MKA Race Fans

It is finally time! The 2013 Season begins this weekend. Through a lot of work and some over the top contributions from some of our members the track is ready for racing. We hope that everybody will be happy with the changes and improvements that have been made.

Since we were forced to cancel our cleanup / practice day, we are going to re-arrange the schedule a little bit this Saturday to make sure that everybody has a chance to get their karts shaken down as well as getting settled in to the new track. We are going to have open practice from 9:30 until around Noon or so. We will then take a break for lunch before starting our normal schedule. As everybody will have had plenty of time to practice, we will probably only hold 2 shortened practice rounds before racing begins. As the track has had A LOT of weather over the last few days, we way take a brief amount of time before track activities begin to make absolute sure things are safe and ready to go.

Obviously, weather might force us to adjust plans a little bit, but I feel it is extremely important to get some extra laps on the track before we begin races. This means that we will have open practice before we start our scheduled events. We will call for rain tires if the weather demand it, so be prepared! I want to do everything we can to get this race day in the books.

I would like to also remind everybody that their kart may not go onto the race track until it has passed a pre-tech inspection. Steve is going to be there as early as possible to try and speed this up for people. Things to double check that always seem overlooked are that all your safety wire / cotter pins are in place; weights are painted white and double nutted with your number written on them; and your exhaust are properly heat wrapped. Also, bring your neck brace, helmet and other safety gear to Pre-Tech as well, so Steve can verify that it is all up to snuff. The helmet requirement is still M2005 or better.

If you have not yet filled out your membership application for the year, Mandy will have those available in the tower for you Saturday Morning. She will also take care of any pit spot payments at that time as well. I have had quite a few people tell me they were going to take care of this on the first race day, so please be patient. We have a late start, and will make sure everybody has time to get registered.

Please note; there will be no concessions available this weekend. Sadly, the Boy Scouts have decided they are not able to work with us this year. We will try and find a solution to this as soon as possible, but for now please plan accordingly.

See you all Saturday!

Greg Jasperson
MKA President
(May 31, 2013)
URGENT MKA Update!!!

Hey everybody-

I apologize for the late notice, as we have been trying everything we could to avoid this. The Board has decided to cancel Race 1 of this season. Although the blacktop is being installed at this very moment and will be done today, we are not comfortable with only letting the track have 4 days to cure before running karts on it. Blacktop takes quite a while to cure, and risking damage to the track for one race day did not make sense to us, as there is no money available to repair new sections if they did become damaged.

The good news is that we were able to work with the folks at Menards and get more space than we originally thought. The fencing we had originally been told needed to be 20 feet from their fence is no longer required. In fact, they are allowing us to run our fence right up to theirs. The track layout still remains generally the same as we previously planned, but we were able to stretch things out a bit more than we had thought and have the potential to make some other small additions in the future!

We are still going to have cleanup day on this Saturday. No need to bring your trailers, as there will be no karts allowed on the track no matter how cured the track appears. We have a lot of work to do, and need as many bodies as we can get. Or main project will be re-installing the fence along the North end of the facility. We also need to:

Add some re-enforcements to the bridge

Paint / Reseal the deck by the concessions (weather permitting)

Service all mowers / equipment

Repair any other fencing damaged over the year

Make forms to pour new concrete curbs

Trim trees / bushes

Spruce up the trophy area

Prepare the concessions for the year

And I’m sure some more smaller items… (please feel free to email suggestions that I may have overlooked)

If you have any tools or supplies you can offer to bring to accomplish any of these items, please email me and let me know, or simply bring them out. I am hoping that if we all start by 9AM, we can be out of there around dinner time. We do realize that some of you drive a very long way to race with us, and that cleanup weekend might be tough to make if there is no racing. We ask/beg you to try and come and help, but do understand if you are not going to be able to make it. It would be nice to get an idea if you are coming or not though…

As far as making up Race 1, we are considering options right now. It is our every intension to hold this race at some point in the season to ensure that we do not lose it all together. Our initial intension is to hold the makeup race the morning of the Night race, and simply have that Saturday be a double header. We will talk more about this first weekend!

Please spread the word, as I am sure I do not have everybody’s email addresses! Also, make sure your 4-stroke karts have full width rear bumpers installed, and LO206’s comply with the Briggs rule book!

See ya this weekend!

Greg Jasperson
MKA President
(May 13, 2013)
Please see schedule tab for 2013 schedule.
Attention all members… here is the information you have all been waiting for!

First off, I would like to recap the changes voted in at the last general membership meeting.

Rule Changes:

All 206 classes:
· Running by Briggs and Stratton Rule Book
· Must run Unaltered Stock OE Jetting
· Restricted classes use slide and cap instead of restrictor plate (approx. $20)
· Must race with an “RT1” cylinder head

Speedsters:
· May run the approved K&N brand air filter (part number coming soon)
· Must race at a minimum weight of 150 lbs.
· Will use transponders and do gridded starts all year long

All Classes:
· Must run full width rear bumpers starting Race 1 (New racers given 1 weekend grace period)

Membership Changes:

· For 2013, our membership program has been restructured to encourage and reward those who participate in the daily operations of the race track. Membership for the 2013 racing season will cost $95. $35 goes toward the actual membership for the season, and $60 goes toward the “Job Fund”. All of the money you contribute to the “Job Fund” is 100% refundable after you have completed a task from the Job Fund List. This money will be returned to you in the form of a MKA Gift Certificate. A member family will only have to do 2 jobs throughout the year to recover their $60.

Race Fees:
· Race fees for MKA Members will remain the same, $30 per race day. We will be enforcing a strict Non-Member race fee this season of $40 in an effort to encourage all of our racers to become active contributors to the club.

In addition to these changes, the Board also voted in one additional change. The approved engine for all Briggs classes (except masters) will be the L.O.206 engine. In order to receive championship points, you must compete with a L.O.206. Other Briggs engines may be raced in those classes, but will not receive Championship points, or be eligible for trophies. This will greatly simplify tech as well as make everything much easier for the new racers to understand.

Our 2nd General Membership Meeting has been scheduled for Sunday April 21st at 1:00pm. It will be held at our old meeting spot, the Pizza Hut in Hudson WI. The address for Pizza hut is 1550 Crest View Dr. Hudson, WI 54016. At this meeting, families will submit their paperwork and fees for their 2013 Memberships and choose reserved pit spots if they desire. It would be very helpful that those of us that want the same pit spot as last year take care of this on the meeting date. We have many new families wanting pit spots, and I want to have that taken care of prior to the first race weekend this year. I have attached a copy of our new pit map to this email. If possible, please reply to this email if you intend to have the same spot as last year and let me know what number that spot is now assigned.

We will also need to hold an election for 3 positions on the MKA Board of Directors. Directors Steve Vermeer, Mark Enderlein and Becky Bringgold have served their term and their positions are now up for election. Our bylaws state that any member can nominate themselves or any other member to be on the ballot. So, if you know of a member that you think would be an asset to the Board, or you yourself would like to volunteer to help the club, please let me know ASAP. Nominations are accepted up until the election itself, but it is helpful to have the names ahead of time if at all possible. You also do not need to be present for the vote to be elected. Candidates are given time to speak to the club and state why they want to be elected. If you want to be on the ballot and cannot attend, I would be happy to read a brief statement on your behalf.

I would also be happy to speak to anybody who has questions regarding what will be asked of them as a board member, as well as frequency of meetings and other responsibilities.

At this meeting, we need to hold a final vote in regards to the potential of running a Spec MG tire at MKA for the 2013 racing season. This was discussed at length at the 1st meeting and the decision was to push the vote back to this meeting. The options range from Spec MG yellow’s for all classes, an option for MG Yellow or MG Red and also the potential to exclude some classes from the Spec tire program. We must make a decision on the Spec tire program at this meeting, so please think about it ahead of time and prepare to discuss it with the rest of the club.

Please keep an eye on our website for copies of updated rules, class structures and other information. I will have the updated rules on the website at least 10 days prior to the meeting for everybody to have ample time to view them so any errors or confusion can be addressed at the meeting. Also, it would be extremely helpful if all of our racers would follow us on Facebook, as this is an extremely simple way for the Board to get information out quickly to our Members and friends. The address for our FB site is HERE.

Here is the 2013 Racing Schedule. You will notice that we have put the larger race days mostly on Saturdays. We know that many of you want to get home as soon as possible on Sunday, so we tried our best to have the larger race days scheduled for Saturdays. The Masters and Shifter Series also each have one “Double Header Weekend” where they will race both Saturday and Sunday!

Our new 2-Stroke Challenge series will host 2 classes. A Tag Sr. Class as well as a Yamaha Medium Can Senior Class. I know some people wanted to add an additional Jr. 2-stroke class, and if we have 4 participants that can commit to the majority of the schedule, we will add that as well. The Briggs Masters class is intended for Stock Animal engines and WKA legal World Formula engines. If a racer wishes to compete with Briggs engine other than these, the Tech Committee will determine what adjustments must be made.

We will provide everybody with a daily schedule with times at the meeting as well as a nice copy of the schedule for you to take home and / or put in your trailer. I will also try and have track maps with the new layout’s available at that time as well.

We will be holding at least one more Board meeting before the General Membership meeting, so if you have something else you would like discussed at the meeting or have concerns, please contact me before the end of the month. I can either bring up your issue to the board or we can have you as a guest at the meeting!

Let’s get ready for some racing!

Greg Jasperson
MKA President
(March 16, 2013)
Members-

WE ARE RACING IN 2013!

With a lot of hard work from the Board as well as the cooperation from the folks at Menards, we have a complete plan to ready for your review.

There were many things to consider while getting this together. From the type of asphalt to be used and the method in which it is laid down to the obvious question of layout, we have explored a lot of options. I have also talked to other track operators /designers to get their input on these issues as well. After taking in all the information, I really think we have come up with the best plan that we are able to do within the budget the board has laid out.

What I need you all to do is review this plan, and let me know your thoughts. Although this is not an official vote, I want to give everybody a chance to see this before we go ahead, and voice any MAJOR concerns. If I receive enough negative comments from “Members in good standing”, we will stop the process and look at what needs to be done to address those concerns. The board will have to weigh those concerns against the potential issues of waiting until next year to complete repairs and act accordingly.

The plan: Below you will find a track map, showing the new track sections. Please be aware that these are not exact, and may be slightly adjusted because of construction issues, or to promote better racing. Chris Enderlein and I will also be visiting the site one final time to approve the final positioning before they begin.
The black box w/ yellow border is the new Menards fueling station. We are also on the understanding that there will be a fence 10’ outside of this.

The Blue sections are the proposed changes. These areas would be getting blacktopped and become part of our race track. The red circles can be thought of as cones, just to help see where the new track would go. The pink section is a later addition that is not included in this plan due to costs, but is potentially a future addition we can install to create more options.

The blacktop laid will be an E-3 9.5mm mix, at a depth of 3” It will be laid down in two separate 1.5” passes to achieve the most even surface possible. This is the exact same material and method that was used to create the “long horseshoe” addition approximately 13 years ago. Although this is not the cheapest material or method available to us, we felt it was the best way to proceed. The “long horseshoe” has great grip, is smooth, and has held up extremely well. It also made sense not to introduce a third surface type to the race track, for consistency reasons.

The total costs for this plan are right around $10,000. This includes the Labors and materials for the blacktop company, as well as the gravel for the underlayment. Haas and Sons is donating all the labor and equipment for the excavation and underlayment work!

We are extremely fortunate that we are able to pull this off. We are using roughly 90% of the clubs money to accomplish this, showing how tight we are cutting this. None of this would be possible if it were not for the MWSS race we hosted, the discount on materials Monarch Paving is extending us or the generosity of Haas Concrete.

We as a club will still have some work to do. We will have to replace and create curbing anywhere that needs it. We will also have to replace the fence that was removed during construction. These should be low cost problems though, as we have a great connection with Haas for concrete, and Menards instructed their contractors to save 100% of the fence materials that were removed so we could reuse them.

So there it is. I am happy to answer any questions you have, but please remember that I need to sign off on the plans Wednesday morning, so I need to hear any issues immediately. If you like the plan, please let me know as well.

Greg Jasperson

MKA President

(October 18, 2012)

Fellow Members-

I had a meeting on Thursday with the two contractors that have agreed to helping us restore our racetrack. We met on site, and discussed the various options we had to get things put back together again. I am pleased to say that both of them are very eager to help, and have some good insights on how to proceed. In fact, the black top company is the same people that paved the addition about 12 years ago to create the long horseshoe (B Track).

I expect to have bids in early next week, at which point we need to move quickly to get things done. As I stated before, I want to make sure that every active member has a chance to voice their opinions on the plan. However, time will be of the essence, and I do not think there will be time to organize a formal general meeting to vote. So I plan on emailing a proposal to all Active Members once I have all the numbers together. I would ask that you email me within 48 hours of receipt of that email if you have issue with the proposal.

The reason that this must happen so quickly is the timeline of the contractors. In order to keep this in budget, they have to squeeze this in between other jobs as well as the Menards Fueling Station project. They need to have all work will be completed on our track within three weeks of now. I do not want to hold them up any longer than absolutely necessary, so we must act swiftly once the ball is rolling. This 48 hour email seems to be the quickest way we can have a discussion that everybody can have a chance to be a part of.

I have already discussed our budget constraints with the contractors, and they seem confident that they will be able to work within those numbers. I felt good after our meeting, not only that we would be able to get the track together, but that the changes we are making will actually make for better racing. I really think that the new section is going to be a lot of fun to drive.

Below are a couple pictures I took while out there, so you can see the state of things.

Stay tuned…

Greg Jasperson

MKA President
(September 29, 2012)
This section of the home page is for the president and board members to provide updates to everyone.

Up Coming Events

June 22nd - Race 4 - Track E
June 23rd  - Race 5 - Track BR
Last Updated on June 09, 2013