincy and the SuperKarts! USA SpringNationals both featured some major storylines, finishes, and breakout winners that we'll be diving into.- AJ Myers vs Marijn Kremers- Shifter Class Growth on the Pro Tour, partially thanks to ASPEN boosting the purse- Gnarly Wrecks in Quincy along with another massive fan turnoutAnd more!